The author, an oncologist, takes the readers on a journey into the history of cancer, from centuries ago when the earliest physicians barely knew what they were dealing with, to modern times when heavily researched science determines treatment and cures. I enjoy books about science (at least when they are written in terms a non-scientist can understand) and I also enjoy books about history. This book combines those topics, making for a fascinating read, although because of the subject, parts of it also make for a depressing read.
In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a historian's perspective, and a biographer's passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with - and perished from - for more than five thousand years.
The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience and perseverance, but also…
"The Wager" is a fascinating book about a shipwreck and about some of the less inspiring traits of human nature as the crew does not take a "one for all and all for one" attitude as they struggle to overcome their fate. In some ways this is a real-life "Lord of the Flies," only with adults instead of boys. Grann brings the tale to life with rich details from his research of the shipwreck itself, the world at the time, and some of the individuals involved, including John Byron, the grandfather of the poet Lord Byron, who was a midshipman.
'The beauty of The Wager unfurls like a great sail... one of the finest nonfiction books I've ever read' Guardian
'The greatest sea story ever told' Spectator
'A cracking yarn... Grann's taste for desperate predicaments finds its fullest expression here' Observer
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES NO. 1 BESTSELLER
From the international bestselling author of KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and THE LOST CITY OF Z, a mesmerising story of shipwreck, mutiny and murder, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.
On 28th January 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the…
The Civil War is something every American studied in school, so most of us know at least some general details. But "The Demon of Unrest" explores in great detail the war's beginning and the events that led to the first cannons fired at Fort Sumter, along with the personalities involved who were determining America's future. The book brings reminders of how a small change in just one or two events can alter history in extraordinary ways. For anyone who enjoys history, Erik Larson lays out a riveting tale stocked with many more details than your high school history teacher could have ever hoped to cover in the short time they had you in class.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this “riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult” (Los Angeles Times).
“A feast of historical insight and narrative verve . . . This is Erik Larson at his best, enlivening even a thrice-told tale into an irresistible thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists…
Eisenhower Babies takes readers on a journey to a time when World War II memories were still relatively fresh, space exploration was becoming more than just fantastical subject matter for science fiction, and television had barged its way into American homes, taking up permanent residence in a hallowed spot in front of the living room sofa.
This memoir of growing up in a Kentucky coal-mining community from the late 1950s to the early1970s weaves history, popular culture, and geography into a nostalgic journey interspersed with tales of coal-strike tensions and humorous family adventures. Eisenhower Babies is a celebration of the eccentricities of 1960s small-town life, where a police officer might promise to give a four-year-old his gun once the officer ran out of bullets, a neighbor could return from a Florida vacation with a live baby alligator as a new pet, and the children of World War II veterans waged imaginary battles against Hitler’s treachery in their hillside backyards.
