Michael J. Sandel

 Very good clean tight copy, dust jacket has a tear.Harvard university professor.

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

New York

What's the Right Thing to Do?

What are our obligations to others as people in a free society? Should government tax the rich to help the poor? Is the free market fair? Is it sometimes wrong to tell the truth? Is killing sometimes morally required? Is it possible, or desirable, to legislate morality? Do individual rights and the common good conflict?Michael J. Sandel's "Justice" course is one of the most popular and influential at Harvard. Up to a thousand students pack the campus theater to hear Sandel relate the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, and this fall, public television will air a series based on the course. Justice offers readers the same exhilarating journey that captivates Harvard students. This book is a searching, lyrical exploration of the meaning of justice, one that invites readers of all political persuasions to consider familiar controversies in fresh and illuminating ways. Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, patriotism and dissent, the moral limits of markets-Sandel dramatizes the challenge of thinking through these con?icts, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise-an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life.

1st edition , 1st printing * Justice

00cb00c7-443e-4d25-a5c1-ee2ff323352d-1

Jeffrey Toobin

Very good dust jacket. Very  clean tight copy,spine upper part slides slightly . First printing.


Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst

"The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, [this book] ... recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1,500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). Toobin portrays the lunacy of the ... radicals of the SLA and the ... mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst, and re-creates her melodramatic trial"--Dust jacket flap.

1st ed./1st * American Heiress

010a7a84-984c-4387-8276-f4bbe53c2e88-1

Water stain on thevdust jacket as shown. Harvard University Press. 

Prohibition in New York City 

Dry Manhattan 

0157dac9-4d79-43e2-99a5-6eedb8ba5b0b-0

American history

Volkmar Gantzhorn

Oversized Hardcover (4 to 6 lbs)

In this volume, two and a half thousand years are presented and analysed, The author's research has resulted in completely new insights and relationships -- a revision of the history of the oriental carpet. He has been able to trace the pattern back to Phrygian and other traditions, which were carried on by the Armenians up to the beginning of our own century: carpets as symbols of power, as deeply religious abstract textile icons. The oriental carpet is neither of nomadic origin, nor does its origin lie in central Asia; it is a product of ancient oriental civilisations in the Armenian uplands at the crossroads of the oldest trade routes between west, north and south. The author's assertion is supported by the visual material he presents. For the first time coloured illustrations of the most important and most splendid examples of every type of carpet have been included. The illustrations include book illumination, paintings, arts and crafts and details of architecture and clarify developments hitherto unrecognised. This work documents what is probably Armenia's main contribution to world history. It is a must for any connoisseur of carpets and for anyone who does not wish merely to dream of the Orient. Volkmar Gantzhorn has specialised in Christian and Islamic art in recent years. His continuing research is concerned with surface ornamentation in book illumination, architecture, ceramics and arts and crafts in general. --jacket.

Ju-Oriental Carpets

01d1771e-cd43-4325-b063-d104cc9205aa-0

Ha Jin

A Life of Li Bai (Li Po)

With the instincts of a master novelist, Ha Jin draws on a wide range of historical and literary sources to weave the life story of Li Bai (701-762), whose poems--shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life--rang throughout the Tang Dynasty and continue to be celebrated today. Jin follows Li Bai from his birth on China's western frontier through his travels as a young man seeking a place among the empire's civil servants, his wanderings allowing him to hone his poetic craft, share his verses, and win him friends and admirers along the way. In his later years, he becomes swept up in a military rebellion that alters the course of China, and his death is surrounded by speculation and legend that continues to be spun to this day. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it, and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses in the world.

1st Ed/1st * The Banished Immortal

029277ec-e2dd-4418-929d-014f4e6fc957-1

Bruce Springsteen

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himselfto writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs. He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger, and darkness that fueled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as The Big Bang: seeing Elvis Presley s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candor, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work. Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks, or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs ("Thunder Road, "Badlands." "Darkness on the edge of Town. "The River" "Born in the U.S.A." "The Rising, " abd "The Ghost of Tom Joad," to name just a few). Bruce Springsteen s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences.

Born to Run (1st Ed/1st)

098c0239-3227-482f-8d5a-1c2a907d332b-1

Curt Gentry

1992 PEN Center West Literary Award for Non-Fiction. 
Very good clean tight copy. Very good dust jacket,price Clipped. First edition, first printing. 

The Man and the Secrets

Divulges how the controversial FBI director's paranoia and his files--sustained his power during Mccarthyism, the Kennedy years, and the civil rights movement

J. Edgar Hoover

00b25081-1033-4919-a073-5cce9bc937a6-1

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Clean tight copy. Pulitzer-winning author. 

A Memoir

An eccentric cast of characters populates the autobiography of a young girl who roots for the Brooklyn Dodgers with her father, while her mother, who also taught her the joy of books, suffers from a debilitating illness. 125,000 first printing. Tour.

Wait till Next Year *1st edition 5th printing

025b737c-c4e2-4ab3-95a4-dc3bbd22748a-1

Autobiography/Biography

David N. Feldman

Steven Dresner

Taking a Company Public Without an IPO

Written for CEOs, CFOs, and the investment bankers, lawyers, and auditors who advise them, this is the first book to explain how reverse mergers work, from the business and legal points of view.

Signed 1st Ed 1st Print * Reverse Mergers

0248a0ac-c703-4357-9fc2-841dc31ac5a6-0

Jonathan A. Knee

Unread condition. Edges of the cover boards lost some color. Acid-free paper. Columbia professor author. First printing.

How the Smartest Investors Lost Billions in Education

A fascinating postmortem of four failed efforts to transform education.

Class Clowns (2017 1st Printing)

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John Anderson

Very good clean tight copy, very good dust jacket. Collector’s.

The Story of the Barnes Collection

Profiles Albert C. Barnes and Richard Glanton, tracing their rags-to-riches lives while discussing their impact on one of America's most significant private art collections.

signed, inscribed,1st ed./1st* Held Hostage

0977672a-4e0f-4c44-a4d0-5fa57bd4a0d6-1

Business

Cooking Light Editors

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

The Complete Visual Guide to Light Baking

Cooking Light Way to Bake is a celebration of the joy of baking and the pleasure healthier baked treats can bring. Light baking has its own set of techniques, and this book is filled with more than 600 full-color photos showing you exactly how to prepare a wide variety of delectable baked goods, so you get perfect results every time you bake.

Baking is both a science and an art and the nuances are numerous, but there are certain principles and techniques that always hold true. With the right proportion of ingredients and a few essential facts and easy-to-learn skills, you can make your light baked goods shine. Inside, you'll find a primer on those guidelines and a glossary of ingredients to help get you started.

Technique is key. In traditional baking, butter and sugar can hide a host of baking mistakes, but healthier baking doesn't afford that luxury. This book offers you the secrets to light baking success. From creating flaky biscuits to making a perfect piecrust, you'll find hundreds of tips and the nutrition information you need to create memorable homemade baked goods.

First printing *Cooking Light Way to Bake

055bcc16-0999-467c-add6-b7e0602c9cf7-1

Librairie Librairie Larousse

The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, Completely Revised and Updated

Larousse Gastronomique has been the foremost resource of culinary knowledge since its initial publication in 1938. Long revered for its encyclopedic entries on everything from cooking techniques, ingredients, and recipes to equipment, food histories, and culinary biographies, it is the one book every professional chef and avid home cook must have on his or her kitchen shelf. In fact, Julia Child once wrote, "If I were allowed only one reference book in my library, Larousse Gastronomique would be it, without question."

The culinary landscape has changed dramatically in the last decade, prompting a complete revision of this classic work. Larousse Gastronomique has now been updated to add the latest advancements that have forever changed the way we cook, including modern technological methods, such as sous-vide cooking and molecular gastronomy. All-new color ingredient-identification photographs give this edition a fresh, elegant look. And for the first time, Larousse features more than 400 reportage photos–candid images of upscale restaurants from around the world–that give behind-the-scenes access into the kitchens where the finest food is created. Dozens of new biographies of people who have made significant contributions to the food world debut in this revision, including such luminaries as Ferran Adrià, Daniel Boulud, Alice Waters, Gaston Lenôtre, Thomas Keller, James Beard, and Julia Child.

With entries arranged in encyclopedic fashion, Larousse Gastronomique is not only incredibly user-friendly, but it is also a fantastic read for anyone who loves food. Skip from Roasting to Robert (a classic French sauce), and then to Robiola (the Italian cheese); or go from Sake to Salad–with dozens of recipes–and on to Salamander, a type of oven used in professional kitchens for caramelizing (and named after the legendary fire-resistant animal). An index at the end of the book of all 3,800 recipes for cuisines from around the world makes it easy to find a myriad of preparations for any ingredient (eggs or chicken, for example) or type of dish (such as cakes or sauces).

The unparalleled depth and breadth of information–from the traditional to the cutting-edge–make this newest edition of Larousse Gastronomique indispensable for every cook.

Larousse Gastronomique (1st US Ed/1st)

056354e0-020e-45c7-b431-70ac1ac292f2-1

Antoine Bouterin

Joan Schwartz

Four Generations of Traditions and Recipes

Provides recipes for soups, sauces, vegetables, breads, desserts, meats, and poultry dishes that represent the essence of French Provencal cooking

Cooking Provence

06281f30-aa24-4b5d-bf9c-b9922e9b540a-0

Cookbooks

John Le Carré

An owner’s name.  The cover boards have light stain. Slight lean to spine. Clean and tight text. First printing . Strong binding.

"In the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and with Britain on the brink of economic ruin, a young English couple takes a tennis vacation in Antigua. There they meet Dima, a Russian who styles himself the world's number one money launderer. Dima wants, among other things, a game of tennis. Back in London, the couple is subjected to an all-night interrogation by the British Secret Service, which also needs their help. Their acquiescence will lead them on a precarious journey through Paris to a safe house in Switzerland, helpless pawns in a game of nations that reveals the unholy alliances between the Russian mafia, the City of London, the government and the competing factions of the British Secret Service"--Cover, p. 2.

Our Kind of Traitor (1st Ed/1st)

007c9570-015d-47ca-b6e6-7cd072f2f1df-1

Adrian McKinty

Very good clean copy. Very good dust jacket. First edition, first printing.

2019 Time magazine Books of the Year for The Chain
2020 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2020 winner for The Chain.2020 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award longlist for The Chain; CWA Body in the Library longlist for The Chain[
2020 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Hardcover Novel, The Chain.
2020 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction for The Chain.
2020 Macavity Awards for Best Mystery Novel by Mystery Readers International for The Chain.
2020 Barry Award (for crime novels) for Best Mystery Novel for The Chain.—-Wikipedia 

Little toning. Unread copy.

VICTIM. SURVIVOR. ABDUCTOR. CRIMINAL. YOU WILL BECOME EACH ONE. "This nightmarish story is incredibly propulsive and original. You won't shake it for a long time." STEPHEN KING "McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years. His plots tempt you to read at top speed, but don't give in: this writing - sharply observant, intelligent and shot through with black humor - should be savored." TANA FRENCH "A masterpiece. You have never read anything quite like THE CHAIN and you will never be able to forget it." DON WINSLOW * * * * * YOUR PHONE RINGS. A STRANGER HAS KIDNAPPED YOUR CHILD. TO FREE THEM YOU MUST ABDUCT SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD. YOUR CHILD WILL BE RELEASED WHEN YOUR VICTIM'S PARENTS KIDNAP ANOTHER CHILD. IF ANY OF THESE THINGS DON'T HAPPEN: YOUR CHILD WILL BE KILLED. YOU ARE NOW PART OF THE CHAIN* * * * * "Diabolical, unnerving, and gives a whole new meaning to the word "relentless". Adrian McKinty just leapt to the top of my list of must-read suspense novelists. He's the real deal." DENNIS LEHANE "Pairing an irresistible concept with a winner protagonist, THE CHAIN promises to be your new addiction once you succumb to the first enticing page." ALAFAIR BURKE "A grade-A-first-rate-edge-of-your-seat thriller. I can't believe what went through my mind while reading it." ATTICA LOCKE "Diabolically gripping. Nail-biting, smart, and convincing. Hang on tight, because once you start this book, you can't stop - you'll be caught in THE CHAIN." MEG GARDINER "THE CHAIN is the rare thriller that's not only fiendishly clever but also powerfully empathetic, with both hair-raising twists and complex, fully-realized characters."LOU BERNEY "YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST. AND YOU WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE THE LAST."

1st ed./1st * The Chain

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Ruth Reichl

Famous food writer and editor. Signed first printing. Acid-free paper. Strong binding. A tear in jacket. A remainder mark. 

A Novel

Working as a public relations hotline consultant for a once-prestigious culinary magazine, Billie Breslin unexpectedly enters a world of New York restaurateurs and artisanal purveyors while reading World War II letters exchanged between a plucky 12-year-old and James Beard. A first novel by the best-selling author of Tender at the Bone. 150,000 first printing.

Delicious! (Signed 1st Ed/1st)

01a69c55-3ba7-4e93-add6-e133df11e07d-1

Fiction

Moses Maimonides

Unread conditions. Exam the spine in photos.

History

Written in the 12th century in Arabic by a faithful Jewish man, "The Guide for the Perplexed" is a work that explores the contradiction a very intelligent mind clearly saw between the tradition in which he was raised to believe and the growing philosophy of Arabian and Western culture. In Maimonides' time, there was an emerging disparity between the Law and a new level of philosophical sophistication, which he attempts to bridge in this work, primarily through the use of metaphor, though also acknowledging this method's limitations. "The Guide for the Perplexed" follows the form of a three-volume letter to a student, which was quickly translated to Hebrew and spread throughout the known world and carefully read by Jews and non-Jewish philosophers alike well through the Middle Ages. This work was so successful in its organization and arguments that it has long been a classic of the Jewish religion and of the secular world of philosophy. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and is translated with an introduction and analysis by M. Friedlander.

The Guide for the Perplexed

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Patti Davis

Very good clean tight copy, very good dust jacket. First edition, first printing.
President Ronald Reagan’ s daughter.

How Caregivers Can See Beyond Alzheimer?s

"For the decade of my father's illness, I felt as if I was floating in the deep end, tossed by waves, carried by currents, but not drowning," writes Patti Davis in this searingly honest and deeply moving account of the challenges involved in taking care of someone stricken with Alzheimer's.When her father, the fortieth president of the United States, announced his Alzheimer's diagnosis in an address to the American public in 1994, the world had not yet begun speaking about this cruel, mysterious disease. Yet overnight, Ronald Reagan and his immediate family became the face of Alzheimer's, and Davis, once content to keep her family at arm's length, quickly moved across the country to be present during "the journey that would take [him] into the sunset of [his] life."Empowered by all she learned from caring for her father--about the nature of the illness, but also about the loss of a parent--Davis founded a support group for the family members and friends of Alzheimer's patients. Along with a medically trained cofacilitator, she met with hundreds of exhausted and devastated attendees to talk through their pain and confusion. While Davis was aware that her own circumstances were uniquely fortunate, she knew there were universal truths about dementia, and even surprising gifts to be found in a long goodbye.With Floating in the Deep End, Davis draws on a welter of experiences to provide a singular account of battling Alzheimer's. Eloquently woven with personal anecdotes and helpful advice tailored specifically for the overlooked caregiver, this essential guide covers every potential stage of the disease from the initial diagnosis through the ultimate passing and beyond. Including such tips as how to keep a loved one hygienic, and careful responses for when they drift to a time gone by, Davis always stresses the emotional milestones that come with slow-burning grief.Along the way, Davis shares how her own fractured family came together. With unflinching candor, she recalls when her mother, Nancy, who for decades could not show her children compassion or vulnerability, suddenly broke down in her arms. Davis also offers tender moments in which her father, a fabled movie star whom she always longed to know better, revealed his true self--always kind, even when he couldn't recognize his own daughter.An inherently wise work that promises to become a classic, Floating in the Deep End ultimately provides hope to struggling families while elegantly illuminating the fragile human condition.

1st ed./1st * Floating in the Deep End

06f5e905-878a-483b-a52c-03df55cdc5f6-1

Health, Self help

Fred Krupp

Miriam Horn

Double signatures. First printing. Unread condition. Strong binding.Little shelf wear.

The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming

Krupp, longtime president of the Environmental Defense Fund, and Horn present a stirring and hopeful call to arms as they feature the bold innovators and investors who are reinventing energy and the ways we use it.

Earth the Sequel * Double signed 1st ed./1st

1a6f25f0-d573-4ef3-9e2e-af6453309307-1

Junior League of Houston Inc. Staff

Very good clean tight copy, in dust jacket with shelf wear.

Recipes and Traditions to Remember

The 1997 national award-winning cookbook offers over 500 mouthwatering recipes that feature fresh ingredients and ease of preparation. Over 100 color photographs and a fabulous entertaining section are profiled. Unique sidebars highlight common traditions associated with food (for example, the history of the birthday cake). The book is a winner of the Benjamin Franklin, Small Press, Tabasco, Mid-America Publishers Association, Writer's Digest, and several other design and content awards.

Stop and Smell the Rosemary  * 2002 4th printing 

258f15a2-a383-4073-b4f9-6d7cf75b74ed-0

Henry C. Lu

Oversized Paperback (4 to 6 lbs)

Traditional Methods for Remedy and Prevention

The most comprehensive, trusted, and user-friendly guide to Chinese traditional medicine is finally available in a handy paperback.

A perennial backlist bestseller in hardcover, Chinese Natural Cures remains the most complete and up-to-date book available in the Western world on the system and wisdom of Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine is made up of four distinct methods of treatment: the use of herbs, acupuncture, the use of certain foods, and massage. Its practices can be used side-by-side with traditional Western medicine and have been growing steadily in popularity in the U.S. over the past decade. Written by world renowned practitioner Dr. Henry C. Lu, Chinese Natural Cures is a complete and user-friendly guide to the principals and methods of Chinese medicine. Included here are treatments for dozens of ailments and complaints such as body pains, digestive problems, sleep disorders, infertility, and more. An encyclopedic section on herbs includes the classification of all Chinese herbs and their application, and a comprehensive section on the Chinese system of food cures offers vital information on how a wide variety of foods can prevent or cure disease. Dozens of easy-to-follow charts organize all of this invaluable information for reference at a glance.

This handsomely designed new paperback edition is smaller and handier, and is sure to bring the traditions of Chinese medicine to an even wider audience.

Chinese Natural Cures

4e7f47eb-4f2b-48cc-b1c5-63facf03da4d-1

Nature, Animals

Clean and tight, no writing or underlining.

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Harvard professor assesses the role of justice in today's society as well as the moral responsibilities faced by everyday citizens, weighing a range of issues from euthanasia and abortion to affirmative action and tax structuring. Reprint. A best-selling book.

Justice

Daniel Kahneman

Olivier Sibony

Cass R. Sunstein

Collaboration among the professors from Princeton, Oxford, and Harvard. Self help, improving judgements. 
Strong binding. First printing. Clean and tight.

A Flaw in Human Judgment

From the bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow and the co-author of Nudge, a groundbreaking exploration of why most people make bad judgments, and how to control for that noise.​ Imagine that two doctors in the same city give different diagnoses to identical patients -- or that two judges in the same courthouse give different sentences to people who have committed the same crime. Suppose that different food inspectors give different ratings to indistinguishable restaurants -- or that when a company is handling customer complaints, the resolution depends on who happens to be handling the particular complaint. Now imagine that the same doctor, the same judge, the same inspector, or the same company official makes different decisions, depending on whether it is morning or afternoon, or Monday rather than Wednesday. These are examples of noise: variability in judgments that should be identical. In Noise, Daniel Kahneman, Cass R. Sunstein, and Olivier Sibony show how noise contributes significantly to errors in all fields, including medicine, law, economic forecasting, police behavior, food safety, bail, security checks at airports, strategy, and personnel selection. And although noise can be found wherever people make judgments and decisions, individuals and organizations alike are commonly oblivious to the role of chance in their judgments and in their actions. Drawing on the latest findings in psychology and behavioral economics, and the same kind of diligent, insightful research that made Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers, Noise explains how and why humans are so susceptible to noise in judgment -- and what we can do about it.

1st Ed /1st * Noise

0394eb72-8f32-4b51-ae84-b1aeb2b23e46

Margaret Wertheim

Award winner author. The very first before first printing. Strong paper and binding. No writing or underlining.

Smoke Rings, Circlons, and Alternative Theories of Everything

For the past fifteen years, acclaimed science writer Margaret Wertheim has been collecting the works of "outsider physicists," many without formal training and all convinced that they have found true alternative theories of the universe. Jim Carter, the Einstein of outsiders, has developed his own complete theory of matter and energy and gravity that he demonstrates with experiments in his backyard,-with garbage cans and a disco fog machine he makes smoke rings to test his ideas about atoms. Captivated by the imaginative power of his theories and his resolutely DIY attitude, Wertheim has been following Carter's progress for the past decade. Centuries ago, natural philosophers puzzled out the laws of nature using the tools of observation and experimentation. Today, theoretical physics has become mathematically inscrutable, accessible only to an elite few. In rejecting this abstraction, outsider theorists insist that nature speaks a language we can all understand. Through a profoundly human profile of Jim Carter, Wertheim's exploration of the bizarre world of fringe physics challenges our conception of what science is, how it works, and who it is for.

Physics on the Fringe * Advance Reading Copy t

11aff93b-0004-4aaf-870c-aed22838da2c-0

Science

Somaiya Daud

Signed 1st Ed 1st Print * Mirage

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Signed

Charles King

Very good clean tight copy, very good dust jacket. First edition, first printing.

The Birth of Modern Istanbul

Brings to life a remarkable era after the 1925 establishment of the Turkish Republic, when the storied city of Istanbul stumbled into the modern world and reshaped the meaning of cosmopolitanism via its ethnically diverse population and importance in the key historical events and cultural movements of the early 20th century. 25,000 first printing.

1st ed./1st * Midnight at the Pera Palace

001bada5-d137-43b7-9902-6bf60c65d411-1

Huge Hardcover (6 to 8 lbs)

A. N. Wilson

Very good clean tight copy, very good dust jacket. 

A History

In its two thousand years of history, London has ruled a rainy island and a globe-spanning empire, it has endured plague and fire and bombing, it has nurtured and destroyed poets and kings, revolutionaries and financiers, geniuses and visionaries of every stripe. To distill the magic and the majesty of this infinitely enthralling city into a single brief volume would seem an impossible task–yet acclaimed biographer and novelist A. N. Wilson brilliantly accomplishes it in London: A History. Founded by the Romans, London was a flourishing provincial capital before falling into ruin with the rest of the Roman Empire. Centuries passed before the city rose to prominence once again when William the Conqueror chose to be crowned king in Westminster Abbey. In Chaucer’s day, London Bridge opened the way for expansion over the Thames. By the time Shakespeare’s plays were being mounted at the Globe, London was a dense, seething, and explosively growing metropolis–a city of brothels and taverns and delicate new palaces and pleasure gardens. With deftly sketched vignettes and memorable portraits in miniature, Wilson conjures up the essence of London through the ages–high finance and gambling during the Georgian age, John Nash’s stunning urban makeover at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the waves of building and immigration that transformed London beyond recognition during the reign of Queen Victoria, the devastation of the two world wars, the painful and corrupt postwar rebuilding effort, and finally the glamorous, polyglot, expensive, and sometimes ridiculous London of today. Every age had its heroes and villains, from church builder Christopher Wren to jail breaker Jack Sheppard, from urbane wit Samuel Johnson to wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, and Wilson places each one in the drama of London’s history. Exuberant, opinionated, surprising, often funny, A. N. Wilson’s London is the perfect match of author and subject. In a one short irresistible volume, Wilson gives us the essence of the people, the architecture, the intrigue, the art and literature and history that make London one of the most fascinating cities in the world.

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