Books published by publisher Mariner/Hougton Mifflin Co.

In Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, Edward E Leslie brilliantly recounts the most remarkable stories of survival from the 1500s to the present, including those of Alexander Selkirk, the model for Robinson Crusoe; Marguerite de la Rocque, marooned off the Labrador by her uncle for the crime of fornication; the "Poor Englishman," who lived for a year on a barren rock in the North Atlantic; the crew of the whaleship Essex, immortalized in Moby Dick; Joseph Knowles, the fraudulent "Yankee Tarzan"; Antoine de Saint-Exupery; several World War II survivors; and many others. Includes photos and illustrations.

Communication is one of the basic human necessities. Imagine a world in which we could not make ourselves understood, pass on ideas & information, know & be known. Human beings have always found ways to communicate with one another. Through humor-filled, richly detailed illustrations & a text that is both amusing & enlightening, noted author & artist Piero Ventura tracks human progress from the pictogram to the satellite image, from ancient Greek theatre to the TV & film of today. Notable advances, such as the printing press, the telephone, the camera, & the computer, are brought together in this lively book.