War and Peace centers broadly on Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the best-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves behind his family to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman, who intrigues both men. As the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.

With stunning grace and precision, this "major new translation brings us the palpability [of Tolstoy's characters] as never before" (James Wood, New Yorker) and is set to become the definitive English edition.

The Corpse Walker is a compulsively readable and brutally frank book of oral histories that goes beyond the glamour of globalization and economic growth in China to reveal the lives of ordinary citizens.

It features carefully crafted interviews with people at the bottom of Chinese society, most of whom have been battered by life but have managed to retain their dignity: a professional mourner, a public toilet manager, a leper, an abbot, a retired official, a peasant emperor, a former Red Guard, a political prisoner, and an illegal border crosser, among others.

Each individual's story is described in rich detail and without judgment. By asking challenging questions with respect and empathy, Liao is able to get is subjects to speak openly and sometimes hilariously about their lives, desires and vulnerabilities. The result is a stunning portrait of China from the bottom up.