A dual biography of the two most influential socio-political moralists of the twentieth century, whose lives were intertwined personally and intellectually for more than forty-six years. Madsen provides an engrossing view of the luminously transparent relationship that was unconventional yet faithful to its ideals.

In Trade and Romance, Michael Murrin examines the complex relations between the expansion of trade in Asia and the production of heroic romance in Europe from the second half of the thirteenth century through the late seventeenth century. He shows how these tales of romance, ostensibly meant for the aristocracy, were important to the growing mercantile class as a way to gauge their own experiences in traveling to and trading in these exotic locales....

"Aglaia is a simple sea nymph. One day, a Merman seduces Aglaia, forever altering her life's course. She is cast out of Oceanid by her chauvinistic father, forcing her to wander many days and nights, until one day she finds herself at the benefit of one Mr. Kite, whose traveling circus welcomes her (including the star attraction, a waltzing Horse named Henry) and once again alters her fate, sending her down many more unexpected paths. The Song of...

"The gars are carefree animals living in harmony alongside all kinds of wondrous creatures in their Edenic home of Garlandia. Their shaman, Zachariah, interprets the spirits that foretell their future, but when a strange vision bodes ill, a repellant but charismatic newcomer arrives and plays upon the gars' fears, endangering their halcyon existence." --

Daughters of the famous evangelist Lyman Beecher, Catherine, Harriet, and Isabella could not follow their father and seven brothers into the ministry. Nonetheless, they carved out path-breaking careers for themselves. Catharine Beecher founded the Hartford Female Seminary and devoted her life to improving women's education. Harriet Beecher Stowe became world famous as the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. And Isabella Beecher Hooker was an outspoken advocate...

"Edith Hamilton (1867-1963), famed popularizer of the classics, whose books include Mythology and The Greek Way, introduced millions-literally millions-of general readers and young adults to the myths and culture of the Greco-Roman world. In the middle of the 20th century, she was arguably the most visible and widely read person on classics and mythology. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College and then a successful teacher and administrator at the Bryn Mawr...

"From its origins, the liberal doctrine has represented the most advanced forms of democratic culture, and it is what has most defended us from the inextinguishable "call of the tribe." This book hopes to make a modest contribution to that indispensable task. In The Call of the Tribe, Mario Vargas Llosa surveys the readings that have shaped the way he thinks and has viewed the world over the past fifty years. The Nobel laureate, "tireless in his...

"Los Angeles, 1986. A group of right-wing Christians has put an initiative on the November ballot to allow health officials to force people with HIV into quarantine camps. It looks like it's going to pass. Rios, now living in LA, agrees to be counsel for a group of young activists who call themselves QUEER [Queers United to End Erasure and Repression]. QUEER claims to be committed to peaceful civil disobedience. But when one of its members is implicated...

Published in 1876, this collection was shepherded into print by Emerson's daughter, Ellen Tucker Emerson, and his friend, James Elliot Cabot, due to Emerson's diminished health. But the essays themselves, especially the masterful "Poetry and the Imagination," a ringing defense of the symbolic power of poetry, belie the notion of any decline.