The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of All the President's Men - the chronicle of the investigative report about the Watergate break-in and resultant political scandal which led to President Richard Nixon's resignation - recalls his formative years as a teenage newspaper reporter in JFK's Washington - a tale of adventures, scrapes, clever escapes, and the opportunity of a lifetime. "Carl Bernstein, Washington Star." With these words, the sixteen-year-old senior at Montgomery Blair High School set himself apart from the high school crowd and set himself on a track that would define his life. Carl Bernstein was far from the best student in his class - in fact, he was in danger of not graduating at all - but he had a talent for writing, a burning desire to know things that other people didn't, and a flair for being in the right place at the right time. Those qualities got him inside the newsroom at the Washington Star , the afternoon paper in the nation's capital, in the summer of 1960, a pivotal time for America, for Washington, D.C., and for a young man in a hurry on the cusp of adulthood. Chasing History opens up the world of the early 1960s as Bernstein experienced it, chasing after grisly crimes with the paper's police reporter, gathering colorful details at a John F. Kennedy campaign rally, running afoul of union rules, and confronting racial tensions as the civil rights movement gained strength. We learn alongside him as he comes to understand the life of a newspaperman, and we share his pride as he hunts down information, gets his first byline, and discovers that he has a talent for the job after all. By turns exhilarating, funny, tense, and poignant, Chasing History shows us a country coming into its own maturity along with young Carl Bernstein, and when he strikes out on his own after five years at the Star, his hard-won knowledge and experience feels like ours as well. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company.

A modern take on a classical icon: this original, entertaining, well-researched book uses the story of when, where, and how Chopin composed his most famous work, uncovering many surprises along the way and showing how his innovative music still animates popular culture centuries later. The Frédéric Chopin Annik LaFarge presents here is not the melancholy, sickly, romantic figure so often portrayed. The artist she discovered is, instead, a purely independent spirit: an innovator who created a new musical language, an autodidact who became a spiritually generous, trailblazing teacher, a stalwart patriot during a time of revolution and exile. In Chasing Chopin she follows in his footsteps during the three years, 1837-1840, when he composed his iconic "Funeral March"--Dum dum da dum--using its composition story to illuminate the key themes of his life: a deep attachment to his Polish homeland; his complex relationship with writer George Sand; their harrowing but consequential sojourn on Majorca; the rapidly developing technology of the piano, which enabled his unique tone and voice; social and political revolution in 1830s Paris; friendship with other artists, from the famous Eugène Delacroix to the lesser known, yet notorious in his time, Marquis de Custine. Each of these threads--musical, political, social, personal--is woven through the "Funeral March" in Chopin's Opus 35 sonata, a melody so famous it's known around the world even to people who know nothing about classical music. But it is not, as LaFarge discovered, the piece of music we think we know. As part of her research into Chopin's world, then and now, LaFarge visited piano makers, monuments, churches, and archives; she talked to scholars, jazz musicians, video game makers, software developers, music teachers, theater directors, and of course dozens of pianists. The result is extraordinary: an engrossing, page-turning work of musical discovery and an artful portrayal of a man whose work and life continue to inspire artists and cultural innovators in astonishing ways. A companion website, WhyChopin, presents links to each piece of music mentioned in the book, organized by chapter in the order in which it appears, along with photos, resources, videos, and more.

Oscar Pistorius was eleven months old when he had both legs amputated below the knee, due to congenital fibular disease. Despite this severe disability, Pistorious grew up to be an extraordinary athlete, inspirational role model, and global symbol of resilience. In 2012 he became the first amputee runner in history to compete in the Olympics and was hailed as a hero not only in his native South Africa but around the world. Everything changed for Pistorius in the early morning hours of February 14, 2013 'Valentine's Day' when he shot and killed his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, through a closed bathroom door, allegedly because he mistook her for an intruder intent on doing him harm. He was arrested and charged with premeditated murder, and overnight, the public's view of Pistorius turned on its head. Not since the O.J. Simpson case has a courtroom drama riveted global attention on one man's fate. Acclaimed journalist John Carlin's vivid firsthand account of Pistorius's seven-month murder trial, broadcast worldwide from Johannesburg, details the wrenching emotional breakdowns and merciless interrogation of the accused on and off the stand, the fraught relationship between the Pistorius and Steenkamp families, and the highly controversial verdict of culpable homicide, for which Pistorius received a five-year sentence. But Chase Your Shadow is far more than just a sensational crime story, as Carlin shows through meticulous reporting and extensive access to Pistorius and his family and friends. This courtroom confrontation between a white, privileged, twenty-seven-year-old male athlete on trial for murder and the black female judge who alone would decide his fate--held in a democratic country trying to exorcise its history of racial hatred and endemic violence against women'exposes the complex social and political realities of post-Apartheid South Africa.

An Officer of the Order of Canada, Chevalier of France’s Order of Arts and Letters, and recipient of the Order of Ontario, painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, and author, Charles Pachter is one of Canada’s best-loved and most celebrated artists. Pachter is an artist with an astonishing range. His work is witty, thoughtful, moving, and personal. Many works, like Queen on Moose, The Painted Flag, and Hockey Knights in Canada, have achieved a remarkable level of recognition, becoming famous across the country — indeed, around the world. His collaboration with Margaret Atwood on The Journals of Susanna Moodie has been called “truly the most magnificent book ever to be published in Canada.” Charles Pachter: Canada’s Artist is a celebration of the life and work — the struggles and triumphs — of a man who has helped to redefine Canadian art. Pachter’ promotion of Canada and its culture has left a lasting legacy — one that he continues to build on.

Jason Dorland is no stranger to competition. As a rower and coach, he’s seen his share of races won and lost. But after a devastating performance at the 1988 Olympics, Jason was overwhelmed by a sense of failure—and with small wonder. Winning at all costs, whereby the playing field is seen as a battlefield, is pretty much the industry standard when it comes to motivating elite athletes. That philosophy coloured his own coaching style, until he met someone who coped with the loss of her own Olympic dream, and viewed competition itself, in a different way. An honest, intimate look at the reality of high-level athletics, Chariots and Horses is more than a sports story. In charting his progress from struggling athlete to an inspirational coach driven to instill a healthy competitive spirit in his rowers, Jason Dorland shows how in sports and in life, it’s all about the journey.

In the town of Buczacz, Poland, nine-year-old Maxwell’s life is turned upside-down when the Soviets invade in 1939. His family eventually adapts, but nothing can prepare them for the Nazi invasion two years later. Soon Maxwell is alone in the woods, hiding from the roving groups of Ukrainians and Nazis searching for Jews, while depending on the few people he can trust. In the bitter journey of Chaos to Canvas, Maxwell transforms from a boy dependent on his family to a teenager fighting to survive and, ultimately, to a man who finds himself through art in a life beyond the war.

When Emily Stowe was born in Ontario in 1831, every girl’s life followed a set pattern. Regardless of her personality, intelligence, capabilities or creativity, her future was limited to housework and childcare. Emily Stowe was determined to change that pattern. Sydell Waxman, a writer, researcher and lecturer on women of the 1800s, tells of the events in the life of the young Emily Stowe which caused her to become, not only the first woman school principal and the first woman to practise medicine in Canada, but a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights. With the help of original sketches and archival material, Changing the Pattern also creates a vivid picture of Canada in the late 1800s as it follows Emily’s crusade to create new patterns for girls’ lives.

A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the worldwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. The song became so popular, in fact, it was vaulted back onto the iTunes charts more than twenty years after its release—making it clear that Tupac's music and the way it addresses systemic racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, income inequality, and a failing education system is just as important now as it was back then. In Changes , published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Tupac's birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, Sheldon Pearce offers one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive accounts yet of the artist's life and legacy. Pearce, an editor and writer at The New Yorker , interviews dozens who knew Tupac throughout various phases of his life. While there are plenty of bold-faced names, the book focuses on the individuals who are lesser known and offer fresh stories and rare insight. Among these are the actor who costarred with him in a Harlem production of A Raisin in the Sun when he was twelve years old, the high school drama teacher who recognized and nurtured his talent, the music industry veteran who helped him develop a nonprofit devoted to helping young artists, the Death Row Records executive who has never before spoken on the record, and dozens of others. Meticulously woven together by Pearce, their voices combine to portray Tupac in all his complexity and contradiction. This remarkable book illustrates not only how he changed during his brief twenty-five years on this planet, but how he forever changed the world.

Challengers of the Sea brings you face to face with men and women who take on the best and the worst of what the Northwest Atlantic Ocean offers. Read gripping accounts of losing sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, and best friends to the ravages of unforgiving seas.

Meet others whose lives have been touched by the sea in a variety of ways. Learn about a woman who pilots a Beechcraft airplane, looking for everything from icebergs and whales to those who contravene Canadian laws affecting waters off the east coast of Canada. And meet an artist who uses her craft to send a message of the need to conserve ocean life.

You will also meet two men who work hard in different ways to make the fishing industry in Atlantic Canada safer. And learn about coping. When the bodies of loved ones lost at sea are never recovered, there is no closure for those left to grieve in silence after the rest of the world moves on. Theirs is a special kind of heartbreak.

Praise for Jim Wellman
“Wellman does a wonderful job of describing the rough but rewarding life of those who rely on the ocean to make a living, and the fickle and unpredictable nature of the Atlantic Ocean.” — Northern Mariner