Don Hagen

“My Bondage and My Freedom”, by Frederick Douglass. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics: • New introductions commissioned from today’s top writers and scholars • Biographies of the authors • Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events • Footnotes and endnotes • Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired...

In New Atlantis, Francis Bacon portrayed a vision of the future of human discovery and knowledge, expressing his aspirations and ideals for humankind. The novel depicts the creation of a utopian land where "generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendour, piety and public spirit" are the commonly held qualities of the inhabitants of the mythical Bensalem. The plan and organisation of his ideal college, Salomon's House (or Solomon's House), envisioned...

"Crooken Sands" is an 1894 short story by master horror writer Bram Stoker. Abraham "Bram" Stoker (1847 – 1912) was an Irish author most famous for his 1897 Gothic novel "Dracula", a seminal book that continues to influence the vampire genre in print and film to this day. Other notable works by this author include: "Miss Betty" (1898), "The Mystery of the Sea" (1902), and "The Jewel of Seven Stars" (1903). This volume will appeal to those who enjoy...

Frank Lambert is professor of history at Purdue University. His books include The Barbary Wars, a New York Times Editors' Choice; The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America; and Inventing the "Great Awakening." The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention blocked the establishment of Christianity as a national religion. But they could not keep religion out of American politics. From the election of 1800, when Federalist clergymen...

For astronaut Ron Garan, living on the International Space Station was a powerful, transformative experience one that he believes holds the key to solving our problems here on Earth. On space walks and through windows, Garan was struck by the stunning beauty of the Earth from space but sobered by knowing how much needed to be done to help this troubled planet. And yet on the International Space Station, Garan, a former fighter pilot, was working work...

Ready to finance your venture the Kickstarter way? With equity crowdfunding rules finalized by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the landmark 2012 JOBS Act has finally gone live, freeing small businesses to raise up to $1 million without a lengthy, expensive IPO process. Legal and small business expert Cliff Ennico has followed the equity crowdfunding story since its inception. Here, he explains the federal legislation and translates the 685-page...

For this rousing, revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum has combed original documents and records to produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complex and often bloodier.

The popular blogger and author of the best-selling "You Are Not So Smart" shares more discoveries about self-delusion and irrational thinking, analyzing 15 additional ways people routinely fool themselves in areas ranging from attraction and time wasted to best intentions and the true price of happiness.

In this witty and perceptive debut, a former editor at Psychology Today shows us how magical thinking makes life worth living. Psychologists have documented a litany of cognitive biases- misperceptions of the world-and explained their positive functions. Now, Matthew Hutson shows us that even the most hardcore skeptic indulges in magical thinking all the time-and it's crucial to our survival. Drawing on evolution, cognitive science, and neuroscience,...

"If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?" - CANDIDE Candide is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the absurdly melodramatic story of a young man, Candide, living a sheltered life who clings desperately to "the best of all possible worlds," one which is abruptly interrupted by a series of painfully disillusioning events that set him off on a wide-ranging journey....