Search

This chronicle of natural history argues that the modern environmental crisis and rise in science skepticism codeveloped with the rise of ever narrower scientific disciplines For millennia, the field of natural history promoted a knowledgeable and unifying view of the world. In contrast, the modern rise of narrow scientific disciplines has promoted a dichotomy between nature and culture on the one hand and between scientific and folk knowledge on the other. Drawing on the fields of anthropology, history, and environmental science, Michael R. Dove argues that the loss of this historic holistic vision of the world is partly to blame for contemporary environmental degradation and science skepticism. Dove bases this thesis on a study of four pioneering natural historians across four centuries: Georg Eberhard Rumphius (seventeenth century), Carl Linnaeus (eighteenth century), Alfred Russel Wallace (nineteenth century), and Harold C. Conklin (twentieth century). Dove studies their field craft and writing; the political, cultural, and environmental circumstances in which they worked; the sources of their insight; and the implications of their work for modern society. Most of all, the book seeks to discover what enabled those natural historians to straddle boundaries that today seem impassable and to distill that wisdom for a modern world greatly in need of a holistic vision of people and environment.

Another day, another grand scheme! The thieving Fitzglen family are back in this second instalment of the spellbinding Theatre of Thieves gothic mystery series set in Victorian England.London, 1908. The Fitzglens, one of London's leading theatre families and part-time thieves, are plotting their next scheme when they receive terrible news about Great Uncle Montague. He's been killed in a tragic accident at his Notting Hill home. Montague will be much missed, not just for his talent in art forgery, but his death provides an unlooked-for opportunity: the chance to search for his infamous iron box. No one knows what it contains - if, that is, it even exists - but Jack Fitzglen is certain it has to be something highly valuable... or extremely dangerous. Why else would the grand master of storytelling have refused to even drop a hint?Jack is amazed when he finds the box - and even more amazed by its contents. An unknown play by one of Ireland's leading playwrights, entitled The Murderer Inside the Mirror. Jack reads the first few pages, and is struck by a nameless feeling of dread. But even he has no idea what kind of dangerous adventure the manuscript will take him on - one which will tangle him in revenge, madness... and murder.This unsettling gothic historical mystery, following Chalice of Darkness, will appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Laura Purcell, Rebecca James, Sarah Waters and Stuart Turton.

Her ballet career derailed by injury, a once-promising young dancer returns to her hometown only to face a grisly discovery – and the increasingly alarming realization that nothing from her past is quite what she believed – in this electrifyingly twisty suburban thriller for fans of Stacy Willingham, Greer Hendricks, and Megan Miranda. “A moody, atmospheric thriller perfectly crafted.” —Charlie Donlea, USA Today bestselling author of Twenty Years Later on All the Dark Places When Esmé Foster left the Boston suburbs to become a professional ballerina, the future shimmered with promise. Eleven years later, her career has been derailed by an injury, and Esme knows it's time to come back to Graybridge to help her brother care for their ailing father. But her return coincides with an unthinkable crime. Kara Cunningham, one of Esme's high school friends, is found dead in the woods behind the Fosters'house. Esmé is shocked and grieving, but also uneasy. In her dreams, she still sees the man who showed up at the scene of the car accident that killed her mother—and told Esmé he was going to kill her too. Family and friends insisted the figure was a product of Esmé's imagination, that she was concussed after the crash. But she and Kara looked alike, sharing the same petite build, the same hair color. Could Kara's murder have been a case of mistaken identity? Detective Rita Myers is familiar with close-knit communities like Graybridge, where, beneath the friendliness, there are whispers and secrets. The town has seen other tragedies too, including the long-ago drowning of a young girl in a pond, deep in the woods. Even within the once-close circle of friends that included Kara and Esmé, Rita discerns a ripple of mistrust. Day by day, Esmé discovers more about the place she left behind—and the friends and family she thought she knew. Soon, shining a light into the darkness to learn what really happened the night Kara died is the only way she can bring the nightmare to an end... “A must read… I loved this book.” —Lisa Jackson, # 1 New York Times bestselling author on All the Dark Places “Hooks you immediately. Sharp characters and a plot full of twists kept the pages turning to the last. Fantastic read!” —Mary Burton, New York Times bestselling author on All the Dark Places

The third and final book of Constance Verity's epic adventure in which saving the world is easy—everything that comes after is the tricky part.The Adventurer. The Great Snurkab. The Caretaker. Constance Verity returns, having accepted and secured her place in the universe while juggling her expanded life. Until she comes up against The Caretaker's nemesis, a foe she can't just beat the hell out of, Connie must defeat the idea of inevitable entropy, the end of everything. Impossible you may think, but Connie always has an angle, and this time it's by upping her game, by stopping enough calamities, by answering every tug at her innate sense of adventure, she can build up enough power to counteract the end of the universe. The problem is, she's still a human woman, and even she can't keep this up for long. As she starts to fade her friends figure out a way to help: Destroy the world.

NOW A HULU STREAMING SERIES • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY • Two estranged siblings delve into their mother's hidden past—and how it all connects to her traditional Caribbean black cake—in this immersive family saga, “a character-driven, multigenerational story that's meant to be savored” (Time). “Wilkerson transports you across the decades and around the globe accompanied by complex, wonderfully drawn characters.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, and Malibu RisingONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Oprah Daily, NPR, BuzzFeed, Glamour, PopSugar, Book Riot, She ReadsWe can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor's true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?Charmaine Wilkerson's debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.