Books published by publisher Hachette and Blackstone Audio

From a New York Times-bestselling author, a sweeping history of the American West In Dreams of El Dorado, H. W. Brands tells the thrilling, panoramic story of the settling of the American West. He takes us from John Jacob Astor's fur trading outpost in Oregon to the Texas Revolution, from the California gold rush to the Oklahoma land rush. He shows how the migrants' dreams drove them to feats of courage and perseverance that put their stay-at-home cousins to shame-and how those same dreams also drove them to outrageous acts of violence against indigenous peoples and one another. The West was where riches would reward the miner's persistence, the cattleman's courage, the railroad man's enterprise; but El Dorado was at least as elusive in the West as it ever was in the East.Balanced, authoritative, and masterfully told, Dreams of El Dorado sets a new standard for histories of the American West.

[Read by Pete Larkin] Ben Rich, director of Lockheed's Skunk Works, reveals the behind-the-scenes drama involved in the development of the military's aerial technology. From the development of the U-2 to the stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies, Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds. Here are up-close portraits of the maverick band of scientists and engineers who made the Skunk Works so renowned. Filled with telling personal anecdotes and high adventure, with narratives from the CIA and from Air Force pilots who flew the many classified, risky missions, this book is a riveting portrait of the most spectacular aviation triumphs of the twentieth century.

Mary Roach meets Sam Kean and Bill Bryson in this uproarious tour of the basest instincts and biggest mysteries of the animal worldHumans have gone to the Moon and discovered the Higgs boson, but when it comes to understanding animals, we've still got a long way to go. Whether we're seeing a viral video of romping baby pandas or a picture of penguins ''holding hands,'' it's hard for us not to project our own values -- innocence, fidelity, temperance, hard work -- onto animals. So you've probably never considered if moose get drunk, penguins cheat on their mates, or worker ants lay about. They do -- and that's just for starters. In The Truth About Animals, Lucy Cooke takes us on a worldwide journey to meet everyone from a Colombian hippo castrator to a Chinese panda porn peddler, all to lay bare the secret--and often hilarious -- habits of the animal kingdom. Charming and at times downright weird, this modern bestiary is perfect for anyone who has ever suspected that virtue might be unnatural.

The hardscrabble folks of Troublesome Creek have to scrap for everything everything except books, that is. Thanks to Roosevelt s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, Troublesome s got its very own traveling librarian, Cussy Mary Carter.Cussy s not only a book woman, however; she s also the last of her kind, her skin a shade of blue unlike most anyone else. Not everyone is keen on Cussy s family or the Library Project, and a Blue is often blamed for any whiff of trouble. If Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, she s going to have to confront prejudice as old as the Appalachias and suspicion as deep as the holler.Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman s belief that books can carry us anywhere even back home.

[Read by Peter Kenny]The Witcher returns in this action-packed sequel to The Tower of Swallows, in the New York Times bestselling series that inspired The Witcher video games. After walking through the portal in the Tower of Swallows while narrowly escaping death, Ciri finds herself in a completely different world… an Elven world. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world. But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin the Witcher, Geralt, and his companions - and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail. And the world is still at war.

[Children's Fiction (Ages 8-12)]A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better.Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her father's actions.Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of today's world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

This tight, inspirational narrative includes a dramatic retelling of the shooting and the heroism of Rep. Brad Wenstrup-an Army Reserve officer and combat medic, along with the Capital Police, the first responders and trauma team who saved Rep. Scalise's life. Representative Scalise believes that his faith, the grace of God and the power of prayer had a great deal to do with his recovery, and he will share stories and experiences that illustrate the many miracles that occurred to keep him alive.The shooting was planned and executed by an unhinged person who was politically motivated by his hate of the Republican party, and that is an issue that is explored in the book. All Americans were appalled by this attack and the responses and reactions from across the country and across the aisle once again demonstrate the beauty and strength of the American people.In 2018, Scalise was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC.

A searing exposé of the collusion between central bankers as they control global markets and dictate economic policy.The 2008 financial crisis unleashed a chain reaction that turbo-boosted the influence of central bankers and triggered a massive shift in the world order. Central banks and institutions like the IMF are overstepping the bounds of their mandates and directing the flow of money without any checks and balances. Meanwhile, the open door between private and central banking ensures endless manipulation against a backdrop of government support. Packed with details about the power players who orchestrate international finance -- from Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi to Ben Bernanke and Christine Lagarde -- Collusion casts an unflinching spotlight on the dark conspiracies and unsavory connections within the halls of power.

From a preeminent historian of Eastern Europe, the definitive history of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry, tracing the disaster to the authoritarian character of Communist party rule, the regime's control of scientific information, and its emphasis on economic development over all else. Today, the risk of another Chernobyl looms in the mismanagement of nuclear power in the developing world. A moving and definitive account, Chernobyl is also an urgent call to action.

Set against the dramatic backdrop of 1960s and 70s Detroit, novelist Bridgett M. Davis's stirring memoir tells how her ingenious mother used Detroit's illegal lottery to support her family In 1958, the very same year that an unknown songwriter named Berry Gordy borrowed $800 to found Motown Records, a pretty young mother from Nashville, Tennessee borrowed $100 from her brother to run a Numbers racket out of her tattered apartment on Delaware Street, in one of Detroit's worst sections. That woman was Fannie Davis, Bridgett M. Davis' mother. Part bookie, part banker, mother, wife, granddaughter of slaves, Fannie became more than a numbers runner: she was a kind of Ulysses, guiding both her husbands, five children and a grandson through the decimation of a once-proud city using her wit, style, guts, and even gun. She ran her numbers business for 34 years, doing what it took to survive in a legitimate business that just happened to be illegal. She created a loving, joyful home, sent her children to the best schools, bought them the best clothes, mothered them to the highest standard, and when the tragedy of urban life struck, soldiered on with her stated belief: ""Dying is easy. Living takes guts."" A daughter's moving homage to an extraordinary parent, The World According to Fannie Davis is also the suspenseful, unforgettable story about the lengths to which a mother will go to ""make a way out of no way"" to provide a prosperous life for her family -- and how those sacrifices resonate over time. This original, timely, and deeply relatable portrait of one American family is essential reading.

The first in-depth, behind the scenes book treatment of the rivalry between the two comic book giants.The most bruising battle in the superhero world isn't between spandex-clad characters; it's between the publishers themselves. For more than 50 years, Marvel and DC have been locked in an epic war, tirelessly trading punches and trying to do to each other what Batman regularly does to the Joker's face. Slugfest, the first book to tell the history of this epic rivalry into a single, juicy narrative, is the story of the greatest corporate rivalry never told. It is also an alternate history of the superhero, told through the lens of these two publishers.Slugfest combines primary-source reporting with in-depth research to create a more fun Barbarians at the Gate for the comic book industry. Complete with interviews with the major names in the industry, Slugfest reveals the arsenal of schemes the two companies have employed in their attempts to outmaneuver the competition, whether it be stealing ideas, poaching employees, planting spies, ripping off characters or launching price wars. Sometimes the feud has been vicious, at other times, more cordial. But it has never completely disappeared, and it simmers on a low boil to this day.The competition has spilled over to the even the casual fans, bisecting the world into two opposing tribes. You are either a Marvel or a DC fan, and allegiance is hardly a trivial matter. Perhaps the most telling question one can ask of a superhero fan is, Marvel or DC? The answer often reveals something deeper about personality, and the reason is wrapped up in the history of both companies.

[Read by Sir Derek Jacobi] In the vein of bestsellers like A Man Called Ove or The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry comes a funny, tender-hearted tale about friendship, love, and an old man who is young at heart. ''Another year and I still don't like old people. Me? I am 83 years old.'' Hendrik Groen may be old, but he is far from dead and isn't planning to be buried anytime soon. Granted, his daily strolls are getting shorter because his legs are no longer willing and he had to visit his doctor more than he'd like. Technically speaking he is . . . elderly. But surely there is more to life at his age than weak tea and potted geraniums? Hendrik sets out to write an exposé: a year in the life of his care home in Amsterdam, revealing all its ups and downs -- not least his new endeavor the anarchic Old-But-Not Dead Club. And when Eefje moves in -- the woman Hendrik has always longed for -- he polishes his shoes (and his teeth), grooms what's left of his hair and attempts to make something of the life he has left, with hilarious, tender and devastating consequences. The indomitable Hendrik Groen -- Holland's unlikeliest hero -- has become a cultural phenomenon in his native Netherlands and now he and his famously anonymous creator are conquering the globe. A major Dutch bestseller, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen will not only delight older readers with its wit and relevance, but will charm and inspire those who have years to go before their own expiry date.