Lesser Ruins TC_Bestseller and author of Our First

and author of Our First Civil War—and "the rare academic historian who can write like a bestselling novelist" (USA Today)—comes an irresistible portrait of an underestimated politician whose pragmatic leadership and steadfast vision transformed the nation

one of our greatest living writers and “genuine American original” (The Boston Globe)

who has been weaving a web around Antonia for a very long time

who also happens to be a global literary giant

Lesser Ruins TC_Bestseller and author of Our FirstFrom the author of Reinhardt's Garden and Saint Sebastian's Abyss comes a breathless new novel of delirious obsession. Bereft after the death of his ailing wife, a retired professor has resumed his life's worka book that will stand as a towering cathedral to Michel de Montaigne, reframing the inventor of the essay for the modern age. The challenge is the litany of intrusions that bar his wayfrom memories of his past to the nattering of smartphones to