From one of the world’s top experts on the economics of skyscrapers—a fascinating account of the ever-growing quest for super tall buildings across the globe. The world’s skyscrapers have brought us awe and wonder, and yet they remain controversial—for their high costs, shadows, and overt grandiosity. But, decade by decade, they keep getting higher and higher. What is driving this global building spree of epic proportions? In Cities in the Sky, author Jason Barr explains all: why they appeal to cities and nations, how they get financed, why they succeed economically, and how they change a city’s skyline and enable the world’s greatest metropolises to thrive in the 21st century. From the Empire State Building (1,250 feet) to the Shanghai Tower (2,073 feet) and everywhere in between, Barr explains the unique architectural and engineering efforts that led to the creation of each. Along the way, Barr visits and unpacks some surprising myths about the earliest skyscrapers and the growth of American skylines after World War II, which incorporated a new suite of technologies that spread to the rest of the world in the 1990s. Barr also explores why London banned skyscrapers at the end of the 19th century but then embraced them in the 21st and explains how Hong Kong created the densest cluster of skyscrapers on the planet. Also covered is the dramatic result of China’s “skyscraper fever” and then on to the Arabian Peninsula to see what drove Dubai to build the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which at 2,717 feet, is higher than the new One World Trade Center in New York by three football fields. Filled with fascinating details for urbanists, architecture buffs, and urban design enthusiasts alike, Cities in the Sky addresses the good, bad, and ugly for cities that have embraced vertical skylines and offers us a glimpse to the future to see whether cities around the world will continue their journey ever upwards.

SHE KILLED MY FATHER. I’M BRINGING THE WAR TO HER. ​ My name is Synn El’Asim and I live on an airship. Our way of life is dictated by seasons—predominately the four-year-long winter that completely freezes the oceans. We are nomads by necessity. Some of us live in the skies, like me. Some on land. Few on the seas. Others reside in the tentacles of large jellyfish we call lethara. ​ The Hands of Tarot threaten our ways of life. They’re ruled by a queen, Nix, who is trying to destroy the larger tribes. I thought my family and I were safe. We have the largest fleet. We’re fast and we’re strong. ​ I was wrong. She catches up to us with her metal flying machines and horrifically kills my father. The time for running is over. I’m taking the fight to her and her gear-filled city in the clouds.

It turned out afterward that somebody had punched the wrong button in a computer. It was in a matter in which mistakes are not permissible, but just as nothing can be manufactured without an ordinary hammer figuring somewhere in the making or the making-ready-to-make, so nothing can be done without a fallible human operating at some stage of the proceedings. And humans make mistakes casually, off-handedly, with impartial lack of malice, and unpredictability. So.... Calhoun heard the tape-speaker say, "When the gong sounds, breakout will follow in five seconds." Then it made solemn ticking noises while Calhoun yawned and put aside the book, "The Practice of Thinking," that he'd been studying. Study was a necessity in his profession. Besides, it helped to pass the time in overdrive. He went to the control-desk chair and strapped in. Murgatroyd the tormal uncoiled his tail from about his nose and stood up from where he was catching twenty winks. He padded to the place under Calhoun's chair where there were things to grab hold of, if necessary, with four black paws and a prehensile tail...FROM THE BOOKS.

The author of "The Dybbuk," Shloyme-Zanvl Rappoport, known as An-sky (1863-1920), was a figure of immense versatility and also ambiguity in Russian and Jewish intellectual, literary, and political spheres. Drawing together leading historians, ethnographers, literary scholars, and others, this far-ranging, multi-disciplinary examination of An-sky is the fullest ever produced.

Montana is home to two of America’s most popular national parks, and many of the twelve million visitors who travel to Big Sky Country each year include both Glacier and Yellowstone in their plans. It’s a full day’s drive between these two western jewels, and there are dozens of routes road trippers can select to build their journey. There are also thousands of travel guides on the shelf that provide information about the region, but Big Sky, Big Parks is unique among them, a blend of history, culture, and local flavor that’s more of an entertaining travel companion and a useful resource for those visiting the two national parks and the vast chunk of Montana that connects them. Author Ednor Therriault shares his experiences on the road and in the parks with humor and insight in thirty stories that chronicle the triumphs and tragedies that make traveling between Glacier and Yellowstone such a rewarding endeavor. Discover the reasons behind Yellowstone’s devilish place names and read about Butte’s version of Disneyland in this road trip handbook/travelogue that features insider tips on regional delicacies, interesting places to lay your head, local trivia, and even road trip playlists to provide a soundtrack to your Montana adventure.

"Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quoatations are from the New King James Version of the Bible."--T.p. verso.

Humanity will finally be saved or destroyed in the shattering conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed NYT bestselling trilogy that won the Hugo Award three years in a row. The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe. For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.