Books published by publisher CrossStaff Publishers

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, has authored a personal biography of his father, George H. W. Bush, the 41st President. Forty-three men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words. A unique and intimate biography, the book covers the entire scope of the elder President Bush’s life and career, including his service in the Pacific during World War II, his pioneering work in the Texas oil business, and his political rise as a Congressman, U.S. Representative to China and the United Nations, CIA Director, Vice President, and President. The book shines new light on both the accomplished statesman and the warm, decent man known best by his family. In addition, George W. Bush discusses his father’s influence on him throughout his own life, from his childhood in West Texas to his early campaign trips with his father, and from his decision to go into politics to his own two-term Presidency.

#1 New York Times BestsellerFrom the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the LusitaniaOn May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small—hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more—all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history. It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster whose intimate details and true meaning have long been obscured by history.

Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped by all that her strong personality will temper the young Amunhotep’s heretical desire to forsake Egypt’s ancient gods, overthrow the priests of Amun, and introduce a new sun god for all to worship. From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people. Her charisma is matched only by her husband’s perceived generosity: Amunhotep showers his subjects with lofty promises. The love of the commoners will not be enough, however, if the royal couple is not able to conceive an heir, and as Nefertiti turns her attention to producing a son, she fails to see that the powerful priests, along with the military, are plotting against her husband’s rule. The only person wise enough to recognize the shift in political winds—and brave enough to tell the queen—is her younger sister, Mutnodjmet.Observant and contemplative, Mutnodjmet has never shared her sister’s desire for power. She yearns for a quiet existence away from family duty and the intrigues of court. Her greatest hope is to share her life with the general who has won her heart. But as Nefertiti learns of the precariousness of her reign, she declares that her sister must remain at court and marry for political gain, not love. To achieve her independence, Mutnodjmet must defy her sister, the most powerful woman in Egypt—while also remaining loyal to the needs of her family. Love, betrayal, political unrest, plague, and religious conflict—Nefertiti brings ancient Egypt to life in vivid detail. Fast-paced and historically accurate, it is the dramatic story of two unforgettable women living through a remarkable period in history.

We long for heroes and have too few. Nelson Mandela, who recently celebrated his ninety-first birthday, is the closest thing the world has to a secular saint. He liberated a country form a system of violent prejudice and helped unite oppressor and oppressed in a way that has never been done before. Now Richard Stengel, the editor of Time Magazine, has distilled countless hours of intimate conversation with Mandela into fifteen essential life lessons. For nearly three years, including the critical period when Mandela moved South Africa toward the first democratic elections in its history., Stengel collaborated with Mandela on his autobiography and traveled with him everywhere. Eating with him, watching him campaign, hearing him think out loud, Stengel came to know all the different sides of this complex man and became a cherished friend and colleague. In Mandela's Way, Stengel recounts the moments in which "the grandfather of South Africa" was tested and shares the wisdom he learned: why courage is more than the absence of fear, why we should keep our rivals close, why the answer is not always either/or but often "both," how important it is for each of us to find something away from the world that gives us pleasure and satisfaction - our own garden. Woven into these life lessons are remarkable stories - of Mandela's childhood as the protege of a tribal king, of his early days as a freedom fighter, of the twenty-seven-year imprisonment that could not break hime, and of his new and fulfilling marriage at the age of eighty. This compact book is profoundly inspiring. It capture the spirit of this extraordinary man- warrior, martyr, husband, statesman, and moral leader- and spurs us to look within ourselves, reconsider the things we take for granted, and contemplate the legacy we'll leave behind.

London follows six different families from the Roman settlement to the dockland development of today. Real-life characters and events of British history are found in London as well, but it is the period details and the stories of ordinary Londoners, whose daily lives are affected by events that have shaped the city over two thousand years, that bring the novel to life.In London Rutherfurd provides more than just the familiar sights and revelations, he gives a voice to a city whose history is one of the most remarkable in the world.

Tupac Shakur was one of music's most successful, controversial, and enigmatic artists. His untimely passing, however, left many questions unanswered about his life; the line between the image and the reality of his "thug" lifestyle remains blurred at best to this day. Yet, the mark that Shakur left on hip-hop culture is indelible, and the popularity among his fans is unquestionable. From the editors of VIBE magazine comes Tupac Shakura compelling tribute to one of music's most profound talents. Published in time to commemorate the anniversary of Shakur's death (September 13, 1996), Tupac Shakurtraces the pivotal moments in the artist's short but brilliant life from his tough-love upbringing as the son of a former Black Panther and introduction to rap as a backup dancer and roadie, to his meteoric rise to the top of the rap world and a turbulent movie career. Told through VIBE'S most poignant and often prophetic articles on and interviews with Tupac along with more than 100 full-color photographs, Tupac Shakur is a telling portrait of Shakur's mercurial life. In the book, readers will find extensive interviews with Tupac following his arrests in New York and Atlanta in 1994; a world-exclusive interview from Rikers Island in April 1995; another after his release from prison and being signed to Death Row Records in February 1996; and a final conversation conducted just two weeks before his death in September 1996. Also published for the first time, is an extremely candid interview VIBEonline conducted with Shakur in June 1996. With an introduction by Editor-in-Chief, Danyel Smith, memorial tributes from directors John Singleton and Ernest Dickerson, and rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy, and a foreword by Quincy Jones, Tupac Shakur offers an insider's perspective on one of music's most mythological talents from many in the entertainment industry who knew him the best. Tupac Shakur is a lasting testament to the many faces of this young artist a man who was built, even in death, to last.

A deeply moving recasting of one of the most controversial characters in American literature, Huckleberry Finn’s JimWritten in the great literary tradition of novels of American slavery, My Jim is told in the incantatory voice of Sadie Watson, an ex-slave who schools her granddaughter with lessons of love she learned in bondage. To help her granddaughter confront the decisions she needs to make, Sadie mines her memory for the tale of the unquenchable love of her life, Jim. Sadie’s Jim was an ambitious young slave and seer who, when faced with the prospect of being sold, escaped down the Mississippi with a white boy named Huck. Sadie is suddenly left alone. Worried about her children, convinced her husband is dead, reviled as a witch, and punished for Jim’s escape, Sadie’s will and her love for Jim, even in absentia, animate her life and see her through.Told with spare eloquence and mirroring the true stories of countless slave women, My Jim re-creates one of the most controversial characters in American literature. A nuanced critique of the great American novel, My Jim stands on its own as a haunting and inspiring story about freedom, longing, and the remarkable endurance of love.

The Ten Commandments Movie Storybook, which features scenes from the movie, tells the story of Moses, the reluctant leader, who in the midst of trials and danger finds the strength to lead his people to freedom. Filled with high adventure and a gentle sense of humor, the miraculous story of The Ten Commandments showcases Moses, an ordinary man with an extraordinary calling. Readers will be able to relive one of the most incredible stories in history through this beautiful children's book.