New Releases by The Editors of LIFE

Since LIFE invented the Picture Puzzle book years ago, the popular series has now reached its 16th book. We think that''s absolutely wild. And so, we thought, why not call this one Wild & Wacky? As always, LIFE''s editors choose the most colorful and lively pictures, and with a title like Wild & Wacky, readers will be sure to see some fun, crazy, sometimes weird and always entertaining photos. This activity book is set up so that there are 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 15 books. We know what our loyal book-buyers want from us, and we deliver it again in this latest book in the Picture Puzzle series.

The editors who produced the hot-selling commemoratives of the Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison and the massive volume of Robert Whitaker''s Beatles photography continue their vastly successful series of books on the Beatles by paying tribute to Sir Paul. He has been the world''s biggest star for a half century, and LIFE was there when he first came on the scene, and following. This volume will feature exclusive, rarely seen photography and commentary by Harry Benson, who shot the lads'' pillow fight in Paris in 1963, Paul and Linda on the farm after the break-up of the Beatles, and much more. Also included will be a enjoyable report on Paul today by John Pizzarelli, the esteemed jazz guitarist recruited by Sir Paul for the 2012 "Kisses on the Bottom" recording.

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.

The movie audience respects talent but revels in charisma, and is always ready to elevate a star who is as much as character off the screen as on it. Ever since he came to the attention of the American public in the 1960s, Jack Nicholson has been the whole package. But who among us really knows the man who smiles that wicked grin from behind the darkest of shades? His generation''s Mr. Hollywood, a fixture next to the Los Angeles Lakers bench, is in fact a native New Yorker: the son of a showgirl, born in the city in 1937 and raised largely by his grandmother so that Jack''s mom could continue her career as a hoofer. Starting out, he appeared in B-movies directed by Roger Corman, then burst through in the counter-culture classic Easy Rider. Immediately, his abilities were recognized in dramas, comedies, anything — and the awards and nominations began to pile up (he''s been nominated for a dozen Academy Awards and has won three). Meantime, his rascal''s persona and happily loose social life provided another kind of delicious entertainment; he has, down the decades, spent as much of his career in front of still cameras (often LIFE''s) as he has on the set. If you want to know Jack, and enjoy his colorful life in all its ever-blazing glory, this latest, lavishly illustrated edition in LIFE''s new Icons series is the book for you. LIFE Icons celebrates the larger-than-life figures among us, and none is larger than Jack Nicholson.

Army. Navy. Marine Corps. Air Force. From the founding of the nation to the march through Afghanistan, they have preserved, protected and defended American liberty. Their gallantry is stirring to behold, as the pictures and stories in this book prove. George Washington and John Paul Jones are here, as are Grant, Lee, Farragut, Pershing, Patton, Schwarzkopf. There are surprises (Washington led the Army into battle even as President) and stunning stories of bravery (including chronicles of Medal of Honor heroism). The great war photographers — Brady, Capa, LIFE''s David Douglas Duncan and Larry Burrows — are represented in The Power and the Glory, accompanied by a dramatic narrative of American valor. In a special section, the bicentennial of West Point is celebrated.

When LIFE''s editors looked back on our long history of picture puzzle (LIFE invented the craze a few years ago — and other publishers followed), we realized it''s "absolute madness" that we''re on our 16th book in the series. And so we thought — what better title for our newest puzzle book? As always, LIFE''s editors choose the most colorful and lively pictures and this time — with a title like Madness — readers will be sure to see the craziest, most vivid photos we''ve ever selected. This activity book is set up so 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 sixteenth book in the Picture Puzzle series.

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 it 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, we give you the biggest puzzle book we''ve ever published: The Big Book of Picture Puzzle a collection of puzzles that is three times the size of our standard picture puzzle books! Open this book and the TV turns off, dinner is delayed, bedtimes are pushed later. Everyone from Grandma to the kids loves Picture Puzzles. In this puzzle book, as the previous ones, LIFE''s editors and puzzle master 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. On sale in late October, The Big Book of Picture Puzzle makes for the perfect holiday gift.

When LIFE published the first edition of this book in 2010, Scott Kelby, Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User magazine (and a guru in the world of digital shooting), wrote, "Joe McNally has put together the LIFE Guide to Digital Photography, which is packed full of tips, tricks, how-to, and beautiful pictures from Joe''s thirty-plus-year photo career. If you''ve ever experienced one of Joe''s workshops or seminars, you know he''s a fantastic teacher, and this book is an extension of that. While he does write about the basics of photography, if you know Joe, you know that he''s found a way to work his own sense of humor and familiarity in with all the nuts and bolts to make it an entertaining read." Thousands of photo fans agreed, and eagerly joined Joe on his happy journey through the pixelated world of modern-day photography. In so doing, they learned from one of LIFE''s master shooters-in fact, the final in the long line of distinguished LIFE staff photographers-who encouraged them that, with a little preparation and care, with a dash of enthusiasm and daring, anyone can make a better photo: Anyone can turn a "keeper" into a treasure. It has since become clear to Joe and the editors of LIFE that their Guide to Digital Photography was built to last-that its tips and tone had struck a chord with photography enthusiasts everywhere. One thing it wasn''t, however, was built to fit in your camera bag when you were heading into the field. Now it is! Here''s the digest-sized version, filled with the same wonderful collection of McNally photography, beautifully illustrating the points Joe is making. Everything you need to know about light and lenses, about color or composition, is in these pages. And now, when you''re just about to click and you wonder "What would Joe advise?" the answer is at your fingertips.

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.

The editors at LIFE vigorously carry on the traditions of excellence in photography, in journalism, and in telling the story of our country and our world which began with LIFE magazine in 1936 by founding editor and publisher, Henry R. Luce. They have published books on a broad range of subjects, including New York Times bestsellers One Nation, LIFE Picture Puzzle and The American Journey of Barack Obama.

When Whitney Houston died shockingly young at 48 years old this February, headlines around the world lamented the passing of The Queen of Pop-a title never bestowed, but one obviously referring to Michael Jackson and his too-young fate. Those headlines weren''t wrong. In the 1980s and into the ''90s, Whitney ruled the pop world-her songs were the soundtrack of our lives. More: Her own life was extraordinary, and in the end extraordinarily tragic. In this new commemorative, LIFE Books seeks to celebrate-and try to explain-Whitney Houston. What a singer. What a life.

From the editors who have previously brought forth bestselling illustrated biographies on the Beatles as a group and John Lennon in particular, now comes Remembering George Harrison: 10 Years Later. He was the quiet Beatle only in that he was standing alongside two louder-than-life characters and in front of a guy playing drums. He held many strong opinions — on Beatlemania, on global want, on his right to privacy, on his God — and gave firm voice to most of them. But George Harrison was certainly the most reluctant Beatle, wanting out almost as soon as he was in. He often said that his luckiest break was joining the band and his second luckiest was leaving it. The standard line is that George Harrison was an enigma, but perhaps he was transparent: a terrific guitarist, a fine songwriter, a wonderer, a seeker and, overriding all, a celebrity who hated and feared celebrity. George Harrison died at a friend''s home in Los Angeles ten years ago, in late 2001, at age 58, losing his last battle with cancer. He was beloved, and had been for a long time. He had thrived in the aftermath of the band''s breakup, becoming a recording artist on the level of his former mates McCartney and Lennon. He became as well the Happy Mystic, leading his legion of fans — of followers — toward a more meaningful way of living. As would be expected from LIFE, it is all here in pictures — the Hamburg days, the Cavern Club, the craze that was Beatlemania, the fun movies, the psychedelic period, the solo years (replete with Harrison''s reaction to Lennon''s death, and the subsequent attack on him and his wife at his English estate). The photographers who knew George and the Beatles best — Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg; Terence Spencer in the UK; Harry Benson in London, Paris and the U.S.; Bob Whitaker as the band''s official photographer during the halcyon years; LIFE''s John Loengard and Bill Eppridge throughout it all-are all here, as they were in our book on Lennon. This is an intimate look back, with many visual surprises. The narrative is largely written by (and the book is edited by) LIFE managing editor Robert Sullivan, who wrote TIME magazine''s cover story on George''s passing 10 years ago. One of the many marvels of the Beatles was that, although they all emerged from working-class Liverpool backgrounds, they were such distinct and fiercely individualistic personalities. None more so than George Harrison, who started well in the shadows and came to stand for something very large, and beautiful. This is his book.

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.

In the beloved, best-selling LIFE Picture Puzzle series, the puzzle masters now travel the globe to find the most engaging pictures.With puzzles that will lure first-time players as well as ones that will daunt the most experienced puzzle masters, this special LIFE Picture Puzzle book is sure to delight players of all ages whether traveling or sitting on the living room couch.

For decades Americans have turned to LIFE to see, understand, and remember the most important events and people of our time. Just as LIFE once opened up the glittering Kennedy White House, LIFE now focuses its lens on Barack Obama. The American Journey of Barack Obama covers the candidate from his childhood and adolescence to his time as editor of The Harvard Law Review and his Chicago activist years, culminating with the excitement and fervor of the historic 2008 Democratic National Convention. The unfolding drama of Obama''s life and political career is cinematic in scope, and never has it been presented so compellingly. In addition to a powerful array of photographs that were taken by many of the country''s greatest photographers (and some that were snapped, in the quiet moments, by Obama family members themselves), this book also includes a Foreword by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, an incisive narrative biography and original essays by some of our finest writers, including Gay Talese, Charles Johnson, Melissa Fay Greene, Andrei Codrescu, Fay Weldon, Richard Norton Smith, Bob Greene and several others. Many readers will find a new understanding of Obama. All readers will feel that they are bearing witness to a singular, undeniably American story.

From Hoboken to Hollywood, Frank Sinatra was always a larger-than-life package of talent, charisma and controversy. Singers had been big before, but there had never been a sensation like the young Sinatra. This title presents the pictures, narrative, and memories of the life and times of Francis Albert Sinatra.

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.

This second " Life Picture Puzzle" book has even more puzzle fun than the first! There is 32 more pages and the puzzles are a larger size. There are two new types of puzzles to keep you on your toes. The Cut-Ups will test your skill at unscrambling a photo that we have clipped into pieces and then shuffled around. To create the new LIFE Classic Puzzles, we dipped into " LIFE''s" world-famous photo archives of thousands of great black-and white images.

Presents one hundred picture puzzles in which readers must either spot the ten differences between two nearly identical pictures or reassemble a picture that has been cut up and put together incorrectly, in levels ranging from novice to genius.