Books published by publisher Nelson Doubleday

A dramatic and damning narrative account of how America has fought the "War on Terror"In the days immediately following September 11th, the most powerful people in the country were panic-stricken. The radical decisions about how to combat terrorists and strengthen national security were made in a state of utter chaos and fear, but the key players, Vice President Dick Cheney and his powerful, secretive adviser David Addington, used the crisis to further a long held agenda to enhance Presidential powers to a degree never known in U.S. history, and obliterate Constitutional protections that define the very essence of the American experiment.THE DARK SIDE is a dramatic, riveting, and definitive narrative account of how the United States made terrible decisions in the pursuit of terrorists around the world-- decisions that not only violated the Constitution to which White House officials took an oath to uphold, but also hampered the pursuit of Al Qaeda. In gripping detail, acclaimed New Yorker writer and bestselling author, Jane Mayer, relates the impact of these decisions—U.S.-held prisoners, some of them completely innocent, were subjected to treatment more reminiscent of the Spanish Inquisition than the twenty-first century.THE DARK SIDE will chronicle real, specific cases, shown in real time against the larger tableau of what was happening in Washington, looking at the intelligence gained—or not—and the price paid. In some instances, torture worked. In many more, it led to false information, sometimes with devastating results. For instance, there is the stunning admission of one of the detainees, Sheikh Ibn al-Libi, that the confession he gave under duress—which provided a key piece of evidence buttressing congressional support of going to war against Iraq--was in fact fabricated, to make the torture stop.In all cases, whatever the short term gains, there were incalculable losses in terms of moral standing, and our country's place in the world, and its sense of itself. THE DARK SIDE chronicles one of the most disturbing chapters in American history, one that will serve as the lasting legacy of the George W. Bush presidency.

The incomparable range and imagination of Czech artist Peter Sis is known the world over through his animated films, paintings, and best-selling children's books such asKomodo!, The Dragons Are Singing, and Follow The Dream. Now, with The Three Golden Keys, he gives us his most heartfelt and autobiographical work to date: the reworking of three classic Czechoslovakian fairy tales into a haunting illustrated fable of his lost childhood in Prague that is also a deeply felt allegory of the reclamation of a Czech cultural identity after forty-five years of Communist rule. A man returns to his home in the ancient city of his childhood. Three large rusty locks bar his entry. He knows he must somehow find the three golden keys that will let him in. Suddenly a black cat leaps off the gate; seeming to invite him to follow. Together they search through Prague's monuments and landmarks. With each key they find, a different aspect of the city comes to life and recounts for them a classic Czech fairy tale. The man runs back to his childhood home and excitedly opens the three rusty locks. Inside the front door, back turned to him, is his mother. She glances up, and as she recognizes him and comes to life, so does the city. Utterly magical on every level, The Three Golden Keys is destined to become a classic of children's literature. It truly is a "book for children of all ages."

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon Fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a revelation from God commanding them to kill their blameless victims. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this “divinely inspired” crime, Krakauer constructs a multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest-growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.Krakauer takes readers inside isolated communities in the American West, Canada, and Mexico, where some forty-thousand Mormon Fundamentalists believe the mainstream Mormon Church went unforgivably astray when it renounced polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the leaders of these outlaw sects are zealots who answer only to God. Marrying prodigiously and with virtual impunity (the leader of the largest fundamentalist church took seventy-five “plural wives,” several of whom were wed to him when they were fourteen or fifteen and he was in his eighties), fundamentalist prophets exercise absolute control over the lives of their followers, and preach that any day now the world will be swept clean in a hurricane of fire, sparing only their most obedient adherents. Weaving the story of the Lafferty brothers and their fanatical brethren with a clear-eyed look at Mormonism’s violent past, Krakauer examines the underbelly of the most successful homegrown faith in the United States, and finds a distinctly American brand of religious extremism. The result is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.

Upon its initial publication in 1975, Salem’s Lot was recognized as a landmark work. The novel has sold millions of copies in various editions, but it wasn’t until Centipede Press published a special limited edition in 2004 that King’s masterpiece was brought to brilliant and eerie life. With the addition of fifty pages of material deleted from the 1975 manuscript as well as material that has since been modified by King, an introduction by him, and two short stories related to the events of the novel, this edition represents the text as the author envisioned it. Centipede’s deluxe edition, of which only 900 copies were printed, features lavishly creepy photographs by acclaimed photographer Jerry Uelsmann, printed interior endpapers, and a stunning page design.Doubleday is proud to make this volume, printed from the original design of the Centipede Press edition, available to the general reader. No King aficionado’s library will be complete without owning this definitive illustrated edition of the great Salem’s Lot.

Best in Children's Books, Volume 29 edited by Mary Macnab and Gladys Schwarcz. Nelson Doubleday. Garden City, New York. 1960. The contents of Volume 29 include Paul Bunyan: Hero of the Lumber Woods written by Wallace Wadsworth and illustrated by Richard Bennett; Marjorie's Almanac written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; Little Daylight written by George MacDonald, retold by Sara Cone Bryant, and illustrated by Robin Jacques; Kiki Skates written and illustrated by Charlotte Steiner; The Three Billy Goats Gruff illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; Tell Me the Time, Please written by Lillian J. Bragdon and illustrated by Leonard Kessler; Streamlined Wonder World written by Davis Cole and illustrated by Richard M. Powers; North America's Wonderful Wildlife illustrated with color photographs; Pysen Goes to Blueviken written by Edith Unnerstad and illustrated by Richard Scarry; and Let's Go to Colombia with color photographs and an illustrative map. Best in Children's Books was a reading program for youngsters, for which a staff of experts assembled each month a collection of the world's best children's literature, old and new. These volumes, richly illustrated in color by famous artists, are packed from cover to cover with full-length books, poetry, historical adventures, games, fairy tales, nature, science and geography sections -- a wide variety of wholesome reading.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERKevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians (soon to be a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh and Gemma Chan) and China Rich Girlfriend, is back with an uproarious new novel of a family riven by fortune, an ex-wife driven psychotic with jealousy, a battle royal fought through couture gown sabotage, and the heir to one of Asia's greatest fortunes locked out of his inheritance. When Nicholas Young hears that his grandmother, Su Yi, is on her deathbed, he rushes to be by her bedside—but he's not alone. The entire Shang-Young clan has convened from all corners of the globe to stake claim on their matriarch’s massive fortune. With each family member vying to inherit Tyersall Park—a trophy estate on 64 prime acres in the heart of Singapore—Nicholas’s childhood home turns into a hotbed of speculation and sabotage. As her relatives fight over heirlooms, Astrid Leong is at the center of her own storm, desperately in love with her old sweetheart Charlie Wu, but tormented by her ex-husband—a man hell bent on destroying Astrid’s reputation and relationship. Meanwhile Kitty Pong, married to China’s second richest man, billionaire Jack Bing, still feels second best next to her new step-daughter, famous fashionista Colette Bing. A sweeping novel that takes us from the elegantly appointed mansions of Manila to the secluded private islands in the Sulu Sea, from a kidnapping at Hong Kong’s most elite private school to a surprise marriage proposal at an Indian palace, caught on camera by the telephoto lenses of paparazzi, Kevin Kwan's hilarious, gloriously wicked new novel reveals the long-buried secrets of Asia's most privileged families and their rich people problems.

Alex Haley did more than recapture the history of his own family. As the first black American writer to trace his origins back to their roots, he has told the story of 25,000,000 Americans of African descent. He has rediscovered for an entire people a rich cultural heritage that slavery took away from them, along with their names and their identities. Roots speaks, finally not just to blacks, or to whites, but to all peoples and all races everywhere, for the story it tells is one of the most eloquent testimonials ever written to the indomitability of the human spirit.

From the author of the international bestseller The Last Station, a superb historical novel of the Apostle Paul, whose tireless and epic preaching of the message of Jesus brought Christianity into existence and changed human history forever.In the years after Christ's crucifixion, Paul of Tarsus, a prosperous tentmaker and Jewish scholar, took it upon himself to persecute the small groups of his followers that sprung up. But on the road to Damascus, he had some sort of blinding vision, a profound conversion experience that transformed Paul into the most effective and influential messenger Christianity has ever had. In The Damascus Road novelist Jay Parini brings this fascinating and ever-controversial figure to full human life, capturing his visionary passions and vast contradictions. In relating Paul's epic journeys, both geographical and spiritual, he unfolds a vivid panorama of the ancient world on the verge of epochal change. And in the alternating voice of the Gospel writer Luke, Paul's travel companion, scribe, and ghostwriter, a cooler perspective on his actions and beliefs emerges -- ironic but still filled with wonder at Paul's unshakable commitment to the Christ and his divinity.

Best in Children's Books, Volume 35 edited by Mary Macnab and Gladys Schwarcz. Nelson Doubleday. Garden City, New York. 1960. The contents of Volume 35 include America's Glorious Past compiled by the editors of "Know Your America" and illustrated with paintings by Alice Smith and drawings by Edward Shenton; The Star-Spangled Banner written by Frances Scott Key and illustrated by Phoebe Erickson; Pet of the Met written and illustrated by Lydia and Don Freeman; The Tinder Box written by Hans Christian Andersen and illustrated by Elizabeth Skilton; Pandora: A Greek Legend based on "The Paradise of Children," from A Wonder Book, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and illustrated by Colleen Browning; The Velveteen Rabbit written by Margery Williams and illustrated by Maurice Sendak; Simple Sewing: A Doll and Her Clothes written by Tina Lee and illustrated by Luciana Roselli; Let's Look at Russia written by Gladys Schwarcz with drawings by Earl Thollander, color photographs, and an illustrative map; The Wonderful Teakettle: A Japanese Fairy Tale illustrated by Eiichi Mitsui; Beezus and Her Imagination written by Beverly Cleary and illustrated by Mircea Vasiliu; and Amazing Animals of Australia with color photographs. Best in Children's Books was a reading program for youngsters, for which a staff of experts assembled each month a collection of the world's best children's literature, old and new. These volumes, richly illustrated in color by famous artists, are packed from cover to cover with full-length books, poetry, historical adventures, games, fairy tales, nature, science and geography sections -- a wide variety of wholesome reading.