Bøger udgivet af Harper Perennial

A daughter of privilege in the most powerful empire the world has ever known, Claudia has a unique and disturbing "gift" her dreams have an uncanny way of coming true. As a rebellious child seated beside the tyrannical Roman Emperor Tiberius, she first spies the powerful gladiator who will ultimately be her one true passion. Yet it is the ambitious magistrate Pontius Pilate who intrigues the impressionable young woman she becomes, and Claudia finds her way into his arms by means of a mysterious ancient magic. Pilate is her grand destiny, leading her to Judaea and plunging her into a seething cauldron of open rebellion. But following her friend Miriam of Magdala's confession of her ecstatic love for a charismatic religious radical, Claudia begins to experience terrifying visions--horrific premonitions of war, injustice, untold devastation and damnation . . . and the crucifixion of a divine martyr whom she must do everything in her power to save.

Everyone knows that there are things no one can see, for example, the air you're breathing or a black hole, to be more exotic. But not everyone knows that what we can see makes up only 5 percent of the Universe. The rest is totally invisible to us. The invisible stuff comes in two varieties--dark matter and dark energy. One holds the Universe together while the other tears it apart. What these forces really are has been a mystery for as long as anyone has suspected they were there, but the latest discoveries of experimental physics have brought us closer to that knowledge. Particle physicist Dan Hooper takes his readers, with wit, grace, and a keen knack for explaining the toughest ideas science has to offer, on a quest few would ever have expected: to discover what makes up our dark cosmos.

Ponder, if you will . . . Is yawning contagious? Do starfish have faces? Why do they put crinkly paper into pairs of men's socks? Why is it that cans of Diet Coke float, but cans of regular Coke don't?Pop culture guru David Feldman demystifies these questions and much more in Why Do Pirates Love Parrots?One of the Imponderables(R)--the unchallenged source of answers to civilization's most perplexing conundrums--and charmingly illustrated by Kassie Schwan, this book provides you with knowledge about everyday life that encyclopedias, dictionaries, and almanacs just don't cover. And think about it: Where else are you going to find out how they get the paper tag into a Hershey's Kiss?

From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, the sequel to The Archer's Tale and Vagabond--the spellbinding tale of a young man, a fearless archer, who sets out wanting to avenge his family's honor and winds up on a quest for the Holy Grail.Already a seasoned veteran of King Edward's army, young Thomas of Hookton possesses the fearlessness of a born leader and an uncanny prowess with the longbow. Now, at the head of a small but able band of soldiers, he has been dispatched to capture the castle of Astarac. But more than duty to his liege has brought him to Gascony, home of his forebears and the hated black knight who brutally slew Thomas's father. It is also the last place where the Holy Grail was reported seen. Here, also, a beautiful and innocent, if not pious, woman is to be burned as a heretic. Saving the lady, Genevieve, from her dread fate will brand Thomas an infidel, forcing them to flee together across a landscape of blood and fire. And what looms ahead is a battle to the death that could ultimately shape the future of Christendom.

In April 1992, a discovery was made that changed the way we view the world. Dr. George Smoot, distinguished cosmologist and adventurer, whose quest for cosmic knowledge had taken him from the Brazilian rain forest to the South Pole unveiled his momentous discovery, bringing to light the very nature of the universe. For anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered, for anyone who has ever longed to pull aside the fabric of the universe for a glimpse of what lies behind it. Wrinkles in Time is the story of Smoot's search to uncover the cosmic seeds of the universe. Wrinkles in Time is the Double Helix of cosmology, an intimate look at the inner world of men and women who ask. "Why are we here?" It tells the story of George Smoot's dogged pursuit of the cosmic wrinkles in the frozen wastes of Antarctica, on mountaintops, in experiments borne aloft aboard high-altitude balloons, U-2 spy planes, and finally a space satellite. Wrinkles in Time presents the hard science behind the structured violence of the big bang theory through breathtakingly clear, lucid images and meaningful comparisons. Scientists and nonscientists alike can follow with rapt attention the story of how, in a fiery creation, wrinkles formed in space ultimately to become stars, galaxies, and even greater delicate structures. Anyone can appreciate the implications of a universe whose end is written in its beginnings - whose course developed according to a kind of cosmic DNA, which guided the universe from simplicity and symmetry to ever-greater complexity and structure. As controversial as it may seem today, Wrinkles in Time reveals truths that, in an earlier century, would have doomed its proclaimers to thefiery stake. For four thousand years some people have accepted the Genesis account of cosmic origin; for most of this century, scientists debated two rival scientific explanations known as the steady state and big bang theories. And now, Wrinkles in Time tells what really happened

"A rich sensory trip . . . this indispensable guide to all things smelly is as good as it gets."--Sunday TelegraphOne man's passion for perfume leads him to explore one of the most intriguing scientific mysteries: What makes one molecule smell of garlic while another smells of rose?In this witty, engrossing, and wildly original volume, author Luca Turin explores the two competing theories of smell. Is scent determined by molecular shape or molecular vibrations? Turin describes in fascinating detail the science, the evidence, and the often contentious debate--from the beginnings of organic chemistry to the present day--and pays homage to the scientists who went before. With its uniquely accessible and captivating approach to science via art, The Secret of Scent will appeal to anyone who has ever wondered about the most mysterious of the five senses.

"As engaging as it is provocative. . . . Sullivan's book should be read closely by liberals as well as conservatives." -- Jonathan Raban, The New York Review of BooksOne of the nation's leading political commentators makes an impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which has tried to make the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history. Today's conservatives support the idea of limited government, but they have increased government's size and power to new heights. They believe in balanced budgets, but they have boosted government spending, debt, and pork to record levels. They believe in national security but launched a reckless, ideological occupation in Iraq that has made us tangibly less safe. They have substituted religion for politics and damaged both.In this bold and powerful book, Andrew Sullivan makes a provocative, prescient, and heartfelt case for a revived conservatism at peace with the modern world, and dedicated to restraining government and empowering individuals to live rich and fulfilling lives.

As children, Hayden and her sisters ran carefree through the wilds of rural Connecticut when their father was away writing novels. But when he eventually returned, the spontaneous nature of their female household gave way to his oppressive regulation.Years later, Hayden has moved south to Hoboken, New Jersey, where she works as a hair stylist in a salon filled with the easy laughter and unfettered joy that colored the best days of her childhood. But into this paradisiacal community arrives a stranger, much like Hayden, who is also haunted by a dark secret and a troubled past. Together these two misfits will form a tentative bond that will help them overcome personal crises and pain, as they struggle to discover who they truly are and to find the strength to move on.

In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled. The war that followed would be fought across virgin territories, from Nova Scotia to the forks of the Ohio River, and it would ultimately decide the fate of the entire North American continent--not just for Great Britain and France but also for the Spanish and Native American populations. Noted historian Walter R. Borneman brings to life an epic struggle for a continent--what Samuel Eliot Morison called "truly the first world war"--and emphasizes how the seeds of discord sown in its aftermath would take root and blossom into the American Revolution.

"Rosemary Sullivan goes beyond the confines of Air-Bel to tell a fuller story of France during the tense years from 1933 to 1941. . . . A moving tale of great sacrifice in tumultuous times." -- Publishers Weekly Paris 1940. Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, Consuelo de Saint-Exupery, and scores of other cultural elite denounced as enemies of the conquering Third Reich, live in daily fear of arrest, deportation, and death. Their only salvation is the Villa Air-Bel, a chateau outside Marseille where a group of young people, financed by a private American relief organization, will go to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive. In Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan sheds light on this suspenseful, dramatic, and intriguing story, introducing the brave men and women who use every means possible to stave off the Nazis and the Vichy officials, and goes inside the chateau's walls to uncover the private worlds and the web of relationships its remarkable inhabitants developed.

Henry Aaron left his mark on the world by breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs. But the world has also left its mark on him. "Hammering Hank" Aaron's story is one that tells us much about baseball, naturally, but also about our times. His unique, poignant life has made him a symbol for much of the social history of twentieth-century America. Raised during the Depression in the Deep South enclave of Mobile, Alabama, Aaron broke into professional baseball as a cross-handed slugger and shortstop for the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. A year later, he and a few others had the unforgettable mission of integrating the South Atlantic League. A year after that, he was a timid rookie leftfielder for the Milwaukee Braves, for whom he became a World Series hero in 1957 as well as the Most Valuable Player of the National League. Aaron found himself back in the South when the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1965. Nine years later, in the heat of hatred and controversy, he hit his 715th home run to break Ruth's and baseball's most cherished record--a feat that was recently voted the greatest moment in baseball history. That year, Aaron received over 900,000 pieces of mail, many of them vicious and racially charged. In a career that may be the most consistent baseball has ever seen. Aaron also set all-time records for total bases and RBIs. He ended his playing days by spending two nostalgic seasons back in Milwaukee with the Brewers, then embarked on a new career as an executive with the Atlanta Braves. He was for a long time the highest-ranking black in baseball. In this position, Aaron has become an unofficial spokesman in racial matters pertaining to thenational pastime. Because of the depth and pertinence of Aaron's dramatic experiences, "I Had A Hammer" is more than a baseball autobiography. Henry Aaron's candor and insights have produced a revealing book about his extraordinary life and time.

Inspiration for the Netflix Limited Series, Tales of the CityThe fifth novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's best-selling San Francisco saga.Tranquillity reigns in the ancient redwood forest until a women-only music festival sets up camp downriver from an all-male retreat for the ruling class. Among those entangled in the ensuing mayhem are a lovesick nurseryman, a panic-stricken philanderer, and the world's most beautiful fat woman. Significant Others is Armistead Maupin's cunningly observed meditation on marriage, friendship, and sexual nostalgia.

"Part portrait of a place, part rescue manual, part rumination of life and death, Population: 485 is a beautiful meditation on the things that matter." -- Seattle TimesWelcome to New Auburn, Wisconsin (population: 485) where the local vigilante is a farmer's wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, the most senior member of the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station in town), and the back roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Michael Perry loves this place. He grew up here, and now--after a decade away--he has returned.Unable to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after years of writing, Perry figures the best way to regain his credibility is to join the volunteer fire department. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, Population: 485 is a comic and sometimes heartbreaking true tale leavened with quieter meditations on an overlooked America.

"A touching and very funny account. . . . Thoroughly engaging."--New York TimesHilarious and heartfelt, Truck: A Love Story is the tale of a man struggling to grow his own garden, fix his old pickup, and resurrect a love life permanently impaired by Neil Diamond. In the process, he sets his hair on fire, is attacked by wild turkeys, and proposes marriage to a woman in New Orleans. The result is a surprisingly tender testament to love."Part Bill Bryson, part Anne Lamott, with a skim of Larry the Cable Guy and Walt Whitman creeping around the edges."--Lincoln Journal Star"Perry takes each moment, peeling it, seasoning it with rich language, and then serving it to us piping hot and fresh."--Chicago Tribune

The first novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin's bestselling San Francisco saga, and inspiration for the Netflix original series, Tales of the City"A consummate entertainer who has made a generation laugh. . . . It is Maupin's Dickensian gift to be able to render love convincingly."-- Edmund White, Times Literary SupplementFor almost four decades Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has blazed its own trail through popular culture--from a groundbreaking newspaper serial to a classic novel, to a television event that entranced millions around the world. The first of ten novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

Applying the methods and ideas espoused in his popular book Choice Theory, world-renowned psychiatrist and relationship expert Dr. William Glasser, along with his wife, Carleen, offers a practical guide to an enduring, satisfying, successful marriage. Eight Lessons for a Happier Marriage showcases eight real-life histories of troubled couples and presents simple, practical solutions to overcoming the pitfalls illustrated therein. Keeping love alive and strong is not as difficult as you think; let the Glassers and this indispensable book show you how!

It's no secret that parents want their children to have the lifelong cultural and intellectual advantages that come from being bilingual. Parents spend millions of dollars every year on classes, computer programs, and toys, all of which promise to help children learn a second language. But many of their best efforts (and investments) end in disappointment.In The Bilingual Edge, professors and parents King and Mackey wade through the hype and provide clear insights into what actually works. No matter what your language background is--whether you never passed Spanish in high school or you speak Mandarin fluently--King and Mackey will help you: select the language that will give your child the most benefitsfind materials and programs that will assist your child in achieving fluencyidentify and use your family's unique traits to maximize learningFancy private schools and expensive materials aren't needed. Instead, The Bilingual Edge translates the latest research into interactive strategies and quick tips that even the busiest parents can use.

Julia Fox Garrison refused to listen to the professionals she called Dr. Jerk and Dr. Panic, who--after she suffered a massive, debilitating stroke at age thirty-seven--told her she'd probably die, or to Nurse Doom, who ignored her emergency call button. Instead she heeded the advice of kind, gifted Dr. Neuro, who promised her he would "treat your mind as well as your body." Julia figured if she could somehow manage to get herself into a wheelchair, at least she'd always find parking. But after many, many months of hospitalization and rehab--with the help of family, friends, and her own indomitable spirit--Julia not only got into a wheelchair, but she got back out.Don't Leave Me This Way is the funny, inspiring, profoundly moving true story of a woman's fight for her life and dignity--and her determined quest to awaken an entrenched, unfeeling medical community to the fact that there's always a human being inside every patient.

In America, it is increasingly the case that the people who make, support, or protest military policy have no military experience. As Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer assert in this groundbreaking work, the gap between the "all-volunteer military" and the rest of us is widening, and our country faces a dangerous lack of understanding between those in power and those who defend our way of life.

"Ian Jackman had the fool-hearty courage to set out armed with the two most dangerous tools for traveling in America, an inquiring mind and a hungry stomach. He lived to tell the tale with wit and charm." -- Mark Kurlansky, bestselling author of The Big Oyster and CodIan Jackman believes that life is too short to deny yourself our nation's true culinary treasures. Guided by food experts throughout the land, he travels from east to west--from small town to big city--uncovering local treats, guilty pleasures, and some oddities that no true food lover should miss. From lobster rolls and buffalo meat to banana cream pies and clam stuffies, Jackman finds the sinful temptations your taste buds crave--and he writes about them in a way that's certain to get any confirmed foodie salivating!Where you can find the very best burgers in America21 varieties of apples you must tryLamb fries--eat or avoid?The country's primo pizza parlorsAnd more!Escape the guilt and anxiety propagated by our puritanical, diet-obsessed society and indulge yourself with Eat This!

Mr. Dixon a member of the Ulster Association of Magicians, has gone missing--along with one hundred thousand pounds in cash. Israel Armstrong, bighearted and overly inquisitive, should stick to delivering library books to out-of-the-way readers and not get involved in the investigation. But of course, he can't help himself--which costs him his job and earns him a place of dishonor among the police's prime suspects. Can Israel clear his name and get his van back? Will the exhibition of old local photos he's been driving around County Antrim offer clues to Mr. D.'s whereabouts? And is a romance in the offing with winsome barmaid Rosie Hart? All will be revealed!

"There is extraordinary quality of spirit that leads one to aspire to conquering rather than surviving. I hope you discover that spirit in yourself." -- Dr. LauraThe #1 national bestselling author and popular syndicated radio host shows men and women that they can have a good life no matter how much they struggled in their childhood. Bad Childhood--Good Life aims to help you accept the truth of the assault on your psyche, understand your unique coping style and how it impacts your daily thoughts and actions, and guide you into a life of more peace and happiness.For each one of us, there is a connection between our early family experiences and our current behavior. Many of the people Dr. Laura has helped did not realize how their histories impacted their adult lives, or how their choices--even their emotional reactions--were connected to their early years, playing a major role in their current unhappiness. In this hopeful, practical guide, written in her signature straightforward style and filled with real-life examples, Dr. Laura helps readers realize that no matter what circumstances they come from or currently live in, they are each ultimately responsible for their own actions and reactions as adults. Throughout, she shows the gains to be had by not being satisfied with an identity as a victim, or even as a survivor. Instead she helps readers from all walks of life strive to be the best they can each be--a victor!

"Edelman illuminates the transformative power of understanding mother loss [and] offers essential wisdom." -- Library Journal When Hope Edelman, author of the New York Times bestseller Motherless Daughters, became a parent, she found herself revisiting the loss of her mother in ways she had never anticipated. Now the mother of two young girls, Edelman set out to learn how the loss of a mother to death or abandonment can affect the ways women raise their own children.In Motherless Mothers, Edelman uses her own story as a prism to reveal the unique anxieties and desires that these women experience as they raise their children without the help of a living maternal guide. In an impeccably researched, luminously written book enriched by the voices of the mothers themselves--and filled with practical insight and advice from experienced professionals--she examines their parenting choices, their triumphs, and their fears, and offers motherless mothers the guidance and support they want and need.

One of the most exhilarating true adventures in history, the race into space was marked by courage, duplicity, political paranoia, astonishing technological feats, and unbelievable triumphs in the face of overwhelming adversity. It is the story of an unparalleled rivalry between superpowers and of the two remarkable men at the center of the conflict. On the American side was Wernher von Braun, the camera-friendly former Nazi scientist, who was granted hero status and almost unlimited resources by a government panicked at the thought of the Cold War enemy taking the lead. The Soviet program was headed by Sergei Korolev, a former political prisoner whose identity was a closely guarded state secret. Korolev was expected to--and did--work miracles on a shoestring budget, his cooperation assured through intimidation and threats of possible disgrace or death. These rivals were opposite in every way, save for one: each was obsessed with the idea of launching a man to the Moon.Deborah Cadbury's extraordinary history combines action and suspense with a moving portrayal of the space race's human dimension. Using source materials never before available, she tells a riveting story of the espionage, ambition, ingenuity, and passion behind humankind's mind-bending voyage beyond the bounds of Earth.

In this dazzling literary debut, Rebecca Curtis displays the gifts that make her one of the most talented writers of her generation. Her characters--young women struggling to find happiness, love, success, security, and adventure--wait tables, run away from home, fall for married men, betray their friends, and find themselves betrayed as well.In "Hungry Self," a young waitress descends into the basement of a seemingly ordinary Chinese restaurant; in "Twenty Grand," a young wife tries to recover her lost fortune; in "Monsters," one family's paranoia leads to a sacrifice; and in "The Witches," an innocent swim on prom night proves more dangerous than anyone could have imagined. With elegant prose and a wicked sense of humor, these stories reveal Curtis's provocative and uncompromising view of life, one that makes her writing so poignant and irresistible.

With "echoes of Of Mice and Men"(The Bookseller, UK), The Motel Life explores the frustrations and failed dreams of two Nevada brothers--on the run after a hit-and-run accident--who, forgotten by society, and short on luck and hope, desperately cling to the edge of modern life.

In the early hours of November 10, 1938, Nazi storm troopers and Hitler Youth rampaged through Jewish neighborhoods across Germany, leaving behind them a horrifying trail of terror and destruction. More than a thousand synagogues and many thousands of Jewish shops were destroyed, while thirty thousand Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Kristallnacht?the Night of Broken Glass?was a decisive stage in the systematic eradication of a people who traced their origins in Germany to Roman times and was a sinister forewarning of the Holocaust.With rare insight and acumen, Martin Gilbert examines this night and day of terror, presenting readers with a meticulously researched, masterfully written, and eye-opening study of one of the darkest chapters in human history.