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  Thomas Jefferson - The Failures...

  Jonathan Sistine

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  To study Jefferson is to ascend a mountain, its peak awash in veiling mists. He was the embodiment of the Enlightment man, the perfect synthesis of classicist, scientist, and visionary. How can we hope to understand such a towering figure? The Sage of Monticello, deified in American politics, speaks across the ages like a patriotic Moses, or Buddha, or Christ. 
  Or so his disciples would have us believe. 
  The real Thomas Jefferson was an ordinary man, with all the usual failings. Molded by the culture of the Virginia planter class, he fought against tyranny while oppressing his own slaves. He institutionalized racist attitudes, bickered with his rivals, lusted after other men's wives, and kept his own mixed-race children in bondage. 
  Yet his accomplishments are too spectacular to be denied. The Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, he even abolished taxes (for awhile). As a Founding Father, his contributions eclipsed all the rest. Without Jefferson, the American experiment might have ended before it began. So how can we make sense of his personal failings in the context of his great works? 
  Thomas Jefferson: The Failures and Greatness of an Ordinary Man looks at Jefferson from the ground up, finding handholds in his love of Greek literature and fine wine, his affection for friends and family, and the compromises he deemed necessary for the survival of the nation. By exploring his relationships, the reader is invited into Jefferson's sanctum sanctorum, to stare unblinking at his complexity and follow truth where it leads.

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  The Error World - An Affair with...

  Simon Garfield

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  An obsessively readable memoir about the passions—and perils—of collecting, from the New York Times–bestselling author of Just My Type.   From the Penny Red to the Blue Mauritius, generations of collectors have been drawn to the mystique of rare stamps. Once a widespread pastime of schoolboys, philately has increasingly become the province of older men obsessed with the shrewd investment, the once-in-a-lifetime find, the one elusive beauty that will complete a collection and satisfy an unquenchable thirst.   As a boy, Simon Garfield collected errors—rare pigment misprints that create ghostly absences in certain stamps. Then, in his mid-forties, this passion reignited—and it began to consume him. In the span of a couple of years, he amassed a collection of errors worth upwards of forty thousand British pounds. But as he was pursuing this secret passion, he was also pursuing a romantic one—while his marriage disintegrated.   In this unique memoir, Simon Garfield twines the story of his philatelic obsession with an honest, engrossing exploration of the rarities and absences that both limit and define us. The end result is a thoughtful, funny, and enticing meditation on the impulse to possess.    

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  Pope Francis: Preacher Teacher...

  Gerard Mannion

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  Meticulously researched and brilliantly taught, this course is a rare opportunity to learn about Pope Francis from a leading Church historian. On March 13, 2013, the world watched as white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the words habemus Papam rang through St. Peter’s Square. The crowd was taken aback as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became the leader of the world’s largest religious community and took the name of Francis—a name that no other pope had ever chosen before. The surprises would not end there, as Pope Francis would usher in great reforms and change. Now, in this 12-lecture course, you will explore the powerful ways in which the Church has changed under its new shepherd. Your guide is Georgetown professor Gerard Mannion (DPhil, University of Oxford), whom Richard Gaillardetz calls “one of the most energetic and incisive voices in Catholic scholarship today.” You’ve heard his inspiring words—now, this course will bring you behind the headlines to truly understand how Pope Francis became the leader he is today. First, you will meet Jorge Bergoglio, the man who became Papa Francesco, before exploring how and why he is transforming the Church. You will then delve into his powerful vision and priorities for the Church and world, before assessing this ecclesial revolution thus far, considering what the future might hold in store. With relentless energy, Pope Francis has transformed the Catholic Church’s organization, missionary outlook, and relations with those of other faiths. And most importantly, his vision has led to a renewed sense of hope and positive energy radiating throughout the Church. Discover the power of his vision today.

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  Roger Williams

  Wink Martindale

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  Roger Williams stood alone in the world of popular music. He was just three years old when he first sat in front of a piano and played a song. He went on to study piano at Drake University and Julliard and had his first success with the single “Autumn Leaves.” Williams sat down for a conversation with Wink Martindale in 1972 to discuss his career and passion for playing music. He talks about his early life and musical journey, the importance of hard work and practice and the toll life on the road takes.

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  Absolute Madness - A True Story...

  Catherine Pelonero

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  Absolute Madness tells the disturbing true story of Joseph Christopher, a white serial killer who targeted black males and struck fear into the residents of Buffalo and New York City in the 1980s. Dubbed both the .22-Caliber Killer and the Midtown Slasher, Christopher allegedly claimed eighteen victims during a savage four-month spree across the state. 
   
  The investigation, aided by famed FBI profiler John Douglas, drew national attention and biting criticism from Jesse Jackson and other civil rights leaders. The killer, when at last he was unmasked, seemed an unlikely candidate to have held New York in a grip of terror. 
   
  His capture was neither the end of the story nor the end of the racial strife, which flared anew during circuitous prosecutions and judicial rulings that prompted cries of a double standard in the justice system. Both a wrenching true crime story and an incisive portrait of dangerously discordant race relations in America, Absolute Madness also chronicles a lonely, vulnerable man's tragic descent into madness and the failure of the American mental health system that refused his pleas for help.

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  Prisoners Lovers & Spies - The...

  Kristie Macrakis

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  This “engrossing study” of invisible ink reveals 2,000 years of scoundrels, heroes and their ingenious methods for concealing messages (Kirkus). In Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies, Kristie Macrakis uncovers the secret history of invisible ink and the ingenious way everything from lemon juice to Gall-nut extract and even certain bodily fluids have been used to conceal and reveal covert communications. From Ancient Rome to the Cold War, spies have been imprisoned or murdered, adultery unmasked, and battles lost because of faulty or intercepted secret messages. Yet, successfully hidden writing has helped save lives, win battles, and ensure privacy—at times changing the course of history. Macrakis combines a storyteller’s sense of drama with a historian’s respect for evidence in this page-turning history of intrigue and espionage, love and war, magic and secrecy. From Ovid’s advice to use milk for illicit love notes, to John Gerard's dramatic escape from the Tower of London aided by orange juice ink messages, to al-Qaeda’s hidden instructions in pornographic movies, this book charts the evolution of secret messages and their impact on history.   An appendix includes kitchen chemistry recipes for readers to try out at home.

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