A Short Primer on Our Spring '17 Books

By UPNE Staff

While we may not even be halfway through the winter yet, who said we can’t talk about our Spring ’17 catalog? Here’s a short primer on but a few of the exciting books we’ll be publishing in the months ahead:

1. Maximum Harm: The Tsarnaev Brothers, the FBI, and the Road to the Marathon Bombing by Michele R. McPhee (April)

McPhee’s brilliant investigative reporting uncovers explosive, previously unknown facts about the Boston Marathon bombing — secrets kept from the public that will make you wonder if justice was really served. Seriously. Don’t miss this book.

2. Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird by Katie Fallon (March)

Yes, vultures eat carrion, and yes, they do happen to occasionally vomit on their enemies. But this heartfelt, lyrical, and moving book just might be a PR coup for these much-maligned — and ecologically essential! — scavenging birds.

3. The Decibel Diaries: A Journey through Rock in 50 Concerts by Carter Alan (April)

From Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young playing in the rain the night Nixon resigned, to Eddie Vedder smashing his guitar through the stage at the Boston Garden — until he fell into the hole — Carter was there. Which is another way of describing how this vivid chronicle of rock ‘n roll will give you a backstage pass to music history.

4. The Lives of Dillon Ripley: Natural Scientist, Wartime Spy, and Pioneering Leader of the Smithsonian Institution by Roger D. Stone (June)

Whether he has documenting the bird life of India, running spies out of Ceylon for the Office of Strategic Services (a.k.a. the forerunner of the modern CIA), or leading the Smithsonian’s transformation from “the nation’s attic” to a hugely important cultural institution, S. Dillon Ripley was a man of inspiring abilities. They don’t make renaissance men like this anymore.

5. Buying Time: Environmental Collapse and the Future of Energy by Kaz Makabe (March)

In Buying Time, Makabe — a veteran financial systems expert who lived through the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster — brings sharp, engaging reasoning to bear on perhaps the single most important question of our time: what is the future of energy? His exceptionally well-argued conclusions might surprise you.

6. Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink’s Heist by Gary Craig (May)

From Ireland’s Long Kesh prison to the illegal poker rooms of Manhattan to the cold lakeshore on the Canadian border where the body arts began washing up, veteran journalist Craig’s detailed re-creation of a complicated heist executed by an unsavory crew of crooks will leave you riveted. The big unanswered question: Where are the missing millions?

7. Senator Leahy: A Life in Scenes by Philip Baruth (May)

This focused biography of America’s most senior senator chronicles critical moments in Patrick Leahy’s influential career, from the battle over the Patriot Act to the 2001 anthrax attacks to the opening of relations with Cuba to his role as a tough-talking extra in the Dark Knight trilogy of Batman films. The only book of its kind.

8. Hot Hands, Draft Hype, and DiMaggio’s Streak: Debunking America’s Favorite Sports Myths by Sheldon Hirsch (May)

Sportswriter Sheldon Hirsch looks at myths, legends, conventional wisdom, shibboleths, and firm convictions of all kinds that sports lovers hold to be true, and demonstrates how analysis of facts and figures disproves what tradition would have us believe. What if everything you thought you knew about baseball, basketball, and football is, well, wrong?

Click here to check out our full Spring '17 catalog. Happy reading!