Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes-caused, enabled, or influenced by food-has helped to shape and transform societies around the world. The first civilizations were built on barley and wheat in the Near East, millet...

Here is the riveting story of the English language, from its humble beginnings as a regional dialect to its current preeminence as the one global language, spoken by more than two billion people worldwide. In this groundbreaking book, Melvyn Bragg shows how English conquered the world. It is a magnificent adventure, full of jealousy, intrigue, and war--against a hoard of invaders, all armed with their own conquering languages, which bit by bit, the...

"Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend's house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found. Lily Scott, Nina's friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out...

The affluent owner of a historic steam locomotive and private railcar disappears with millions of dollars belonging to Moose county investors. Journalist-detective Jim Quill probes the embezzlement with the aid of his Siamese sleuths, Koko and Yum Yum. The case is complicated by a train wreck and a murder in a railroad tavern. By the author of The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, the book which launched the 17-volume series in 1966.

When new bride Kaveri Murthy reluctantly agrees to investigate a minor crime to please her domineering mother-in-law -- during the blood moon eclipse, no less -- she doesn't expect, once again, to stumble upon a murder. With anti-British sentiment on the rise, a charismatic religious leader growing in influence, and the fight for women's suffrage gaining steam, Bangalore is turning out to be a far more dangerous and treacherous place than Kaveri ever...