FREE/BARGAIN — Non-Fiction

[Sumanuil]

This month's University of Chicago Press free e-book is From Eve to Evolution: Darwin, Science, and Women’s Rights in Gilded Age America

“From Eve to Evolution firmly corrects the mistaken view that evolutionary biology and feminism are at odds. And it reveals a more diverse dialogue around the science of sexual equality in the era than is generally appreciated” — Nature

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by sufue

I've really liked the books I've read in Jason Goodwin's too short Investigator Yashim series, and so I am happy to have his non-fiction Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire pop up in my eReaderIQ as being on sale for $2.99. I've read a couple of histories of Constantinople/Byzantium/Constantinople, which pretty much have to have a lot of Ottoman history, but haven't so far read a book just focusing on the Ottoman Empire itself. And this one got a couple of pretty nice comments from Kirkus and The New York Times Book Review - see the blurb/spoiler.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KF2SN20

Thank you for that one. Bought it.

[salty-horse]

The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives by Gilbert Achcar is $0.75 on Amazon.com (Kobo has full price)

An unprecedented and judicious examination of what the Holocaust means—and doesn't mean—in the Arab world, one of the most explosive subjects of our time

There is no more inflammatory topic than the Arabs and the Holocaust—the phrase alone can occasion outrage. The terrain is dense with ugly claims and counterclaims: one side is charged with Holocaust denial, the other with exploiting a tragedy while denying the tragedies of others.

In this pathbreaking book, political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores these conflicting narratives and considers their role in today's Middle East dispute. He analyzes the various Arab responses to Nazism, from the earliest intimations of the genocide, through the creation of Israel and the destruction of Palestine and up to our own time, critically assessing the political and historical context for these responses. Finally, he challenges distortions of the historical record, while making no concessions to anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial. Valid criticism of the other, Achcar insists, must go hand in hand with criticism of oneself.

Drawing on previously unseen sources in multiple languages, Achcar offers a unique mapping of the Arab world, in the process defusing an international propaganda war that has become a major stumbling block in the path of Arab-Western understanding.

[Cactus Chef]

Robin by Dave Itzkoff, a biography of Robin Williams, is on sale for $1.99:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/robin-33
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076B17NZP
https://books.apple.com/us/book/robin/id1297332393
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rob...off/1127032885
https://play.google.com/store/books/...d=nfQ4DwAAQBAJ

"A generous, appreciative biography of Robin Williams by a New York Times culture reporter. The author, who had access to Williams and members of the comedian’s family, is an unabashed fan but doesn’t shy away from the abundant messiness in his subject’s personal life."—The New York Times Book Review

From New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff, the definitive biography of Robin Williams – a compelling portrait of one of America’s most beloved and misunderstood entertainers.

From his rapid-fire stand-up comedy riffs to his breakout role in Mork & Mindy and his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting, Robin Williams was a singularly innovative and beloved entertainer. He often came across as a man possessed, holding forth on culture and politics while mixing in personal revelations – all with mercurial, tongue-twisting intensity as he inhabited and shed one character after another with lightning speed.

But as Dave Itzkoff shows in this revelatory biography, Williams’s comic brilliance masked a deep well of conflicting emotions and self-doubt, which he drew upon in his comedy and in celebrated films like Dead Poets Society; Good Morning, Vietnam; The Fisher King; Aladdin; and Mrs. Doubtfire, where he showcased his limitless gift for improvisation to bring to life a wide range of characters. And in Good Will Hunting he gave an intense and controlled performance that revealed the true range of his talent.

Itzkoff also shows how Williams struggled mightily with addiction and depression – topics he discussed openly while performing and during interviews – and with a debilitating condition at the end of his life that affected him in ways his fans never knew. Drawing on more than a hundred original interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, as well as extensive archival research, Robin is a fresh and original look at a man whose work touched so many lives.

[Sumanuil]

Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B. Dylan Hollis is currently $1.99 at Amazon US.

[sufue]

Joffe's free book a couple of days ago was Mythology of the British Isles by Geoffrey Ashe. It's still free as of now, Tuesday morning, US Pacific time, but should be going back up in price fairly soon, since it was Sunday's freebie. So grab it fast if you want it! (I've just been too busy recently to keep caught up...)

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087M7FKX8
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087M7FKX8

Spoiler:

A brilliant exploration of the legends of the British Isles.

From the dark centuries of British prehistory to the ninth century AD comes tales of giants and fairy-folk of druids and saints. From King Lear and King Arthur, to Fingal, Beowulf, Gwendolen and Guinevere legendary characters have shaped the making of the nation.

But who were they?

In Mythology of the British Isles, Geoffrey Ashe explores how each of these stories are inter-connected, and how they have taken on fresh significance and meaning as historical and archaeological research has uncovered the truth behind each legend.

He demonstrates, too, how legends from Ireland, such as The Voyages of Bran and Saint Brendan, shed unexpected light on British stories like Arthur’s voyage to Avalon. And modern myths and beliefs are examined and placed in context, from the Glastonbury Zodiac and the interpretation of ley lines, to the possible biblical pedigree of modern royalty.

In Mythology of the British Isles Geoffrey Ashe uncovers a British mythology which is comparable to the Greek in its richness and cohesiveness, and which possesses a national genius all of its own.

[sufue]

When I first saw the mini-sized cover of this on the Kindle UK Daily Deal page, with the subtitle too small to read, I thought it was going to be a mythology book about the Underworld. Which would have been interesting to me, so I clicked on it, but it turns out that it's a book about a very different type of "underworld" - the deep ocean. Which is also interesting to me. And it has some good reviews/bestseller status from the NY Times, Boston Globe, and Time Magazine. So here you go...

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CNGHLJBH
Kobo UK: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-underworld-21

Spoiler:

For all of human history, the deep ocean has been a source of fear and fascination, an unknowable realm that evokes a singular, compelling question: what’s down there? But now cutting-edge technologies are allowing scientists and explorers to discover this strange and exotic underworld: a place of soaring mountains, smouldering volcanoes and valleys 7,000 feet deeper than Everest is high. A realm long thought to be devoid of life is, in fact, a vibrant new world, home to pink gelatinous predators and shimmering creatures a hundred feet long, creatures that breathe iron and communicate through their skin, ancient animals with glass skeletons and sharks that live for half a millennium.

In The Underworld, Susan Casey traverses the globe, joining scientists and explorers on dives to the deepest places on the planet. She interviews the marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers as they uncover this vast unseen realm. And she discovers the mind-blowing complexity and ecological importance of the abyssal ocean and the quadrillions of creatures who live in its depths.

[BionicGecko]

Ray Kurzweil’s recently released The Singularity is Nearer is on sale for £0.99 at Amazon UK.

The book doesn’t seem to be discounted at Kobo UK at the time of writing, but it should be eligible for their Price Match Guarantee).

By the end of this decade, AI will exceed human levels of intelligence. During the 2030s, it will become ‘superintelligent’, vastly outstripping our capabilities and enabling dramatic interventions in our bodies. By 2045, we will be able to connect our brains directly with AI, enhancing our intelligence a millionfold and expanding our consciousness in ways we can barely imagine. This is the Singularity.

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors of our time with over 60 years’ experience in the field of Artificial Intelligence, whose long-range predictions about the rise of the internet, AI and bioengineering have all borne out. In this visionary, fundamentally optimistic book, Kurzweil explains how the Singularity will occur, explores what it will mean to live free from the limits of biology and argues that we can and will transform life on Earth profoundly for the better.

[Sumanuil]

This month's University of Chicago Press free e-book is Worst Cases: Terror and Catastrophe in the Popular Imagination by Lee Clarke.

“Worst Cases is superb—written in a dry and personable style and filled with riveting examples and empirical surprises. Clarke reveals that the high frequency of catastrophes and our attempts to rationalize them have put them in a category where they no longer shock us. He also demonstrates that these worst cases open a window onto our society and culture because they shed light on our expectations, our valued icons, and our social structure. This is a timely and incredibly relevant book” — Charles Perrow, author of Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by Sumanuil

This month's University of Chicago Press free e-book is Worst Cases: Terror and Catastrophe in the Popular Imagination by Lee Clarke.

“Worst Cases is superb—written in a dry and personable style and filled with riveting examples and empirical surprises. Clarke reveals that the high frequency of catastrophes and our attempts to rationalize them have put them in a category where they no longer shock us. He also demonstrates that these worst cases open a window onto our society and culture because they shed light on our expectations, our valued icons, and our social structure. This is a timely and incredibly relevant book” — Charles Perrow, author of Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies

Thanks for that. Is there any way of getting something other than a PDF do you know? Like an EPUB or AZW file?

Andrew

[sufue]

The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America, by Greg Grandin, was, per its blurb, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2020. It's now on sale in the US for $2.99.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076B2DNJL
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-end-of-the-myth

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE

Spoiler:

A new and eye-opening interpretation of the meaning of the frontier, from early westward expansion to Trump’s border wall.

Ever since this nation’s inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States’ belief in itself as an exceptional nation – democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America hasa new symbol: the border wall.

In The End of the Myth, acclaimed historian Greg Grandin explores the meaning of the frontier throughout the full sweep of U.S. history – from the American Revolution to the War of 1898, the New Deal to the election of 2016. For centuries, he shows, America’s constant expansion – fighting wars and opening markets – served as a “gate of escape,” helping to deflect domestic political and economic conflicts outward. But this deflection meant that the country’s problems, from racism to inequality, were never confronted directly. And now, the combined catastrophe of the 2008 financial meltdown and our unwinnable wars in the Middle East have slammed this gate shut, bringing political passions that had long been directed elsewhere back home.

It is this new reality, Grandin says, that explains the rise of reactionary populism and racist nationalism, the extreme anger and polarization that catapulted Trump to the presidency. The border wall may or may not be built, but it will survive as a rallying point, an allegorical tombstone marking the end of American exceptionalism.

[Cactus Chef]

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn is on sale for $1.99 from the usual vendors:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015XEWZHI
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-p...nited-states-4

Not gonna lie, though I did find this book interesting, I petered out around the Nixon years. I did finish his more autobiographical work, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by sufue

My husband read Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story Of American Submarine Espionage, by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew, back around the time it came out and really liked it. It's on sale now in the US for $2.99.

Kindle US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/blind-man-s-bluff-14
Kobo US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089EMLGK

A belated thank you for this. I picked it up on sale and just finished it the other day. I really enjoyed the read and I'm certain my husband would like it as well (he loves a true story), so I plan to share it with him.

[issybird]

This has been on my TBR for a while and I just started it this evening. When I went to add it to Goodreads, I saw that the current price is only $2.99, its lowest price ever.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQGHJM5L

So far, I find it utterly charming, appealing to both the foodie and the reader. He’s already invoked Calvin Trillin; fans (among them, me) take note.

[Sumanuil]

Originally Posted by andyh2000

Thanks for that. Is there any way of getting something other than a PDF do you know? Like an EPUB or AZW file?

Andrew

No idea. Usually they are EPUBs. But apparently not this month.