This daily digest of intellectual challenge and learning will arouse curiosity, refresh knowledge, expand horizons, and keep the mind sharp.

Millions of Americans keep bedside books of prayer and meditative reflection–collections of daily passages to stimulate spiritual thought and advancement. The Intellectual Devotional is a secular version of the same–a collection of 365 short lessons that will inspire and invigorate the reader every day of the year. Each daily digest of wisdom is drawn from one of seven fields of knowledge: history, literature, philosophy, mathematics and science, religion, fine arts, and music.

Impress your friends by explaining Plato’s Cave Allegory, pepper your cocktail party conversation with opera terms, and unlock the mystery of how batteries work. Daily readings range from important passages in literature to basic principles of physics, from pivotal events in history to images of famous paintings with accompanying analysis. The book’s goal is to refresh knowledge we’ve forgotten, make new discoveries, and exercise modes of thinking that are ordinarily neglected once our school days are behind us. Offering an escape from the daily grind to contemplate higher things, The Intellectual Devotional is a great way to awaken in the morning or to revitalize one’s mind before retiring in the evening.

When The Intellectual Devotional debuted in the fall of 2006, it became an instant national bestseller. NBC’s Today show judged it a “great book to give as a Christmas gift.” A year later, The Intellectual Devotional: American History also leaped onto bestseller lists. Now, an avid readership of “devoted intellectuals” will be eager to build on the knowledge base it acquired in the first two books, and what better way to do so than to dive into the complex and vital world of Western culture?

Here, the authors turn to the fascinating world of our contemporary culture covering the essential artists, works, icons, and consumer products that have defined the way we live and express ourselves. From War and Peace to Catcher in the Rye, from Beethoven to John Lennon, from H. L. Mencken to Marilyn Monroe, from Andy Warhol to American Idol–the defining events and figures from literature, music, film, sports, and pop culture are served up in morsels of daily wisdom that will revive forgotten knowledge and open new horizons of intellectual discovery.

Modeled after those bedside books of prayer and contemplation that millions turn to for daily spiritual guidance and growth, the national bestseller The Intellectual Devotional–offering secular wisdom and cerebral nourishment–drew a year’s worth of readings from seven different fields of knowledge. In this follow-up volume, authors David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim have turned to the rich legacy of American history for their selections. From Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to Martin Luther King Jr., from the Federalist Papers to Watergate, the giant figures, cultural touchstones, and pivotal events in our national heritage provide a bountiful source of reflection and education that will refresh knowledge, revitalize the mind, and open new horizons of intellectual discovery.