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In 2009, the New Yorker declared chickens the "it bird" and heralded "the return of the backyard chicken." This honor occurred as, a host of American cities were changing their laws to allow chickens in residents’ backyards. Philip Levy, a sometime chicken keeper himself, mixes cultural history with husbandry to chronicle the weird and wonderful story of Americans’ urban chickens. From the streets of Brooklyn to council chambers in Albany to the beat of Key West’s Chicken Nuisance Patrol, yard birds are an important and growing part of American city life.

2008 was a watershed year for global finance. The banking system was eventually pulled back from the brink, but the world was saddled with the worst slump since the 1930s Depression, and millions were left unemployed. While numerous books have addressed the financial crisis, very little has been written about its social consequences.

Award-winning journalists John McQuaid and Mark Schleifstein give us the most comprehensive account of how and why Katrina happened. But Path of Destruction isn't just a book about the hurricane, those who survived, and those who didn't; it's also an account of the dreadful inadequacies and warning signs that existed prior to 2005, an indictment of the officials who failed to act, and a scientific investigation into why these superstorms are coming now—and why even more may be on the way. Drawing upon historical records, cutting-edge geology, and the latest climatology studies, McQuaid and Schleifstein reveal how changes in the earth's atmosphere, and the choices made by people and politicians, have created conditions that suggest the destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf may be only the beginning.