Best Selling Books by Editors of Life

The title says it all: This is the original, the best, the most fun, the most visually splendid — the only essential — picture puzzle series and it is now in it's 11th volume. When LIFE invented Picture Puzzle books a few years ago with the Number One New York Times bestseller, it was followed on the charts by a succession of fan favorites such as Picture Puzzle: Vacations and Picture Puzzle: Holidays. We knew full well that imitators would flatter us with competing volumes. And they did. But LIFE's fans know where the best photography comes from and who has the Puzzle Master capable of entertaining his players on every page. That is why this remains The Essential Picture Puzzle. As always, LIFE's editors choose the most colorful and lively pictures, and set up the book to make certain that there are terrific, enjoyable tests for every level of player, from the kids who are tackling their first-ever puzzle to the old masters who have met every challenge in our first 10 books. We know what our loyal book-buyers want from us, and we again deliver. Having launched the Picture Puzzle craze and having now done 10 successful Picture Puzzle books, we asked ourselves: What should be the title of Number 11? Finally, it is what we are to puzzlers across the land: The Essential.

They weren't the original bad boys — Humphrey Bogart's Rat Pack of nocturnal revelers came before Frank Sinatra's — but they were the famous ones: Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and a host of hangers-on and wannabes, male and female. In Las Vegas, a city that really did never sleep, and in Hollywood, where they teamed up in matinee movies highlighted by the original Ocean's Eleven, they cut quite a swath through the '60s: a martini-fueled "adult" answer to the Beatles and all else that was happening. LIFE was there to document all of the fun and frolic. John Dominis was sent out on the Sinatra beat, and grew to know and appreciate the singer, an avocational photographer who eventually allowed Dominis into his world — the world of the Rat Pack. Dominis's hundreds of images are, today, something of an historical or sociological document. So many stars from so many spheres were at table with the core of "the clan" (as the boys actually called themselves): Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Gleason, Bing Crosby, President Kennedy, maybe the mob. They are all in this book, as are other Rat Pack intrigues: Sinatra expelling Lawford or Davis for perceived slights, the raucous hotel parties at the Sands and elsewhere. The sixties were swinging indeed when the Rat Pack was in town. In this volume, the Pack is back.

Pope Francis heralds a new era for the Catholic Church, and all of the pomp and circumstance — and hope — is captured in this commemorative LIFE volume, that features all of the best photography from coronation day in Rome. In addition, LIFE's editors present a visual and anecdotal history of the Vatican and of the papacy itself, a narrative with triumphs and tragedies, saints and scoundrels. The same team that created the bestselling Pope John Paul II: a Tribute, and the recent Jesus: Who Do You Say that I Am? has now brings forth this lavishly illustrated and right-up-to-date volume on Francis, the Church in our day and the Church down the centuries, beginning with St. Peter. This is the complete story, in words and pictures.

This is the pictorial history of the rise (and fall) of great nations, from the ancients to today. But this is not just Rome and the Incas and British imperialism-though it certainly includes them-but lesser known civilizations that are often relegated to a footnote, or forgotten altogether. The ancient Anasazi Indians of the American Southwest apparently enjoyed an agrarian lifestyle that, after they mysteriously disappeared, would not be realized again on this continent for many generations. The natives of Easter Island sealed their own doom with a kind of communal hysteria that remains unclear. Several cultures put their mark on England's Stonehenge, and peeling the layers of that story is like parsing the experience of a very old tree, ring by ring. Of course the ages of empire are recounted: Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, Russia, Great Britain. We journey, photographically and archeologically, through Troy, and also the Mediterranean islands of Gnossos and Santorini (was this where Plato's Atlantis thrived before the cataclysm)? We climb to Machu Piccu, and trek to Australia to revisit the island continent when it belonged to its Aborigines. Obviously, many of the great civilizations belong to history, experiencing their glory before the advent of photography. There are no pictures of Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan or Napoleon beyond the painted ones. But there are many photographs of the civilizations they built and ruled, many of which were made for LIFE magazine, which looked at this story often. Near our book's end, we arrive at the ongoing narrative that is the United States of America: today's great civilization, built on a system called democracy. Our history and prospects are all the more fascinating when put in relief against the stories of all previous great civilizations.

From the popular LIFE PICTURE PUZZLE series, comes the first pack. With over 450 pages of brainteasers, this pack is sure to delight the legions of fans who made the first edition a runaway bestseller. Once again, the puzzles are categorised according to level of difficulty; novice, master, expert, and genius, with a suggested completion time included for serious puzzlers. From dedicated puzzlers who sent the first edition onto the bestseller lists in its very first week to beginners who have never tried them before, the LIFE PICTURE PUZZLER PACK will definitely become a must have gift for all players.

From the popular " Life Picture Puzzle" series, comes the next in the series, with 176 pages of all new brainteasers, this book is sure to delight the legions of fans who made the first edition a run- away bestseller and who turn to the puzzle page of 13 million copies of " Life Magazine" each week. Once again, the puzzles are categorized according to level of difficulty: novice, master, expert. And genius, with a suggested completion time included for serious puzzlers. From dedicated puzzlers who sent the first edition onto the bestseller lists in its very first week to beginners who have never tried them before, the " Life Amazing Picture Puzzle" will definitely become a must-have for all players.

The editors who brought you the New York Time best-seller Pope John Paul II bring you this book, which follows John Paul II and John XXIII from their humble beginnings all the way through their sainthood. It is fitting that both John Paul the II - one of the foremost historical and religious figures in recent history - and John XXIII will be canonized in April 2014 as the two men were linked by Vatican II (John as a sponsor, Wojtyla as a wunderkind). This commemorative edition will also include photography from the canonization ceremonies and observations and a section on 2013-an eventful year in the Catholic Church-introducing Pope Francis, and covering Pope Benedict's move.

The Trapp family was real, and they really sang. We visit the Austria of the late 1930s, and with LIFE photography document the situation that led to their flight. We re-visit the Trapps at their lodge in Stowe, Vermont, where they have been famous locals since the 1960s. We delve into the world of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the legendary Broadway team. We look at the stage origins of "The Sound of Music" (it was supposed to be a straight play, not a musical!), and the mammoth success of the first Broadway production starring Mary Martin (three million soundtrack lps sold!) And of course we go behind the scenes on the film and its launch, as only LIFE could do in 1965, and as only LIFE Books is able to do today. In a special chapter, LIFE will present a side-by-side chronicle of what The Sound of Music claims, and what really happened during the earliest days of World War II - illustrated photographically. And, for all of those die-hard buffs out there, there will be a trivia chapter!

Picture Puzzle books have become a bona fide phenomenon in the game-book field, and the frenzy was launched by LIFE. LIFE Books ignited the Picture Puzzle craze with its first New York Times bestseller several years ago (replacing Suduko at Number One), and the franchise is still going strong. Though competitors have crowded the field, our books have continued to succeed. There's a reason. They're the authentic item. They're the best. And here, in the Winter Box Set, out for the Christmas season of 2011, three of the best are presented together in a collection that makes for the perfect holiday gift. These three include the very first book-that best-selling classic that has now sold more than a half-million copies-and the very latest, which is themed, perfectly, for the Christmas season: a collection of jolly puzzles that kindle the spirit and get the puzzling juices fl owing. Take these books out of the attractive slipcase cover of the Winter Box Set and the TV turns off, dinner is delayed, bedtimes are pushed later. Everyone from Grandma to the kids loves Picture Puzzles. While we change themes from book to book to keep the format fresh, LIFE attacks each subject the same way: We choose the best photography, and set up the book to make certain that there are terrific, entertaining tests for every level of player, from the kids who are tackling their first-ever puzzle to the old masters who have met every challenge in our earlier books. With the Picture Puzzle idea, LIFE's editors came up with something that was perfect for the brand's core interest, photography, and that then struck a chord in this country. The Winter Box Set is the latest-and perhaps the best yet-extension of that original idea.

To launch our new line of LIFE books celebrating legendary figures in our world, who better than Clint Eastwood? He is an icon among icons, a titanic figure in movie history still going strong at age 82. The recent dustup over his "Halftime in America" ad during the Super Bowl only confirms how large Eastwood looms in the American imagination: He is a Will Rogers or John Wayne walking among us. Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born in San Francisco, and nothing about him might have presaged his future except for rugged good looks. Those alone were enough to get him a supporting role in the TV series "Rawhide" in 1959. LIFE magazine was a weekly chronicler of Hollywood at the time, and we have been on the Eastwood case ever since: the spaghetti westerns (A Fistful of Dollars, etc.); the Dirty Harry movies; the directorial efforts, beginning with Play Misty for Me and right up through Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino; even the sideline jobs-his love of jazz piano and his career as a composer; his nonpartisan mayoralty of his chosen California town, Carmel-by-the-Sea. LIFE has visited Eastwood at home and even played golf with him on his own course overlooking the Pacific, and this will be an up-close-and-personal look at a man who is, perhaps as much as any American, too often seen as mere symbol. LIFE's new book series, ICONS, will present the famous in a way that allows our readers to know these people-often in a way they had never known them before.

Everyone likes to solve a puzzle, especially when murder and mayhem are on the line. We'll set up the scene for you to solve whether it be real life photos you've never seen before, images from actual crime scenes and forensic laboratories, pictures of the favorite haunts of notorious criminals, as well as clips from your favorite movies and TV shows - but you'll have to find the clues hidden in the Spot-the-Difference puzzles. With puzzles that will lure first time players as well as ones that will daunt the most experienced puzzle masters, LIFE Picture Puzzle Mysteries is sure to delight players of all ages.

Probably the most famous combat photographs ever made were those taken on the beach in Normandy during the D-Day invasions by Robert Capa, shooting for LIFE and going in with the first wave. The saga of those images has been told before and will be again in this commemorative book: How Capa got out alive (he would later be killed while covering war in Southeast Asia), how he got his film back to London for transfer to New York, how most of his images were ruined and the 11 frames that survived had taken on a grainy quality that seemed to reflect the shaking beach under German bombardment, and even how Steven Spielberg used that look to inform the first half-hour of his classic film Saving Private Ryan. Armed with two cameras, LIFE's Capa volunteered to hit the French coast, code-named Omaha Beach, with the first wave of 1st Division soldiers, and later remembered (in the kind of first-hand testimony that will fill this book) bullets tearing "holes in the water around him," and then what he saw as an idyllic shoreline becoming "the ugliest beach in the world." Henry Luce, looking back, said LIFE had not been born as a war magazine in 1936, but that world events made it one — it was necessary for the people at home to see what was really happening over there. By the time 1.5 million American servicemen and women were squeezing into Southern England in advance of 1944's Operation Overlord invasions, a sizable battalion of LIFE photographers was among them. If Capa's pictures became the most famous, there were so many others by Landry, Morse, Silk and more. America looked to LIFE to tell the story 70 years ago, and will do so again in this book.

The puzzle craze that's sweeping the nation! 3 books -- over 400 pages of brainteasers 4 Leves: Novice, Master, Expert, Genius Suggested completion times for champion puzzlers The perfect gift -- for you, for anyone!

This unique traveler's companion is two books in one--a perfectly sized atlas containing full-color detailed maps of all 50 states; plus it's a photographic chronicle of America's most picturesque, photogenic places.

In this lavishly illustrated biography from the LIFE Unseen series, LIFE partners with Sony Music Entertainment to give readers an intimate look into the life of legendary performer Tony Bennett. Through rare and never-before-seen photography from the depths of Sony's archives and contributions from the icon himself, this book is an essential collectible for the musician's fans old and new alike. LIFE Unseen Tony Bennett takes readers through every stage of Tony Bennett's journey, from newly-returned WWII veteran to American idol and Civil Rights advocate. With a foreword by acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese and an introduction by LIFE's managing editor, Robert Sullivan, readers will experience the surprising story of an incredible artist and monumental figure in the history of entertainment, who, in his ninth decade, is enjoying his best years and his best self.

When something happens in our world that is utterly unfathomable, it is always moving and often inspiring. It seems, immediately, that we have witnessed divine intervention. Somehow, there must be another hand at work in our day-to-day life. In this beautiful LIFE book our editors look at the phenomenon of miracles: What are they, and just as important: Why are they? We travel to Lourdes and Fatima and Medjugorje. We talk to scientists and theologians. We look at the Shroud of Turin and a number of near-death experiences. We explain the criteria for Catholic sainthood, and discuss the credited miracles. We look at pictures of miracles: several famous photographs debunked, and some that are still inexplicable. We recount the stories of some of the world's great heroes who extended themselves beyond what was possible, because of God. In a special section, the miracles of Jesus are detailed. LIFE returns to the sites in the Holy Land where the sick were healed, where the lame walked, where Lazarus was raised from the dead. The New Testament is not in fact filled with miracles: There are a few, but they are all-important. What was there message? What is it today? What do miracles tell us? Two of the most important words in religion are "faith" and "belief." These words are at the heart of miracles, and at the heart of this new LIFE book.

She was, indeed, the People's Princess. She belonged to them, and was beloved by them. For some reason that cannot be pinned down, this pretty young woman of the aristocracy, who married into royalty, connected with the common folk in a way that was unique and extraordinary. The people cared for and cared about Diana, and when she was killed in a tragic car accident in Paris, the outpouring of grief — not just in England, but globally — was overwhelming. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Diana Spencer's birth, LIFE has assembled a celebratory chronicle of her too short but constantly vibrant time in the public eye. In family photos, we revisit Diana's youth and then, quickly enough, there is her courtship by Prince Charles. The Wedding of the Century really was that, an opulent extravaganza at St. Paul's that seemed a fairy tale, even unto the Glass Coach. LIFE was on the job at the time and in our pages appeared defining pictures from the day, as well as behind the scenes shots taken by the royals themselves. Those photographs resurface here, as do others from the magazine, which paid constant attention to Diana as she gracefully assumed the role of princess — perhaps the most famous princess of all time. LIFE followed her — and follows her here — as she set about doing her good works. Diana's family life with her handsome young boys in Kensington Palace is recounted, as are the travails when her marriage crumbles. On September 6, 1997, 2.5 billion people around the world watched Lady Di's funeral, televised from Westminster Abbey. LIFE revisits that sad day, and then parses Diana's legacy, catching up with her charismatic sons today — the older of whom, William, has just taken a bride. Kate Middleton now wears Diana's ring, and will one day be queen the very thing that was predicted for Diana, not so very long ago.

LIFE partners with Sony Music Entertainment and its vast archive of photography to launch a new series of special books: LIFE Unseen, surprising looks at some of our most legendary stars. We kick off the series with Johnny Cash, who passed away 10 years ago, but it seems like he has never left us. There have been iconic American performers whose lives seemed even larger than their stage personas. Then there was Johnny Cash, unique and-yes-transcendent. He is seen as a country singer, but he is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Gospel Hall of Fame. Coming out of Arkansas, rebellious and an early adherent of rockabilly (he was part of Sun Studios' Million Dollar Quartet, along with Elvis, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis), he found his audience. Cash was also a TV star and he formed supergroups with other top recording artists. Movies were made about the Man in Black, and he would have been calcified as a "legend" had he not been so genuine. LIFE was at its apex when Cash "arrived," and this special volume includes that great photography, interviews with Cash and his family-as well as his soul mate, June Carter Cash, in a special section-and, of course, the never-before-seen imagery. Johnny Cash lives on through his eternal music and personal story-and through this tribute that presents, perhaps even reveals, the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, as you've never seen him.

The idea of choosing the Wonders of the World can be traced all the way back to the 5th century, B.C., when the Greek historian Herodotus of the Halicarnassus listed seven must-sees, the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt and six other constructions that long ago vanished from the earth. In this deluxe new LIFE book, Wonders of the World, the editors return to the sites of the original Seven Wonders and then keep right on traveling around the globe--eventually visiting in words and pictures seven-times-seven Wonders, plus one more. There are old Wonders here and a new list offered by the New7Wonders Foundation, a Switzerland-based organization that conducted an online poll that saw more than a million votes cast for the world's greatest Wonders. There are man-made Wonders and natural Wonders. There are obscure Wonders and famous Wonders. The amazing stories behind your favorites are recounted as LIFE goes to the Colosseum, to Stonehenge, to the Great Wall, to Machu Picchu, to the Taj Mahal, to Easter Island, to The Acropolis and the Vatican and back to the Great Pyramid. We travel into outer space for a close-up look at the International Space Station, and into the sea for a sensational vantage on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. We go to the summit of Mount Everest and down into the mile-deep Grand Canyon in Arizona. We could not choose between the world's tallest waterfall, 3,212-foot-high Angel Falls in Venezuela, or that which is arguably the world's most awesome, Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border--so we went with both. Fifty Wonders in all, each more wondrous than the last. A reader cannot help being amazed and inspired by what man's industry has built through time, and what sublime Wonders nature has graced us with. This a book Herodotus would have loved! And then comes the big bonus: The 7 LIFE Wonders. We were sure that some of these fabulous sites were suitable for framing, and so we went to the vast LIFE archives and picked pictures of some of the most wonderful Wonders taken by famous LIFE photographers. Using a technique we developed in our 2009 book The Classic Collection, we inserted prints of these places in the last section of our book. Better yet: When you remove the prints to frame them, the image stays on the page, sp your lovely coffee-table book remains intact. For these wonders, a wondrous book.

Happy holidays from LIFE, and our fabulously successful and popular Picture Puzzle franchise. When LIFE created the Picture Puzzle craze a few years ago, we knew other publishers would follow us. They did, and ours is still the puzzle series that hobbyists choose-it's the one they wait for. Wait no more, for here comes our latest Picture Puzzle collection, and it's a vibrant celebration of all things Christmas, from Santa to Rudolph to the sublime images of beautiful lights on the tree. As always, LIFE's editors choose the most colorful and lively pictures, and set up the book to make certain that there are terrific, enjoyable tests for every level of player, from the kids who are tackling their first-ever puzzle to the old masters who have met every challenge in our first ten books. We know what our loyal book-buyers want from us, and we again deliver in this latest book in the Picture Puzzle series. LIFE's Picture Puzzle series has always been fun, but it's never been this warm before. These are puzzles for the family to cozy up with before the fire, and they bolster the Christmas spirit as it builds throughout December. In the latest colorful edition of the franchise, LIFE's Puzzle Master is in a festive, generous mood, and has created a book that will appeal to fans of the series, fans of the holiday and fans of both.

Israel if a tiny country which has embarked on a great adventure. The road has been difficult but they have astounded the world with its remarkable accomplishments.

From the editors who brought you popular books on musicians such as The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson comes an illustrated biography of one of the most riveting, tragic rock lives ever. This volume will feature rarely seen photography that revisits Cobain in his generation and will feature pictures of the Seattle scene and all that was grunge. LIFE will also explore what came after-the anti-godfather as the godfather of alternative music. His untimely death at 27 also tragically made him a member of the "27 Club," a group of artists that include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Amy Winehouse; LIFE will also revisit the lives of these artists that we lost too soon.

Many of us have a sympathy with Ireland defined by history and religion and the mutual experience of life on the perimeters of the North Atlantic.