Hunters in the Shallows is the first book to examine the development and role of the small torpedo boat in U.S. naval history, from William Cushing's heroic attack on the Confederate ram Albemarle in 1864, to PT operations in World War II. Moreover, it offers the first critical analysis of the PT's operational value. Culled from primary sources, this myth-buster covers the inside story of the scandalous 1939 Elco deal, offers new insight into the roles of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Douglas MacArthur in PT development, dares a shocking reappraisal of MacArthur's dramatic escape from Corregidor by PT boat in 1942, and reassesses the sinking of John F. Kennedy's PT-109. It also contains numerous photos and illustrations tracing American small torpedo boat development from the Civil War through World War II. Sure to be controversial, Hunters in the Shallows is a must read for naval professionals, military historians, and PT boat buffs alike.

Finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction: “Nicholas Carr has written a Silent Spring for the literary mind.”—Michael Agger, Slate “Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways. Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection. Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.

In Hunters in the Stream, Riley Fitzhugh goes through officer training and is assigned to PC 475, a new anti-U-boat vessel stationed in Key West. The 475 is nicknamed Nameless by her crew because patrol craft vessels were only given numbers. Nameless cruises the Gulf of Mexico in search of U-boats, goes to the rescue of a sinking oil tanker, stops in Havana for meetings with the Cuban Navy, and learns of a possible secret German U-boat fueling station in the wilds of eastern Cuba. Nameless locates the base and destroys it with the ship’s gunfire and a coordinated small-arms attack led by Fitzhugh and his shore party. Later, another U-boat is reported damaged and sinking. The German survivors capture a Bahamian turtle boat, murder the crew, and head for Cuba, thinking that the fuel dump is still in operation. Fitzhugh and the Nameless pursue through the tangle of mangroves and Cuban keys, find the Germans, and finish them off in a shootout. Along the way, Fitzhugh meets Ernest Hemingway and toward the end tells him about the Nameless’s adventures. Hemingway thinks about adapting the story for his own. Fitzhugh and Hemingway’s wife, writer Martha Gellhorn, also meet and feel some mutual stirrings—and give in to them.

They will continue to grace our coastlines only if we care enough to understand them.

In the words of Lee Child on Gone to Dust, “I want more of Nils Shapiro.” New York Times Best Selling author and Emmy Award-winning writer Matt Goldman obliges by bringing the Minneapolis private detective back for another thrilling, stand-alone adventure in The Shallows. A prominent lawyer is found dead, tied to his own dock by a fishing stringer through his jaw, and everyone wants private detective Nils Shapiro to protect them from suspicion: The unfaithful widow. Her artist boyfriend. The lawyer’s firm. A polarizing congressional candidate. A rudderless suburban police department. Even the FBI. Nils and his investigative partners illuminate a sticky web of secrets and deceit that draws national attention. But finding the web doesn’t prevent Nils from getting caught in it. Just when his safety is most in peril, his personal life takes an unexpected twist, facing its own snarl of surprise and deception. In The Shallows, Goldman delves into the threat of dark history repeating itself while delivering another page-turner with his signature pace, humor, and richly drawn characters. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Contents Include: Short Sketch of My Life Otter Hunting at Bellingham Otters in Unusual Places Otter Hunting on the North Tyne Otter Hunting: North Tyne and Reed water Otter Hunting on the Tyne An Otter Hunt on the River Reed A Triumph for Bugle Mr. John Gallon Otter Hunting with John Gallon Otter Hunting on the Liddel A Remarkable Hunt Otter Hunting on the Coquet Other Hunters I Have Met The Otter Hound Bugle Hesleyside Fox Covers The Glorious Chase Bonny North Tyne The Streams of the West The Fox Hound Wellington Jarrow fountain

The 10th-anniversary edition of this landmark investigation into how the Internet is dramatically changing how we think, remember and interact, with a new afterword.