The Untold Story

Return to the world of the Invisible Library for Irene's most perilous mission yet . . . Librarian Spy Irene is heading into danger. Not for the first time, but could this be her last? She’s tasked with a terrifyingly dangerous solo mission to eliminate an old enemy, which must be kept secret at all costs. But even more troubling news emerges. Multiple worlds are disappearing – and the Library may have something to do with it. Determined to uncover the truth behind the vanished worlds, Irene and her friends must descend into the unplumbed depths of the Library. And what they find will change everything they know. This may be Irene’s most dangerous assignment of her hazardous career. The Untold Story is the unputdownable eighth book in the Invisible Library fantasy series by Genevieve Cogman. Praise for the series: ‘I absolutely loved this’ – N. K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season ‘Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one’s fool’ – Guardian ‘Brilliant and so much fun. Skullduggery, Librarians and dragons – Cogman keeps upping the ante on this delightful series!’ – Charles Stross, author of the Merchant Princes series

The past, present, and possible future of the agency designed to act as "the world's environmental conscience." The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) was founded in 1972 as a nimble, fast, and flexible entity at the core of the UN system--a subsidiary body rather than a specialized agency. It was intended to be the world's environmental conscience, an anchor institution that established norms and researched policy, leaving it to other organizations to carry out its recommendations. In this book, Maria Ivanova offers a detailed account of UNEP's origin and history. Ivanova counters the common criticism that UNEP was deficient by design, arguing that UNEP has in fact delivered on much (though not all) of its mandate.

A history of audiobooks, from entertainment & rehabilitation for blinded World War I soldiers to a twenty-first-century competitive industry. Histories of the book often move straight from the codex to the digital screen. Left out of that familiar account are nearly 150 years of audio recordings. Recounting the fascinating history of audio-recorded literature, Matthew Rubery traces the path of innovation from Edison’s recitation of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” for his tinfoil phonograph in 1877, to the first novel-length talking books made for blinded World War I veterans, to today’s billion-dollar audiobook industry. The Untold Story of the Talking Book focuses on the social impact of audiobooks, not just the technological history, in telling a story of surprising and impassioned conflicts: from controversies over which books the Library of Congress selected to become talking books—yes to Kipling, no to Flaubert—to debates about what defines a reader. Delving into the vexed relationship between spoken and printed texts, Rubery argues that storytelling can be just as engaging with the ears as with the eyes, and that audiobooks deserve to be taken seriously. They are not mere derivatives of printed books but their own form of entertainment. We have come a long way from the era of sound recorded on wax cylinders, when people imagined one day hearing entire novels on mini-phonographs tucked inside their hats. Rubery tells the untold story of this incredible evolution and, in doing so, breaks from convention by treating audiobooks as a distinctively modern art form that has profoundly influenced the way we read. Praise for The Untold Story of the Talking Book “If audiobooks are relatively new to your world, you might wonder where they came from and where they’re going. And for general fans of the intersection of culture and technology, The Untold Story of the Talking Book is a fascinating read.” —Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun-Times “[Rubery] explores 150 years of the audio format with an imminently accessible style, touching upon a wide range of interconnected topics . . . Through careful investigation of the co-development of formats within the publishing industry, Rubery shines a light on overlooked pioneers of audio . . . Rubery’s work succeeds in providing evidence to ‘move beyond the reductive debate’ on whether audiobooks really count as reading, and establishes the format’s rightful place in the literary family.” —Mary Burkey, Booklist (starred review)

Alice in Chains was the first of grunge's big four - ahead of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden - to get a gold record and achieve national recognition. With the charismatic Layne Staley behind the microphone, they became one of the most influential and successful bands to come out of the Seattle music scene. But as the band got bigger, so did its problems. Acclaimed journalist David de Sola follows the members from their inauspicious beginnings at a warehouse under the Ballard Bridge through the history of the band, charting: - The local hair metal scene in Seattle during the 1980s. - How drugs nearly destroyed the band and claimed the lives of Staley and founding bassist Mike Starr. - Jerry Cantrell's solo career and Mike Starr's life after being fired from the band. - The band's resurrection with William DuVall, the Atlanta singer/guitarist who stepped into Layne Staley's shoes. Based on a wealth of interviews with people with direct knowledge of the band and its history, many of whom are speaking on the record for the first time, Alice in Chains will stand as the definitive Alice in Chains biography for years to come.

She was the most famous woman in the world. She died tragically, too young, in a terrible accident. The world mourned. Monica Ali, the beloved author of Brick Lane, explores the extraordinary question: what if she hadn't died? Lydia lives in a nondescript town somewhere in the American Midwest. She's a nice, normal woman - if strikingly beautiful. She lives a nice, normal life: her friends are normal, her job is normal, her hobbies are normal. Her friends and boyfriend adore her. But her past is shrouded in mystery. Who is Lydia? Where does she come from? And why is her English accent so posh? Lydia is a woman with secrets. Extraordinary secrets. She might even be the most famous woman on the planet... a woman whose death the world mourned by millions. Who is she? *~*~* Praise for Untold Story*~*~* 'A beautiful, gripping accomplishment, a treat for the heart and the head, and will be a joy to readers who believe in the possibility that a book can transform your basic sense of life' Andrew O'Hagan 'A terrific, clever, multi-layered and subtle book (and let's not forget - hugely entertaining)' Joanne Harris 'Haunting and intensely readable, this is something between a thriller and a ghost story' Lady Antonia Fraser 'A startlingly intelligent, perceptive and entertaining piece of fiction. It's quite brilliant' Henry Sutton, Daily Mirror 'Thoughtful, compassionate... a suspenseful and gripping read' Suzi Feay, Financial Times 'Ali's third-person princess is a very convincing and sympathetic figure... extremely skilfully done' Tibor Fischer, Observer

The defining, behind-the-scenes chronicle of one of the most extraordinary, beloved, and dominant pop cultural entities in America’s history -- Marvel Comics – and the outsized personalities who made Marvel including Martin Goodman, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby. “Sean Howe’s history of Marvel makes a compulsively readable, riotous and heartbreaking version of my favorite story, that of how a bunch of weirdoes changed the world…That it’s all true is just frosting on the cake.” —Jonathan Lethem For the first time, Marvel Comics tells the stories of the men who made Marvel: Martin Goodman, the self-made publisher who forayed into comics after a get-rich-quick tip in 1939, Stan Lee, the energetic editor who would shepherd the company through thick and thin for decades and Jack Kirby, the WWII veteran who would co-create Captain America in 1940 and, twenty years later, developed with Lee the bulk of the company’s marquee characters in a three-year frenzy. Incorporating more than one hundred original interviews with those who worked behind the scenes at Marvel over a seventy-year-span, Marvel Comics packs anecdotes and analysis into a gripping narrative of how a small group of people on the cusp of failure created one of the most enduring pop cultural forces in contemporary America.

Frazier Hunt’s friendship with Douglas MacArthur began on the battlefields of France during World War I. The young general, not quite six years the author’s senior, had already caught the allure of Pacific destiny by the time that Hunt made his first long trip to the Orient—Japan, Siberia, China, the Philippines, Australia, Southeast Asia, India. Both Hunt and MacArthur, from their separate viewpoints, early foresaw that America’s destiny lay in the Pacific. Hunt had the unique experience of covering for newspapers and magazines every war and revolution. Following four months at General MacArthur’s headquarters in New Guinea in 1944, he wrote MacArthur and the War Against Japan. The Untold Story of Douglas MacArthur was his fourteenth and final book. A fitting monument to an outstanding reporter. “Warmly written, argumentative, greatly detailed, yet fast moving...It is a racing, readable book.”—New York Times Book Review “This is a most unusual book—with its power and sweep and fierce passion for the truth. It is a book that every American should be interested in, the full-length story of the boy, the man, the General.”—The Army-Navy-Air Force Register “An important contribution to the history of the times.”—San Francisco Call-Bulletin “A thrilling biography. Frazier Hunt had a background of information and experience that better fitted him than any other to tell the intimate MacArthur story.”—Montgomery Advertiser “It is a skillful, objective study of a great man, documented to the nines, the product of highly disciplined research. It is honest biography...Anyone wishing to understand the things that moved and formed Douglas MacArthur will find most of the answers in this book.”—Cincinnati Enquirer