An auction conducted by agent Michael Carlisle for three new books by British historian Simon Schama was won by Dan Halpern, who heads Harper's Ecco imprint. He took U.S. rights in the tentatively titled Rough Crossings, about the mutual expectations of each other of the British and American civilizations; Brushes with Death, about great art works in their social and historical context; and an untitled book about the impact of modernism on the natural world as exemplified in Hawaii. The first two will both be BBC-TV programs, too.