W. W. Norton & Company strana 3 z 13

Seven minutes past midnight on 9 March 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a more than 1,800-degree firestorm that liquefied asphalt and vaporised thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: “If we lose, we’ll be tried as war criminals”. James M. Scott reconstructs in granular detail that horrific night, and describes the development of the B-29, the capture of the Marianas for use as airfields and the change in strategy from high-altitude daylight “precision” bombing to low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing. Most importantly, the raid represented a significant moral shift for America, marking the first time commanders deliberately targeted civilians—which helped pave the way for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki five months later.

In dramatic stories and sweeping panoramas, distinguished historian John T. McGreevy tells the mesmerising story of a Church torn between the forces of reform and reaction for the past 250 years. Anti-monarchist French clerics celebrated the Revolution, but the murder of priests and destruction of churches in the Terror galvanised a powerful conservative reaction that reverberates to this day. Missionaries around the world greatly expanded the Church's influence while bringing new tensions between a culturally diverse syncretism and the ultimate authority of Rome. The aspirations of the faithful for justice in this world-African Catholics fighting for independence, Latin Americans developing a theology of liberation, Polish and South Korean Catholics demanding democratic governments-challenged the politically cautious. The cataclysms of the Second World War, decolonisation, the Second Vatican Council and clerical sexual abuse have each remade the Church, leaving Pope Francis with the superhuman task of charting a path for over one billion Catholics worldwide.

In a sweeping narrative that traverses 600 years, one that eloquently weaves precise historical detail with poignant personal reportage, Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard W. French retells the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in America and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanising engagement with the "darkest" continent. Born in Blackness dramatically retrieves the lives of major African historical figures whose stories have been repeatedly etiolated and erased over centuries, from unimaginably rich medieval African emperors who traded with Asia; to Kongo sovereigns who heroically battled seventeenth-century European powers; to ex-slaves who liberated Haitians from bondage. In doing so, French tells the story of gold, tobacco, sugar and cotton-and the greatest "commodity" of all, the millions of people brought in chains from Africa to the New World, whose reclaimed histories fundamentally help explain our present world.

Comfort food varies from person to person, family to family, region to region. As the author of Modern Jewish Baker and editor of The Nosher, Shannon Sarna has always wanted to tell the story of the Jewish people through food and continues to do so here in her latest book. Modern Jewish Comfort Food showcases recipes and variations that have shaped Jewish cuisine from around the world-including immigration waves from Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, New York City and beyond. Sarna shares many traditional dishes, and then provides exciting variations that will bring heartwarming comfort to the home kitchen. Her Basic Tomato & Pepper Shakshuka is cleverly interpreted into a deep-dish pizza; Classic Potato Latkes invite vegetable-focused variations such as Beet & Carrot and Summer Corn Zucchini; and a multitude of dumplings reflect the range of the Jewish diaspora. Sweets include two kinds of Israeli-Style Yeasted Rugelach, Funfetti Macaroons and more-ready to complete the holiday dessert table. Modern Jewish Comfort Food will inspire home cooks to connect to Jewish foodways and explore the history of this diverse cuisine.

The Heroine with 1,001 Faces dismantles the cult of warrior heroes, revealing a secret history of heroinism at the very heart of our collective cultural imagination. Maria Tatar, a leading authority on fairy tales and folklore, explores how heroines, rarely wielding a sword and often deprived of a pen, have flown beneath the radar even as they have been bent on redemptive missions. Deploying domestic crafts and using words as weapons, they have found ways to survive assaults and rescue others from harm, all while repairing the fraying edges in the fabric of their social worlds. Like the tongueless Philomela, who spins the tale of her rape into a tapestry, or Arachne, who portrays the misdeeds of the gods, they have discovered instruments for securing fairness in the storytelling circles where so-called women’s work—spinning, mending and weaving—is carried out. In a broad-ranging volume that moves with ease from the local to the global, Tatar demonstrates how our new heroines wear their curiosity as a badge of honour rather than a mark of shame and how their “mischief making” evidences compassion and concern. The Heroine with 1,001 Faces creates a luminous arc that takes us from ancient times to the present day. It casts an unusually wide net, expanding the canon and thinking capaciously in global terms, breaking down the boundaries of genre and displaying a sovereign command of cultural context. This, then, is a historic volume that informs our present and its newfound investment in empathy and social justice like no other work of recent cultural history.

Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture-and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks-Horn was troubled to realise what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster travelling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China and the little-known life of the "righteous Gentile" Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, yet so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present. Horn draws upon her travels, her research and also her own family life-trying to explain Shakespeare's Shylock to a curious ten-year-old, her anger when swastikas are drawn on desks in her children's school, the profound perspective offered by traditional religious practice and study-to assert the vitality, complexity and depth of Jewish life against an antisemitism that, far from being disarmed by the mantra of "Never forget", is on the rise. As Horn explores the (not so) shocking attacks on the American Jewish community in recent years, she reveals the subtler dehumanisation built into the public piety that surrounds the Jewish past-making the radical argument that the benign reverence we give to past horrors is itself a profound affront to human dignity.

It's time to leave behind the tired nature-versus-nurture debate. In Dancing Cockatoos and the Dead Man Test , Marlene Zuk asks a more fascinating question: How does behaviour evolve, and how is that process similar-and different-in people and animals? Drawing from a wealth of research, including her own on insects, she explores how genes and the environment work together to produce cockatoos that dance to rock music and ants that heal their injured companions. She follows the different paths cats and dogs took to living with humans and asks whether bees are domestic animals. In exploring intelligence, mating behaviour and fighting disease, Zuk turns to smart spiders, silent crickets and crafty crows. She shows how neither our behaviour nor that of other animals is dictated solely by genes, and that animal behaviour can be remarkably similar to human behaviour-and wonderfully complicated in its own right.

We know that our diet influences our health. But is there more to the adage "you are what you eat?" Connecting the dots from agriculture to medicine, geologist David R. Montgomery and biologist Anne Bikle argue we overlook the other half of a healthy diet: how we grow our food. Journeying from research labs to the fields of regenerative farmers, they uncover scientific and historical evidence for how farming practices-so often disruptive to microbial partnerships-influence soil health and shape the types and amounts of health-promoting minerals, fats and phytochemicals in our crops, meat and dairy-and thus ourselves. Understanding these connections has profound implications for what we eat and how we grow it, now and in the future. A capstone work from lauded authors, What Your Food Ate is a story both sobering and inspiring: what's good for the soil is good for us, too.

The term "metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, from debates over Fortnite to the pages of The New York Times to the speeches of Mark Zuckerberg, who proclaimed in June 2021 that "the overarching goal" of Facebook is to "bring the metaverse to life." But what, exactly, is the metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is the successor to the mobile internet that has defined the last two decades. The metaverse is a persistent, 3D, virtual world-a network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure, far beyond mere virtual reality. And it is poised to revolutionise every industry and function, from finance and healthcare to payments, consumer products and even sex work. The internet will no longer be at arm's length; instead, it will surround us, with our lives, labour and leisure taking place inside the metaverse. With sweeping authority, The Metaverse predicts trillions in new value-and the radical reshaping of society.

In the late nineteenth century, humans came at long last to a devastating realisation: their rapidly industrialising and globalising societies were driving scores of animal species to extinction. In Beloved Beasts, acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis traces the history of the movement to protect and conserve other forms of life. From early battles to save charismatic species such as the American bison and bald eagle to today's global effort to defend life on a larger scale, Nijhuis's "spirited and engaging" account documents "the changes of heart that changed history" (Dan Cryer, Boston Globe). With "urgency, passion, and wit" (Michael Berry, Christian Science Monitor), she describes the vital role of scientists and activists such as Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson, reveals the origins of vital organisations like the Audubon Society and the World Wildlife Fund, explores current efforts to protect species such as the whooping crane and the black rhinoceros and confronts the darker side of modern conservation, long shadowed by racism and colonialism. As the destruction of other species continues and the effects of climate change wreak havoc on our world, Beloved Beasts charts the ways conservation is becoming a movement for the protection of all species including our own.

Why do minds exist? How did mud and stone develop into beings that can experience longing, regret, love and compassion-beings that are aware of their own experience? Until recently, science offered few answers to these existential questions. Journey of the Mind is the first book to offer a unified account of the mind that explains how consciousness, language, the Self and civilisation emerged incrementally out of chaos. The journey begins three billion years ago with the emergence of the simplest possible mind, a nanoscopic archeon, then ascends through amoebas, worms, frogs, birds, monkeys and AI, examining successively smarter ways of thinking. The authors explain the mathematical principles generating conscious experience and show how these principles led cities and democratic nations to develop new forms of consciousness-the self-aware "superminds". Journey of the Mind concludes by contemplating a higher stage of consciousness already emerging-and the ultimate fate of all minds in the universe.

Devoured by the Lovecraftian community and general readers alike, Leslie S. Klinger's best-selling The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft, Volumes I and II were hailed as classics of the genre. Now Klinger returns with the ideal annotated primer not only for Lovecraft devotees eager for a more portable version but also students, literature-lovers and curious newcomers looking for a scare. In "Dagon", one of Lovecraft's earliest stories, the terrifying idea of an unknown being at the bottom of the ocean is introduced for the first time; in "The Call of Cthulhu", the horror spreads beyond the sea. The iconic "Rats in the Walls" relates a journey into the depths of a haunted house and mind, while "The Outsider" is a twisted tale that will make the reader question everything. A necessity for any library, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories is an indispensable companion for anyone looking to experience a master at the height of his craft. A paperback original.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's debut cookbook, The Food Lab, revolutionised home cooking, selling more than half a million copies with its science-based approach to everyday foods. For fast, fresh cooking for his family, there's one pan Lopez-Alt reaches for more than any other: the wok. Whether stir-frying, deep frying, steaming, simmering or braising, the wok is the most versatile pan in the kitchen. Once you master the basics?the mechanics of a stir-fry and how to get smoky wok hei at home?you're ready to cook home-style and restaurant-style dishes from across Asia and the West, from Kung Pao Chicken to Pad Thai to San Francisco-Style Garlic Noodles. Lopez-Alt breaks down the science behind his beloved Beef Chow Fun, fried rice, dumplings, tempura vegetables and seafood and dashi-simmered dishes. Featuring more than 200 recipes?including simple no-cook side dishes?instructions on knife skills and pantry stocking alongside more than 1,000 colour photographs, The Wok provides endless ideas for brightening up dinner.

Starting in 1999 with the publication of The Definitive Annotated Alice, the Norton and Liveright annotated books have become the leading series of classic, illustrated works in the English language. The long-anticipated publication of The Annotated Arabian Nights extends this tradition with a strikingly modern translation-the first of Shahrazad's tales into English by a woman-as well as erudite notes that will illuminate the stories for both dedicated readers and newcomers. Yasmine Seale's translations from both Arabic and French capture the musicality and rhythm of the Nights' poetry and prose, while Paulo Lemos Horta's annotations wrestle with the extraordinarily complex origins and history of the stories, showing that, far from being inventions of French antiquarians or English explorers, they have clear antecedents in Arabic folklore and tradition. This stunningly illustrated edition selects core stories as well as treasured later additions such as "Aladdin" and "Ali Baba" to offer an unparalleled account of a cornerstone of world literature that can be treasured by children, students and literature-lovers alike.

The sweeping story of cartoons, comic strips, and graphic novels and their hold on the American imagination. Comics have conquered America. From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like The Walking Dead have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls, best-seller lists, Pulitzer Prize–winning titles, and MacArthur Fellowship recipients, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial, and deeply profound. In American Comics, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history, starting with the Civil War and cartoonist Thomas Nast, creator of the lasting and iconic images of Uncle Sam and Santa Claus; the golden age of newspaper comic strips and the first great superhero boom; the moral panic of the Eisenhower era, the Marvel Comics revolution, and the underground comix movement of the 1960s and ’70s; and finally into the twenty-first century, taking in the grim and gritty Dark Knights and Watchmen alongside the brilliant rise of the graphic novel by acclaimed practitioners like Art Spiegelman and Alison Bechdel. Dauber’s story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell. Striking and revelatory, American Comics is a rich chronicle of the last 150 years of American history through the lens of its comic strips, political cartoons, superheroes, graphic novels, and more. FEATURING… • American Splendor • Archie • The Avengers • Kyle Baker • Batman • C. C. Beck • Black Panther • Captain America • Roz Chast • Walt Disney • Will Eisner • Neil Gaiman • Bill Gaines • Bill Griffith • Harley Quinn • Jack Kirby • Denis Kitchen • Krazy Kat • Harvey Kurtzman • Stan Lee • Little Orphan Annie • Maus • Frank Miller • Alan Moore • Mutt and Jeff • Gary Panter • Peanuts • Dav Pilkey • Gail Simone • Spider-Man • Superman • Dick Tracy • Wonder Wart-Hog • Wonder Woman • The Yellow Kid • Zap Comix … AND MANY MORE OF YOUR FAVORITES!

"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." So begins Virginia Woolf's beloved fourth novel. First published in 1925, Mrs. Dalloway has long been considered Woolf's masterpiece. A pivotal work of literary modernism, its simple plot-centred on an upper-class Londoner preparing to give a party-is complicated by Woolf's satire of the English social system. For decades, Woolf's rapturous style and vision of individual consciousness have challenged and inspired readers, novelists and scholars alike. In this annotated volume based on the original British edition, acclaimed essayist and Oxford don Merve Emre mines Woolf's diaries and notes on writing to take us into the making of Mrs. Dalloway, revealing the novel's artistry and astonishing originality. Alongside her generous commentary, Emre offers hundreds of illustrations and little-seen photographs from Woolf's life. The result is not only an essential volume for students and Woolf devotees but an incomparable gift to all lovers of literature.