Exhaustive, meticulous, authoritative and definitive. Those are just four words to describe the nearly 1.6 million words, spread over 3,000 pages in three volumes (published in 1958, 1963 and 1974), that make up Shelby Foote’s epic masterpiece, The Civil War. Foote was not a trained historian. Before taking on this chronicle of America’s defining conflict, Foote was a novelist of some repute, and it shows. His attention to detail is awe-inspiring.

Birdman may be widely perceived as the Oscar frontrunner for best picture, but American Sniper has already destroyed its competition at the box office. Despite being the worst-reviewed Oscar contender (with a 72% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film has earned a whopping $306.5 million domestically so far, more than the other seven best picture Oscar nominees combined. Even Bradley Cooper admits he can’t explain the film’s success. But here’s a theory—and, no, it has nothing to do with that fake baby.

Uber global head of recruiting Jim Baaden has some advice of his own to add. He tells Business Insider that an effective interview starts with a solid, quantifiable résumé. "I think a résumé should be a high-level and, as much as possible, a quantitative representation of what you've done," Baaden says. "You can jump right into the meat of an interview with a candidate." ADVERTISEMENT Once an interview comes around, Baaden has a few tips for candidates: 1.

Debunking the evolutionary arguments Some argue that our evolutionary past, where men supposedly competed for mating opportunities, instilled a biological urge for polygamy. The "caveman" argument paints a picture of our ancestors as promiscuous beings, with men spreading their genes far and wide. However, this view is a vast oversimplification of human evolution. ADVERTISEMENT Here's why the "caveman" theory falls short: Humans are cooperative breeders: Unlike many animals where males compete fiercely for females and then leave the young to fend for themselves, humans have a long history of cooperative child-rearing.

(See Cover) In the sunny front room of a trim ranch house in Upper New York State, a sprightly little old lady sat working one day last week, an array of paint tubes on the table in front of her. Through the window she could see the fallow corn and tomato fields falling away to the Hoosic River, which curves northwest toward the hamlet of Eagle Bridge (pop. 250). Sycamores edged the riverbank; the hills beyond were quilted with thick-ranked birch and maple trees and patches of frosty pasture land.