• Atahualpa,thelastIncaemperor,arrivesinEuropeinthe

  shipsstolenfromColumbus.Hefindsacontinentdivided

  byreligiousanddynasticquarrels,theSpanishInquisition,Luthers

  Reformation,capitalism,themiracleoftheprintingpress,endless

  warmongeringbetweentherulingmonarchies,andconstantthreatfrom

  theTurks.Butmostofallhefindsdowntrodden

  populationsreadyforrevolution.Fortunately,hehasarecent

  bestsellerasaguidebooktoacquiringpower—MachiavellisThePrince.

  ThestageissetforaEuroperuledby

  IncasandAztecs,andforagreatwarthat

  willchangehistoryforever.
  Civilizations: A Novel
• ThemostdangerousmaninHitlerscabinet,ReinhardHeydrichwas

  knownasthe"ButcherofPrague."Hewasfeared

  byallandloathedbymost.Withhiscold

  Aryanfeaturesandimplacablecruelty,Heydrichseemedindestructible—untiltwo

  men,aSlovakandaCzechrecruitedbythe

  Britishsecretservice,killedhiminbroaddaylighton

  abustlingstreetinPrague,andthuschangedthe

  courseofHistory.Whowerethesemen,arguablytwo

  ofthemostdiscreetheroesofthetwentiethcentury?

  InLaurent-Binetscaptivatingdebutnovel,wefollowJozefGabcik

  andJanKubišfromtheirdramaticescapeofNazi-occupied

  CzechoslovakiatoEngland;fromtheirrecruitmenttotheirharrowing

  parachutedropintoawarzone,fromtheirstealth

  attackonHeydrichscartotheirownbrutaldeath

  inthebasementofaPraguechurch.
  HHhH
• InTheSeventhFunctionofLanguage,Laurent-Binetspinsamadcap

  secrethistoryoftheFrenchintelligentsia,starringsuchluminaries

  asJacquesDerrida,UmbertoEco,GillesDeleuze,MichelFoucault,

  JudithButler,andJuliaKristeva—aswellasthehapless

  policedetectiveJacquesBayard,whosenewcasewillplunge

  himintothedepthsofliterarytheory(startingwith

  theFrenchversionofRolandBarthesforDummies).Soon

  Bayardfindshimselfinsearchofalostmanuscript

  bythelinguistRomanJakobsononthemysterious“seventh

  functionoflanguage.”
  The Seventh Function of Language