Now in paperback, a searing memoir of World war II, the story of one man's survivial of the brutal slave-labor conditions that inspired the classic book and film "Bridge on the River Kwai.

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed by The New Republic as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made," Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion.

Originally published in 1911, The Quest of the Silver Fleece was the first novel to come from world-famous sociologist and civil-rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois. A controversial title of its time, the novel chronicles the complex interactions between Northern financing and Southern politics as it follows the story of free-spirited Zora, child of a Southern swamp, and her romance with Yankee-educated Bles.

Author Andrew Delbanco researched this latest biography of Herman Mellville at Arrowhead, Melvilles in Pittsfield, MA – the home of Herman Mellville from 1850 – 1863. This book traces Melville's growth from bawdy storyteller through the spiritual preoccupations building up to "Moby-Dick," and the profound disillusionment of later works as he charts a life that left little evidence in its wake.

First published in 1903, this extraordinary collection of 14 essays was a groundbreaking literary work. Grappling with the contradictions of being black and being American, W.E.B. Du Bois created a manifesto for the emerging class of African-American intellectuals.