Features an introduction to Pope Benedict XVI and an Homage to Pope John Paul II

Hidden from the prying eyes of the public, the cardinals met in a secret conclave to elect a Pope for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. Modern times demand that provisions be made to prevent any bugging of the Sistine Chapel. The Secrets of the Popes demystifies the process and offers a timely perspective on how the newest leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, was chosen.

Author Colin Wilson takes us along on the trail of dozens of serial killers. ManHunt is not so much about the serial killers themselves but the detectives who track them down and stop them before they kill again. The term “serial killer” was coined in the late seventies by an FBI agent at the FBI Academy in Quantico, VirginiaÑhome of the real-life agents portrayed by Jodie Foster and others in the film The Silence of the Lambs. ManHunt describes in detail the work of forensic detectives and shows how psychological profiling is used to read the “personality fingerprints” left by a killer at a crime scene.

A comprehensive look at the often deadly, sometimes surprising, always fascinating tools of battle. More than 600 photographs of an eclectic mix of weapons were specially commissioned from the 8,000-piece collection of the Berman Museum of World History. Spanning the globe and more than 3,500 years, they include a royal Persian scimitar owned by both Abbas I and Catherine the Great, a sword presented to Napoleon, the traveling pistols of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, and Heinrich Himmler’s rifle. A variety of rare weapons of espionage and combination curiosa rounds out the selection.

As world events driven by religious fervor take center stage, more and more of us seek to identify and understand the religions of the world. We couldn’t ask for a more erudite spiritual guide than Father Michael Collins, a Catholic priest and teacher of world religion at the American University in Rome. Father Collins delivers a thorough, engaging, and in-depth chronicle of the world’s major faiths.

Published in Association with the Smithsonian Institution

500 stunning photographs from the late 1800s to the present day celebrate African-American culture. “It is glorious-this history of ours! It is a great story-that of the Negro in America! It begins way before America was America or the U.S.A. It covers a wide span, our story. Let me tell it to you.”-Langston Hughes

“Some of us-hopefully most of us-are trying to understand and appreciate the effect our recent election will have on you, the citizens of the rest of the world.” --James Zetlen, creator of Sorryeverybody.com

Twenty-year-old University of Southern California student James Zetlen launched www.sorryeverybody.com on November 4, 2004, as a way for Americans to express their disappointment, grief, and outrage about the results of the election and how it will affect people around the world for at least the next four years. To date, almost 30,000 people have uploaded their thoughts, images, and opinions to the Web site.

This thoughtful collection of poetry and inspirational reflections focuses on this important stage of a young Jewish person’s life. It covers the main holy days of the calendar and looks at the cycle of life from birth to death. Also included are ruminations on the most important values and virtues of Judaism.

From George Washington to George W. Bush, the man who sits in the Oval Office is arguably the most powerful person in the world. Americans and others are fascinated by US Presidents and Presidents: Every Question Answered is the ideal reference for anyone who wants inside information about these powerful men. The perfect book for students, journalists, historians, teachers, and political aficionados.

“When it comes to military history...Richard Holmes is in a league of his own.” So wrote London’s The Daily Telegraph, and here we have that renowned military historian writing on a perennially popular subject. Britain at War takes the reader on a fascinating journey through time to visit Britain’s battlefields, recreating their bloody atmosphere and marking crucial moments in Britain’s turbulent history.

The course of history has been known to change irrevocably in the space of a single day. Such momentous solitary days, together with the pivotal events they contain-from scientific breakthroughs to assassinations and uprisings-frequently mark key turning points in world history. Days That Shook the World, published to accompany the History Channel television series of the same name, tells the dramatic stories behind some of the most important dates in history.

John Labriola, then an amateur photographer armed as usual with his digital camera, was working in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. Walking Forward Looking Back, a memoir of his experiences on that terrible day, features over 100 powerful photographs he took before, during, and after the attacks.

New archaeological evidence suggests that as our ancestors spread out across the planet they did battle with colossal predatory mammals, strange birds, and chilling reptiles. Land of Lost Monsters reconstructs the extraordinary moments when modern humans first encountered these creatures. Land of Lost Monsters looks at what happened when our ancestors met these extraordinary creatures. Did we hunt them or were we hunted? And why did they disappear?

Many attempts at flight before and after the Wright Brothers had “the right stuff” in terms of creativity if not practicality, contends Phil Scott, an authority on aviation. This pictorial history features illustrations, with aircraft specifications, from da Vinci’s “great (man-powered) bird” to the NASA/Ames’ experimental one-piece swiveling wing plane. Includes biographical sidebars on the inventors, and contains more than 300 archival images, including never-before-published photos and illustrations.

Dickens was a landmark biography when first published in 1990. This special abridged edition takes the reader into the fascinating life of one of the world’s greatest writers—Dickens’ penurious and painful childhood, the triumphant reception of his first novel, and other significant events in the life of this legendary writer. Peter Ackroyd is a master biographer with a seductive prose style, and this massive volume is likely to stand as the Dickens biography for decades to come.

In the tradition of the bestselling Presidents: Every Question Answered, Kings and Queens of England: Every Question Answered is the ultimate source book for answers to just about any question that you could ask about every single king and queen in Great Britain, past or present.