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Livy chronicles the events of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, until the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. He vividly recreates the immense armies of Hannibal, complete with elephants, crossing the Alps; the panic as they approached the gates of Rome; and the decimation of the Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Yet it is also the clash of personalities that fascinates Livy, from great debates in the Senate to the historic meeting between Scipio and Hannibal before the decisive battle.

Nikki Roberts feels very grown up when her parents leave her alone in their mountain lodge but her horseback ride to a nearby meadow leads to an encounter with deadly poachers and a forest fire.

Discusses the 1911 fire that killed 146 New York garment factory workers, the conditions that led up to it, and some of the legislation that came about to prevent the occurrence of similar disasters.

The founder of Blackwater, the world's most controversial military contractor, describes how the company took on high-risk security jobs around the world, completing nearly 100,000 missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, only to have opponents tarnish their reputation.

Readers learn about Mattel Toys and the background behind Barbie's concept and development, how it was a solution for girls who wanted to imagine adult roles rather than just play mother, and details about inventor Ruth Handler.

When acclaimed Washington Post writer Wil Haygood had an early hunch that Obama would win the 2008 election, he thought he'd highlight the singular moment by exploring the life of someone who had come of age when segregation was so widespread, so embedded in the culture, as to make the very thought of a black president inconceivable. He struck gold when he tracked down Eugene Allen, a butler who had served no fewer than eight presidents, from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan.

Draws on Red Cloud's autobiography, which was lost for nearly a hundred years, to present the story of the great Oglala Sioux chief who was the only Plains Indian to defeat the United States Army in a war.

A revelatory portrait of Benjamin Franklin's youngest sister and a wholly different account of the founding of the United States.

A biography of the first Tudor queen, who was the only living descendant of Yorkist King Edward IV and the mother of the infamous Henry VIII.

Presents a revelatory account of the transformation of the CIA and America's special forces into competing covert paramilitary agencies responsible for the defeat of Osama bin Laden and other strategic war efforts, offering insight into the new ways that the nation is fighting wars.