Ian Morris

In the last thirty years, there have been fierce debates over how civilizations develop and why the West became so powerful. The Measure of Civilization presents a brand-new way of investigating these questions and provides new tools for assessing the long-term growth of societies. Using a groundbreaking numerical index of social development that compares societies in different times and places, award-winning author Ian Morris sets forth a sweeping...

A powerful and provocative exploration of how war has changed our society-for the better "War! ... / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing," says the famous song-but archaeology, history, and biology show that war in fact has been good for something. Surprising as it sounds, war has made humanity safer and richer. In War! What Is It Good For?, the renowned historian and archaeologist Ian Morris tells the gruesome, gripping story of fifteen thousand...

When Bad Things Happen to Rich People is a novel of social satire, a black comedy set in Chicago in the summer of 1995. The novel's protagonist, Nix Walters, is an adjunct instructor of English at a communications college in the loop with few prospects for advancement. He had become a literary punch line when his novel, touted as the next big literary phenomenon, was universally panned by critics. He and his pregnant wife, Flora, are struggling financially;...

Tom Read Wilson is here to take us on a rip-roaring tour through some of the most astonishing and amusing words in the English language with Every Word Tells a Story. See how the English language evolved in this extraordinary exploration of the origins of everyday words. Full of funny stories and fascinating facts, Tom Read Wilson knows even the most ordinary-sounding word can have the most surprising story behind it! Did you know, for instance,...

Adventures of a young boy and the Crystal Gems, his human-like alien friends.