Get ready to chew the fat.

This engaging, humorous new book explains the not-so-common origins of such commonly used phrases as ?apple-pie order,? ?chew the fat,? and ?hat trick.? Presented in a fun, easy-to-read style, it provides entertaining insight on metaphorical phrases, weird words, and strange expressions and takes readers on a journey through the bizarre and eccentric origins that make up our everyday speech.

? Word books have gained in popularity not just with...

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 t...

A gripping account of the legendary battle, told from the Lakota perspective

The 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn has become known as the quintessential clash of cultures between the Lakota and white settlers. The men who led the battle—Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Colonel George A. Custer—have become legends.

Here award-winning Lakota historian Joseph Marshall reveals the nuanced complexities that led up to and followed the battle. Until now, ...

Ever wonder how to retrieve a sunken golf cart from a snake-infested lake? Or which club in your bag is best suited for combat against a horde of rats? If these and other sporting questions are gnawing at you, The Downhill Lie, Carl Hiaasen’s hilarious confessional about returning to the fairways after a thirty-two-year absence, is definitely the book for you.

Originally drawn to the game by his father, Carl wisely quit golfing in 1973, when “Richard Nixon was hun...

Noted Yale historian Demos has devoted almost half a century to studying the European and American witch crazes, and his new book distills all he has learned. The book focuses from roughly A.D. 500 through 1700, with a concluding section on the characteristically modern phenomenon of witch-hunts without witchesâ??such as McCarthyism. What all witch hunts have in common is a targeting of the enemy withinâ??a member of the community who is identified as disloyal. Such fears coalesced: toward th...

How a ragtag National Guard unit found itself thrust into the War on Terror and triumphed against impossible odds

On the eve of September 11, 2001, New York City?s famous National Guard regiment, the Fighting 69th Infantry, was not fit for duty. Most of its soldiers were immigrant kids with no prior military experience and no intention of serving their country any longer than it took to get a paycheck or college credit. Once a respected all-Irish outfit, the 69th was now a Tec...