In this final volume of a towering work that is both a literary masterpiece and a living memorial to the untold millions of Soviet martyrs, Solzhenitsyn's epic narrative moves to its astounding and unforeseen climax. We now see that this great cathedral of a book not only commemorates those massed victims but celebrates the unquenched spirit of resistance that flickered and then burst into flame, even in Stalin's special camps.

Of the Archipelago as a whole, Le Monde has said, It is the epic of our times. An epic is always the creation of an entire people, written by the one person who has the creative power and the genius to become the spokesman for his nation. And in this work, we hear a people speaking through the impassioned, intrepid, ironic, furious, lyrical, brutal, and often tender voice of the narrator.

In The Eve of Destruction Peter Biskind reveals the ideological battles behind the violent and seemingly mindless escapism of twenty-first-century popular culture.

Wondering why we're constantly inundated with zombies, vampires, witches, aliens from outer space, and a Pandora's box of other supernatural creatures? Drawing on shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, films like Avatar and World War Z, and various other dystopian and supernatural fantasies, cultural critic Peter Biskind explains why these formerly disreputable subjects have suddenly become mainstream, minting money and creating a vast fan base.

Rather than dismissing these fictions as the worst that mass culture has to offer, Biskind reveals them as battlefields on which clashing ideologies struggle for advantage. Right assails left, left bashes right, and both gang up on the center. Biskind shows how the grand bipartisan accord that defined postwar society broke down over successive decades, hammered first from the left by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, and then from the right by the Reagan Revolution, 9/11, and later the Tea Party. Where once we had consensus, we now have polarization. Extremism, which used to be a vice, has become a virtue-and a hallmark-of our popular culture, even as it tears our political system to shreds.

In The Eve of Destruction Peter Biskind reveals the ideological battles behind the violent and seemingly mindless escapism of twenty-first-century popular culture.

Wondering why we're constantly inundated with zombies, vampires, witches, aliens from outer space, and a Pandora's box of other supernatural creatures? Drawing on shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, films like Avatar and World War Z, and various other dystopian and supernatural fantasies, cultural critic Peter Biskind explains why these formerly disreputable subjects have suddenly become mainstream, minting money and creating a vast fan base.

Rather than dismissing these fictions as the worst that mass culture has to offer, Biskind reveals them as battlefields on which clashing ideologies struggle for advantage. Right assails left, left bashes right, and both gang up on the center. Biskind shows how the grand bipartisan accord that defined postwar society broke down over successive decades, hammered first from the left by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, and then from the right by the Reagan Revolution, 9/11, and later the Tea Party. Where once we had consensus, we now have polarization. Extremism, which used to be a vice, has become a virtue-and a hallmark-of our popular culture, even as it tears our political system to shreds.

In this forceful manifesto Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that children in the United States are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. They lack cultural literacy: a grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has. Even if a student has a basic competence in the English language, he or she has little chance of entering the American mainstream without knowing what a silicon chip is, or when the Civil War was fought.

A major bestseller that has engendered a nationwide debate on our educational standards, Cultural Literacy is required listening for parents, teachers, and anyone else concerned with our future as a literate nation. Included are five thousand essential names, dates, phrases, and concepts.

A brutal murder with a golf club and an ingenious plot bursting with snobbery, suspicion, adultery, and secrets...

The quiet village of Swevenings seemed an English pastoral paradise, until the savagely beaten body of a lord was found near a tranquil stream. Suddenly, the playground of British blue bloods has been soiled by murder and the lowest sort of intrigue. But if anyone can clean it up, it's the famous Inspector Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard. Roderick Alleyn's investigation takes him through petty vendettas, an ex-commander's blend of whiskey and archery, and cocktails on the lawn with a femme fatale. But the motive he's angling for lies even deeper than the trout stream beneath the rustic bridge.

The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in the stream-a fish that may very well be the key to the whole mystery.

In this landmark study of Western thought, Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of our great thinkers of classic philosophy and questions many pieces of conventional wisdom. From the pre-Socratic philosophers like Empedocles, through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, and up to the Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, Gottlieb traces the progress of our philosophy as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline. Through example and anecdote, he builds a vivid portrait of the human drive for understanding, providing a fresh appreciation of the philosophical quest, its entertaining and bizarre byways, and its influence on every aspect of life.

In this fascinating true story of artistic genius and personal triumph, the author brings to life Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, two talented, passionate artists, and the competitive drive that united and divided them. As this lush, imaginative history illuminates the drama surrounding the birth of a new artistic vision, it also explores the lives of other fascinating individuals, from Donatello and Masaccio to Cosimo de' Medici and Leon Battista Alberti. The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance offers a glorious tour of fifteenth-century Florence, a bustling city on the verge of greatness, during a time of flourishing creativity.

Improve your personal and professional relationships In this seminal book on helping, corporate culture and organizational development guru Ed Schein analyzes the dynamics of helping relationships, explains why help is often not helpful, and shows what any would-be-helper must do to insure that help is actually provided. Many words are used for helping, but they all have common dynamics and processes. Schein shows how to resolve the inequities and role ambiguities of helping relationships, describes the different roles that helpers can take once the relationship is balanced, and explains how to build a balanced relationship and how to intervene as that relationship develops.

Accidental death-by-dart, or murder?

At the Plume of Feathers in south Devon one midsummer evening, eight people are gathered together in the tap-room. After an evening of friendly darts and vintage brandy, a distinguished, although amorous, barrister is in no condition to drive-or walk. The poor fellow's expired, leaving one less lawyer in the world. Everyone in the cozy pub swears that the untimely death was caused by a dart that punctured the victim's finger. But to inspector Roderick Alleyn, the accident was really a case of murder.

A distinguished painter, a celebrated actor, a woman graduate, a plump lady from County Clare, and a Devonshire farmer all play their parts in the unraveling of the problem.

In The Eve of Destruction Peter Biskind reveals the ideological battles behind the violent and seemingly mindless escapism of twenty-first-century popular culture.

Wondering why we're constantly inundated with zombies, vampires, witches, aliens from outer space, and a Pandora's box of other supernatural creatures? Drawing on shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, films like Avatar and World War Z, and various other dystopian and supernatural fantasies, cultural critic Peter Biskind explains why these formerly disreputable subjects have suddenly become mainstream, minting money and creating a vast fan base.

Rather than dismissing these fictions as the worst that mass culture has to offer, Biskind reveals them as battlefields on which clashing ideologies struggle for advantage. Right assails left, left bashes right, and both gang up on the center. Biskind shows how the grand bipartisan accord that defined postwar society broke down over successive decades, hammered first from the left by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and Watergate, and then from the right by the Reagan Revolution, 9/11, and later the Tea Party. Where once we had consensus, we now have polarization. Extremism, which used to be a vice, has become a virtue-and a hallmark-of our popular culture, even as it tears our political system to shreds.