For fans of Bill Bryson and David Sedaris comes an anti-nature memoir that will resonate with anyone who would rather stay inside with a book than venture into the mountains, from one of Scandinavia’s biggest comedians.

“A smart, funny and honest exposé of the cult of the outdoors, from the sublime to the ridiculous.”—Foreword Reviews

Sometime around his forties, Are Kalvø starts losing his friends… to the mountains. Friends who used to meet him at the pub are now hiking and skiing every weekend, and when they do show up, all they talk about is feeling at one with nature (without a hint of irony). When Are realizes he’s the only person who hasn’t posted a selfie on a mountain, he starts to wonder: does he have it all wrong?

To find out, Are buys some ridiculously expensive gear and heads into the woods. The result of his sardonic trek is at once a smart and funny take-down of outdoors culture, and a reluctant surrender to nature’s undeniable pull. An adventure, a comedy, and a tragedy, The Hiking Book from Hell is destined to become a nature writing (and nature hating) classic.

For readers of Barry Lopez and Wade Davis comes a remarkable journey among India’s Bishnoi people, passionate defenders of nature whose ecological wisdom carries a powerful message for the world.

Meet the Bishnoi, followers of a religion with nature conservation at its heart. Today, Bishnois remain fierce defenders of trees and animals, living by principles set by their guru Jambhoji in the fifteenth century. They chase down armed poachers, rescue and care for injured animals, save endangered species, and lead heroic reforestation efforts in the Rajasthani desert. In a time of biodiversity loss and climate change, what lessons do they have to teach us?

The story of the Bishnoi is true, though it reads like a fable. In 1730, the Maharajah of Jodhpur sent his troops to chop down a forest in northwest India. When 363 local villagers, led by Amrita Devi, hugged the trees to protect them, the Maharajah’s men chopped off their heads. Who are these people who love trees so much that they would give their lives to save them?

Martin Goodman was invited deep into the world of the Bishnoi, who asked him to share their message. My Head for a Tree takes us from temples, homes, and schoolrooms to animal sanctuaries, farms, and desert forests, revealing a thriving community of eco-warriors. Their stories inspire and challenge readers to live more kindly and defend nature with a passion. While you can only be born a Bishnoi, Goodman writes, we can all follow their example.

The perfect gift for Valentine’s Day!

An adorable celebration of love and kindness from beloved Cree-Métis artist and author Julie Flett, a winner of the New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award.

The second in the series, We All Love is a heartwarming ode to love and compassion in the natural world. Journey alongside baby bears, little ducklings, adorable otters and other creatures as they show us that we are all capable of kindness, connection, and the joy of nurturing one another.

Featuring a glossary of Cree animal names used throughout, We All Love is a celebration of the love that connects us all—big and small, near and far.

The perfect gift for Valentine’s Day!

An adorable celebration of love and kindness from beloved Cree-Métis artist and author Julie Flett, a winner of the New York Times / New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award.

The second in the series, We All Love is a heartwarming ode to love and compassion in the natural world. Journey alongside baby bears, little ducklings, adorable otters and other creatures as they show us that we are all capable of kindness, connection, and the joy of nurturing one another.

Featuring a glossary of Cree animal names used throughout, We All Love is a celebration of the love that connects us all—big and small, near and far.

This survey of more than fifty years of national security policy juxtaposes declassified U. S. national intelligence estimates with recently released Soviet documents disclosing the views of Soviet leaders and their Communist allies on the same events. Matthias shows that U. S. intelligence estimates were usually correct but that our political and military leaders generally ignored them—with sometimes disastrous results. The book begins with a look back at the role of U. S. intelligence during World War II, from Pearl Harbor through the plot against Hitler and the D-day invasion to the "unconditional surrender" of Japan, and reveals how better use of the intelligence available could have saved many lives and shortened the war. The following chapters dealing with the Cold War disclose what information and advice U. S. intelligence analysts passed on to policy makers, and also what sometimes bitter policy debates occurred within the Communist camp, concerning Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, the turmoil in Eastern Europe, the Six-Day and Yom Kippur wars in the Middle East, and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. In many ways, this is a story of missed opportunities the U. S. government had to conduct a more responsible foreign policy that could have avoided large losses of life and massive expenditures on arms buildups.

While not exonerating the CIA for its own mistakes, Matthias casts new light on the contributions that objective intelligence analysis did make during the Cold War and speculates on what might have happened if that analysis and advice had been heeded.

The bonds among republican citizens are created, in part, through the stories told and retold as the foundational myths of the republic. In this book, Melissa Matthes takes advantage of the way in which republican theorists in different eras—Livy, Machiavelli, and Rousseau—retell the story of the rape of Lucretia to support their own conceptions of republicanism.

The recurring presentation of this story as theater by these different theorists reveals not only the performative elements of republicanism but, as Matthes argues, adds to Hannah Arendt’s emphasis on the oral dimensions of speech and hearing the important idea of public space as a visual field.

Lucretia’s story also helps illuminate the gendering of republicanism, particularly the aspects of violence and subordination that lie at its very origin. By focusing attention on this underlying and deeply gendered quality of republics, Matthes brings republican theory into fruitful dialogue with feminism.