Nonfiction World

Every morning in the Japanese town of Shibuya, Professor Ueno awakens and is greeted by his loyal Akita dog, Hachiko. They enjoy a breakfast together before the professor leaves to catch the train to the school where he teaches. And Hachiko sits at the station eagerly awaiting his master’s return. Then one afternoon Professor Ueno does not return. And Hachiko waits. Days and weeks pass and still no one - not even the young boy Yasuo who comes to care for him - can persuade the faithful dog to leave his post. Years go by and yet still he waits.

In his first book, broadcaster Ari Shapiro takes us around the globe to reveal the stories behind narratives that are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking, but always poignant. He details his time traveling on Air Force One with President Obama, or following the path of Syrian refugees fleeing war, or learning from those fighting for social justice both at home and abroad.

From the overwhelming operational victories at Kerch and Kharkov in May to the catastrophic defeats at El Alamein and Stalingrad, Death of the Wehrmacht offers an eye-opening new view of that decisive year. Building upon his widely respected critique in The German Way of War, Citino shows how the campaigns of 1942 fit within the centuries-old patterns of Prussian/German warmaking and ultimately doomed Hitler's expansionist ambitions.

By 1943, the war was lost, and most German officers knew it. What kept the German army going in an increasingly hopeless situation? Where some historians have found explanations in the power of Hitler or the role of ideology, Robert M. Citino, the world's leading scholar on the subject, posits a more straightforward solution: Bewegungskrieg, the way of war cultivated by the Germans over the course of history. In this book, Citino charts the path by which Bewegungskrieg, or a "war of movement," inexorably led to Nazi Germany's defeat.

As a child growing up in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was one of millions trapped by a secretive and brutal communist regime. Her home on the border with China gave her some exposure to the world beyond the confines of the Hermit Kingdom and, as the famine of the 1990s struck, she began to wonder, question and realise that she had been brainwashed her entire life. Given the repression, poverty and starvation she witnessed surely her country could not be, as she had been told, 'the best on the planet'?

The Watchmaker’s Daughter is one of the greatest stories of World War II that listeners haven’t heard: the remarkable and inspiring life story of Corrie ten Boom—a groundbreaking, female Dutch watchmaker, whose family unselfishly transformed their house into a hiding place straight out of a spy novel to shelter Jews and refugees from the Nazis during Gestapo raids. Even though the Nazis knew what the ten Booms were up to, they were never able to find those sheltered within the house when they raided it.

Alternate Worlds That Might Have Been and the Lessons They Hold What if Napoleon had won at Waterloo? What if the atomic bomb was never dropped? What if the Berlin Wall never fell? History is shaped not only by what happened — but also by what could have happened. In History’s Greatest What-Ifs, explore ten of the most fascinating alternate scenarios from real-world history. Through vivid storytelling and sharp analysis, this book dives into key moments where history could have taken a dramatically different turn — and examines what that means for our world today. You’ll discover: ...

In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened.

Blind since the age of three, young Louis Braille wanted to be able to read. He spent every spare moment punching holes in paper with a stylus until, by the age of 15, he had invented his own alphabet. This vivid biography, written by an award-winning author, allows young listeners the opportunity to identify with and to appreciate a real life hero.

Rising from poverty-stricken Louisville in the 1950s, Ali became one of the world's greatest athletes. Beginning life as Cassius Clay, Ali would struggle against opponents both in and out of the ring. Segregation and racism stood as obstacles in his path, but as he climbed the boxing ranks, his social conscience grew. He refused to be pigeonholed as a stereotypical black athlete in the 1960s and changed his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam.

Bringing together today's leading scholars, both established seniors and younger, cutting-edge academics, Stefan Brink and Neil Price have constructed the first single work to gather innovative research from a spectrum of disciplines (including archaeology, history, philology, comparative religion, numismatics, and cultural geography) to create the most comprehensive Viking Age book of its kind ever attempted.

In When McKinsey Comes to Town, two prizewinning investigative journalists have written a portrait of the company sharply at odds with its public image. Bogdanich and Forsythe have penetrated the veil of secrecy surrounding McKinsey by conducting hundreds of interviews, obtaining tens of thousands of revelatory documents, and following rule #1 of investigative reporting: Follow the money. When McKinsey Comes to Town is a a devastating portrait of a firm whose work has often made the world more unequal, more corrupt, and more dangerous.

The story of a dog so brave he saved lives and won hearts. This is the true heart-warming story of Stubby, a small, stump-tailed terrier who fought alongside Allied forces on the Western Front during World War I. This brave and clever dog could detect enemy soldiers, impending gas attacks, and even salute higher-ranking officers! But even more, this is the story of the remarkable friendship between an American soldier named Robert Conroy and the stray who adopted him and his unit.

David Stahel's groundbreaking new account of Operation Typhoon captures the perspectives of both the German high command and individual soldiers, revealing that despite success on the battlefield the wider German war effort was in far greater trouble than is often acknowledged.

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).

World War 1 for Kids is a must read for all younger people! Includes over 20 photographs bringing the war to life! Did you know? Sydney Lewis was just 12 when he joined the army! Did you know? 35,000 miles of trenches were dug during the war! World War 1 for Kids takes you on an exciting journey through World War 1, packed with amazing stories, heroic acts, how battles were fought and what really happened including: ● How the assassination of an Austrian Archduke in Bosnia led to a global war! ● The major battles and the turning points of the war. ● Which countries took part and on ...

For more than a millennium, the Byzantine Empire presided over the juncture between East and West, as well as the transition from the classical to the modern world. Rather than recounting the standard chronology of emperors and battles, leading Byzantium scholar Jonathan Harris focuses on a succession of archetypal figures, families, places, and events.

A guide to writing a full-length transformational nonfiction book, from an editor with two decades' experience working with authors from all walks of life.

The ghost of a weeping woman dressed in white, La Llorona, is often spotted beside bodies of water. People in Mexico and in the southwestern United States have claimed to hear her wailing in the night, crying out for her drowned children. This centuries-old legend says that if the wailing woman gets too close, she will drag you to a watery grave.

On remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand live the last 91 kakapo parrots on earth. These trusting, flightless, and beautiful birds - the largest and most unusual parrots on earth - have suffered devastating population loss. Now, on an island refuge with the last of the species, New Zealand’s National Kakapo Recovery Team is working to restore the kakapo population. With the help of 14 humans who share a single hut and a passion for saving these odd ground-dwelling birds, the kakapo are making a comeback in New Zealand.