W. W. Norton & Company Inc. – Knjiga.hr

Russell Baker s Book of American Humor

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 16:42:08 +0000

One of the great glories of life in the U.S. is the humor of its people. Baker surveys this territory in this rich treasury and stakes it out in a dozen sections. Roaming through them, the reader will find P.J. O’Rourke, H.L. Mencken, James Thurber, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.

The Norton Book of Light Verse

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 16:41:48 +0000

by Russell Baker (Editor) A collection of entertaining limericks, ballads, lyrics, double dactyls, and more conventional poems by such masters as Ogden Nash, Phyllis McGinley, Anthony Hecht, E.B. White, Edward Lear and John Updike. A collection of 400 poems arranged in eighteen thematic sections.

The Blind Watchmaker : Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design

Wed, 22 May 2024 16:34:25 +0000

Richard Dawkins’s classic remains the definitive argument for our modern understanding of evolution. The Blind Watchmaker is the seminal text for understanding evolution today. In the eighteenth century, theologian William Paley developed a famous metaphor for creationism: that of the skilled watchmaker. In The Blind Watchmaker, Richard Dawkins crafts an elegant riposte to show that the complex process of Darwinian natural selection is unconscious and automatic. If natural selection can be said to play the role of a watchmaker in nature, it is a blind one—working without foresight or purpose. In an eloquent, uniquely persuasive account of the theory of natural selection, Dawkins illustrates how simple organisms slowly change over time to create a world of enormous complexity, diversity, and beauty.

The voyaging stars: Secrets of the Pacific island navigators

Wed, 22 May 2024 16:31:45 +0000

Secrets of the Pacific Island Navigators Experiences of sailing without instruments with master Islander navigators.

The American Fishing Schooners, 1825-1935

Fri, 03 May 2024 18:51:48 +0000

An important feature of the book is its illustrated glossary-appendix, which covers items of hull construction and equipment, rigging and gear, colour and carving, and includes notes by the builders and riggers themselves. The evolution of the American fishing schooner from the 18th century to the last working and racing schooners of the mid-1930s is recounted in this book. The designers, builders and crews are discussed, and 137 plans of schooners show graphically the development of the type.

Compass: A Story of Exploration and Innovation

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 09:52:43 +0000

A history of the compass describes its pivotal role in early shipping, relating how its development over the course of hundreds of years was marked by thousands of shipwrecks and the disastrous fates of sailors who misused it.

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 18:49:33 +0000

It was the storm of the century, boasting waves over one hundred feet high-a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologists deemed it the perfect storm. In a book that has become a classic, Sebastian Junger explores the history of the fishing industry, the science of storms, and the candid accounts of the people whose lives the storm touched. The Perfect Storm is a real-life thriller that makes us feel like we’ve been caught, helpless, in the grip of a force of nature beyond our understanding or control.

History of the Franks

Sun, 12 Nov 2023 12:29:52 +0000

Written following the collapse of Rome’s secular control over western Europe, the History of Gregory (c. AD 539 594) is a fascinating exploration of the events that shaped sixth-century France. This volume contains all ten books from the work, the last seven of which provide an in-depth description of Gregory’s own era, in which he played an important role as Bishop of Tours. With skill and eloquence, Gregory brings the age vividly to life, as he relates the exploits of missionaries, martyrs, kings and queens including the quarrelling sons of Lothar I, and the ruthless Queen Fredegund, third wife of Chilperic. Portraying an age of staggering cruelty and rapid change, this is a powerful depiction of the turbulent progression of faith at a time of political and social chaos.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Thu, 11 May 2023 14:51:56 +0000

In this artful, informative, and delightful (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion –as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war –and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California’s Gold Medal.

The Big Short

Sat, 01 Oct 2022 11:49:59 +0000

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. The #1 New York Times bestseller: It is the work of our greatest financial journalist, at the top of his game. And it’s essential reading.-Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair The real story of the crash began in bizarre feeder markets where the sun doesn’t shine and the SEC doesn’t dare, or bother, to tread: the bond and real estate derivative markets where geeks invent impenetrable securities to profit from the misery of lower- and middle-class Americans who can’t pay their debts. The smart people who understood what was or might be happening were paralyzed by hope and fear; in any case, they weren’t talking. Michael Lewis creates a fresh, character-driven narrative brimming with indignation and dark humor, a fitting sequel to his #1 bestseller Liar’s Poker. Out of a handful of unlikely-really unlikely-heroes, Lewis fashions a story as compelling and unusual as any of his earlier bestsellers, proving yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our time.