Full AspenCat Catalog

"From beloved cultural historian and acclaimed author of Ghostland, a history of America's obsession with secret societies and the conspiracies of hidden power The United States was born in paranoia. From the American Revolution (thought by some to be a conspiracy organized by the French) to the Salem witch trials to the Satanic Panic, Illuminati and QAnon, one of the most enduring narratives that defines the United States is simply this: secret groups...

"On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson...

"There's no such thing as rural America. Or, rather, as Steven Conn argues, "rural America" is a phrase that has been made to mean so many things that it doesn't mean anything. In fact, he maintains, rural America--so often characterized as in crisis or in danger of being left behind--has been shaped by the same major forces as the rest of the country since at least the end of the Civil War: militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and...

From the Haitian-style “shotgun” houses of the 19th century to the lavish high-rises of the 21st century, a walk through the streets of America’s neighborhoods that reveals the rich history—and future—of urban housing The Philadelphia row house. The New York tenement. The Boston triple-decker. Every American city has its own iconic housing style, structures that have been home to generations of families and are symbols of identity and pride....

"Berlin 1945. Following the fall of the Third Reich, drug use-long kept under control by the Nazis' strict anti-drug laws-is rampant throughout the city. Split into four sectors, Berlin's drug policies are being enforced under the individual jurisdictions of each allied power-the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and the US. In the American zone, Arthur J. Giuliani of the nascent Federal Bureau of Narcotics is tasked with learning about the Nazis' anti-drug...

The true story of five castaways abandoned on the Falkland Islands during the War of 1812--a tale of treachery, shipwreck, isolation, and the desperate struggle for survival. Fraught with misunderstandings and mistrust, the incident left three British sailors and two Americans, including the captain of the sealer, Charles H. Barnard, abandoned in the barren, windswept, and inhospitable Falklands for a year and a half. With deft narrative skill and...

Nuclear weapons are, today, as important as they were during the Cold War. In fact, some experts say we could be as close to a nuclear catastrophe now as we were at the height of that conflict. Yet conversations about nuclear bombs generally happen in past tense. In Countdown, science journalist Sarah Scoles uncovers a different atomic reality: the unclear age's present. Drawing from years of on-the-ground reporting at the nation's nuclear weapons...

In this interpretation of the Declaration of Independence's famous phrase, the president of the National Constitution Center profiles six of the most influential founders to show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives and how it became the foundation of our democracy.

"Naturalist Kenn Kaufman examines the scientific discoveries of John James Audubon and his artistic and ornithologist peers to show how what they saw (and what they missed) reflects how we perceive and understand the natural world"--

"Follow Indra Nooyi as she shapes history as a leading CEO. In the new Mini Movers and Shakers children's book series comes a cast of characters who have failed, yet succeeded despite overwhelming obstacles. Find out what happens in this kid's book about trusting your instincts, despite what others say."--Amazon.