Susan Orlean’s bestseller and New York Times Notable Book is “a sheer delight…as rich in insight and as varied as the treasures contained on the shelves in any local library” (USA TODAY)—a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution and an investigation into one of its greatest mysteries. “Everybody who loves books should check out The Library Book” (The Washington Post). On the morning of April 28, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. The fire was disastrous: it reached two thousand degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a “delightful…reflection on the past, present, and future of libraries in America” (New York magazine) that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before. In the “exquisitely written, consistently entertaining” (The New York Times) The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries; brings each department of the library to vivid life; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. “A book lover’s dream…an ambitiously researched, elegantly written book that serves as a portal into a place of history, drama, culture, and stories” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country.

Capturing much of what is new and vibrant in urban studies today, "New York and Los Angeles" should prove to be valuable reading for scholars in that field, as well as in sociology, political science and government.

Provides vision for strong school library programs, including identification of the skills and knowledge essential for students to be information literate. Includes recommended baseline staffing, access, and resources for school library services at each grade level.

"This deluxe volume offers an exclusive look into the classic homes and gardens in the legendary neighborhoods in and around Los Angeles, such as Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Malibu. In a region famed for its lavish homes and celebrity residents, one finds here a panorama of richly detailed architectural styles, from Craftsman, Tudor, and Georgian, to Spanish Colonial and Tuscan Revival examples." "Shown here in rich detail are the estate of the great Hollywood producer and director Cecil B. DeMille in Laughlin Park, the former Danny Kay House in Beverly Hills, the revered Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright in Pasadena, and wonderful Arts & Crafts masterwork by Green and Green---the Gamble House---also in Pasadena. The works of those and other renowned architects, such as Wallace Neff, Paul Williams, George Washington Smith, and Roland Coate, illustrate the wide range of period-revival styles popular in Southern California during its "Golden Age of Expansion" from 1899 to 1938. Lush, all-new color photographs capture the grandeur of these homes and their exquisite gardens in the present day."--BOOK JACKET.

Unusually inclusive, visually intriguing, and beautifully produced, Made in California will appeal to anyone who has lived in, visited, or imagined California.".

A history of Nazi propaganda based on never-before-published posters, rare photographs, and historical artifacts from the USHMM’s groundbreaking exhibition. “Propaganda,” Adolf Hitler wrote in 1924, “is a truly terrible weapon in the hands of an expert.” State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda documents how, in the 1920s and 1930s, the Nazi Party used posters, newspapers, rallies, and the new technologies of radio and film to sway millions with its vision for a new Germany—reinforced by fear-mongering images of state “enemies.” These images promoted indifference toward the suffering of neighbors, disguised the regime’s genocidal actions, and insidiously incited ordinary people to carry out or tolerate mass violence.The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is addressing this topic today because, in an age of instant electronic communication, disseminators of messages and images of intolerance and hate have new tools, while at the same time consumers seem less able to cope with the vast amounts of unmediated information bombarding them daily. It is hoped that a deeper understanding of the complexities of the past may help us respond more effectively to today’s propaganda campaigns and biased messages.