In his new book, The Grand Design, the British physicist says unraveling a complex series of theories will explain the universe. The book, written with American physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow, will be published Sept. 9.
For blocks and blocks they appeared — grids, circles, numerals: In post-Katrina New Orleans, those symbols became indelible shorthand, modern hieroglyphics set down in fluorescent paint, runny marker, even chalk embroidered on the sides of what was left of the city's built-architecture — duplexes, shotgun shacks, colonials done in miniature. These markings whispered stories, hash marks that baldly communicated with any passerby the tally of how many bodies remained — humans, pets — and where they might be found inside. Those lines, letters and numbers were a chilling account of disaster. But in the first couple of months after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flood, photographer Richard Misrach began to record a parallel narrative, one that also began to materialize along those walls, fences, husks of rusted automobiles. They were sentences, fragments, warnings and prayers: some dated missives that started then finished weeks later; open letters to the president and, when that didn't work, to God.
Mark Schatzker, a lifelong steak lover, was disappointed in the steaks he was eating -- they simply didn't taste as good as he remembered. So Schatzker set off on a quest to find the very best piece of beef in the world, a quest that took him from feedlots in Texas, to French cave paintings of prehistoric cattle, to the Argentine pampas.
Now in its 219th year, the newest Old Farmer's Almanac makes its debut with weather predictions, gardening advice and mouthwatering recipes for Dutch ovens.
The former prime minister of the United Kingdom's memoir, My Life: A Political Journey, is on sale in the U.S. Blair spoke to Steve Inskeep about Iraq, globalization and his political career.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair's memoir "A Journey: My Political Life" is a political biography of unusual interest.
For more than seven years, Americans learned about the war from news reports. But between headlines, many also turned to books to understand the strategy and the lessons of the conflict. As "Operation New Dawn" begins, Thomas Ricks picks the best and the worst books about the Iraq war.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he does not regret his decision to take Britain to war in Iraq, but did not foresee the nightmare that had unfolded there. The revelations come in Mr. Blair's newly published memoirs.
In the 718-page book, entitled A Journey: My Political Life, the former British prime minister says he wanted the book to be different from the traditional political memoir.
"I set out to write a book that would give the reader an insight into the human, as well as the political dimensions of life as a prime minister," said Blair.
Tony Blair took three years to write the book that charts his decade in power. <!--IMAGE-->
"So it is a frank account of my life in politics which illuminates what it is like to be a leader, both for the U.K. and also of course on the international stage," he explained. "It charts the difficult decisions, the highs and the lows."
The highs include the landslide victory that brought him to power in 1997, and presiding over the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland. Mr. Blair also wrote of the outrage that led him to send troops to Kosovo, and the regret that British lives had been lost in Iraq. But he did not apologize for taking the country to war. Major General Tim Cross was Britain's top representative to Iraq during the 2003 invasion.
"I think he is pretty heartfelt in his comments that he does not regret what he went through," said Cross. "He clearly has been affected by it, I do not think there is any doubt about that, but I think ultimately he believes what he did was right."
Mr. Blair is donating all the proceeds of the book, including the reported multi-million-dollar advance, to a British charity that supports wounded soldiers. Cross believes the former prime minister is conflicted about the Iraq War.
"I think he is genuinely struggling with the outcome of Iraq, but genuinely, ultimately believes it was the right thing to do, but recognizes an awful lot of people have been hurt in the process and this is part of a way of repaying some of that," he added.
Anti-war campaigners picketed one of the London stores selling the book and plan to demonstrate next week when Mr. Blair holds a book signing. His memoirs are expected to be a worldwide bestseller, but the former prime minister's decade in power remains controversial in Britain.
Plenty of folks are wary when it comes to self-help, but if you're not going to help yourself, then who will? Writer Lisa Unger says: Silence your inner snark and read these three books -- they will clear your mind and change your life.
I've been following Sara Paretsky's private investigator, V.I. Warshawski, since her first case in 1982 when, in life as well as fiction, female P.I.s were a novelty. Or, I should say, I've been trying to keep up as V.I., known to her friends as Vic, races around Chicago in her little Mustang at all hours of the day and night.
Decades past high school, Gail Caldwell had the luck to find a true best friend — a woman whose strengths and weaknesses perfectly complemented her own. Then she endured the tragedy of losing her, an ending that she shares at the beginning of her affecting new grief memoir, "Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship."
John McCain's daughter says in a new book that Sarah Palin brought drama, stress and uncertainty to her father's failed bid for the presidency in 2008. But Meghan McCain doesn't blame the vice presidential nominee for the loss.
From when not to say thank you, to an embarrassing run-in at a Shanghai Taco Bell, Deborah Fallows recounts her tumultuous journey through the Chinese language in her new book Dreaming in Chinese: Mandarin Lessons In Life, Love, And Language.