Collection: Adult

The previously unpublished second volume of Nick Brokhausen's vivid and riveting memoir of his experiences in MACV-SOG in Vietnam.

"This battle-scarred memoir is an excellent tribute to the generation that fought, laughed, and died in Southeast Asia." -New York Journal of Books

Whispers in the Tall Grass is the second volume of Nick Brokhausen's riveting memoir of his time serving in Recon Teams Habu and Crusader, CNN, part of MACV-SOG. These small recon teams, comprising Americans and indigenous Montagnards, conducted some of the most dangerous missions of the war, infiltrating areas controlled by the North Vietnamese in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Picking up where We Few left off, Whispers in the Tall Grass opens as the war moves into a new phase. The enemy are using special formations to hunt recon teams and missions are now rarely accomplished without heavy contact. Despite the teams' careful prep, losses are mounting. More and more missions are extracted by Bright Lights until eventually classic recon missions are almost impossible, and the teams briefly trial HALO insertion. Finally, as the US prepares to withdraw, the teams undertake back-to-back missions directing air strikes and disrupting supply lines to ease the pressure on the ARVN. Broken by the pace, but desperate not to leave the Yards, Brokhausen is ordered to out-process, his request for extension denied, and is forced to leave his friends--his brothers--behind.

Written in the same vivid, immediate style that made We Few a cult classic, Whispers in the Tall Grass follows Habu, Crusader and other teams as they undertake missions in this new, deadlier phase of the war. The narrative veers from hair-raising to tragic and back as the teams insert into hot targets, act as Bright Light for stricken teams, and play hard in between missions to diffuse the ever-rising tension.

Brokhausen's account brings home the reality and the detail of operating for days within mere meters of the enemy, and movingly convey the bonds that war creates between soldiers.

"Spell Freedom draws us in with lucid prose, filling in the holes of American history with the work of Septima Clark and Bernice Robinson and their compatriots, who deftly wielded reading and writing as their weapons of choice in the 20th century fight for first class citizenship for all." --Margot Lee Shetterly, bestselling author of Hidden Figures

The acclaimed author of the "stirring, definitive, and engrossing" (NPR) The Woman's Hour returns with the story of four activists whose audacious plan to restore voting rights to Black Americans laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.

In the summer of 1954, educator Septima Clark and small businessman Esau Jenkins travelled to rural Tennessee's Highlander Folk School, an interracial training center for social change founded by Myles Horton, a white southerner with roots in the labor movement. There, the trio united behind a shared mission: preparing Black southerners to pass the daunting Jim Crow era voter registration literacy tests that were designed to disenfranchise them.

Together with beautician-turned-teacher Bernice Robinson, they launched the underground Citizenship Schools project, which began with a single makeshift classroom hidden in the back of a rural grocery store. By the time the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965, the secretive undertaking had established more than nine hundred citizenship schools across the South, preparing tens of thousands of Black citizens to read and write, demand their rights--and vote. Simultaneously, it nurtured a generation of activists--many of them women--trained in community organizing, political citizenship, and tactics of resistance and struggle who became the grassroots foundation of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King called Septima Clark, "Mother of the Movement."

In the vein of Hidden Figures and Devil in the Grove, Spell Freedom is both a riveting, crucially important lens onto our past, and a deeply moving story for our present.

From the moment Star Wars burst onto the screen in 1977, audiences have been in equal parts fascinated and appalled by the half-man/half-machine hybrid Darth Vader. In 1999, creator George Lucas began the story of how Anakin Skywalker grew up to train as a Jedi under Obi-Wan Kenobi, found love with the Queen of Naboo, Padmé Amidala, before turning to the dark side of his nature and becoming more machine than man.

After driving the development of nascent digital technology, George Lucas perceived how he could create new creatures and new worlds on a grander scale than ever before. He created the first digital blockbuster, and met fierce resistance when he pushed for widespread digital cameras, sets, characters, and projection - all of which are now used throughout the industry. He essentially popularized the modern way of making movies.

Made with the full cooperation of George Lucas and Lucasfilm, this second volume covers the making of the prequel trilogy -- Episode I The Phantom Menace, Episode II Attack of the Clones, and Episode III Revenge of the Sith -- and features exclusive interviews with Lucas and his collaborators. The book is profusely illustrated with script pages, production documents, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, stills, and posters.

For as long as Judaism has been a religion, "Jewish" has been a culture--one whose unique blend of ritual and realism has kept its people going for some 3,000 years. In The Jewish Way to a Good Life, Rabbi Shira Stutman invites readers of every faith--and none--to do chesed (good work), foster tzedek (justice), practice shabbat (rest), and ultimately find happiness.

From Love and Sex to Mourning and Money, Rabbi Shira visits ten realms where we all get lost on occasion, to deliver spirited, sometimes surprising wisdom. On love: Sex is meant to be fun and liberating. On rest: Time is even more sacred than things. Again and again, she reveals how customs have survived not out of obligation, but because they meet our deepest needs--from shiva, which allows mourning families not to be OK, to the unbridled joy of dancing the hora at weddings.

For anyone seeking community, meaning, or simply "something more," The Jewish Way to a Good Life offers practical, time-tested ways to enrich our daily routines and engage those around us. By looking in and reaching out, we can all help tikkun olam--heal the world.

#1 Bestseller in Women & Judaism

Learn how to make homemade pickles, preserves, sourdough, kombucha, yogurt, cured meats, vinegar, and more!

From the bestselling Australian authors of The Abundant Garden, Niva and Yotam Kay bring you The Abundant Kitchen--your ultimate guide to mastering the art of fermentation and preservation at home. Discover how to create delicious, probiotic-rich foods and transform seasonal produce into pantry staples full of flavor and nutrition.

Inside, you'll find 100 easy, step-by-step recipes for making:

• Homemade pickles, jams, and preserves
• Freshly baked sourdough bread and koji-based ferments
• Naturally carbonated kombucha, ginger beer, and vinegar
• Cured meats, yogurts, and other cultured dairy products

Perfect for both beginners and experienced fermenters, this beautifully crafted guide includes helpful tips, troubleshooting advice, and inspiring flavor variations from the Kays' vibrant Middle Eastern and global culinary influences.

Whether you're looking to reduce food waste, live more sustainably, or simply explore the joy of homemade fermented foods, The Abundant Kitchen will become your go-to fermenting bible--filled with timeless techniques, nourishing recipes, and creative ways to preserve your garden's bounty all year round.

An illuminating look at the adaptive nature of our memories--and how their flexibility and fallibility help us survive and thrive

We tend to think of our memories as impressions of the past that remain fully intact, preserved somewhere inside our brains. In fact, we construct and reconstruct our memories every time we attempt to recall them. Memory Lane introduces readers to the cutting-edge science of human memory, revealing how our recollections of the past are constantly adapting and changing, and why a faulty memory isn't always a bad thing.

Shedding light on what memory is and what it evolved to do, Ciara Greene and Gillian Murphy discuss the many benefits of our flexible yet fallible memory system, including helping us to maintain a coherent identity, sustain social bonds, and vividly imagine possible futures. But these flexible and easily distorted memories can also result in significant harm, leading us to provide erroneous eyewitness testimony or fall victim to fake news. Greene and Murphy explain why our flawed memories are not a failure of evolution but rather a byproduct of the perfectly imperfect way our minds have evolved to solve problems. They also grapple with important ethical questions surrounding the study and manipulation of memory.

Blending engaging storytelling with the latest science, the authors demonstrate how our continuous reconstruction of the past makes us who we are, helps us to interpret our experiences, and explains why no two trips down memory lane are ever quite the same.

What if peak performance wasn't myth but a matter of understanding proven systems and strategies? In an ideal world, you could optimize mind, body, and spirit--and now you can.

Biohacker and coach Ben Greenfield reveals how to unlock boundless energy in his popular book Boundless. Since health and performance science evolve rapidly, Ben has applied his industry knowledge, self-experimentation, and extensive research to create this thoroughly revised and updated edition, which covers everything you need to upgrade your daily routine--from sleep and cognition to fat loss, immunity, beauty, fitness, and age reversal.

Key updates include:

• Mitochondrial Optimization: Boost energy by enhancing mitochondrial density and biogenesis, minimizing metabolic dysfunction.
• Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Beat stress, sleep soundly, and increase HRV using electricity, light, and sound to tune your nervous system.
• Sleep Optimization: Step-by-step methods to reset circadian rhythm, overcome jet lag, and optimize sleep, naps, and meditation for deep recovery.
• Healthy Fats: Navigate fats and fatty acids, mitigate seed oil damage, and decode menus and food labels.
• EMF Protection: Understand how EMFs affect the brain and the devices that can shield your body, home, and office.
• Libido and Sexual Performance: Increase pleasure, decrease time between orgasms, and deepen relationships.
• Chronic Infections and Detox: Get insights on stealth co-infections, mold, mycotoxins, Lyme, and CIRS, with safe, effective management protocols.
• Top Doctors and Clinics: A curated list of the best doctors and medical teams specializing in precision and functional medicine.
• Nootropics and Peptides: New brain-boosting smart drugs and peptides, with instructions for managing TBIs and concussions.
• Age-Reversal Tactics: Latest supplements, drugs, and biohacks from Ben's recent longevity experiments.
• Sleep Disruptors: Uncover a hidden sleep assassin not mentioned in the first edition and how to address it.
• Minimalist Fat-Burning: Use Ben's go-to moves to burn fat without hitting the gym.
• Fat-Loss Peptides: Updated insights on peptides like Ozempic and GLP-1 agonists, plus safe, natural approaches to curb cravings.
• Longevity Tips: Strategies for extending life, even without the resources of a tech billionaire.
• Fitness and Daily Routines: Revised fitness plans and daily habits to boost physical and mental performance.
• Biohacked Home: Strategies to optimize invisible variables like air, light, water, and electricity in your home.
• Injury Recovery: Tools to heal injuries quickly and reduce chronic pain, so you can enjoy the activities you love.
• Gut Health: Fix gut issues with up-to-date tests, supplements, diets, detox protocols, and healing strategies.
• Diet Insights: Ben's updated views on keto and carnivore diets, including healthier modifications.
• Immune System Support: Recommendations for tackling diseases like cancer and viruses, with Ben's detailed action plans for chronic disease treatments.
• Self-Quantification: Latest labs, tests, and reference ranges for analyzing your body, brain, blood, and biomarkers.
• Oral Care: Ben's cutting-edge approach to dental health and its impact on overall wellness.
• Travel and Busy Days: How Ben stays healthy with minimalist travel and dietary strategies.

Winner of the István Hont Book Prize, Institute of Intellectual History
Finalist for the Cundill History Prize
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

A sweeping history of the rise of personal choice in the modern world and how it became equated with freedom

Choice touches virtually every aspect of our lives, from what to buy and where to live to whom to love, what profession to practice, and even what to believe. But the option to choose in such matters was not something we always possessed or even aspired to. At the same time, we have been warned by everybody from marketing gurus to psychologists about the negative consequences stemming from our current obsession with choice. It turns out that not only are we not very good at realizing our personal desires, we are also overwhelmed with too many possibilities and anxious about what best to select. There are social costs too. How did all this happen? The Age of Choice tells the long history of the invention of choice as the defining feature of modern freedom.

Taking readers from the seventeenth century to today, Sophia Rosenfeld describes how the early modern world witnessed the simultaneous rise of shopping as an activity and religious freedom as a matter of being able to pick one's convictions. Similarly, she traces the history of choice in romantic life, politics, and the ideals of human rights. Throughout, she pays particular attention to the lives of women, those often with the fewest choices, who have frequently been the drivers of this change. She concludes with an exploration of how reproductive rights have become a symbolic flashpoint in our contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice.

Drawing on a wealth of sources ranging from novels and restaurant menus to the latest scientific findings about choice in psychology and economics, The Age of Choice urges us to rethink the meaning of choice and its promise and limitations in modern life.

Novo Clavis Esoterika contains copiously illustrated and expanded versions of Timothy Hogan's critically acclaimed The Alchemical Keys to Masonic Ritual and The 32 Secret Paths of Solomon, as well several key texts on Martinism, Gnosticism, alchemy, and the Hermetic Tradition. Originally published as a limited edition book, this new second edition version contains all of the same material, but in a new format. Novo Clavis Esoterika contains the following works by author Timothy Hogan: The Alchemical Keys to Masonic ritual; Ethiopia in Freemasonry; The 32 Secret Paths of Solomon; Gnostic Reflections in Freemasonry; What of Health? What of Healing?; Parzival and Martinism; The Transmutation of Fear; Performing the Great Work; The Production of the True Philosopher's Stone This book is sure to be thoughtful reading for anyone interested in the esoteric tradition!