Bøker utgitt av Basic Books

A natural history of the coyote-whose success story and adaptability mirror humanity's own

"Nobody has ever articulated so passionately and intelligently what we're doing to ourselves by substituting technologically mediated social interaction. Equipped with penetrating intelligence and a sense of humor, Turkle surveys the front lines of the social-digital transformation." - Lev Grossman, TIME

A revolutionary argument for how putting patients in charge will make healthcare better for everyone

"[T]he genius of Hanson's fascinating, inspiring, and entertaining book stems from the fact that it is not about how all kinds of things grow from seeds it is about the seeds themselves."-Mark Kurlansky, New York Times Book Review

"A timely new book... Anyone who wants to understand how this new world came into being needs to read Mr. Caryl's excellent book."-The Economist

Delves into the qualities that define leadership, the people who exemplify it, and the strategies that anyone can apply to achieve it

Finally available in paperback, Ralph D. Sawyers incomparable study of ancient Chinese warfare

A clear, readable, and highly engrossing translation of Rousseau's masterpiece on the education and training of the young.

Distills the essence of a wide range of therapies into a creative synthesis, opening up a new way of understanding each person's confrontation with four ultimate concerns: isolation, meaninglessness, death, and freedom.

Selected as one of the six best nonfiction books of 1990 by the editors f the New York Times Book Review , this is a compelling and entertaining account of the author's two-and-a-half year adventure in Equatorial Guinea, and his efforts to get this small bankrupt African nation on the path of structural development.

By carefully examining the biological, genetic, evolutionary, and psychological evidence, a noted biologist finds a shocking lack of substance behind ideas about biologically based sex differences. Features a new chapter and afterward on recent biological breakthroughs.

Migrations and Cultures goes beyond the political view of immigration and presents the whole phenomena of migration and immigration and the major role it plays in the general advancement of the human race.

Three major findings of cognitive science cast doubt on the past 2,500 years of Western philosophy. Lakoff and Johnson propose to rebuild philosophy from the ground up, starting from clearly known facts about the mind.

A 1976 forecast that predicts a radically altered social structure, within thirty to fifty years, by which a more sophisticated technology is employed to harness science toward more instrumental purposes.

Freud's theories demonstrates why they are still indispensable to understanding ourselves and the way we behave.

A New York Times bestseller and "a brilliant and bracing analysis" (Mark R. Levin) of Donald Trump, his presidency, and his vision of America's future--now updated for 2024 In The Case for Trump, award-winning historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson explains how a celebrity businessman with no political or military experience triumphed over sixteen well-qualified Republican rivals, a Democrat with a quarter-billion-dollar war chest, and a hostile media and Washington establishment to become an extremely successful president. Trump alone saw a political opportunity in defending the working people of America's interior whom the coastal elite of both parties had come to scorn, Hanson argues. And Trump alone had the instincts and energy to pursue this opening to victory, dismantle a corrupt old order, and bring long-overdue policy changes at home and abroad. After decades of drift, America needed the outsider Trump to do what normal politicians would not and could not do. Now updated for the 2024 election with a comprehensive new introduction, this is the essential book on what Donald Trump means for America.

An acclaimed parenting and childhood development expert argues that kids today are suffering, both physically and mentally, because parents have abdicated authority,and explains how to reverse this trend.

A bold defense of the internet, arguing that attempts to fix and regulate it are often misguided The internet stands accused of dividing us, spying on us, making us stupid, and addicting our children. In response, the press and panicked politicians seek greater regulation and control, which could ruin the web before we are finished building it.   Jeff Jarvis is convinced we can have a saner conversation about the internet. Examining the web’s past, present, and future, he shows that most of the problems the media lays at the internet’s door are the result of our own failings. The internet did not make us hate; we brought our bias, bigotry, and prejudice with us online. That’s why even well-intentioned regulation will fail to fix hate speech and misinformation and may instead imperil the freedom of speech the internet affords to all. Once we understand the internet for what it is—a human network—we can reclaim it from the nerds, pundits, and pols who are in charge now and turn our attention where it belongs: to fostering community, conversation, and creativity online.  The Web We Weave offers an antidote to today’s pessimism about the internet, outlining a bold vision for a world with a web that works for all of us.

The first comprehensive military history of the war in Vietnam The Vietnam War cast a shadow over the American psyche from the moment it began. In its time it sparked budget deficits, campus protests, and an erosion of US influence around the world. Long after the last helicopter evacuated Saigon, Americans have continued to battle over whether it was ever a winnable war. Based on thousands of pages of military, diplomatic, and intelligence documents, Geoffrey Wawro’s The Vietnam War offers a definitive account of a war of choice that was doomed from its inception. In devastating detail, Wawro narrates campaigns where US troops struggled even to find the enemy in the South Vietnamese wilderness, let alone kill sufficient numbers to turn the tide in their favor. Yet the war dragged on, prolonged by presidents and military leaders who feared the political consequences of accepting defeat. In the end, no number of young lives lost or bombs dropped could prevent America’s ally, the corrupt South Vietnamese regime, from collapsing the moment US troops retreated. Broad, definitive, and illuminating, The Vietnam War offers an unsettling, resonant story of the limitations of American power.

"Humans have learned a lot about the world around us and the universe beyond. We have had powerful insights and created profound theories about the universe and everything in it. Surely the ultimate theory must be waiting, just beyond our current knowledge. Well, maybe. In Into the Unknown, astrophysicist Kelsey Johnson takes us to the edge of scientific understanding about the universe: What caused the Big Bang? What happens inside black holes? Are there other dimensions? She doesn't just celebrate what we know but rather what we don't, and asks what it means if we never find that knowledge. Exploring the convergence of science, philosophy, and theology, Johnson argues we must reckon with possibilities-including those that may be beyond human comprehension. The very places where we run smack into total ignorance are the places where the most important questions-about the philosophy of knowledge, the nature of our cosmos, and even the existence of God-await. As accessible as it is profound, Into the Unknown invites each of us to join in the great quest for knowledge"--

From a renowned scholar and translator, the definitive translation of Aesop's FablesAesop's fables are among the most familiar and best-loved stories in the world. Tales like "The Tortoise and the Hare," "The Dog in the Manger," and "Sour Grapes" have captivated us for generations. The fables delight us and teach timeless truths. Aesop's tales offer us a world fundamentally simpler to ours-one with clear good and plain evil-but nonetheless one that is marked by political nuance and literary complexity. Newly translated and annotated by renowned scholar Robin Waterfield, this definitive translation shines a new light on four hundred of Aesop's most enduring fables.

An irreverent and kaleidoscopic cartoon history of Latino life, culture, and politics, now revised and updated for its twenty-fifth anniversary In Latino USA, Latin American and Latino scholar Ilan Stavans captures the joys, nuances, and multiple dimensions of Latino culture within the context of the English language. Combining the solemnity of so-called serious literature and history with the inherently theatrical and humorous form of comics, this cartoon history of Latinos includes Columbus, the Alamo, Desi Arnaz, West Side Story, Castro, Guevara, the Bay of Pigs, Neruda, the Mariel boatlift, Selena, Sonia Sotomayor, and much more.     To embrace the sweep of Hispanic civilization and its riot of types, archetypes, and stereotypes, Stavans deploys a series of “cliché figurines” as narrators, including a toucan (displayed regularly in books by García Márquez, Allende, and others), the beloved Latino comedian Cantinflas, a masked wrestler, and Captain America. Their multiple, at times contradictory voices provide unique perspectives on Latino history, together creating a carnivalesque epic, democratic and impartial.    Updated to bring the book up to the present moment, this twenty-fifth anniversary edition includes thirty new pages of Latino history, from Hamilton to George Santos. Latino USA, like the history it so entertainingly relates, is a treasure trove of irreverence, wit, subversion, anarchy, politics, humanism, and celebration.

With “groundbreaking research on the psychology of resilience” (Adam Grant), a top expert on human trauma argues that we vastly overestimate how common PTSD is and fail to recognize how resilient people really are In the days following 9/11, mental health professionals from all over the country flocked to New York to help handle what everyone assumed would be a flood of trauma cases. Oddly, the flood never came. In The End of Trauma, pioneering psychologist George A. Bonanno argues that most of what we think we understand about trauma is wrong. For starters, it’s not nearly as common as we think. In fact, people are overwhelmingly resilient to adversity. What we often interpret as PTSD are signs of a natural process of learning how to deal with a specific situation. We can cope far more effectively if we understand how this process works. Drawing on four decades of research, Bonanno explains what makes us resilient, why we sometimes aren’t, and how we can better handle traumatic stress. Hopeful and humane, The End of Trauma overturns everything we thought we knew about how people respond to hardship.

"For a long time, scientists have wondered how life has emerged from inanimate chemistry, and whether Earth is the only place where it exists. Charles Darwin speculated about life on Earth beginning in a warm little pond. Some of his contemporaries believed that life existed on Mars. It once seemed inevitable that the truth would be known by now. It is not. For more than a century, the origins and extent of life have remained shrouded in mystery. But, as Mario Livio and Jack Szostak reveal in Is Earth Exceptional?, the veil is finally lifting. The authors describe how life's building blocks-from RNA to amino acids and cells-could have emerged from the chaos of Earth's early existence. They then apply the knowledge gathered from cutting-edge research across the sciences to the search for life in the cosmos: both life as we know it and life as we don't. Why and where life exists are two of the biggest unsolved problems in science. Is Earth Exceptional? is the ultimate exploration of the question of whether life is a freak accident or a chemical imperative"--

A prize-winning historian chronicles a sinister idea of freedom: white Americans' freedom to oppress people of color

"Many companies worry that expanding into emerging markets is a risky--and even dangerous--move. Professors Viva Ona Bartkus and Emily S. Block see things differently. They argue that by entering markets in the world's frontline regions--areas stuck in cycles of violence and extreme poverty--business can actually create stability and expand opportunity for communities and corporations alike. From helping Colombian farmers transition from growing coca to produce, to disrupting human trafficking rings by creating more construction jobs in the Philippines, Business on the Edge proves that businesses can make money while advancing corporate social responsibility, environmental conservation, and social justice. Partnering with groups including multinational companies, NGOs, and the US military, Bartkus and Block outline their process for generating opportunities, detailing their successes and failures in launching over 80 growth-oriented business solutions in 30 countries. Bridging the gap between academic research and real-world experience, Business on the Edge shows how businesses can reduce risks, cut costs, and increase profits, all while creating economic opportunities that transform communities"--