History Books

Book SynopsisTerezín, as it was known in Czech, or Theresienstadt as it was known in German, was operated by the Nazis between November 1941 and May 1945 as a transit ghetto for Central and Western European Jews before their deportation for murder in the East. Terezín was the last ghetto to be liberated, one day after the end of World War II.The Last Ghetto is the first in-depth analytical history of a prison society during the Holocaust. Rather than depict the prison society which existed within the ghetto as an exceptional one, unique in kind and not understandable by normal analytical methods, Anna Hájková argues that such prison societies that developed during the Holocaust are best understood as simply other instances of the societies human beings create under normal circumstances. Challenging conventional claims of Holocaust exceptionalism, Hájková insists instead that we ought to view the Holocaust with the same analytical tools as other historical events. The prison society of Terezín produced its own social hierarchies under which seemingly small differences among prisoners (of age, ethnicity, or previous occupation) could determine whether one ultimately lived or died. During the three and a half years of the camp''s existence, prisoners created their own culture and habits, bonded, fell in love, and forged new families. Based on extensive archival research in nine languages and on empathetic reading of victim testimonies, The Last Ghetto is a transnational, cultural, social, gender, and organizational history of Terezín, revealing how human society works in extremis and highlighting the key issues of responsibility, agency and its boundaries, and belonging.Trade ReviewThis is a powerful contribution to our understanding of the ghetto and of how societies are constructed in general, revealing in complex detail the lived experiences of those who inhabited Theresienstadt. * Barnabas Balint, The Journal of the Social History Society *In this overwhelming book, Anna Hájková has assembled - in extraordinary gutwrenching detail - these stories of Terez ... It is the loss of life in all its mucky beauty, and the loss of living-breathing-evolving community on such a mass scale, after all, that contributes to the breathtaking horror of genocide. * JORDANA SILVERSTEIN, University of Melbourne, Gender & History *This is a powerful contribution to our understanding of the ghetto and of how societies are constructed in general, revealing in complex detail the lived experiences of those who inhabited Theresienstadt. * Barnabas Balint, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Journal of the Social History Society *Hájková has not simply written a book depicting the "transnational, cultural, social, gender, and organizational history" of the "well known, poorly understood ghetto", but she shows with great sensitivity, concisely and immense knowledge the everyday history of this limbo, the "last ghetto." * Thomas Krzenck, Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft *Anna Hájková's The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt is an essential addition to the literature about the camp, rivaled in scholarly insight only by H.G Adler... And since it is unlikely that many American readers will have the stamina to persevere through the more than 800 pages that examine the features of Adler's "coerced community," readers should feel no hesitation in turning to Hájková's thoughtful and thorough analysis. * Lawrence Langer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, George L. Mosse Program in History *Hájková's book The Last Ghetto is a well-researched, captivatingly written, and engaging scholarly work about the life of prisoners in Theresienstadt. Hájková's book is crucial reading and paradigm-shifting work for anyone who wants to understand a prisoners' society in extremis * Denisa Nešťáková, Herder Institute in Marburg, Marburg, GermanyComenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia, East Central Europe *This excellent study provides a critical investigation of the social, political, and even sexual relationships in the ghetto, their complex nature in a coerced setting and the developing power structures dominated by the young Czech elite. * Wolf Gruner, University of Southern California, AJS Review *Hájková brings solid research and a much-appreciated enrichment to readers' understanding of the Theresienstadt ghetto. The author worked for a decade with public and private archives in nine languages and offers readers a deeper understanding of what she calls "a forced community." * J. Kleiman, CHOICE *Hajkova's history of Terezin is a tour de force. Thanks to Hajkova's astonishing research and courageous reappraisal of victim society, aspects of this history that have been overlooked or marginalized are now before our eyes. A major contribution to the history of the Holocaust, The Last Ghetto also opens up new perspectives on class, nationalism, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in twentieth-century Europe. A deeply, wrenchingly human story that everyone ought to read. * Alexandra Garbarini, author of Numbered Days: Diaries and the Holocaust *This splendid and devastating, gorgeously written, paradigm-shifting book offers one transformative revelation after another. Exemplifying radical empathy without sentimentality, it represents the very best the new Holocaust history has to offer. * Dagmar Herzog, Graduate Center, City University of New York, author of Unlearning Eugenics: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Disability in Post-Nazi Europe *Theresienstadt has been shrouded in myths since Nazis first presented it as a 'model ghetto' to trick the world that Jewish prisoners were being treated humanely. Hájková's The Last Ghetto reveals the interior life of the ghetto and persuasively demonstrates that like the society that produced it, this society in extremis was riven by ethnic, gender, political, linguistic, and economic divisions that prevented a common sense of Jewishness from forming among the prisoners. * Barry Trachtenberg, Michael H. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History,Wake Forest University *The Last Ghetto is the most important book on Theresienstadt to appear in many years. With unparalleled knowledge of the sources and deep sensitivity, Anna Hájková has made a major contribution to the history of the Holocaust. With her focus on the everyday life of the ghetto's inhabitants, she also provides us with a model of social, cultural, and gender history. * Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History, Royal Holloway, University of London *This book provides the most thoroughly researched and conceptualised cultural and social history of everyday life in Terezín. As such, it should be essential reading for anyone interested in Theresienstadt and social relations in extremis. In addition, it provides so many interesting details amidst the larger historical points that readers will find it both fascinating and thought provoking. * Amy Simon, Michigan State University, USA, Journal of Contemporary History *An excellently written book that will help shape future historiography on the ghettos under Nazi rule for years to come. * Marc Buggeln, University of Flensburg, Modern European History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Well-Known, Poorly Understood Ghetto 1. "The Overorganized Ghetto" Administering Terezín 2. A Society Based on Inequality 3. The Age of Pearl Barley: Food and Hunger 4. Medicine and Illness 5. Cultural Life: Leisure Time Activities 6. Transports to the East Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe definitive history of American war reporting in the Pacific theater of World War II, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.After almost two years slogging with infantrymen through North Africa, Italy, and France, Ernie Pyle immediately realized he was ill prepared for covering the Pacific War. As Pyle and other war correspondents discovered, the climate, the logistics, and the sheer scope of the Pacific theater had no parallel in the war America was fighting in Europe. From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The War Beat, Pacific provides the first comprehensive account of how a group of highly courageous correspondents covered America''s war against Japan, what they witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front''s perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American military history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative based on a wealth of previously untapped primary sources, Casey takes us from MacArthur''s doomed defense on the Philippines and the navy''s overly strict censorship policy at the time of Midway, through the bloody battles on Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Tarawa, Saipan, Leyte and Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, detailing the cooperation, as well as conflict, between the media and the military, as they grappled with the enduring problem of limiting a free press during a period of extreme crisis.The War Beat, Pacific shows how foreign correspondents ran up against practical challenges and risked their lives to get stories in a theater that was far more challenging than the war against Nazi Germany, while the US government blocked news of the war against Japan and tried to focus the home front on Hitler and his atrocities.Trade ReviewA nuanced and engaging narrative of the Pacific war in World War II....Steven Casey...untangles the complex challenges that reporters experienced from the moment they arrived on the vast front....The reporters were not sideline observers or members of a pool simply repurposing what they were told from official sources. They often put themselves at great risk and, along with the soldiers they accompanied, endured malnourishment, blistering heat and humidity, disease, endless insects, and enemy bullets and shells....With everything seemingly against them—a public distracted by the European war; military officials who viewed them with suspicion; or publishers who wanted something other than graphic or demoralizing coverage—the Pacific reporters did their jobs nonetheless....A timely reminder of what a democracy needs from an independent press in times of crisis. * Tracy Campbell, Journal of American History *[A] brilliant book on American reporters covering World War II in the Pacific....Casey's powerful and readable account offers an important addition to the historiography of the Pacific theater.... Casey concludes that despite the difficulties that reporters faced in the Pacific, they played an invaluable role in bridging the gap between what was occurring on the battlefield and what was understood on the home front. Reporters developed working relationships with different military commanders and public relations officers while overcoming harsh environmental conditions, dangerous and sometimes deadly combat situations, and unreliable transportation. * David L. Snead, Journal of Military History *Casey has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WWII or journalism. * J.P. Sanson, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8 *Shrewd and comprehensive.... The War Beat, Pacific is an impressive achievement. Media-military relations in the Pacific were, it shows us, a world of paradoxes and conundrums reflecting the competing agendas and institutional frictions within the military and between it and the media. Casey composes a lucid narrative out of disparate archival materials and secondary sources. While he captures the terror, misery, and frustration reporters felt in the Pacific, his eyes are on the bigger picture, the forces in both media and military that determined what the American public knew of the war and what it did not. Now the definitive account of US war reporting in the Pacific, The War Beat, Pacific promises to have a long shelf life. * Richard Fine, Michigan War Studies Review *Reporters assigned to cover the Pacific theater of WW II faced obstacles that were difficult to overcome. The Pacific War covered thousands of square miles, and much of it was fought by the navy. Reporters might be on a ship dozens or even a hundred miles from major battles trying to make sense of the progress by listening to comments and reports from pilots without seeing one moment of action. Moreover, they struggled with wording dispatches to their home offices in order to make it past military censors....Pacific theater reporters also had to contend with the unique personalities of those who were in charge of operations....Casey...has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WW II or journalism....Recommended. General readers, advanced undergraduates through faculty, and professionals. * Choice *Brimming with anecdotes, it sheds light on just what it takes to be a war correspondent. For those seeking new perspectives on America's war with Japan this is a thoroughly illuminating book. * History of War *In this masterful and often gripping work, Steven Casey narrates the history of World War II in the Pacific from the perspective of the reporters who covered it. News coverage of American fighting in the Pacific was hampered by censorship and by the difficulty of simply getting to the front, leading to a largely 'shrouded war,' undermining public engagement and understanding. Through exhaustive research, Casey reveals the way journalists risked their lives to keep Americans informed. * Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences *Students of military-news media relations have long decried the lack of a wide-ranging history of the role of the press in World War II's Pacific theater. Steven Casey's thoroughly researched War Beat, Pacific, fills that gap. Balanced, concise, superbly written, it will be a must-read along with Casey's War Beat, Europe, for anyone hoping to comprehend World War II in all its breadth and complexity. * William M. Hammond, author of Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War *Steven Casey has made an important, original contribution to our knowledge of American war reporting, an eternally relevant topic, especially for a society that values both free speech and operational security. In Casey's exploration of war reporting in the Pacific theater, we see the struggles of reporters against military censorship, appalling conditions, an almost nonexistent communications infrastructure, and often their fellow correspondents in the endless competition for breaking stories. Casey weaves naturally from relating the experiences of individual reporters to larger context on the customs and practices of war reporting as a whole. * John C. McManus, author of Fire and Fortitude: The U.S. Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943 *Steven Casey has produced another superbly researched and beautifully written study of US media coverage of World War II, this time in the Pacific theater. It will serve as a worthy companion to his previous study of media coverage in the European theater. As with that previous volume, this one should lead to reconsideration of many standard beliefs regarding the relationship within and between the media, the armed forces, and the government during the conflict, as well as the numerous individuals whose reporting and photographs helped shape the public image of the war. * Mark A. Stoler, editor of the George C. Marshall Papers *Steven Casey offers a fresh and absorbing account of the Pacific War told through the harrowing experiences of battle-hardened reporters. Correspondents on 'the war beat' risked everything to tell its story, but the fog of that war was thick. Americans knew shockingly little about what actually transpired in such places as Bataan and Okinawa, Tokyo and Hiroshima. Casey's brilliant and fast-paced narrative opens up that world, providing a behind-the-scenes picture of the war unlike any other. * Kenneth Osgood, author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad *Steven Casey has written an exceptional book. * Stephen C. Murray, Journal of Pacific History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part One: The Shrouded War Chapter 1. The Paradox of Pearl Harbor Chapter 2. Fiasco in the Philippines Chapter 3. Censorship at Sea Chapter 4. The New Guinea Gang Chapter 5. The Shroud Slips: Guadalcanal Part Two: Lifting the Veil Chapter 6. Atrocities Chapter 7. Dress Rehearsal in New Guinea Chapter 8. Bloody Battles in the Central Pacific Chapter 9. The Burma Backwater Part Three: Vengeance Chapter 10. The Return Chapter 11. Death in the Pacific Chapter 12. Endgame Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisProphets without Honor tells the story of the grueling attempts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and presents an in-depth examination of the reasons for its resilience. In what is the most non-partisan, comprehensive, and balanced account by an insider representing one of the parties, Shlomo Ben-Ami describes the specific factors that impede a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and sheds light on the dilemmas that stand at the center ofany peace enterprise.Trade ReviewBen-Ami provides a clear-eyed and balanced view of all the options and provides a necessary clearing out of all the worn-out cliches, myths, and shibboleths that have enveloped this long conflict. * Martin Green, Jewish Books Council *I am one of those prophets who lost his honor by ending a war of more than half a century in my country. I did it with the invaluable advice of my good friend Shlomo Ben-Ami, whose profound knowledge and experience in the difficult art of peacemaking is demonstrated in this fascinating book. Anyone who wants to understand the nature and immense complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and why it is so different from any other conflict, must read Prophets without Honor. I certainly learned a lot. * Juan Manuel Santos, 2016 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Former President of Colombia *Ben-Ami combines the skills of a professional historian with first-hand experience of the policymaker to produce a highly readable, illuminating, and riveting account of the Israeli-Palestinian quest for peace. His account is enhanced by vivid pen-portraits of the principal players, perceptive analysis of the obstacles on the road to peace, genuine soul-searching, and a most thoughtful distillation of the lessons of history. The book is a must read for would-be peacemakers and for anyone interested in this bitter, protracted, and intractable conflict. * Avi Shlaim, Emeritus Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford, and author of The Iron Wall *Prophets without Honor is a masterpiece—sad, tragic, and true. Part V, "Defying the Logic of Conflict Resolution," left me breathless, with its transcendent analysis of the Israel-Palestine conundrum within the context of global conflicts. * Daniel Kurtzer, S. Daniel Abraham Professor in Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University and former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel *In this fascinating, deeply insightful, and painfully honest account of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and their consequences, Ben-Ami brings the perspective of both an insider negotiator and outsider scholar to understanding the world's best-known intractable conflict. While analyzing the enormous obstacles to progress, he offers nuanced historical lessons that illuminate the long and hard path forward to a possible peace. Highly recommended for all those interested in conflict resolution and Middle Eastern history and politics. * William Ury, coauthor of Getting to Yes and co-founder of Harvard's Program on Negotiation *A keen acolyte of the human condition, Ben-Ami conveys sparkle to a dark, mean and cruel conflict, affords depth to shallow, tragic and devious alley cats, trails a tortuous road to nowhere and delivers lush scholarship to an arid landscape exuding a unique generosity of spirit. A cavernous sense of melancholy casts a deep shadow as if echoing: 'He that increaseth wisdom, increaseth sorrow.' The ghost of Schopenhauer hovers over a scintillating thriller of political psychology. * Hussein Agha, Senior Associate Member of St Antony's College, University of Oxford, and coauthor of A Framework for a Palestinian National Security Doctrine *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I - The Camp David Process Chapter 1. First Steps, Harsh Truths Chapter 2. "A Secluded Northern Castle" Chapter 3. Back to Square One Chapter 4. The Jordan Valley on the Agenda Chapter 5. Pre-Summit at Andrews Chapter 6. A Conceivable Endgame? Chapter 7. The (Unfulfilled) Promise of an American Steamroller Chapter 8. Misguided Beginnings Chapter 9. Clinton: "We Have Exhausted the Beauty of this Place" Chapter 10. A Gamechanger (or so It Looked..) Chapter 11. O Jerusalem (and Its Lies) Chapter 12. "Arafat is Interested in a Crisis" Chapter 13. Albright's Intermezzo: Clinton's Last Push Chapter 14. Our Faintest Hour Chapter 15. Arafat: "Barak Has Gone Beyond my Partner Rabin" Chapter 16. Making Most of Success Chapter 17. Moments of Grace at Precipice Edge Chapter 18. "With Our Blood and Soul We'll Redeem Palestine" Chapter 19. A Savage War for Peace? Chapter 20. Trapped in No-Win Conditions Chapter 21. Unable to Either Inspire or Intimidate Chapter 22. Arafat: "We Have to Work Quickly and Seriously" Chapter 23. The Clinton Peace Parameters Chapter 24. "A Crime Against the Palestinian People" Chapter 25. Barak in a Cage of Doves Chapter 26. Taba: "The Boss Doesn't want an Agreement" Chapter 27. Post Mortem Part II - Defying the Logic of Conflict Resolution Chapter 28. A Story of Promise and Deceit ( 2001- 2020 ) Chapter 29. The Occupation's Traits of Permanence Chapter 30. The Insoluble Paradox of the Two-State Solution Chapter 31. Ominous Denouements Chapter 32. Exit Oslo, Enter Madrid: The Jordanian - Palestinian Option Chapter 33. A Comparative Perspective Epilogue Bibliography Maps: Last Peace Offer at Camp David, July 2000 The Clinton Peace Parameters, December 2000 The Israeli Territorial Offer at Taba, 2001 The Palestinian Territorial Offer at Taba The Israeli Territorial Proposal, Annapolis 2008 West Bank Jewish and Palestinian Localities The Geneva Initiative Peace Plan, 2003 Sahul Arieli's Optimal Peace Map Ehud Olmert's Unilateral Convergence Plan, 2006 The Allon Plan

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Book SynopsisFrom America''s preeminent naval historian, the first full-length portrait in over fifty years of the man who won the war in the Pacific in World War Twodestined, says Andrew Roberts, to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come. Only days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt tapped Chester W. Nimitz to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. Nimitz was not the most senior candidate available, and some, including his new boss, U.S. Navy Admiral Ernest J. King, considered him a desk admiral, more suited to running a bureaucracy than a theater of war. Yet FDR''s selection proved nothing less than inspired. From the precarious early months of the war after December 7th 1941 to the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay nearly four years later, Nimitz transformed the devastated and dispirited Pacific fleet into the most powerful and commanding naval force in history. From the start, the pressures on Nimitz were crushing. Facing demands from Washington to mount an early offensive, he had first to revive the depressed morale of the thousands of sailors, soldiers, and Marines who served under him. He had to corral independent-minded subordinatesincluding Admiral Bill Bull Halsey and General Holland Howlin'' Mad Smithand keep them focused on shared objectives. He had to maintain a sometimes-fraught relationship with his Army counterpart Douglas MacArthur, and cope with his superiors, including the formidably prickly King and the inscrutable FDR. He had to navigate the expectations of a nation impatient for revenge and eventual victory. And of course, he also confronted a formidable and implacable enemy in the Imperial Japanese Navy, which, until the Battle of Midway, had the run of the Pacific. Craig Symonds'' Nimitz at War reveals how the quiet man from the Hill Country of Texas eventually surmounted all of these challenges. Using Nimitz''s headquartersthe eye of the hurricaneas his vantage point, Symonds covers all the major campaigns in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa. He captures Nimitz''s composure, discipline, homespun wisdom, and most of all his uncanny sense of when to assert authority and when to pull back. In retrospect it is difficult to imagine anyone else accomplishing what Nimitz did. As Symonds'' absorbing, dynamic, and authoritative portrait reveals, it required qualities of leadership exhibited by few other commanders in history, qualities that are enduringly and even poignantly relevant to our own moment.Trade ReviewIn December 1941, FDR's choice to take over the shattered US Pacific Fleet was an obscure desk admiral. His selection proved inspired beyond all expectation. Within six months, Nimitz helped set the stage for the ultimate defeat of Japan, holding his own with his superiors while quietly fashioning an outstanding set of subordinate commanders. Symonds has given us a Nimitz for the 21st Century. * John B. Lundstrom, Author of lack Shoe Carrier Admiral *Nimitz's genius lay in his ability to convince others that they could do great things. In that respect he was 'a force multiplier in the Pacific War,' one whose legacy was the Allied victory itself. Immersive, deeply researched, and superbly written, imitz at War will become the standard. * General Mike Hagee, USMC(Ret) 33rd Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, CEO Admiral Nimitz Foundation *Nimitz at War is the greatest biography yet written about the greatest admiral in American history. * Ian W. Toll *Craig Symonds' ability to put the reader in the shoes of the admiral who masterminded the US Pacific Fleet's response to Pearl Harbor is truly remarkable. In his brilliant pen portraits of Nimitz's comrades (and occasional rivals), Symonds delivers a masterclass in the influence of character on decision-making. Deeply researched, extremely well-written, and often genuinely exciting, this is destined to be the defining life of Chester Nimitz for a long time to come. * Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny *This excellent book is the inspiring story of a great American leader, who rebuilt a broken fleet and led it to victory against a formidable foe, through four years of war without a major defeat Craig Symonds has done it with grace and a large spirit. In World War II, the United States Navy had a typically understated flag hoist for such an achievement: Baker Zebra (now Bravo Zulu): Well Done. * David Hackett Fischer, author of Albion's Seed and Washington's Crossing, winner of the Pulitzer Prize *A brilliant and balanced account of how Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz led the greatest naval campaign in history. Now often overlooked, Nimitz was the only American World War II theater commander—even compared to Eisenhower and MacArthur—who won great victories when fighting outnumbered or merely at parity. This deeply researched and highly readable book offers a timeless textbook on high command excellence. * Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942 *Table of ContentsPrologue I. Taking Command II. The South Pacific III. The Central Pacific Drive IV. Victory Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn April 1917, Lenin arrived at Petrograd''s Finland Station and set foot on Russian soil for the first time in over a decade. For most of the past seventeen years, the Bolshevik leader had lived in exile, moving between Europe''s many Russian colonies--large and politically active communities of émigrés in London, Paris, and Geneva, among other cities. Thousands of fellow exiles who followed Lenin on his eastward trek in 1917 were in a similar predicament. The returnees plunged themselves into politics, competing to shape the future of a vast country recently liberated from tsarist rule. Yet these activists had been absent from their homeland for so long that their ideas reflected the Russia imagined by residents of the faraway colonies as much as they did events on the ground. The 1917 revolution marked the dawn of a new day in Russian politics, but it also represented the continuation of decades-long conversations that had begun in emigration and were exported back to Russia. Faith Trade ReviewWhen discussing the effects of the Russian Revolution, much scholarly energy has been expended on whether ideology or the experience of taking power was responsible for Bolshevik policy. In this meticulously documented account Faith Hillis adds another dimension to this debate as she argues that, although absorbed by radical ideology, the life experienced in Russian colonies abroad affected the way in which Russian radicals and revolutionaries understood these ideas and thus how they behaved when in power....Hillis's book...emphasizes once again the primacy of ideas for the Russian radicals and recreates the neighborhoods and complex interactions that gave currency to these ideas both in Russia and beyond. * Catherine Andreyev, Journal of Modern History *This is a compelling and rich study that has many interesting sides and uses for the historian. Perhaps its greatest strength is in how it reconstructs the experience of being revolutionary in Europe, and the influence of utopians on pivotal moments in European and Russian history. * George Gilbert, University of Southampton, UK, European History Quarterly *Impressive in its scope, Utopia's Discontents provides a reinterpretation of the political genealogies of the Russian Revolution through a study of its rich and contentious émigré history....This book offers not only a richly detailed analysis of émigrés' efforts to reinvent society but also an interpretation of Russian radical thought as rooted in transnational spaces.... Hillis not only weaves the life stories of the Russian Revolution's celebrities into a dense web of encounters and exchanges but illuminates the groups often marginalized from these big histories. The narrative steps deftly from Poles and Ukrainians, to women, and to Jews, the focus on the latter group offering particularly exciting new perspectives on the revolutionary emigration....The website companion to the book... is an invaluable resource for historians in the field working with rare books and periodicals and a generous contribution to scholarship. * Lara Green, Revolutionary Russia *Engrossing.... Hillis's flair for narrative, small and large, gives Utopia's Discontents its depth and breadth. We learn about Russian women students who wore large glasses and short haircuts to signify their break with traditional gender norms, about Mensheviks and Bolsheviks brawling in Genevan bars, and about one émigré Populist leader's successful career as an artisanal kefir maker. Behind the dozens of characters that we meet is an enormous number of archival documents and a conviction that the milieu is the true protagonist of history. * Ania Aizman, Los Angeles Review of Books *Marvelous....the first major treatment of the émigré circles that dotted central and western Europe through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.... Hillis offers a convincing portrait of these colonies functioning as...loci of intense engagement where groups of Russian emigres...rubbed shoulders, shouted at one another, and exchanged ideas with one another to produce new forms of said politics with drastic importance for world history.... It is clearly and elegantly written and shows a masterful command of the source material. It shines light on as a creative space capable of generating vast ideas....Hillis offers a new form of spatial history, a republic of cafes, street corners, bedrooms, and railroad cars where Russia was reimagined and the world transformed. Utopia's Discontents belongs on every bookshelf, and Hillis deserves every praise for writing it. * Joshua Meyers, In Geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies *The waves of Russian political, literary, and artistic émigrés who relocated to Europe have fascinated Western historians....Faith Hillis has her own unique perspective on post-Napoleonic Europe's Russian colonies....Her novel angle attempts to illustrate how the exiles living in poor, crowded conditions contributed to the particularities of Bolshevik politics and party culture....Hillis...is fair minded and balanced, cautious and moderate in her judgments, and she tells her story with detail and fluency. * Ronald Grigor Suny, American Historical Review *Hillis has written a ground-breaking study of Russian history from the perspective of émigrés and their movements against both czarist rule and, after the 1917 Revolution, the Bolsheviks themselves. Hillis notes anti-czarist movements began well before the revolutions of 1848 and reconstituted themselves after the failed Paris Commune of 1871....Hillis is to be applauded for the very successful application of her unique approach to considering Russian history. * Choice *When we describe the October Revolution as a 'world-historical event', this is usually understood to refer to the global consequences of the rise of the first Marxist state. Faith Hillis, in a brilliant move, has turned this sequence of events on its head. Utopia's Discontents shows how people, places and events situated far beyond the borders of Russia shaped the Revolution. The October Revolution, she shows, was world-historical at its root....Utopia's Discontents narrates the history of these utopian communities in fascinating, intimate detail....An excellent example of history that steps beyond disciplinary divisions and national boundaries. * Kevin M.F. Platt, Times Literary Supplement *Utopia's Discontents literally puts the history of the Russian Revolution—and all that came with it—on the map. By moving our point of reference to the émigré and exile peripheries at the core of twentieth-century history, this fascinating study of the 'Russian colonies' in Europe offers an inspiringly original take on the history of 'post-colonialism.' With uncommon narrative ease and rigorous attention to detail, Hillis does to the reigning historiography of the revolutionary movements what her protagonists did to the liberal order of the late nineteenth century. The history of ideas just got a good deal richer. * Holly Case, author of Age of Questions *Vividly narrated and brimming with insight, Utopia's Discontents brings to life the storied 'Russian colonies' of western Europe's major cities, where revolutions were plotted and new countries imagined. Faith Hillis brilliantly recreates the dense neighborhoods, intimate, often fraught social relationships, and high-pitched theoretical arguments that characterized life in the Russian colonies. Utopia's Discontents is a multi-layered study, at once richly local in focus and broad in scope. It is a truly exciting book. * Tony Michels, author of A Fire in Their Hearts: Yiddish Socialists in New York *This ground-breaking book rethinks the history of Russia's revolutionaries through their lives in exile communities. Place mattered in their story: for inspiration, for encounters, for everyday radical practices. The book is a rich history of ideas—freedom, equality, community, and justice, and socialism—but as everyday practices rather than dreamy abstractions. Not least, this is magisterial research, written in an accessible and compelling manner. * Mark Steinberg, author of The Russian Revolution, 1905-21 *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations Explanatory Note Introduction: From the Café Landolt Part I: Making Utopia Concrete Chapter 1: The Other Communards Chapter 2: Living the Revolution Chapter 3: Jewish Workers Meet the Russian Revolution Part II: Europe's Russian Moment Chapter 4: Entangled Emancipations Chapter 5: Émigré Dystopias Part III: Revolutionary Repercussions Chapter 6: "The Party of Extreme Opposition" Chapter 7: Ou-topos? Chapter 8: Revolution from Abroad Epilogue: Émigré Clans Notes Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFor decades, China''s rise to power was characterized by its reassurance that this rise would be peaceful. Then, as Susan L. Shirk, shows in this sobering, clear-eyed account of China today, something changed.For three decades after Mao''s death in 1976, China''s leaders adopted a restrained approach to foreign policy. They determined that any threat to their power, and that of the Chinese Communist Party, came not from abroad but from withina conclusion cemented by the 1989 Tiananmen crisis. To facilitate the country''s inexorable economic ascendence, and to prevent a backlash, they reassured the outside world of China''s peaceful intentions.Then, as Susan Shirk shows in this illuminating, disturbing, and utterly persuasive new book, something changed. China went from fragile superpower to global heavyweight, threatening Taiwan as well as its neighbors in the South China Sea, tightening its grip on Hong Kong, and openly challenging the United States for preeminence not just economicalTrade ReviewComplete with 64 pages of notes and a 15-page Index, her new book (which includes a fine analysis of the hot-button issues of Hong Kong and Taiwan) is an accessible and detailed account of where we have been with China, and how we got to this difficult state of affairs. * Dr. Cliff Cunningham, Research Fellow at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, Sun News Austin *Susan Shirk's superb new book addresses the singular question echoing in the corridors of political and commercial power: why is China asserting itself in ways that upset global order? Drawing on decades of experience, Shirk answers it with insights drawn from myriad sources. Overreach is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand where China is going--and what America must do in response. * Kurt Campbell, White House Coordinator for the IndoPacific *A fascinating, behind-the-scenes investigation of China's internal politics that makes the unconventional but ultimately persuasive argument that the personalities, politics, and processes that have powered China's rise for decades are simultaneously subverting it. With Overreach, Shirk proves yet again why she is one of the most interesting thinkers and important voices on China of our time. * Elizabeth Economy, author of The World According to China *In this timely and important book, Susan Shirk dissects the nature of China's emerging threat, driven by growing aggressiveness in foreign policy and Xi Jinping's tightening domestic grip. Overreach, she warns in jargon-free prose, has triggered an equally self-defeating overreaction from America, and without a dramatic change in policy could lead to war. * Jerry Brown, former governor of California *Susan Shirk has both long experience and a deep understanding of China. Overreach offers an illuminating and sobering appraisal of where things stand today. It masterfully explains why China has taken its current worrisome course and offers invaluable advice as to how the United States should respond. An authoritative look at China in this critical movement in history. * Stephen J. Hadley, former National Security Advisor for President George W. Bush *Susan Shirk's masterful dissection of China's political leadership reveals a Party-state in near-constant struggle against perceived threats, creating a vicious policy cycle for the country and its partners. As Shirk's brilliant analysis shows, this dynamic upends global stability and China's vaunted peaceful rise. * Charlene Barshefsky, former United States Trade Representative *The book includes excellent access to sources and endnotes that support Shirk's analysis. * Choice *Table of ContentsPrologue: How China Lost the West 1. The Origins of Overreach 2. Deng's Ghost 3. Inside the Black Box 4. The Rise and Fall of Collective Leadership 5. Loss of Restraint 6. Stability Maintenance 7. Strongman Rule 8. Going to Extremes 9. State pf Paranoia 10. Downward Spiral Conclusion: Overreach and Overreaction

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Book SynopsisThe story of Jewish literature is a kaleidoscopic one, multilingual and transnational in character, spanning the globe as well as the centuries. In this broad, thought-provoking introduction to Jewish literature from 1492 to the present, cultural historian Ilan Stavans focuses on its multilingual and transnational nature. Stavans presents a wide range of traditions within Jewish literature and the variety of writers who made those traditions possible. Represented are writers as dissimilar as Luis de Carvajal the Younger, Franz Kafka, Bruno Schulz, Isaac Babel, Anzia Yezierska, Elias Canetti, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Irving Howe, Clarice Lispector, Susan Sontag, Philip Roth, Grace Paley, Amos Oz, Moacyr Scliar, and David Grossman. The story of Jewish literature spans the globe as well as the centuries, from the marrano poets and memorialists of medieval Spain, to the sprawling Yiddish writing in Ashkenaz (the Pale of Settlement'' in Eastern Europe), to the probing narratives of Jewish immigrants to the United States and other parts of the New World. It also examines the accounts of horror during the Holocaust, the work of Israeli authors since the creation of the Jewish State in 1948, and the ingathering of Jewish works in Brazil, Bulgaria, Argentina, and South Africa at the end of the twentieth century. This kaleidoscopic introduction to Jewish literature presents its subject matter as constantly changing and adapting.Trade ReviewReading Jewish literature becomes a stimulating journey; Stavans jumps from one author to another without clinging to either time or space. * Tessa Calders i Artís, Escola de libreria *Table of ContentsChapter One: People of the Book Chapter Two: After the Expulsion Chapter Three: The Age of Anxiety Chapter Four: Into the Abyss Chapter Five: Into the Mainstream Chapter Six: The Ingathering Chapter Seven: The Promised Land Chapter Eight: The Letterless Canon References Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisTo Know the Soul of a People is a history of religion and race in the agricultural South before the Civil Rights era. Jamil W. Drake chronicles a cadre of social scientists who studied the living conditions of black rural communities, revealing the abject poverty of the Jim Crow south. These university-affiliated social scientists documented shotgun houses, unsanitary privies and contaminated water, scaly hands, enlarged stomachs, and malnourished bodies. However, they also turned their attention to the spiritual possessions, chanted sermons, ecstatic singing, conjuration, dreams and visions, fortune-telling, taboos, and other religious cultures of these communities. These scholars aimed to illuminate the impoverished conditions of their subjects for philanthropic and governmental organizations, as well as the broader American public, in the first half of the 20th century, especially during the Great Depression. Religion was integral to their efforts to chart the long economic depression across the South.From 1924 to 1941, Charles Johnson, Guy Johnson, Allison Davis, Lewis Jones, and other social scientists framed the religious and cultural practices of the black communities as folk practices, aiming to reform them and the broader South. Drawing on their correspondence, fieldnotes, and monographs, Drake shows that social scientists'' use of folk reveals the religion was an important site for highlighting the supposed mental, moral, and cultural deficits of America''s so-called folk population. Moreover, these social scientists did not just pioneer rural social science and reform but used their study of religion to plant the seeds of the concept that would become known as the culture of poverty in the latter half of the twentieth century. To Know the Soul of a People is an exciting intellectual history that invites us to explore the knowledge that animated the earnest yet shortsighted liberal efforts to reform black and impoverished communities.Trade ReviewDrake's well-written, important, timely examination of these pioneering studies is excellent.... Highly recommended. * CHOICE *Drake outlines with precision social scientific constructions of the category of 'folk religion' and demonstrates the significance of ideas about religion to liberal reformers' analyses of Black cultures, family, labor, and health. He shows how their analyses contributed to moralizing discourses about race and poverty and supported government policies aimed at 'modernizing' Black culture. The book provides new tools to understand the connections among religion, race, and class in African American history. * Judith Weisenfeld, Author of New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration *Jamil Drake follows Depression-era social scientists who spread across the rural U.S. South-particularly the Black rural South-in search of an explanation for its entrenched poverty and resistance to modernization. They found 'folk religion,' a category that challenged biological racism but entrenched a cultural critique of poor black southerners that remains with us. This is a timely, sobering, and important book * Alison Greene, Associate Professor of American Religious History, Emory University *Table of ContentsPreface: The Legacy of Hampton: Folk, Religion, and Classifying the Cabin People Introduction Chapter 1: Moralizing the Folk: The Negro Problem, Racial Heredity, and Religion in the Progressive Era Chapter 2: Assimilating the Folk: White Southern Liberals, Revival Religion, and Regional Isolation Chapter 3: Medicalizing the Folk: Superstitions, Family, and Germs in the Venereal Disease Control Program Chapter 4: Saving the Folk: Cultural Lag and the Southern Roots of the Religion of Poverty Chapter 5: Preserving the Folk: Folk Songs and the Irony of Romanticism Conclusion: The Aftermath of the Religion of Southern Folk Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSince the release of the documentary Blackfish in 2013, millions around the world have focused on the plight of the orca, the most profitable and controversial display animal in history. Yet, until now, no historical account has explained how we came to care about killer whales in the first place. Drawing on interviews, official records, private archives, and his own family history, Jason M. Colby tells the exhilarating and often heartbreaking story of how people came to love the ocean''s greatest predator. Historically reviled as dangerous pests, killer whales were dying by the hundreds, even thousands, by the 1950s--the victims of whalers, fishermen, and even the US military. In the Pacific Northwest, fishermen shot them, scientists harpooned them, and the Canadian government mounted a machine gun to eliminate them. But that all changed in 1965, when Seattle entrepreneur Ted Griffin became the first person to swim and perform with a captive killer whale. The show proved wildly popular, and he began capturing and selling others, including Sea World''s first Shamu.Over the following decade, live display transformed views of Orcinus orca. The public embraced killer whales as charismatic and friendly, while scientists enjoyed their first access to live orcas. In the Pacific Northwest, these captive encounters reshaped regional values and helped drive environmental activism, including Greenpeace''s anti-whaling campaigns. Yet even as Northwesterners taught the world to love whales, they came to oppose their captivity and to fight for the freedom of a marine predator that had become a regional icon. This is the definitive history of how the feared and despised killer became the beloved orca--and what that has meant for our relationship with the ocean and its creatures.Trade ReviewDetailed, determinedly even-handed and often fascinating. * Lucy Atkins, Times Literary Supplement *Jason Colby's Orca...left me with feelings of gratitude for his hard work, admiration and envy for his skills as a historian and storyteller, and also some new hopes about the possibilities of writing about animals and history.....The characters, human and cetacean, are drawn with extraordinary empathy and care, and their experiences, hopes, and worries, as told by Colby, are powerful....The photographs, of which there are more than forty, are both exceptional and thoughtfully curated. * Nigel Rothfels, Humanimalia *Timely ... Over forty oral history interviews, added to substantial archival and secondary research, allow Colby to weave a history that highlights the agency and complexities of orca capture and captivity ... This engaging book should garner a wide audience of academics and orca enthusiasts. The clear narrative and interesting stories moreover make it suitable for undergraduate courses in both Pacific Northwest history and environmental history * Jen Corrinne Brown, American Historical Review *Colby is an easy and engaging writer... He utilizes extensive interviews he conducted with many of the most colorful and important people involved in the story: those who captured whales, the promoters, fishermen, scientists, and the citizens and politicians who became involved in the fight to halt the capture. * Carmel Finley, Journal of American History *This is an affecting book, personal and political all at once, and written by a scholar who has worked hard to recover and relay painful tales of the wild orcas that encountered humans and the humans that did the encountering. Nearly all those meetings began in panic and pain, most of it the whales', though some of it that of the men who came to believe they were doing the wrong thing wresting these breathtaking animals from their world, to deliver them to our own, which has been changed by the resulting episodes of captivity and captivation. * D. Graham Burnett, author of The Sounding of the Whale *This fascinating history reveals what happens when humans became captivated by captive orcas. Colby poignantly locates the very origins of conservation in the tense, tender, and tragic relationships between humans and cetaceans. This finely textured social history of the Pacific Northwest opens up the story of how 'killer whales', once cast as deadly pests * became popular attractions and emotional, intelligent 'orcas'.Daniel Bender, author of The Animal Game: Searching for Wildness at the American Zoo *With Orca, Jason Colby takes readers on a riveting journey. In a matter of decades, the Pacific Northwest's killer whales traveled from despised vermin to regional sweethearts. Their emotional passage revealed the true wildcard of wildlife management: navigating the swirling opinions of human populations. A timely book, Orca brings history to bear on a fraught relationship between two apex predators. Colby traces the rise in human affection for the whales but also the emergence of a cruel realization as audiences cheered captives' performances in aquariums across the globe. Love and fandom could kill and maim as efficiently as fear and contempt. In the end, it's unclear whether orcas benefited from the connection they forged with people. * Jon Coleman, author of Vicious: Wolves and Men in America *Killer whales, or orcas, the apex marine predators, were once widely feared as dangerous vermin and were shot on sight. Yet over the past fifty years, a sea change in attitudes towards this remarkable animal took place, and today the species is a revered and cherished global icon of the wild marine environment. In this compelling book, Jason Colby chronicles this transition in our relationship with the killer whale and tells an enthralling story complete with drama and excitement. It is sure to be an important addition to the libraries of natural historians and whale enthusiasts alike. * John Ford, Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada *Colby shines a light on how little we understand of these magnificent creatures. His book gives a glimpse into a mysterious yet strangely familiar world, brought to life in a story that's tragic, heartbreaking, and finally hopeful. * Foreword Reviews (starred review) *A good choice for serious fans of Pacific Northwest and marine history. * Kirkus *A revealing look at how the human view of orcas has changed... Colby persuasively contends that, despite legitimate concerns popularized by the 2013 documentary Blackfish, about the effects of captivity on orcas, the animals avoided extinction because their presence in accessible public venues enabled people to relate to them... Colby has produced an originally argued and accessibly jargon-free consideration of a hot-button animal conservation issue. * Publishers Weekly *Killer whales, also known as orcas, are idolized, loved, and even revered. Such sentiments, however, have not always been held toward this species, as historian Jason Colby reveals in his new book, Orca... Colby does an excellent job of framing these events within the larger environmental movement of the time, as well as placing them within the context of the nationalism that was spreading on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border at the time." * Robin W. Baird, Science *[Told] with the depth and passion the topic deserves. * Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times *Immersive and dramatic... Colby demonstrates the speed at which societal attitudes can also shift the baseline of our expectations. In this age of extinction, with ongoing changes in ocean chemistry and physics, it is the potential for a sea change in public attitude that presents hope. * Sascha Hooker, Nature *An exceptional book and a significant contribution to the conservation of killer whales, Orca brings together a wealth of information and tells the stories of the captive whales and the people who pursued, cared for, and studied them - and ultimately fought for their freedom... It instantly takes its place as one of the best books ever written about the interactions between killer whales and settler society on the coastlines of B.C. and Washington State. It should be read by every whale enthusiast, naturalist, fishing guide, graduate student, researcher, marine resource manager, and politician on the Pacific coast. * Anna Hall, Ormsby Review *It is a story not just of the orca business, but also of the evolution of Americans' relationship to the oceans and marine life-the growth of marine parks parallels the shift from an extractive approach to the ocean, as mainly a source of fish, to a recreational one. It intersects, too, with the birth of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s and 70s. * Rachel Riederer, New Republic *[Colby] has produced an exhaustive, nuanced, essential account of the captures, unearthing a forgotten bit of Northwest history. * Nancy Macdonald, Literary Review of Canada *A riveting behind-the-scenes 'tell all,' told from the perspectives of the individuals that witnessed this important period in our history. This book is a historical account of how an industry formed, nearly destroying the very commodity on which it depended, coupled with an infusion of science that helped us to better understand killer whale life history. Colby retells a tragic yet sobering story of the good and dark sides of the delicate relationship between humans and other sentient beings. * Eric L. Walters, Journal of Mammalogy *An exhaustively researched and well-written account. * Paul Brown, Resurgence & Ecologist *An engaging but in-depth history...Orca is an exciting new offering at the intersection between histories of the display of live cetaceans, which generally focus on the environmental movement and its pushback against keeping captive dolphins and orcas, and histories of the modern commercial whaling industry, which generally focus purely on the harvesting of larger whales….The book is both an intensely local history of the Pacific Northwest in the late twentieth century and also a more global history of human relationships with large predators and animals in captivity.….Colby provides an exhaustive account of changing perceptions of killer whales and how this related to the development of the environmental movement into which they were embedded, all over the span of just a couple of decades. * Jakobina Arch, Environmental History *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. "The Most Terrible Jaws Afloat" 2. The Old Northwest 3. Griffin's Quest 4. Murray Newman and Moby Doll 5. Namu's Journey 6. A Boy and His Whale 7. Fishing for Orcas 8. Skana and the Hippie 9. The Scores at Pender Harbor 10. Supply and Demand 11. The White Whale 12. Penn Cove Roundup 13. Whaling in the New Northwest 14. Big Government and Big Business 15. The Legend of Mike Bigg 16. "All hell broke loose" 17. New Frontiers 18. Haida's Song 19. The Legacy of Capture Epilogue Acknowledgements Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDespite--or because of--its huge popular culture status, Peanuts enabled cartoonist Charles Schulz to offer political commentary on the most controversial topics of postwar American culture through the voices of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang.In postwar America, there was no newspaper comic strip more recognizable than Charles Schulz''s Peanuts. It was everywhere, not just in thousands of daily newspapers. For nearly fifty years, Peanuts was a mainstay of American popular culture in television, movies, and merchandising, from the Macy''s Thanksgiving Day Parade to the White House to the breakfast table.Most people have come to associate Peanuts with the innocence of childhood, not the social and political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. Some have even argued that Peanuts was so beloved because it was apolitical. The truth, as Blake Scott Ball shows, is that Peanuts was very political. Whether it was the battles over the Vietnam War, racial integration, feminism, or the future of a nuclear world, Peanuts was a daily conversation about very real hopes and fears and the political realities of the Cold War world. As thousands of fan letters, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documents reveal, Charles Schulz used his comic strip to project his ideas to a mass audience and comment on the rapidly changing politics of America.Charlie Brown''s America covers all of these debates and much more in a historical journey through the tumultuous decades of the Cold War as seen through the eyes of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang.Trade ReviewBall has offered a wonderful lens through which to understand not only how Schulz's Christian faith and mildly liberal bent generated a beloved comic strip but also how the life and times of an angst-ridden boy named Charlie Brown and his motley group of friends mirrored the contours of postwar American political culture....Historians of twentieth-century political culture will find much to like about Ball's analysis...of Schulz's comic strip, one that invited readers such as Reagan to project their own political anxieties and concerns onto the lives of minimally sketched cartoon kids. * Robert Genter, Journal of American History *Ball makes a strong case that the world's foremost comic strip was very political, despite common belief to the contrary, its messages deftly shrouded in allegory, ambiguousness, and intentional vagueness by Charles Schulz ... this excellent book provides abundant new material and many fascinating insights. * J. A. Lent, CHOICE *This is a comics studies book that your parents and non-comics friends would also enjoy. Charlie Brown's America is mostly jargon-free and is a fun, fast read. It reprints a substantial number of Peanuts comics and Peanuts-related images, and these entertain readers and help illustrate Ball's ideas. This is an excellent example of how to write good history that a general audience will enjoy reading!.... One of the most impressive elements of Charlie Brown's America is how it presents Charles Schulz as a deeply thoughtful person and then shows how that translates into his work. Ball really does complicate the legacy of Schulz and Peanuts, but he does so in a way that enriches the strip and helps to firmly ground the seemingly timeless Peanuts gang in cold war America....Charlie Brown's America serves up nostalgia, makes you smile, and still manages to make you rethink and reconsider Peanuts and its legacy. * Dan Newland, The Comic Book Yeti *It's enlightening to read Ball's breakdown of where the strip captured the moment and where it strayed. * Heather Seggel, Progressive Populist *Peanuts reflects America, or America reflects Peanuts. Both were true in the case of America's favorite comic strip. For half a century Charles Schulz sent his missive out to the world in a love letter, and his readers loved him back with unparalleled affection. In this thoroughly researched and carefully considered study, Blake Scott Ball explores the reasons why Schulz may have been our best cartoonist. Like Mickey Mouse, Superman, and Chaplin's tramp, Charlie Brown has joined our list of icons who help us understand the human condition. He's a good man, Charlie Brown. * M. Thomas Inge, Randolph-Macon College *Blake Scott Ball's Charlie Brown's America uses the history of Charles Schulz's Peanuts as a medium for his fascinating tour of cold war American culture. * Grace Hale, University of Virginia *This valuable study provides essential context for our understanding of a pop-cultural masterpiece. Charles Schulz generally avoided making overt political statements in his comics. But as Blake Ball demonstrates, that doesn't mean that Peanuts was never a political text. In fact, Schulz cultivated a deliberately ambiguous, even polysemic approach when addressing the most hot-button issues of his day—from Women's Liberation to Civil Rights and Environmentalism. * Ben Saunders, University of Oregon *A cultural history with the narrative drive of a well-crafted biography, Blake Scott Ball's Charlie Brown's America unlocks the mysteries behind Schulz's comic masterpiece. Drawing on interviews, speeches, and correspondence between the cartoonist and his fans, Ball offers deftly historicized close readings of Schulz's strip, showing how Peanuts' ideological flexibility made it a 'Rorschach test' for American readers during the Cold War. A tour de force of comics scholarship and an engrossing read! * Philip Nel, author of Was the Cat in the Hat Black? *The book succeeds nicely as both a fresh treatment of Schulz's work and career and as a survey of popular political currents in the mid-twentieth century United States... [It] will interest scholars of mid-twentieth-century cultural history as well as fans and students of comics, comedy, and popular culture. * Kerry Soper, American Historical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Ch 1 Bless You for Charlie Brown: Evangelicalism, Civil Religion, and Peanuts in Postwar America Ch 2 Crosshatch Is Beautiful: Franklin, Color-Blindness, and the Limits of Racial Integration in Peanuts Ch 3 Snoopy Is the Hero in Vietnam: Ambivalence, Empathy, and Peanuts' Vietnam War Ch 4 I Believe in Conserving Energy: Personal Responsibility, Consumer Politics, and Peanuts' Pro-Capitalist Environmental Ethos Ch 5 I Have a Vision, Charlie Brown: Gender Roles, Abortion Rights, Sex Education, and Peanuts in the Age of the Women's Movement Conclusion Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom bestselling biographer Kate Clifford Larson comes the first full portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer and her galvanic part in the greatest social movement of our era.Trade ReviewAn urgent story for our times, Walk With Me hurls readers headlong into the violent and repressive context of rural Mississippi before voting was a protected right for all Americans, even as it paints a moving picture of indelible courage and breathtaking transformation. Historian Kate Larson does not withhold the excruciating details of Civil Rights era activism and backlash in this book; rather, she carefully pairs these violent accounts with the uplifting moments of song, food, faith, and resilience that characterized Fannie Lou Hamer's family and community life. Larson demonstrates once again that she is an adept biographer with an eye for the contexts and character traits that shaped ordinary people into extraordinary agents of change. * Tiya Miles, author of All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake *Kate Larson has captured the fullness and simple grandeur of the life of Fannie Lou Hamer. For the first time, Larson has shared with us the context of Hamer's struggles and triumphs as a daughter of the Mississippi Delta. This work is an intimate portrait of a life that represents the best that America has to offer. * Dr. Leslie-Burl McLemore, Professor Emeritus, Jackson State University, Founding Director, Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy *Kate Clifford Larson's page-turning biography of Fannie Lou Hamer takes readers on the journey of a woman born into the grinding poverty and racism of the Mississippi Delta who rose to become the voice of the unheard and the conscience of a nation. Based on prodigious research and extensive interviews with those who knew Hamer, Walk with Me is a masterpiece of historical scholarship, a layered portrait of an unlikely hero of the civil rights movement who gave her life for freedom. * Dr. Joyce Ladner, Mississippi Civil Rights veteran and former interim president of Howard University *For every situation, for every generation, for all trying times, God sends forth a leader cloaked in spirit, motivated by faith, and often with the voice of an Angel. This book envelops the reader in Fannie Lou Hamer and the events that shaped her life during the revolutionary times of the 1960's Civil Rights movement. It will be of great interest to anyone fighting racial, sex and cultural bias. * Frank Smith, Jr., Mississippi Civil Rights veteran, Executive Director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Freedom Foundation and Museum, Washington, D.C. *Table of ContentsChapter One: Another Kind of Slavery Chapter Two: Delta Blues Chapter Three: "Mississippi Appendectomy" Chapter Four: "Silver Rights" [Civil Rights] Chapter Five: Winona Chapter Six: "They had guns; they had dogs." Chapter Seven: "No one who went to Mississippi returned the same." Chapter Eight: "Until all men are free, nobody's free." Chapter Nine: Keep Your Eyes on the Prize Chapter Ten: "Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired." Chapter Eleven: "This Little Light of Mine" Author's Note Notes/Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn his last years as president of the United States, an embattled George Washington yearned for a time when his nation would have the strength of a Giant and there will be none who can make us afraid. At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States seemed poised to achieve a position of world power beyond what even Washington could have imagined.In The American Century and Beyond: U.S. Foreign Relations, 1893-2014, the second volume of a new split paperback edition of the award-winning From Colony to Superpower, George C. Herring recounts the rise of the United States from the dawn of what came to be known as the American Century. This fast-paced narrative tells a story of stunning successes and tragic failures, illuminating the central importance of foreign relations to the existence and survival of the nation. Herring shows how policymakers defined American interests broadly to include territorial expansion, access to growing markets, and the spread of the American way of lifTrade ReviewThe strength of this book is the author's Herculean power of synthesis...Herring recaptures a quarter-millennium of American foreign policy with fluidity and felicity...we have long been waiting for a single-volume history like this one, and "From Colony to Superpower" deserves a place on the bookshelf. * New York Times Book Review *Its first achievement is its feat of inclusiveness, managed by making quick work of many interesting subplots of the United States' rich and complex relations with the world...The narrative power lies partly in identifying themes that gradually give a strong organizational cohesion to his story...It is revisionism of the best kind, quiet but insistent, reinforced by archival evidence and deftly drawn parallels. * Howard W. French, The New York Times *An impressive, up-to-date diplomatic history of the US that masterfully employs traditional, revisionnist, and in many instances synthetic interpretations in a story line from Colonial America to the second Bush administration.... This will be an award-winning book that becomes the standard text for US diplomatic history. A superb accomplishment. Essential. * C.W. Haury, CHOICE *The only volume in the series that spans the entirety of the American past, From Colony to Superpower could not be more timely, more colorful, or more compelling for Americans seeking to understand the causes and the consequences of the quagmires in Afghanistan and Iraq. Herring is well equipped to provide that analysis. * The Chronicle of Higher Education *In this splendidly detailed account, George Herring expertly guides us through the rich and fascinating story of America's foreign relations. This is history on a grand scale, clearly and elegantly rendered. Anyone who wants to understand how the United States has come to occupy its current place on the world stage should read this magisterial book. * Fredrik Logevall, co-author of A People and a Nation *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The War of 1898 and the Dawn of the American Century, 1893-190119. "Bursting with Good Intentions": The United States in World Affairs, 1901-1913 ; 2. "A New Age": Wilson, the Great War, and U.S. Foreign Policy, 1913-1921 ; 3. Involvement Without Commitment, 1921-1931 ; 4. The Great Transformation: Depression, Isolationism, and War, 1931-1941 ; 5. "Five Continents and Seven Seas": World War II and the Emergence of American Globalism, 1941-1945 ; 6. "A Noble Burden Far From Our Shores": Truman, the Cold War, and the Revolution in American Foreign Policy, 1945-1953 ; 7. Coexistence and Crises, 1953-1961 ; 8. Gulliver's Troubles: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Limits of Power, 1961-1969 ; 9. Nixon, Kissinger, and the End of the Postwar Era, 1969-1974 ; 10. Foreign Policy in an Age of Dissonance, 1974-1981 ; 11. "A Unique and Extraordinary Time in World History": Gorbachev, Reagan, Bush, and the End of the Cold War, 1981-1991 ; 12. The Strength of a Giant: America as Hyperpower, 1992-2001 ; 13. From 9/11 to the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, 2001-2013 ; Epilogue ; Bibiliographic Essay

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Book SynopsisAuthor of Lincoln and His Admirals (winner of the Lincoln Prize), The Battle of Midway (Best Book of the Year, Military History Quarterly), and Operation Neptune, (winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature), Craig L. Symonds has established himself as one of the finest naval historians at work today. World War II at Sea represents his crowning achievement: a complete narrative of the naval war and all of its belligerents, on all of the world''s oceans and seas, between 1939 and 1945. Opening with the 1930 London Conference, Symonds shows how any limitations on naval warfare would become irrelevant before the decade was up, as Europe erupted into conflict once more and its navies were brought to bear against each other. World War II at Sea offers a global perspective, focusing on the major engagements and personalities and revealing both their scale and their interconnection: the U-boat attack on Scapa Flow and the Battle of the Atlantic; the miracle evacuation from Trade ReviewWell-written and often original narrative... a very accessible operational and strategic history. * Eric Grove, The Times Literary Supplement *Any reader, whether general or specialist, can pick it up, become immersed in its flowing narrative and energetic prose, and come away with a good general understanding of the war at sea, and the central importance of the maritime dimension to the Anglo-American victory in the West. * Nick Hewitt, Military History *This truly monumental work really does what it says on the label ... A military work of the first order. * Steve Craggs, Northern Echo *Craig L. Symonds has produced a magisterial volume covering the conflict at sea... The multi-award winning Professor Symonds has shown why he is one of the world's leading naval historians in this book... Highly recommended for those who want to know why the sea was so important from 1939 to 1945 and to undertstand the mechanics behind naval operations. * Paul Donnelley *In World War II at Sea, Mr. Symonds does for the naval struggle what Martin Gilbert did for the conflict on land in his The Second World War. A thoroughly enjoyable read, World War II at Sea sweeps its glass across the worlds oceans and deftly recounts battles that shaped the course of history's greatest war. * Wall Street Journal *Craig Symonds is a seaman and historian of the first order. His telling of this Navy Saga is as vast as the oceans themselves and as gloriously detailed as were the battles for them. * Tom Hanks *A scholarly yet extremely accessible work that will be of value to anyone interested in World War II; this will likely be a new standard on the topic. * Library Journal *Sweeping, majestic, and brilliant are the words that come to mind reading World War II at Sea by distinguished naval historian Craig Symonds. This will be the definitive single volume treatment of the enormously critical naval contributions to winning World War II. * Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), Supreme Allied Commander at NATO 2009-2013, Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University *World War II at Sea somehow manages to distill this entire naval history into a single volume without missing a beat. How Craig Symonds accomplished this while keeping the story interesting and the narrative engaging is a fine feat. This book is a treat! * John Prados, author of Islands of Destiny: The Solomons Campaign and the Eclipse of the Rising Sun *Craig L. Symonds's World War at Sea is a wonderfully ample and invaluable single-volume naval history of the all-hands-on-deck 1939 to 1945 global conflict. All major naval engagements are concisely and brilliantly recounted here. And there are fine assessments of military leaders like Ernest King and Isoroku Yamamoto. My admiration for this book is boundless! * Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History, Rice University, co-author of Driven Patriot: The Life and Times of James Forrestal *Readers will welcome this fine account from a highly qualified guide... A solid storyteller and naval scholar, Symonds mixes politics, strategy, sea battle fireworks, technical details, and personal anecdotes to deliver one of the better single-volume histories of the naval portion of WWII. * Kirkus *World War II at Sea is an effective, well-written account of the war above, on, and below the oceans that draws on both classic and very recent writing to synthesize a single narrative of the entire conflictno small feat. Even experienced readers will find valuable insights about participants, such as Finland and Italy, that are generally neglected. For anyone seeking a one-stop-shop, up-to-date naval history of the period, World War II at Sea is the book to read. * America in WWII *Table of ContentsPrologue: London, 1930 PART I. THE EUROPEAN WAR 1. Unterseeboote 2. Panzerschiffe 3. Norway 4. France Falls 5. The Regia Marina 6. The War on Trade, I 7. The Bismarck PART II. THE WAR WIDENS 8. The Rising Sun 9. A Two Ocean Navy 10. Infamy 11. Rampage 12. The War on Trade, II PART III. WATERSHED 13. Stemming the Tide 14. Two Beleaguered Islands 15. A Two Ocean War 16. The Tipping Point 17. The War on Trade, III PART IV. ALLIED COUNTERATTACK 18. Airplanes and Convoys 19. Husky 20. Twilight of Two Navies 21. Breaking the Shield 22. Large Slow Target PART V. RECKONING 23. D-Day 24. Seeking the Decisive Battle 25. Leyte Gulf 26. The Noose Tightens 27. Denouement Epilogue: Tokyo Bay, 1945 Afterword

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Book SynopsisStraddling the equator, Southeast Asia comprises Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and East Timor. Despite its extraordinary diversity of ethnicities, religions, and political systems, Southeast Asia plays a key role in global economies and geopolitics, especially in light of its strategic position bordering China and India. This Very Short Introduction explores the contemporary character of Southeast Asia''s national societies through the lens of their historical evolution, from the eras of indigenous kingdoms and colonies under Western rule to the present''s independent nation states. Deftly combining historical analysis and geopolitical insights, the book paints a bird''s eye view of contemporary Southeast Asia as a community of diverse societies and traditions as well as a political theater-of-action nested between India and China and tangled in global economic traffic patterns, balance of powers, and environmental forces.As James R. Rush explains, archaic structures, such as religious and ethnic rivalries, tenacious feudal hierarchies, and age-old trade and migration patterns, remain rooted in today''s Southeast Asia beneath the surface of modern national governments. The book draws on a wide range of examples from the major nations, including the ethno-religious violence in Myanmar, the Muslim-led rebellion in the southern Philippines, the Thai-Cambodian territorial rivalries, the Confucian-inspired governance in Singapore, the military rule and democratization in Indonesia, the environmental consequences of agribusiness, mining, and unchecked urbanization, and the big-power alignments and tensions involving the United States, China, and Japan. By delving into the cultural, political, and geographical background of Southeast Asia, Rush shows that Southeast Asia is unquestionably modern, but it is modern in distinctively Southeast Asian ways.Trade ReviewJames R. Rush's book no doubt serves as an essential introduction to the study of Southeast Asia. * Singapore Review of Books *Table of ContentsList of illustrations Introduction 1: What is Southeast Asia? 2: Kingdoms 3: Colonies 4: Nations 5: The past is in the present References Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisAmericans have always been a hard-drinking people, but from 1920 to 1933 the country went dry. After decades of pressure from rural Protestants such as the hatchet-wielding Carry A. Nation and organizations such as the Women''s Christian Temperance Union and Anti-Saloon League, the states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Bolstered by the Volstead Act, this amendment made Prohibition law: alcohol could no longer be produced, imported, transported, or sold. This bizarre episode is often humorously recalled, frequently satirized, and usually condemned. The more interesting questions, however, are how and why Prohibition came about, how Prohibition worked (and failed to work), and how Prohibition gave way to strict governmental regulation of alcohol. This book answers these questions, presenting a brief and elegant overview of the Prohibition era and its legacy.During the 1920s alcohol prices rose, quality declined, and consumption dropped. The black market thrived, filling the pockets of mobsters and bootleggers. Since beer was too bulky to hide and largely disappeared, drinkers sipped cocktails made with moonshine or poor-grade imported liquor. The all-male saloon gave way to the speakeasy, where together men and women drank, smoked, and danced to jazz.After the onset of the Great Depression, support for Prohibition collapsed because of the rise in gangster violence and the need for revenue at local, state, and federal levels. As public opinion turned, Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised to repeal Prohibition in 1932. The legalization of beer came in April 1933, followed by the Twenty-first Amendment''s repeal of the Eighteenth that December. State alcohol control boards soon adopted strong regulations, and their legacies continue to influence American drinking habits. Soon after, Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The alcohol problem had shifted from being a moral issue during the century to a social, cultural, and political one during the campaign for Prohibition, and finally, to a therapeutic one involving individuals. As drinking returned to pre-Prohibition levels, a Neo-Prohibition emerged, led by groups such as Mothers against Drunk Driving, and ultimately resulted in a higher legal drinking age and other legislative measures. With his unparalleled expertise regarding American drinking patterns, W. J. Rorabaugh provides an accessible synthesis of one of the most important topics in US history, a topic that remains relevant today amidst rising concerns over binge-drinking and alcohol culture on college campuses.Trade ReviewProf. Rorabaugh has a firm grip on his subject, and the book is a handy reliable source of background information on the Prohibition movement." - James Hedges, "The National Prohibitionist"Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Drinking and Temperance Chapter 2: The Dry Crusade Chapter 3: Prohibition Chapter 4: Repeal Chapter 5: Legacies Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisWhen Lee Kuan Yew died recently, the world media turned its attention to the nation he led for decades: Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew''s revolutionary transformation of Singapore from a poor and corrupt colonial backwater into an economic powerhouse renowned for its wealth, order, and rectitude is one of the great--and most surprising--stories of modern era. In Singapore: Unlikely Power, John Perry provides an evenhanded and authoritative history of the island nation that ranges from its Malay origins to the present day. Blessed with a natural deepwater port that is shielded by mountain ranges from oceanic storms and which sits along one of the most strategic straits in the world, Singapore has served as a major shipping entrepot throughout modern history. The first great naval power to exploit the island''s strategic location was China, and during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries thousands of Chinese emigrated to Singapore. The most famous colonizer, though, was Britain, which ruled Singapore until the 1960s except for when the Japanese occupied it during World War Two. From the early nineteenth century onward, Singapore was a vital node in the global economy, which relied on oceanic shipping and the protection of the British Navy. Perry covers all of this before turning to the era of independence, which began in the 1960s. Plagued with the usual assortment of ills that former colonies in the tropics suffered from--corruption, inequality, lack of an educated population--Singapore improbably vaulted from essentially third-world status into a first world dynamo over the course of three decades. In the process, longtime leader Lee Kuan Yew did many things that other post-colonial leaders shunned. He embraced the colonial past, established close ties with its World War Two tormentor (Japan), and adopted a resolutely pragmatist approach to economic development rather than following any one fashionable ideological program. Today, it is one of the wealthiest and best educated countries in the world, and it is a model regime for states looking to develop rapidly but which are relatively unconcerned with freedom or democracy (although Singapore itself is a democracy). In sum, this is an accessible, comprehensive, and indeed colorful overview of a city-state that has perfected one of the most influential political-economic models in the world.Trade Review"John Perry, a maritime and diplomatic historian, provides a unique perspective on Singapore, a remarkable port city that, like Hong Kong and Bahrain, was a British colony and became the business, service, and intellectual headquarters for a region. He traces here how Singapore, a multi-racial, multi-cultural city, has developed unique social policies and officials who provide world-class leadership in the councils of the world." --Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, emeritus, Harvard University; author of Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China "The story of Singapore is the story of the 21st century: asymmetric and creative approaches to foreign policy that provide opportunity, stability, and multicultural engagement. There is so much to learn from the City of Lions, and John Curtis Perry is the perfect guide. This is a profoundly important book for anyone studying international relations." --Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret), NATO Supreme Allied Commander 2009-2013, and Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University "For narrative, perfection of pace; for description, a lively eye; for scholarship, tenacity and depth; breadth for the delineation of context and comparisons; insight in character-depiction, and provocation in judgement: John Perry has the qualities to make enlightening work of his study of 'the Singapore grip': the city-state's stunning story of response to daunting challenges." --Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, William P. Reynolds Professor of History, University of Notre Dame "John Perry's brisk and engaging Singapore: Unlikely Power situates the Southeast Asian city-state in its historical context, and shows convincingly how over the course of two centuries visionary leaders have fused political will and geographic advantage to create a globalized economic powerhouse." --Lincoln Paine, author of The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World "Meticulously researched and holistic in approach, Perry's narrative seamlessly balances insights and perspectives on the past, present and future of the island and region. An ideal read for anyone who has wondered about the global forces that created the modern commercial city-state-and why it exists where it does." --Daniel Finamore, Russell W. Knight Curator of, Maritime Art and History, Peabody Essex MuseumTable of ContentsI. ORIGINS; II. WINGS OF CANVAS; III. "QUEEN OF THE FURTHER EAST"; IV. EMPIRE AT ZENITH; V. CLOUDS, THUNDER, AND STORM, 1918-42; VI. "WALKING ON A RAZORS EDGE," 1945-65; VII. "TURFED OUT"; VIII. COMING TO THE PRESENT; IX. GLOBAL HINGE?

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Book SynopsisThe Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam tells the darkly humorous story of the French colonial state''s failed efforts to impose its vision of modernity upon the colonial city of Hanoi, Vietnam. Part of the Graphic Histories series, this book offers a case study in the history of imperialism, highlighting the racialized economic inequalities of empire, colonization as a form of modernization, and industrial capitalism''s creation of a radical power differential between the West and the rest. On a deeper level, The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt examines the contradictions unique to the French Third Republic''s colonial civilizing mission, the development of Vietnamese resistance to French rule, and the history of disease. Featuring forty-nine primary sources--many available in English for the first time--and three full-color maps, The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt illustrates the ironic and tragic ways in which modernization projects can have unintended consequTrade ReviewVann and Clarke have provided a helpful addition to the large selection of textbooks on Vietnam. Clear writing, helpful footnotes, and historical context help Vann and Clarke deliver a readable history of a complex topic. The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt offers a model of how to translate a history that is equal parts global, transnational, and local history into a new medium. * Zachary M. Matusheski, Journal of American-East Asian Relations *The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt effectively engages its readers in the intertwined stories of French colonialism, the New Imperialism, and a Vietnam in transition during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in a thought-provoking and memorable blend of critical textual discussion and high-quality illustration. * David W. Del Testa, Bucknell University *This is a beautifully written and illustrated history based on solid research. The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt does a phenomenal job of contextualizing the far reaches of the French empire in world history. Students will enjoy the graphics and the intellectual stimulation of the story. I strongly recommend it for classes in world history, historical methodology, and Southeast Asian history. * Christina Firpo, California Polytechnic State University *The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt very usefully integrates a discussion of the civilizing mission with the history of colonial urbanism, public health, and scientific experimentation. There's very little accessible material on this in English for undergraduate students, and the text does an excellent job of translating complex historiography in a readable way. * Rebecca Scales, Rochester Institute of Technology *Students will be delighted by The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt. The superb graphics and the story itself will enthrall general readers as well. * J. R. McNeill, Georgetown University *The Great Hanoi Rat Hunt is a captivating story! If offers an 'all in one' package that makes it a practical text for world history courses. * Margaret B. Bodemer, California Polytechnic State University *

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Book SynopsisAn African American Dilemma offers the first social history of northern Black debates over school integration versus separation from the 1840s to the present.Since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 Americans have viewed school integration as a central tenet of the Black civil rights movement. Yet, school integration was not the only--or even always the dominant--civil rights strategy. At times, African Americans also fought for separate, Black controlled schools dedicated to racial uplift and community empowerment.An African American Dilemma offers a social history of these debates within northern Black communities from the 1840s to the present. Drawing on sources including the Black press, school board records, social science studies, the papers of civil rights activists, and court cases, it reveals that northern Black communities, urban and suburban, vacillated between a preference for either school integration or separation during specific eras. Yet, there was never a consensus. It also highlights the chorus of dissent, debate, and counter-narratives that pushed families to consider a fuller range of educational reforms.A sweeping historical analysis that covers the entire history of public education in the North, this work complicates our understanding of school integration by highlighting the diverse perspectives of Black students, parents, teachers, and community leaders all committed to improving public education. It finds that Black school integrationists and separatists have worked together in a dynamic tension that fueled effective strategies for educational reform and the Black civil rights movement, a discussion that continues to be highly charged in present-day schooling choices.Trade ReviewAn essential account of the complex and often troubling history of America's implementation of meaningful school integration strategies.... Particularly impressive is Burkholder's use of a broad...body of evidence....Here we see the activists who confronted established power firsthand. The many parental discussions, confrontations, frustrations, and disappointments give this book a very human face.... Burkholder does not shy from confronting the numerous obstacles still in the way of the ultimate goal of nondiscriminatory quality educational integration reform. The author also addresses new reform models that achieve less-than-perfect integration ends in the face of daunting geographical, social, and economic demographics. * Theodore W. Eversole, Journal of American History *A much-needed comprehensive history of the North that covers the 1840s to the present, adding important periodization to this history.... This study is timely, extensive, and a major contribution to the history of African American education....Zoë Burkholder should be commended for writing such a superb book. An African American Dilemma has strong use of social science and legal research...Painstakingly researched, Burkholder seems to have left few stones unturned....She manages the varying viewpoints of white conservatives, moderates, and liberals as well as Black nationalists, integrationists, moderates, civil rights leaders, and Black power advocates. Burkholder also simplifies a complex history with excellent writing, representative vignettes, and amplified voices of scholars, leaders, teachers, parents, and students. * Dionne Danns, History of Education Quarterly *From the first page...Zoë Burkholder challenges readers' assumptions about segregated Black schools in the United States.... Burkholder offers stories about critics, advocates, successes, and failures of both ideas, encouraging the reader to understand that different contexts and schooling experiences might lead people to different conclusions about what is the best to achieve quality education for Black children....I recommend An African American Dilemma to any reader who wants to nuance their understanding of the history of debates around integration beyond the most common narratives about the civil rights movement in the South. Burkholder writes with a pleasant narrative voice, peppering the chapters with strong imagery and diverse characters that make this book easy to read. * Alyssa Napier, Harvard Educational Review *A very important history of the United States with schools-and ideas about schooling and democracy-at its center.... Burkholder analyzes more than one hundred and eighty years of debates about education with deep understanding and remarkable clarity of expression....I am...deeply impressed by Burkholder's argument that, in the end the fractious debate and determined activism over time have actually resulted in a stronger understanding of what education is, and the factors which facilitate its creation, transmission and retention.... All of us owe a debt not only to Zoë Burkholder for her excellent book, but to the educational activists who stayed with it-and have often succeeded. * Ben Keppel, Journal of Social History *In this sweeping history, Professor Burkholder synthesises many local studies to give a national view of the struggles surrounding integration versus separation among Black educational activists.... Through this exhaustively researched and beautifully written book we learn that public schools have been 'spectacular and important sites of northern civil rights activism'...and that white communities consistently opposed Black educational equality, in the northern as well as the southern United States. Burkholder shows definitively that integration was not the only goal for African American educational activists and concludes that education reform must draw on notions of both integration and separate, Black-controlled schools. In taking this position...this book offers both lessons and caveats for those looking towards the future. * Christine Woyshner, History of Education *With stunning precision, Zoë Burkholder portrays the long struggle of African Americans for equal education in the northern states—from their fight against systemic racial disparities in the 1840s to the racial disparities in public schools in the twenty-first century. Her impressive research reveals equality to mean far more than the Janus-faced goal of integrated schools versus separate, black-controlled schools. Burkholder situates the promise and pitfalls of each within the complex and changing contexts of specific urban school systems, judicial decisions, as well as ideological and policy debates at various critical moments. Her brilliant insights into public education's unfolding, yet still unresolved dilemma for African Americans make this book an especially cogent read for our present time. * Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Harvard University *A much needed, sweeping new history of the high-stakes, fiercely fought debates that have informed African American attempts to dismantle unequal and segregated schools. Burkholder brings our understanding of the many, disparate attempts to attain educational justice—across time and in a vast range of locales in the North—into a coherent narrative. Black leaders and parents fought relentlessly against educational injustice and amongst themselves over the question of whether Black controlled 'separate' or desegregated schools were the answer to endemic racism in education. Often they tacked between two, creatively responding to ever shifting political winds. An African American Dilemma keeps the urgent question of education itself and the lived experience of those who were too often denied it at its center. An impressive achievement. * Rachel Devlin, author of A Girl Stands at the Door: The Generation of Young Women who Desegregated America's Schools *In her important new book Zoë Burkholder follows the fierce debates over school segregation that have long cut through northern African-American communities. She takes us into Boston's antebellum battles over its Common Schools, Philadelphia's early twentieth century descent into segregation, New Rochelle's transformation into 'The Little Rock of the North,' the bitter clash between Newark's nascent Black political class and its largely-white teachers' union, and Hartford's extensive efforts to lure white suburbanites back to its schools. An African-American Dilemma is a thorough, thoughtful history of one of the American dilemma's most enduring issues. * Kevin Boyle, author of Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age *Burkholder has made a riveting contribution to the literature on Black education, civil rights and Jim Crow's geography. It offers a deep assessment of past reform efforts while also contextualising today's ongoing racial landscapes of public education. In doing so, Burkholder challenges triumphalist narratives of the civil rights movement and illustrates the need for interrogating and rethinking markers of the movement's beginning and its end. * Francis V. Gourrier, Jr., English Historical Review *A masterful study of school integration and Civil Rights in the North which breaks new ground on a very challenging topic in American life and culture...Burkholder's work...offer[s] a very unique argument that does something rare in scholarship on school desegregation, which is to discuss it as a dilemma between the presumed ideals of larger societal integration, and the somewhat lesser known ideal of racial separation...One begins to understand by reading this incredibly well-researched study, the true nature of some of the many major barriers to school desegregation in the North...The author carries that forward into the 1990s and early 2000s...offering a model for school districts...still sorely in need of paradigms for successful examples of school integration. * Zebulon Vance Miletsky, History: Reviews of New Books *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: Caste Abolished: Integration for Freedom, 1840-1900 Chapter Two: The Education that Is Their Due: Separation for Racial Uplift, 1900-1940 Chapter Three: A Powerful Weapon: Integration for Equality, 1940-1965 Chapter Four: Conflict in the Community: Separation for Black Power, 1966-1974 Chapter Five: An Armageddon of Righteousness: Integration for Justice, 1974-present Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThe historical trajectory of decadent culture runs from ancient Rome, to nineteenth-century Paris, Victorian London, fin de siècle Vienna, Weimar Berlin, and beyond. The first of these, the decline of Rome, provides the pattern for both aesthetic and social decadence, a pattern that artists and writers in the nineteenth century imitated, emulated, parodied, and otherwise manipulated for aesthetic gain. What begins as the moral condemnation of modernity in mid-nineteenth century France on the part of decadent authors such as Charles Baudelaire ends up as the perverse celebration of the pessimism that imperial decline, whether real or imagined, involves. This delight in decline informs the so-called breviary, or even bible, of decadence from Joris-Karl Huysmans''s À Rebours, Oscar Wilde''s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Aubrey Beardsley''s drawings, Gustav Klimt''s paintings, and numerous other works. In this Very Short Introduction, David Weir explores these conflicting attitudes towards modernity present in decadent culture by examining the difference between aesthetic decadence -- the excess of artifice -- and social decadence, which involves excess in a variety of forms, whether perversely pleasurable or gratuitously cruel. Such contrariness between aesthetic and social decadence led some of its practitioners to substitute art for life and to stress the importance of taste over morality, a maneuver with far-reaching consequences, especially as decadence enters the realm of popular culture today.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewincisive survey * Matthew Reisz, Times Higher Education *entertaining * ANZLitLovers *Weir does us a service by bringing into one accessible book the decadences of different ages for comparison. * Jad Adams, The Wildean *In Decadence: A Very Short Introduction, David Weir helps students, scholars, and the general public to think more critically about decadence by introducing a lens that could serve as a starting point for understanding the concept: modernity and conflict.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction 1 Rome: Classical Decadence 2 Paris: Cultural Decadence 3 London: Social Decadence 4 Vienna and Berlin: Socio-cultural Decadence Conclusion: Legacies of Decadence References Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisA finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Duong Van Mai Elliott''s The Sacred Willow illuminates recent Vietnamese history by weaving together the stories of the lives of four generations of her family. Beginning with her great-grandfather, who rose from rural poverty to become an influential landowner, and continuing to the present, Mai Elliott traces her family''s journey through an era of tumultuous change. She tells us of childhood hours in her grandmother''s silk shop, and of hiding while French troops torched her village, watching while blossoms torn by fire from the trees flutter like hundreds of butterflies overhead. She makes clear the agonizing choices that split Vietnamese families: her eldest sister left her staunchly anti-communist home to join the Viet Minh, and spent months sleeping in jungle camps with her infant son, fearing air raids by day and tigers by night. And she follows several family members through the last, desperate hours of the fall of Saigon-including one nephew who tried to escape by grabbing the skid of a departing American helicopter. Based on family papers, dozens of interviews, and a wealth of other research, this is not only a memorable family saga but a record of how the Vietnamese themselves have experienced their times.Trade ReviewThis family's saga is as engrossing as fine literary fiction and is, besides, indispensable to understanding Vietnam from a Vietnamese perspective. * The New Yorker *[Elliott] reverently weaves the tale of a century of tremendous upheaval...and shows how the tragedies of her family are a window to understanding the Vietnamese century. It is a wonderful book, written with care, and it is extremely suggestive. * Touchstone *This is an excellent text which provides an insightful, personal history of a Vietnamese family. Through one family the reader discovers the real ramifications of a country at war for most of the 20th century. * Seth Bardo, Phillips Academy *This is a family saga sweeping you along 4 generations of recent Vietnamese history. This should at last allow the American student of the war to understand 'the other side' both its steely willpower and tender hearts. * Guenter Bischf, University of New Orleans *Those of us who reported from Vietnam during the war never fully understood the Vietnamese and the hardships they endured. Duong Van Mai Elliott's account of her family's experiences is a vivid, poignant, often inspiring story that I wish we could have read before we became involved in a conflict that was tragic for both Vietnamese and Americans. * Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History *[This] story could not be more compelling.... Voices a perspective until now missing from the English-language body of work on the Vietnam conflict.... Objectivity marks Elliott's book and makes it the best kind of history, [one] we may escape from repeating by reading of this remarkable family. * Beth Hughes, San Francisco Examiner *Suspenseful and gripping, Elliott's writing becomes a masterful narrative as she tells the various misadventures her family experienced trying to flee Vietnam.... It may be the story of the Duong clan, but it's also a story many Vietnamese will recognize as their own, and it will allow others an insight into a war they never have understood. * San Jose Mercury News *A gripping and enlightening account of the trials and triumphs of one remarkable family, whose story brings Vietnam's turbulent past to life as no other book I have ever read. Its great strength is that it is the story of Vietnam through the eyes of the Vietnamese, something that has been sorely needed in the West. I found it excellent and recommend it highly. * Don Oberdorfer, Journalist-in-Residence, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, author of TET *For too long Vietnamese voices have been conspicuous by their absence in the Western literature on the Vietnam War, a fact that has led to the common misperception that the conflict was an American tragedy only. This book fills that gap admirably. In a riveting and frequently moving account, author Mai Elliott chronicles the lives of four generations of a Vietnamese family whose members are caught up in the throes of war and revolution. Their story is told with both insight and compassion, while presenting a poignant portrait of the difficult moral dilemmas faced by individuals trapped in the web of a bitter civil war. Highly recommended. * William J. Duiker, Penn State University, author of The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam *An extraordinary collective biography that spans the history of Vietnam from colonial conquest to `market socialism.' Fascinating and moving... there is nothing like it anywhere. * Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars *There can be no better vehicle for understanding the modern history of Vietnam than the microcosm of the family. . .With deep insight and empathy, Elliott skillfully weaves the life stories of her great- grandparents, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, and cousins into the intricate tapestry of modern Vietnamese history. This is a beautiful and utterly absorbing work, a book of extraordinary emotional power that is also a major contribution to historical understanding. It deserves the widest audience and belongs in all libraries. * Library Journal *This is a beautiful and utterly absorbing work, a book of extraordinary emotional power that is also a major contribution to historical understanding. It deserves the widest audience and belongs in all libraries. * Steven L. Levine, University of Montana, Missoula *It is rare to find a book on Vietnam that provides clear and reliable guidance to the general reader and at the same time opens up significant insights for the specialist scholar. Mai Elliot does both. Not only is there much in her account that is new and important and her perceptivity open and fresh, but her pen flows with a grace and eloquence that makes this salient era of Vietnam's history become vivid and alive to an extent normally possible only in a historical novel. But this is solid history at its very best * and fascinating to read." George McT. Kahin, Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor of International Studies Emeritus, Cornell University *In writing this splendid and engrossing history of her own family the author illuminates the extraordinary qualities in the Vietnamese people and how they have endured their own brutal history. There is no other book like this one: it is gripping and beautiful. * Gloria Emerson, author of Winners and Losers: Batles, Retreats, Gains, Losses, and Ruins from a Long War *Those familiar with the history of the Vietnam War will want to read The Sacred Willow for its portrayal of four generations of Vietnamese caught up in the conflict. But perhaps even more important, those who know nothing about the war will find the story irresistible. If you have room in your library for only a few books on Vietnam this book should be there. * Lloyd Gardner, Rutgers University, author of Approaching Vietnam : from World War II through Dienbienphu, 1941-1954 *There can be no better vehicle for understanding the modern history of Vietnam than the microcosm of the family.... With deep insight and empathy, Elliott skillfully weaves the life stories of her great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, sisters, brothers, and cousins into the intricate tapestry of modern Vietnamese history. This is a beautiful and utterly absorbing work, a book of extraordinary emotional power that is also a major contribution to historical understanding. * Library Journal (starred review) *In this deeply moving family saga, Elliott offers a microcosm of the history of modern Vietnam.... Elliott writes with unsparing candor about forging a new identity, about her nation's destruction and its partial revival with the reintroduction of free-market mechanisms and, above all, about her family's harrowing passage through a long, difficult history. * Publishers Weekly *Despite its heft, this sprawling memoir of a Vietnamese family is an immensly readable book. Author Duong Van Mai Elliott has compiled her remarkable story....It is Elliott's ability to share her family's flaws and admit her own shortcomings that makes this a work of such compelling human interest. * Barbara Lloyd McMichael,Seattle Times *This family's saga is as engrossing as fine literary fiction and is, besides, indispensable to understanding Vietnam from a Vietnamese perspective. * The New Yorker *Marvelously rich book.... The author, a middle daughter from whom not too much was expected, has absorbed her family's collective history with a novelist's eye for telling detail... Indeed, it is Mai Elliot's abiding talent for seeing things objectively combined with her writerly skills, her deep knowledge of her nation's history, and her immersion in her family's ongoing oral story of itself, that gives us... detailed eyewitness accounts of extraordinary things that lie beyond and behind the last war... These are aspects of history and culture that could never be presented with such immediacy by any foreign writer... All of this is delivered with a close-up immediacy that allows us to enter another world.... Its skillful writing is itself a kind of filial piety, while its objective sense of history summons up compassionate insights into the human struggles of family and nation. Fascinating. * John Balaban, The Washington Post Book World *Plunges readers into a fascinating story told from a Vietnamese point of view, explaining the war in a context much larger that the limited perspective of American involvement... a very unique and broad perspective. * Steve Galpern, Denver Rocky Mountain News *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Maps Family Tree 1. A Burial in the Night 2. Shut Gate and High Walls 3. The Silk Merchant 4. French Veneer, Confucian Soul 5. Taxes, Floods, and Robbers 6. The Third Month in the Year of the Famine 7. The Head on the Roof 8. Into the Resistance Zone 9. Poison and Bribes 10. The Fall of a Border Garrison 11. Sifting Through the Rubble 12. The New Mecca 13. Just Cause 14. Short Peace, Long War 15. Flying Into the Unknown 16. The Spoils of Victory 17. The Hours of Gold and Jade Epilogue: Across the Four Seas Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA unique military and cultural history that chronicles the reigns of Philip and Alexander the Great in one sweeping narrative.Trade ReviewA steady stream of fascinating stories of brilliant military tactics interspersed with rampant post-Classical gore. From the slaughter of whole villages to unbridled violations of human dignity, By the Spear reminds us of the ugliness of war, especially when military leaders are apparently void of morality filters ... By the Spear is loaded with compelling details ... but they aren't simply piled on helter-skelter; rather, they are embedded in Ian Worthington's coherent narrative about Macedonian ascendancy in the 4th century BC. This celebrated professor at the University of Missouri convincingly gives Philip II his due in Hellenism's spread, and masks not his thesis that Philip 'has lived too long in Alexander's shadow'. * Books & Culture *Most histories extolling Alexander the Great pay modest attention to his father, Philip II, but Worthington gives him equal billing in this admirable, scholarly dual biography. * Kirkus Reviews *By the Spear is an impressive book * Gerard DeGroot, The Times (UK) *Ian Worthington is one of this generation's leading historians of ancient Greece and Macedonia. In this book he provides for the first time in a single volume a comparative perspective on Philip and Alexander's empire building, and he admirably succeeds in making this complex and convoluted story accessible to the uninitiated. * Joseph Roisman, author of Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors *As Ian Worthington reminds us, without Philip II there would have been no Alexander the Great, and by considering together the accomplishments and foibles of both father and son, By the Spear raises a larger question: do great conquerors make great kings? Alexander inherited the legacy of Philip, an ascendant Macedonian empire, but what was the legacy of Alexander, and to whom was it left? By considering the larger picture, Worthington provides new insight into one of ancient history's most fascinating sagas. * Steven Saylor, author of Raiders of the Nile and Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome *The Macedonian empire that reshaped the Mediterranean world was the creation of two remarkable men. Worthington's provocative thesis is that Alexander was a conqueror whose legacy was chaos. Philip was a king who left Alexander the basis of empire. Was the father, then, greater than the son? By the Spear offers an unconventional answer in a narrative that is both persuasive and engaging. * Dennis Showalter, author of Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk *What father-son duo is more mesmerizing than Philip and Alexander of Macedon? Too often historians have focused on one, marginalizing the other, thus Ian Worthington's even-handed treatment of both is to be celebrated. Concise yet clear, Worthington masterfully explores Philip's career and the dazzling, violent, and world-changing reign of his son. * Lawrence A. Tritle, author of A New History of the Peloponnesian War *this will be a great text for Greek history collections ... Highly recommended. * J. M. Williams, CHOICE *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Timeline Quotations from Ancient Works and Special Abbreviations Maps 1. The Architect and the Master Builder 2. Greece and Macedonia 3. Philip II and the Rise of Macedonia 4. The New Player in Greek Politics 5. The Gathering War Clouds 6. The Downfall of Greece 7. Philip's Assassination and Legacy 8. Alexander's Early Kingship - and Persia 9. From Europe to Asia 10. Alexander: Master Strategist and Emerging God 11. The Decline and Fall of the Persian Empire 12. The War in Afghanistan 13. Passage to India 14. Retreat from India 15. Alexander's Final Years 16. Death in Babylon and Alexander's Legacy Appendix: The Sources of Information Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisJapan is one of the world''s wealthiest and most technologically advanced nations, and its rapid ascent to global power status after 1853 remains one of the most remarkable stories in modern world history. Yet it has not been an easy path; military catastrophe, political atrophy, and economic upheavals have made regular appearances from the feudal era to the present. Today, Japan is seen as a has-been with a sluggish economy, an aging population, dysfunctional politics, and a business landscape dominated by yesterday''s champions. Though it is supposed to be America''s strongest ally in the Asia-Pacific region, it has almost entirely disappeared from the American radar screen. In Japan and the Shackles of the Past, R. Taggart Murphy places the current troubles of Japan in a sweeping historical context, moving deftly from early feudal times to the modern age that began with the Meiji Restoration. Combining fascinating analyses of Japanese culture and society over the centuries with hardTrade Review"Murphy is very persuasive in building a case for his solutions for bringing real change to Japanese politics and foreign relations ... The most fundamental of his prescriptions, though, is undeniably necessary: the Japanese government and people must, for their own sake "confront what put their country in the hands of those who destroyed its independence and made it a byword abroad for brutal, inhuman fanaticism. Trying to bury accounts of what actually happened with fables of a pure and virtuous land, as Abe seeks to do, is simply a way of making it more likely that something similar will happen again soon"." -- Morgan Giles, Times Literary Supplement "Without doubt, this is the most important book on Japan by a non-Japanese writer to have appeared in the last two decades. It should be required reading for anyone professing to know Japan or wishing to teach others about it." -- BCCJ Acumen, Ian de Stains OBE "[An] insightful analysis of what ails Japan." - Economist "Taggart Murphy knows his Japanese history. His theories about Japan's political economy shed interesting light on the country." -- David Pilling, Financial Times "Japan and the Shackles of the Past is an excellent -- and engagingly written -- introduction to Japan, and a thought-provoking work of political and economic analysis (with quite a few lessons for America and other nations, too)." -- Complete Review "Murphy sheds much light on Japans current dependence upon the U.S. for maintenance of its political system and its future prospects, closing with an in-depth analysis of the current administration." -- Publishers Weekly "Taggart Murphy has crafted a precise and highly critical analysis of Japan's problems." -- Satyajit Das, Naked CapitalismTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Does Japan Still Matter? Part One: Past Chapter One: Japan Before the Edo Period Chapter Two: The Incubation of the Modern Japanese State Chapter Three: Restoration to Occupation Chapter Four: The Miracle Chapter Five: The Institutions of High-speed Growth Chapter Six: Consequences (Intended and Otherwise) Part Two: Present Chapter Seven: Economy and Finance Chapter Eight: Business Chapter Nine: Social and Cultural Change Chapter Ten: Politics Chapter Eleven: Japan and the World Suggestions for Further Reading Notes

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Book SynopsisModern Germany: A Global History places Germany in a global and transnational context, while offering a broad scope of chronological and thematic coverage. The authors present German-speaking lands in relation to the rest of the world, rather than as discrete entities, bringing global and transnational linkages and interdependencies into focus.Trade ReviewModern Germany is superior in its comprehensive, cultural, interdisciplinary, international approach. If you are teaching survey courses in German history and/or culture, it will benefit your students more than any other book on the market."-Bernd Schaefer, George Washington UniversityModern Germany more intentionally places Germany in a global and transnational context, while offering a broad scope of chronological and thematic coverage."-David G. Tompkins, Carleton CollegeI find the synthesis of both recent and classic scholarship exemplary. The authors have gracefully woven in historiographic debates and all the topics seem highly appropriate and interesting. Individual voices and lives of key personalities have been brought in as well, so it's not only about structures, but also lived experience. The writing is first-rate."-Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, University of TennesseeThe text weaves in more current scholarship and themes (place of regionalism, role of outsiders, relationship of Germany to the world) without sacrificing more traditional themes."-Christopher Fischer, Indiana State UniversityTable of ContentsMaps Preface Acknowledgments About the Authors Chapter 1: A World in Flux, 1500-1648 The Politics of Empire Culture and Society in the Age of Exploration The Reformation and its Consequences Conclusion Chapter 2: Germans in the Age of Absolutism, 1648-1740 Dynastic Politics, Trade, and Imperial Exchange State-Building and War in the Age of Absolutism Society, Popular Culture, and Belief Conclusion Chapter 3: German Empires and Enlightenments, 1740-1790 Poets, Philosophers, and World Citizens Reforming State and Society War and Empire Conclusion Chapter 4: Revolution and Reform, 1789-1815 The French Revolution in Germany The Impact of the Revolution on German States and Peoples, 1803-1815 The End of the Holy Roman Empire and the Emerging German Nation, 1803-1815 Conclusion Chapter 5: Between Reaction and Revolution, 1815-1848 Society and Economy Culture and Politics in the Vormärz The Revolutions of 1848 Conclusion Chapter 6: Toward Germany, 1848-1871 Industry and Society German Culture Beyond Borders The Politics of Nationhood Conclusion Chapter 7: Building Empire at Home and Abroad, 1871-1890 Building Democracy Nation-Building and Its Discontents Building Empire Conclusion Chapter 8: Wilhelmine Germany and

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Book SynopsisRestall and Solari explore Maya identity, politics, culture, and indigenous views of the universe from ancient times to the present. With the Maya historically subdivided and misunderstood in so many ways, the pursuit of what made them "the Maya" is all the more important.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Maya Genesis Chapter 2 The Divine King Chapter 3 The Writing Rabbit Chapter 4 A Day in the Life Chapter 5 Maya "Mysteries" Chapter 6 Conquests Chapter 7 Colonizations Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisAs the threat of global climate change becomes a reality, many look to the Arctic Ocean to predict coming environmental phenomena. There, the consequences of Earth''s warming trend are most immediately observable in the multi-year and perennial ice that has begun to melt, which threatens ice-dependent microorganisms and, eventually, will disrupt all of Arctic life. In The Arctic: What Everyone Needs to Know, Klaus Dodds and Mark Nuttall offer a concise introduction to the circumpolar North, focusing on its peoples, environment, resource development, conservation, and politics to provide critical information about how changes there can and will affect our entire globe and all of its inhabitants. Dodds and Nuttall shed light on how the Arctic''s importance has grown over time, the region''s role during the Cold War, indigenous communities and their history, and the past and future of the Arctic''s governance, among other crucial topics. The Arctic is an essential primer for those seeking information about one of the most important regions in the world today.Table of ContentsForeword Chapter One: One Arctic, Many Arctic(s) Chapter Two: Placing the Arctic Chapter Three: Land, Sea and Ice Chapter Four: From Colonialism to Collaboration Chapter Five: Warming Arctic Chapter Six: Resourceful Arctic Chapter Seven: Global Arctic

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Book SynopsisOffers the full story of a fateful alliance between past and future mortal enemies--long preceding the well-known Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact--whose dimensions were kept secret from the outside world and yet which set the stage for World War Two and its outcome.Trade ReviewReaders interested in the technical aspects of experiments and in the development of prototypes will benefit from this book. Regarding the political aspects of the cooperation, Johnson confirms the assumptions of the authoritative literature. * Dietrich Beyrau, H/Soz/Kult *The strength of Johnson's work is that he clearly illustrates that most of the Reichswehr's top leadership had been on board for a war of revenge to assert Germany's primacy on the continent well before Hitler and the Nazis came to power. * Roger R. Reese, Texas A&M University, The Russian Review *Johnson's book is a revelation and a triumph. It lays bare one of the least-known and least-understood of inter-war relationships – the odious pariahs' dance between Germany and the Soviet Union. Well-written and academically impeccable, it is an essential read for everyone interested in the period. * Roger Moorhouse, author of Poland 1939: The Outbreak of World War II and The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941 *Ian Johnson has done extraordinary research, drawing on twenty-three archives in five countries and three languages, which allows him to tell a highly original story: How the German-Soviet partnership of the early 1920s lay at the foundation of European politics in the two decades that followed, helping to determine Stalin's Terror, the German army's virulent contempt for Bolshevism, and ultimately the outbreak and conduct of the Second World War and the Holocaust. This is one of the most important and readable books in years on this critical period. * Benjamin Hett, author of The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War *Ian Johnson's compelling study is a major contribution to twentieth century history.Based on significant research, this study takes forward our knowledge of an important aspect of the background to World War Two. * Jeremy Black, author of Rethinking Military History *Compelling, elegantly written, and based on meticulous excavation of the archives, Ian Ona Johnson's book forces a reckoning with the interwar continuity of relations between the Soviet Union and their German partners—Weimar and Nazi alike. It reveals in captivating detail how Germany's clandestine rearmament shaped the Nazi German Wehrmacht, the Soviet Red Army, and the ultimate destabilization of Europe. * Jennifer Siegel, The Ohio State University *This is an important book nonetheless for revealing the full nature of the Soviet-German relationship in the 1920s and early 1930s,...The writing is clear and there is an image section that is as original as the main subject area of the book. * Richard Overy, University of Exeter *This is a well-written and extremely well-documented treatment of the subject. * Evan Mawdsley, University of Glasgow, Journal of Modern History *Table of ContentsPART I: Sowing the Wind Chapter One: The Bolshevik's Army Chapter Two: Revolution and Reaction Chapter Three: The Treaty of Versailles Chapter Four: The Polish-Bolshevik War Chapter Five: The Corporate Program Chapter Six: The Road to Rapallo Chapter Seven: Poison Gas Chapter Eight: Coups and Countermeasures Chapter Nine: Partners in Mass Destruction Chapter Ten: From Fili to Lipetsk Chapter Eleven: The Military Futurists Chapter Twelve: The Junkers Scandal Chapter Thirteen: Resetting Relations Chapter Fourteen: Fires and Scandals Chapter Fifteen: Chemical Weapons and Fighter Pilots Chapter Sixteen: The Tanks ARrive Chapter Seventeen: Winter of Crisis Chapter Eighteen: Machines of the Future Chapter Nineteen: Yellow Cross Chapter Twenty: Hunger PART II: Reaping the Whirlwind Chapter Twenty-One: Schliecher Chapter Twenty-Two: Rearmament Begins Chapter Twenty-Three: The End of the Republic Chapter Twenty-Four: Enemies Again Chapter Twenty-Five: Long Knives Chapter Twenty-Six: The End of Versailles Chapter Twenty-Seven: War Returns to Europe Chapter Twenty-Eight: Purges and Panic Chapter Twenty-Nine: Storm Clouds Chapter Thirty: Fulfillment Chapter Thirty-One: From Winter to Phony War Chapter Thirty-Two: Whirlwind Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisOn a moonless night in January 1991, a dozen U.S. aircraft appeared in the skies over Baghdad. To the Iraqi air defenses, the planes seemed to come from nowhere. Their angular shape, making them look like flying origami, rendered them virtually undetectable. Each aircraft was more than 60 feet in length and with a wingspan of 40 feet, yet its radar footprint was the size of a ball bearing. Here was the first extensive combat application of Stealth technology. And it was devastating. Peter Westwick''s new book illuminates the story behind these aircraft, the F-117A, also known as the Stealth Fighter, and their close cousin the B-2, also known as the Stealth Bomber. The development of Stealth unfolded over decades. Radar has been in use since the 1930s and was essential to the Allies in World War Two, when American investment in radar exceeded that in the Manhattan Project. The atom bomb ended the war, conventional wisdom has it, but radar won it. That experience also raised a question: could a plane be developed that was invisible to radar? That question, and the seemingly impossible feat of physics and engineering behind it, took on increasing urgency during the Cold War, when the United States searched for a way both to defend its airspace and send a plane through Soviet skies undetected. Thus started the race for Stealth. At heart, Stealth is a tale of not just two aircraft but the two aerospace companies that made them, Lockheed and Northrop, guided by contrasting philosophies and outsized personalities. Beginning in the 1970s, the two firms entered into a fierce competition, one with high financial stakes and conducted at the highest levels of secrecy in the Cold War. They approached the problem of Stealth from different perspectives, one that pitted aeronautical designers against electrical engineers, those who relied on intuition against those who pursued computer algorithms. The two different approaches manifested in two very different solutions to Stealth, clearly evident in the aircraft themselves: the F-117 composed of flat facets, the B-2 of curves. For all their differences, Lockheed and Northrop were located twenty miles apart in the aerospace suburbs of Los Angeles, not far from Disneyland. This was no coincidence. The creative culture of postwar Southern California-unorthodox, ambitious, and future-oriented-played a key role in Stealth. Combining nail-biting narrative, incisive explanation of the science and technology involved, and indelible portraits of unforgettable characters, Stealth immerses readers in the story of an innovation with revolutionary implications for modern warfare.Trade ReviewThe U.S. innovation system fostered different approaches to a specific problem, and stealth mobilized a huge amount of talent and human energy- like many high-tech Cold War ventures. Historians of business, technology, and the military as well as sociologists will find Stealth richly rewarding. * Dimitrios Ziakkas, Dimitrios Ziakkas is an assistant professor in the School of Aviation and Transportation Technology at Purdue University., Technology and Culture *[A] valuable contribution to Cold War history. * Tom Ricks *In his elegant Stealth, Peter Westwick balanc[es] a modest level of technical detail with a keen eye for the people involved, drawing on extensive interviews and oral histories. The vividness Mr. Westwick achieves is all the more impressive given the secrecy of the stealth world. * Konstantin Kakaes, The Wall Street Journal *A rich, compelling, and eye-opening book. * Daniel J. Kevles, author of The Physicists *Westwick does a good job of explaining the engineering principles at work, the competitive instinct of the engineers—which motivated them more than did a patriotic desire to gain the upper hand over the Soviet Union—and the advantages of a close partnership between the private sector and the state. * Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs *This concise, highly readable history of the creation, development, and application of one of the most important technologies of the Cold War brings clarity and a thorough understanding to this complex subject. * F. Robert van der Linden, Science *Table of ContentsChapter 1. Roots of the Revolution Chapter 2. Dark Days in the Sunshine State Chapter 3. Breeding Invisible Rabbits Chapter 4. Lockheed: Tin Shed in a Hurricane Chapter 5. Northrop: Seeing the Waves Chapter 6. Shootout at RATSCAT Chapter 7. Have Blue and the F-117 Chapter 8. Secrets and Strategies Chapter 9. The Whale Chapter 10. Winning the B-2 Chapter 11. Building the B-2 Chapter 12. Stealth and the Modern Military

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Book SynopsisIn 1144, the mutilated body of William of Norwich, a young apprentice leatherworker, was found abandoned outside the city''s walls. The boy bore disturbing signs of torture, and a story spread that it was a ritual murder, performed by Jews in imitation of the Crucifixion as a mockery of Christianity. The outline of William''s tale eventually gained currency far beyond Norwich, and the idea that Jews engaged in ritual murder became firmly rooted in the European imagination.E.M. Rose''s engaging book delves into the story of William''s murder and the notorious trial that followed to uncover the origin of the ritual murder accusation - known as the blood libel - in western Europe in the Middle Ages. Focusing on the specific historical context - 12th-century ecclesiastical politics, the position of Jews in England, the Second Crusade, and the cult of saints - and suspensefully unraveling the facts of the case, Rose makes a powerful argument for why the Norwich Jews (and particularly one JeTrade ReviewA landmark of historical research into the grotesque 800-year history of blood-libel accusations. * Wall Street Journal *Lucid and exhaustively researched * The Times Literary Supplement *A tremendous book. This is forensic historical reasoning allied to hugely readable storytelling: part murder mystery, part masterly thesis exploring a deeply unpleasant and sinister aspect of medieval culture, which is still of immense significance today. The Murder of William of Norwich is one the most stimulating pieces of serious historical storytelling I have read all year. * The Sunday Times *Our explanation for Jewish creativity is that Jews have learned from experience that the entire world can believe something that is demonstrably false, such as the blood libel. This fine book takes us back in time to what may have been the first false accusation that a Jew (or 'the Jews') killed a Christian to obtain his blood for ritual purposes. It explains, without justifying, how so many could be so wrong for so long. * Alan Dershowitz, author of Abraham: The World's First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer *E.M. Rose's book on the murder of William of Norwich is a breathtaking work of revision that addresses one of the central questions in the history of Christian/Jewish relations in the Middle Ages, a topic of enormous relevance in the contemporary world and one around which there is considerable scholarly contestation. The book is a brilliant piece of historical investigation and a marvelous read as well. * Gabrielle Spiegel, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University *The storytelling by this first-time author is quite voluble, with the pen of a master narrator. The text is never boring, picking up new lines just when the old ones had run their course. A brilliant entry by this author, leaving us wanting a next book soon. * Huffington Post *The Murder of William of Norwich is a sweeping revision of an influential scholarly story. Anyone who works on twelfth-century England, Anglo-Jewish history, or medieval and later antisemitisms will have to contend with this book. It is a significant accomplishment. * Adrienne Williams Boyarin, American Historical Review *The book is lively, well-written, and consistently interesting.Table of ContentsPart 1: The Monk, the Knight, the Bishop and the Banker Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Discovery of a Dead Body Chapter 3: Background: Civil War and Crusade Chapter 4: The Trial Chapter 5: The Narrative Part 2: The Earl, the Count, the Abbot, and the King Introduction Chapter 6: Gloucester Chapter 7: Blois Chapter 8: Bury St. Edmunds Chapter 9: Paris Chapter 10: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisWhile children are a relatively unchanging fact of life, childhood is a constantly shifting concept. Through the millennia, the age at which a child becomes a youth and a youth becomes an adult has varied by gender, class, religion, ethnicity, place, and economic need. As author James Marten explores in this Very Short Introduction, so too have the realities of childhood, each life shaped by factors such as education, expectation, and conflict (or lack thereof). Indeed, ancient Roman children lived very differently than those born of today''s Generation Z. Experiences of childhood have been shaped in classrooms and on factory floors, in family homes and orphanages, and on battlefields and in front of television sets. In addressing this diversity, The History of Childhood: A Very Short Introduction takes a global, expansive view of the features of childhood that have shaped childhood throughout history and continue to shape it now. From the rules of Confucian childrearing in twelfth-century China to the struggles of children living as slaves in the Americas or as cotton mill workers in Industrial Age Britain, Marten takes his inspiration from the idea that the lives of children reveal important and sometimes uncomfortable truths about civilization.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: TraditionsChapter Two: RevolutionsChapter Three: The Rise of "Modern" ChildhoodsChapter Four: Creating a Worldview of ChildhoodChapter Five: The Century of the Child and BeyondReferencesFurther ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding Adolf Hitler''s ideology provides insights into the mental world of an extremist politics that, over the course of the Third Reich, developed explosive energies culminating in the Second World War and the Holocaust. Too often the theories underlying National Socialism or Nazism are dismissed as an irrational hodge-podge of ideas. Yet that ideology drove Hitler''s quest for power in 1933, colored everything in the Third Reich, and transformed him, however briefly, into the most powerful leader in the world.How did he discover that ideology? How was it that cohorts of leaders, followers, and ordinary citizens adopted aspects of National Socialism without experiencing the leader first-hand or reading his works? They shared a collective desire to create a harmonious, racially select, community of the people to build on Germany''s socialist-oriented political culture and to seek national renewal. If we wish to understand the rise of the Nazi Party and the new dictatorship''s remarkable staying power, we have to take the nationalist and socialist aspects of this ideology seriously. Hitler became a kind of representative figure for ideas, emotions, and aims that he shared with thousands, and eventually millions, of true believers who were of like mind . They projected onto him the properties of the necessary leader, a commanding figure at the head of a uniformed corps that would rally the masses and storm the barricades. It remains remarkable that millions of people in a well-educated and cultured nation eventually came to accept or accommodate themselves to the tenants of an extremist ideology laced with hatred and laden with such obvious murderous implications.Trade ReviewThis work is worthy of serious attention. The way in which the nationalist, socialist, and antisemitic view of Hitler and his political party fit with the preferences of many Germans surely deserves the exposure that this book affords them. * The Journal of Interdisciplinary History *This sweeping account draws on career-long research by one of the foremost scholars of Nazism today. Hitler's True Believers gets at the core of a perennial question: why did people choose to follow Hitler? Rather than focusing on the leader himself, Gellately delves deeply into an ideology defined by nationalism, socialism, and antisemitism. Nazi socialism must be taken especially seriously, he argues, and he shows that Germans often shared the party's ideas before they joined it, just as the party drew on popular impulses. To learn how the Nazis obtained and maintained the support of millions of Germans, this outstanding book will be essential reading for many years to come. * Julia Torrie, Professor of History, St. Thomas University *A remarkable read. Gellately argues with conviction that if we want to fully understand why millions of ordinary Germans became 'true believers' in Nazism, then we need to look beyond Hitler's 'charisma' and take seriously the presence of National Socialist dreams and desires in the plural. * Matthew Stibbe, Professor of Modern European History, Sheffield Hallam University, UK *Robert Gellately's Hitler's True Believers provides a powerful rebuttal of the tendency to present National Socialism as 'nonsensical and irrational.' Its arguments - that Hitler was a man of ideas and that we cannot understand Nazi Germany's considerable staying powers unless we take the regime's socialist attitudes and expectations seriously - are as provocative as they are persuasive. Gellately's book is the most important and original book on the history of the Third Reich published in a generation. * Thomas Weber, author of Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi *A clear and accessible account of an atrocious yet widely popular regime. * Moritz Föllmer, American Historical Review *Thoughtful, thorough and well-written book. * H-Soz-Kult *Table of ContentsChapter 1: How Hitler Found National Socialist Ideas Chapter 2: Early Leaders' Paths to National Socialism Chapter 3: The National Socialist "Left" Chapter 4: The Militants Chapter 5: The Nazi Voters Chapter 6: National Socialism Gains Power Chapter 7: Embracing the Volksgemeinschaft Chapter 8: Striving for Unanimity Chapter 9: Quest for a Cultural Revolution Chapter 10: The Racist Ideology Chapter 11: Nationalism and Militarism Chapter 12: War and Genocide Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe end of the Second World War in Europe gave way to a gigantic refugee crisis. Thoroughly prepared by Allied military planners, the swift repatriation of millions of former forced laborers, concentration camp inmates and prisoners of war nearly brought this dramatic episode top a close. Yet in September 1945, the number of displaced persons placed under the guardianship of Allied armies and relief agencies in occupied Germany amounted to 1.5 million. A costly burden for the occupying powers, the Jewish, Polish, Ukrainian, Yugoslav and Baltic DPs unwilling to return to their countries of origin presented a complex international problem. Massed in refugee camps stretched from Northern Germany to Sicily, the DPs had become long-term asylum seekers. Based on the records of the International Refugee Organization, this book describes how the European DP crisis impinged on the shape of the postwar order. The DP question directly affected the outbreak of the Cold War; the transformation of tTrade ReviewThe prime purpose of this excellent book is not to provide a more inclusive and integrative social history but to do something far more ambitious: namely, to write an international history that places the DP issue in the context of the emerging Cold War, and as a factor in international justice and political retribution, the emergence of the human rights movement, the rise of United Nations humanitarianism, the governance of international migration, and the advent of Jewish statehood .[It] makes clear is how important that period was in shaping contemporary views of refugees and their plight. * Bob Moore, American Historical Review *An insightful study of the European refugee problem created by WW II and then nurtured by the Cold War...Recommended. * CHOICE *<"In War's Wake brilliantly demonstrates…that refugee flows possess a logic of their own and are by their very nature complementary.>"- Holly Case, The NationAs Gerard Daniel Cohen persuasively argues, Allied recognition of the DPs' objections to returning, and the prevailing sense of a profound difference between the 'democratic' Allies and the Soviet bloc, were important factors in the development of the Cold War.>" - Sheila Fitzpatrick, London Review of BooksWritten in spare prose, and on the basis of extraordinary research, In War's Wake shows how fruitful it is to blend international and social history, by bringing back into view the forgotten crucible of mass statelessness in which crucial legacies were made for contemporary humanitarianism and human rights alike."-Samuel Moyn, Columbia University, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in HistoryIn War's Wake tells the story of the unprecedented humanitarian effort on behalf of millions of Europeans displaced by the Second World War. The postwar refugee crisis, Cohen demonstrates, gave rise to new conceptions of human rights, asylum and refugee policies, population policies, Cold War conflicts, and the emergence of the State of Israel. This provocative, well-written study is a landmark contribution to the history of human rights and to the political history of twentieth-century Europe."-Tara Zahra, author of The Lost Children: Reconstructing Europe's Families after World War II<"Based on thorough research in the archives of numerous institutions, Cohen's study of the millions of individuals left without a country after the Second World War shows how the European refugee problem was addressed by the leaders of the emerging free world, members of international organizations, legal scholars, and human rights activists. As Cohen demonstrates, the DP crisis facilitated a shift from minority rights to individual human rights and brought the issue of statelessness to the center of international politics. Enmeshed with the Cold War, this episode crucially secured the rights of individuals to a nationality and to a safe place of refuge, but also shaped new patterns of humanitarianism and international migration in the postwar era. In War's Wake is a masterpiece>"-Patrick Weil, Université de Paris 1<"On the basis of meticulous research, Daniel Cohen makes important connections between the policies that emerged to manage Europe's displaced persons in 'war's wake' and the development of international humanitarian aid and population control programs, the onset of the Cold War, and the origins of the state of Israel. In the process, he shows that the very category of 'DP' shifted in response to the practical and political dimensions of resettlement.>"-Mary D. Lewis, author of The Boundaries of the Republic: Migrant Rights and the Limits of Universalism in France, 1918-1940[A] detailed and challenging study of post-war displaced persons and the development of the human-rights era.>"-Susan Cohen, International History Review<"This well-crafted book demonstrates the far-reaching and lasting impact of the displaced persons on international affairs, humanitarianism, and human rights. It also provides a unique perspective on the attitudes and interests that led to the creation of a Jewish state. Although this is an international history with an interest in organizations, it does not lose sight of the individuals whose plight drew the attention of policymakers….Cohen is to be commended for his ability to balance a discussion of concepts and institutions with the dignity of the individual.>"-Margarete Myers Feinstein, H-Judaic<"The strength of Cohen's book lies in his nuanced analysis and the connections he draws among various political agents, their arguments, and the policies that eventually evolved. His careful research places the European refugee problem at the center of events, and shows how the DP experience exerted considerable influence on the development of international humanitarian aid, population management, and the origins of the modern state of Israel.>"-Lynn Rapaport, Holocaust and Genocide Studies<"In a now quite crowded field Cohen is a distinctive and signicant voice.> * Peter Gatrell, European Review of History *<"A model of the genre of international history: a thoroughly researched, transnationally focused, clearly presented study that amalgamates political, social and intellectual approaches into a convincing and far-ranging analysis that is relevant to many key aspects of the post-1945 period, in Europe and beyond....An excellent book that will undoubtedly become a standard work in the field.>"-Pertti Ahonen, German History<"In War's Wake is a cogent argument for the centrality of the 'refugee' in the legal, political, and moral construction of the postwar international order and its humanitarian mission….[It] engages and illuminates an impressive range of historiographies: on postwar reconstruction and the start of the Cold War, on migration and immigration, on international aid organizations and evolving modes of humanitarianism, on postwar American influence abroad, on the foundation of the state of Israel, and on legal conceptions of human rights. It deserves a wide readership.>"-Heidi Fehrenbach, Central European HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Last Million Ch 1. The Battle of the Refugees: DPs and the Making of the Cold War West Ch 2. "Who is a Refugee?": From 'Victors' Justice' to Anticommunism Ch 3. Care and Maintenance: The New Face of International Humanitarianism Ch 4. Displaced Persons in the "Human Rights Revolution" Ch 5. Surplus Manpower, Surplus Population Ch 6. Extraterritorial Jews: Refugee Humanitarianism and the Advent of Jewish Statehood Epilogue: The Golden Age of European Refugees, 1945-1960 Notes Sources and Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThe unforgettable saga of one enslaved woman''s fight for justice--and reparations Born into slavery, Henrietta Wood was taken to Cincinnati and legally freed in 1848. In 1853, a Kentucky deputy sheriff named Zebulon Ward colluded with Wood''s employer, abducted her, and sold her back into bondage. She remained enslaved throughout the Civil War, giving birth to a son in Mississippi and never forgetting who had put her in this position. By 1869, Wood had obtained her freedom for a second time and returned to Cincinnati, where she sued Ward for damages in 1870. Astonishingly, after eight years of litigation, Wood won her case: in 1878, a Federal jury awarded her $2,500. The decision stuck on appeal. More important than the amount, though the largest ever awarded by an American court in restitution for slavery, was the fact that any money was awarded at all. By the time the case was decided, Ward had become a wealthy businessman and a pioneer of convict leasing in the South. Wood''s son later became a prominent Chicago lawyer, and she went on to live until 1912. McDaniel''s book is an epic tale of a black woman who survived slavery twice and who achieved more than merely a moral victory over one of her oppressors. Above all,Sweet Taste of Libertyis a portrait of an extraordinary individual as well as a searing reminder of the lessons of her story, which establish beyond question the connections between slavery and the prison system that rose in its place.Trade ReviewDeeply researched and show[s] commendable detective work... Demonstrate[s] the riches awaiting us in narrating the hitherto untold and complex stories of slavery and emancipation in the United States. * Times Literary Supplement *The reader not only follows the fascinating narrative of a woman who lost her freedom, but also learns of the intricacies of slavery in a border state like Kentucky, the pain of separation from loved ones, and the ordeals of being sold "down the river," surviving on a large cotton plantation, and being an enslaved refugee in Texas during the Civil War... It is an enlightening account from the point of view of an enslaved woman about the arduous trip — and the subsequent years — that many enslaved people were forced to endure by their masters to avoid their being liberated by Union armies... [McDaniel] has turned these into a captivating account of this period, revealing how the legal and economic aspects of the institution of slavery interacted in very personal and human ways with those who were kept enslaved. * Angela Boswell, Professor of History at Henderson State University, Southwestern Historical Quarterly *As a whole, Sweet Taste of Liberty is the fruit of excellent scholarship and a timely and significant addition to the field of U.S. racial history. * Ken Chujo, J.F. Oberlin University, Tokyo, The Journal of Southern History *Table of ContentsPrologue Part I - The Worst Slave of Them All Chapter 1: The Crossing Chapter 2: Touseytown Chapter 3: Down River Chapter 4: Ward's Return Chapter 5: Cincinnati Chapter 6: The Plan Chapter 7: The Flight Part II - Forks of the Road Chapter 8: Raising a Muss Chapter 9: Wood versus Ward Chapter 10: The Keeper Chapter 11: Natchez Chapter 12: Brandon Hall Chapter 13: Versailles Chapter 14: Revolution Chapter 15: The March Part III - The Return of Henrietta Wood Chapter 16: Arthur Chapter 17: Robertson County Chapter 18: Dawn and Doom Chapter 19: Nashville Chapter 20: A Rather Interesting Case Chapter 21: Story of a Slave Chapter 22: The Verdict Epilogue Acknowledgements Appendix: An Essay on Sources Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNow, readers can consult the Lives in a beautiful English translation by Pamela Mensch. This translation will undoubtedly supersede that by Robert Hicks, published in 1925 and until now the standard English version. [...] Oxford University Press have also done a wonderful job. The footnotes... are well judged, providing important background information without overwhelming the text. Embellishment is provided in the form of many philosophically inspired artworks, all handsomely reproduced [...] A set of essays by leading scholars such as Anthony Grafton, Ingrid Rowland and Dorandi himself help introduce the Lives and its reception to general readers. The book is like no history of philosophy that such readers will be used to. * Times Literary Supplement *Can there be a philosophy book for everyone? Luxurious yet affordable, this richly illustrated translation of Diogenes Laertius clearly implies an affirmative answer. Obviously, the success of this volume does not follow from the irresistible charm of Diogenes'text (to put it mildly), but from a multifaceted editorial effort that made the resulting artefact appealing to different kinds of readers. * Karel Thein, Eirene *A handsome new volume of Diogenes Laertius's Lives of the Eminent Philosophers provides an opportunity to revisit the biographer and the popular assumptions about him. I am delighted to have acquired Pamela Mensch's new translation of his major work, an edition you can't read on the subway but whose large dimensions are redeemed by the readable translation, glossy color images, and a collection of new accompanying essays (The New School's James Miller is the editor) ... Biographies can certainly get far more scandalous than Lives, but the personal lives of our intellectual ancestors are always juicy, forbidden fruits. * Ben Shields, Paris Review *The English translation by Pamela Mensch is lively, fresh, engaging, and eminently readable. Given the number of vagaries, jokes, technicalities, and such that proliferate in the Greek, this is a most impressive achievement. The copious notes, helpfully placed beneath the translation on each page, are superb at giving required information on names, dates, places, technical terms, and so forth in a crisp and accurate manner... This book offers a wealth of material on Diogenes Laertius: a translation, notes, a companion, a bibliography, all in one volume. It is a truly first-class resource, and everyone involved, including Oxford University Press, should be heartily congratulated for a brilliant achievement. That a book of this kind can be made affordable should be a salutary lesson for other academic publishers. I cannot recommend it highly enough. * Sean McConnell, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *This book will be useful to all students studying Greek philosophy, as both a reference to the past and a look into the birth of Greek philosophy ... Recommended. * CHOICE *Diogenes Laertius presented afresh with all the generosity, visual richness, and breadth of reference he deservesa wonderful edition. * Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café and How to Live *In this superbly produced and edited volume, the compendious work of the learned Diogenes Laertius at last receives the prominence that his unique contribution to our knowledge and understanding of ancient philosophy requires. The admirable translation by doyenne Pamela Mensch is accompanied by a full apparatus of the latest scholarship, including essays by over a dozen of the most eminent philosophers and historians of philosophy of our own day. * Paul Cartledge, author of Democracy: A Life *Diogenes Laertius is not Nietzsches dim-witted watchman of the history of Greek philosophy, but a fascinating and underrated figure. This is a wonderful edition, brilliantly translated, with a helpful introduction and accompanying set of essays by first-rate scholars. Although a precious source for many ancient philosophers, especially Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius is much more than a dull compiler. For anyone interested in the relations between philosophy and life, this book remains an excellent, accessible, and hugely entertaining starting point. Highly recommended. * Simon Critchley, author of The Book of Dead Philosophers *Diogenes Laertius' Lives provides a uniquely valuable and entertaining window on early Western philosophyif it is used wisely. This welcome edition and translation by Pamela Mensch and James Miller, together with its substantial accompanying essays, enables contemporary readers to make the most of it. * Anthony Gottlieb, author of The Dream of Reason and The Dream of Enlightenment *This splendid new translation of Diogenes Laertius' Lives is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the therapeutic legacy of ancient Greek philosophy. Quirky, notoriously unreliable, relentlessly curious, it is also magnificent bedside reading, still able after many centuries to instruct and delight. * Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became Modern *At last, thanks to Pamela Mensch's elegant and faithful translation, we can enjoy Diogenes Laertius' history of Greek philosophy for its own sake, as a wonderful compendium of doctrine and lore, as well as for the precious information (and sometimes misinformation) it provides about everything from the Pre-Socratics to Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and Epicurus. The notes are crisp and clear, illustrations are apt and abundant, and the translation is based on the most authoritative edition of the Greek text. It is a wonderful achievement. * David Konstan, author of Beauty: The Fortunes of an Ancient Greek Idea *Table of ContentsPreface, James Miller Introduction, A. A. Long Translator's Note, Pamela Mensch Map Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5 Book 6 Book 7 Book 8 Book 9 Book 10 Essays Guide to Further Reading, Jay R. Elliott Glossary of Ancient Sources, Joseph M. Lemelin Illustration Credits Index

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Book SynopsisAllen C. Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a gracefully-written interpretation of Reconstruction as a spirited struggle to re-integrate the defeated Southern Confederacy into the American Union after the Civil War, to bring African Americans into the political mainstream of American life, and to recreate the Southern economy after a Northern, free-labor model.Trade ReviewAllen C. Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a streamlined overview of the era by one of the major historians of the Civil War period. In this succinct but informative work, Mr. Guelzo traces the course of Reconstruction over time - its troublesome political and legal path - and helps us grasp both what it accomplished and why it failed. * Wall Street Journal *A well-balanced assessment of the achievements and lost opportunities of an era, Allen Guelzo's Reconstruction: A Concise History is a solid introduction to the topic. It's also a fitting gateway for those curious enough to want to investigate the more in-depth treatments of all kinds that populate the modern Reconstruction bookshelf. * Civil War Books and Authors *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: Vengeance, April-December 1865 Chapter Two: Alienation, December 1865-1867 Chapter Three: Arrogance, March 1867-May 1868 Chapter Four: Resistance, May 1868-March 1869 Chapter Five: Distraction, March 1869-May 1872 Chapter Six: Law, 1866-1876 Chapter Seven: Dissension, September 1872-April 1877 Epilogue Timeline Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe 2016 election of Donald J. Trump invoked a time for reflection about the state of American politics and its deep ideological, cultural, racial, regional, and economic divisions. But one aspect that the contemporary discussions often miss is that these fissures have been opening over several decades and are deeply rooted in the structure of American politics and society. Nolan McCarty''s Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know is an accessible introduction to polarization in America. McCarty takes readers through what scholars know and don''t know about the origins, development, and implications of our rising political conflicts, delving into social, economic, and geographic determinants of polarization in the United States. While the current political climate makes it clear that extreme views are becoming more popular, McCarty also argues that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 election was a natural outgrowth of 40 years of polarized politics, instead of a significant break wTable of ContentsPreface 1. Introduction 2. What is Political Polarization? 3. Are Partisan Elites Polarized? 4. Is the Public Polarized? 5. What Are The Causes of Polarization? 6. How Does Electoral Law Affect Legislative Polarization? 7. How Have Other Changes in American Society Affected? 8. What are the Consequences of Polarization for Public Policy and Governance? 9. Is the Trump Presidency a New Normal or More of the Same? Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn the middle of the third century, a girl was born on the north-eastern frontier of the Roman empire. Eighty years later, she died as Flavia Iulia Helena, Augusta of the Roman world and mother of the first Christian emperor Constantine, without ever having been married to an emperor herself. In Helena Augusta: Mother of the Empire, Julia Hillner traces Helena''s story through her life''s peaks, which generated beautiful imperial artwork, entertaining legends as well as literary outrage. But Helena Augusta also pays careful attention to the disruptions in Helena''s life course and in her commemoration--disruptions that were created by her nearest male relatives. Hillner shows that Helena''s story was not just determined by the love of a son or the rise of Christianity. It was also--like that of many other late Roman women--defined by male violence and by the web of changing female relationships around her, to which Helena was sometimes marginal, sometimes central and sometimes ancillary. Helena Augusta offers unique insight into the roles of imperial women in Constantinian self-display and in dynastic politics from the Tetrarchy to the Theodosian Age, and it also reminds us that the late Roman female life course, even that of an empress, was fragile and non-linear.Trade ReviewUsing tools developed for feminist historiography, Hillner has retrieved the historical mother of Constantine the Great from the realm of legend. Her reconstruction is engaging, filled with shrewd insight, and well-grounded in ancient sources. She is especially good at using material culture to lead into deeper discussions. Instead of the saintly Helena who discovered the True Cross, we now have a living, breathing person who can teach us a great deal about the history of women in the fourth century. * H. A. Drake, author of A Century of Miracles: Christians, Pagans, Jews and the Supernatural, 312-410 *In many respects this is a great book and a fascinating read...It will rapidly become the standard monograph on Helena. The book's greatest value, however, lies in how Hillner explains the role of Tetrarchic and Constantinian women in dynastic politics. * Jan Willem Drijvers, University of Groningen, Plekos *In many respects this is a great book and a fascinating read. It does a much better job than previous studies of outlining Helena's life against the background and in the context of political and dynastic entanglements during the Tetrarchy and the reign of Constantine. It will rapidly become the standard monograph on Helena. * Stefan Vranka, Plekos *This is a very rich and rewarding...book...Offer[s] much to those interested in Roman women and Roman history, those interested in female power, its contingencies and limits. * Journal of Roman Studies *The study represents a significant advancement in understanding the history of the fourth century AD. Additionally, the study stands out for its meticulous examination of all available literary sources and previous research, as well as for its careful and clear statements on the historical issues of the Constantinian era. Furthermore, the study excels in its precise examination of the archaeological evidence, which is often used as the starting point for individual chapters. Another strength of the work is Hillner's keen focus on the regional contexts of the presentation of imperial female roles and functions... With this research approach, the author consolidates her detailed network and communication analysis, which, as mentioned, proves to be highly productive for the Constantinian era. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations Timeline of the Constantinian, Valentinian and Theodosian Dynasties Dramatis Personae Family Tree Maps Introduction: Writing Helena The Case for (Chronological) Biography Writing Helena's Life Forwards: Of Places, Gaps and Relationships Helena, Dynasty, and Power Part I: Extra (c. 248-c.289) Chapter 1: On the Frontiers Demographics Helena and the 'Crisis of the Third Century' Meeting Constantius Chapter 2: Weather Eye on the Horizon Legalities Helena at Naissus and Salona Helena's Tetrarchy Part II: Off-Stage (c. 289-c. 317) Chapter 3: Sister Act Lost Girl: Theodora Fausta's Nose Pruning the Tree Waiting in the Wings, Becoming Christian? Chapter 4: The Necklace Affair The Tomb at %Sarkamen Divine Mothers The Augusta in the East Fair Game: Empresses as Prey Part III: Centre-Stage (c.317-c.329) Chapter 5: Keeping Up Appearances The Road to Thessalonica: A Wedding, a Conspiracy, and a War The Augusta-Double Fausta, Super Star Chapter 6: Roman Holiday Palace Life Helena and Constantine's Churches in Rome New Look Chapter 7: Four Deaths and an Anniversary Murders in the Family Becoming Genetrix Chapter 8: From Here to Eternity The Travelling Empress: Conflicting Portraits Helena, the Pilgrim? On the Road A New Jezebel Empresses in the Holy Land Part IV: Curtain and Encores (c.329-c. 600) Chapter 9: Burying an Empress Final Honours Rebranching the Tree Coming Through Slaughter Chapter 10: Silence of the Empress Extending Helena: Constantina Burying Empresses, One More Time Countering Helena: Justina Chapter 11: New Model Empress Ambrose's Helena Reviving Helena's Look: Flaccilla and Thermantia Reviving Helena in Action Emulating Helena: Galla Placidia and Eudocia A 'New Helena' in Name: Pulcheria Being Helena: Radegund Epilogue Ancient Sources Modern Studies Index

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Book SynopsisA provocative and propulsive look at American history, and the myth that the Civil War's "new birth of freedom" ended oligarchy. It just moved westward.Trade ReviewIt should be required reading for this particular moment in American politics. * Thomas Zimmer, The Guardian *Richardson's clear prose makes this book incredibly lively and accessible. * Joseph Angelillo, ALPATA: A Journal of History *Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College, explains Goldwater's crusade and the trajectory of modern conservatism in her masterful How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America. A timely book, it sheds light on what was perhaps the most important political coalition of the 20th century. * The Washington Post *Good revisionist history jars you, forces you to look at the past in a new way, and thereby transforms your view of the present. Heather Cox Richardson is a master of the genre, to the benefit of us all. Even those who take issue with her will be forced by this powerful book to come to terms with aspects of our past that we often just sweep under the rug of memory. * E.J. Dionne, Jr., author of Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country *In a tour de force, Richardson exposes the philosophical connective tissue that runs from John C. Calhoun, to Barry Goldwater, to Donald Trump. It's not party, it's a complex ideology that has swaddled white supremacy and its political, legal, economic, and physical violence in the language of freedom and rugged individualism, and, in doing so, repeatedly slashed a series of self-inflicted wounds on American democracy. * Carol Anderson, Emory University, author of One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying our Democracy *The themes are broad and the implications mighty, but this isn't history from on high. Richardson uses a human lens to tell her tale, revealing the passions and power-plays that have sustained this battle for dominance. The end result is something rare and invaluable: a skilled work of history, deeply grounded in the past, that speaks loudly, clearly, and crucially to the present. * Joanne Freeman, Yale University, author of The Field Of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War *What the great books do is retell history in a way that creates a deepened and clarified connection between what was an what is. I love this book. For anyone seeking to understand how we got here, and where we're likely bound, this is a must-read. * Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Price of Loyalty and A Hope in the Unseen *If you want to understand this moment in American politics, here's a suggestion for you: It's the must-read book of the year. * Bill Moyers, Moyers on Democracy *Heather Cox Richardson's skill with connecting events into a cohesive narrative is on full display in this brilliant study...This book speaks to the heart of life in the United States and should be in every private, public, and school library. * Deborah M. Liles, Southwestern Historical Quarterly *... Richardson suggested that her most recent book, How the South Won the Civil War, was her "smartest". There is no doubt that it is, at the very least, her most ambitious. * Catherine McNicol Stock, Connecticut College, The Annals of Iowa *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter One: The Triumph of Equality Chapter Two: The Significance of the West in American History Chapter Three: Reconstructing America Chapter Four: The Search for Electoral Votes Chapter Five: The West and the South Join Forces Chapter Six: The Post World War II West 1951-1980 Chapter Seven: The Rise of Movement Conservatism Conclusion: The Nature of America

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Book SynopsisCountry Music: A Very Short Introduction presents a compelling overview of the music and its impact on American culture. Country music has long been a marker of American identity; from our popular culture to our politics, it has provided a soundtrack to our national life. While traditionally associated with the working class, country''s appeal is far broader than any other popular music style. While this music rose from the people, it is also a product of the popular music industry, and the way the music has been marketed to its audience is a key part of its story. Key artists, songs, and musical styles are highlighted that are either touchstones for a particular social event (such as Tammy Wynette''s Stand By Your Man, which produced both a positive and negative backlash as a marker of women''s roles in society at the beginning of the liberation movement) or that encompass broader trends in the industry (for example, Jimmie Rodgers'' T for Texas was an early example of the appropriation of black musical forms by white artists to market them to a mainstream audience). While pursuing a basically chronological outline, the book is structured around certain recurring themes (such as rural vs. urban; tradition vs. innovation; male vs. female; white vs. black) that have been documented through the work of country artists from the minstrel era to today. Truly the voice of the people, country music expresses both deep patriotism as well as a healthy skepticism towards the powers that dominate American society. Country Music: A Very Short Introduction illuminates this rich tradition and assesses its legacy in American popular music culture.Trade ReviewA nice pocket sized book, you don't have to be an academic to read it. It takes you right up to the start of country music and brings you just about bang up to date. Very readable. * Paul Braithwaite, BBC Radio Cumbria & BBC Tees *Table of ContentsList of illustrations Introduction 1 Behind the "big bang": The roots of country music 2 "Wildwood flowers": Country music goes mainstream: 1923-1930 3 "Back in the saddle again": The birth of the singing cowboy, 1930s-1945 4 "Honky-tonkin'": Postwar country music: 1945-1959 5 "Make the world go away": Nashville and countrypolitan sounds, 1957-1980 6 "Mama tried": Country alternatives, from Bakersfield to Austin, 1965-1980 7 "Friends in low places": Retro-country and country-pop since 1980 Coda: Country music in a new millennium Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Daniel P. Todes provides concise introduction to the life and science of the great Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Todes weaves together Pavlov''s life, values, context, and science by focusing upon his quest to understand the psyche and the torments of our consciousness. This introduction follows the origins and maturation of Pavlov''s quest from his early life in a priestly family in provincial Riazan, to his struggles and late professional success in the glittering capital of St. Petersburg, through the cataclysmic destruction of his world during the Bolshevik seizure of power and civil war of 1917-1921, to the rebuilding of his life in his 70s as a prosperous dissident during the Leninist 1920s, and his success and personal torments in 1929-1936 during the industrialization, cultural revolution, and terror of Stalin times. Beyond a basic biography, Todes devotes particular attention to Pavlov''s Nobel Prize-winning research on digestion (1891-1903) and his iconic studies of conditional reflexes and higher nervous activity (1903-1936), as well as his experiments with dogs. Fundamentally reinterpreting Pavlov''s famous research on conditional reflexes, Todes shows that Pavlov was not a behaviorist, did not use a bell, and was uninterested in training dogs. The Russian scientist sought to explain not merely external behaviors, but the emotional and intellectual life of animals and humans. Furthermore, this iconic objectivist was a profoundly anthropomorphic thinker whose science was suffused with his own experiences and values. Exploring the two unpublished manuscripts upon which Pavlov was working when he died, Todes shows the importance of his little-known experiments on chimps and explores his final thoughts about the relationship of science, Christianity, and Bolshevism.Trade ReviewA magnificent overview of the life, work, and scientific passions of the experimental biologist who revealed the 'conditioned reflex' and became the first Russian Nobel Prize winner. Dan Todes provides concise and masterful insight into this fascinating figure. * Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and The Power of Place *Table of ContentsList of illustrations Chapter 1. Winter at Koltushi Chapter 2. Certainty: Religious and Scientific Chapter 3. The Haunted Factory Chapter 4. Pavlov's Quest Chapter 5. Come the Bolsheviks Chapter 6. Nervous Types Chapter 7. Year of Climaxes Chapter 8. Final Reflections Chapter 9. Epilogue References Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThe American President is an enthralling account of American presidential actions from the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 to Bill Clinton''s last night in office in January 2001. William Leuchtenburg, one of the great presidential historians of the century, portrays each of the presidents in a chronicle sparkling with anecdote and wit.Leuchtenburg offers a nuanced assessment of their conduct in office, preoccupations, and temperament. His book presents countless moments of high drama: FDR hurling defiance at the economic royalists who exploited the poor; ratcheting tension for JFK as Soviet vessels approach an American naval blockade; a grievously wounded Reagan joking with nurses while fighting for his life.This book charts the enormous growth of presidential power from its lowly state in the late nineteenth century to the imperial presidency of the twentieth. That striking change was manifested both at home in periods of progressive reform and abroad, notably in two world Trade Review[T]he author presents a highly readable and informative history of the twentieth century....Leuchtenburg has written a wonderful book. * Daryl A. Carter, The Journal of Southern History *A top-notch historian brings together recondite research with felicitous prose. An excellent choice for students of 20th-century American history. * Kirkus Review *Wow! What an achievement by this 93-year-old historian...At 70, I am in awe of what William Leuchtenburg has accomplished in this doorstopper of a book. He is perhaps today's greatest presidential historian, and not of the presidency as some insular realm, but as it intersected with national life, which makes this book also a history of the nation in the 20th century." -Michael Sherry, American ScholarMr. Leuchtenburg's books are known for original research, effective writing and persuasive analysis. For the "capstone" of a lifetime of publishing important works Mr. Leuchtenburg has assembled a compelling study. This is not a book to be devoured at one sitting. But surely Mr. Leuchtenburg has earned the right to deal with the presidents as seems best to him, given his rich research, abundant insights and distinguished career. Mr. Leuchtenburg hits his stride in 20 artful essays that capture what each president did and how their tenure impacted the office. As current presidential candidates woo Iowa caucus-goers, tramp through the snows of New Hampshire, and eventually turn south for Super Tuesday, they each could benefit from reading Mr. Leuchtenburg's informed and wise treatments of men who once held the office they now seek with such ardor." -Lewis Gould, Wall Street JournalThis is a riveting narrative, written by someone with a deep knowledge of the Presidents and our complicated country. It seems an almost effortless work, but, of course, it's not. William Leuchtenburg has spent the better part of a century studying the mechanics of this Republic and the men (so far) charged with leading it. The result here is a fast-paced, dramatic literary achievement that will be around and used for centuries."-Ken Burns, filmmakerA rare gift, The American President is the unique product of more than seven decades of research and close observation of one of the twentieth century's most important political developments: the growth of the American presidency. This is a magisterial work, the perfect match of subject and author. Few historians today can write with authority on even two or three presidencies; Leuchtenburg alone can expound fluently on the institution across an entire century. This is narrative history at its finest." -Russell L. Riley, Co-chair, Presidential Oral History Program, The Miller Center, University of VirginiaBased on decades of study in countess archival collections and a wide array of published volumes, William Leuchtenburg's The American President brilliantly captures the central role of America's twentieth-century presidents in shaping the nation's domestic and foreign affairs. His book will join a very short list of essential studies of the modern presidency, the men who shaped the office, and American life in the more than the hundred years since Teddy Roosevelt entered the White House. The book is a compelling refutation of the argument that the 'imperial presidency' has become an 'imperiled' institution. It is above all a lucid portrayal of the seventeen men from Teddy Roosevelt to Clinton who occupied the country's highest office and led the country through its many challenges." -Robert Dallek, author of presidential studies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Ronald ReaganTable of ContentsPreface to the New Edition Prologue Chapter 1: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft Chapter 2: Woodrow Wilson Chapter 3: Intermezzo: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover Chapter 4: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Chapter 5: Harry Truman Chapter 6: Dwight D. Eisenhower Chapter 7: John F. Kennedy Chapter 8: Lyndon B. Johnson Chapter 9: Richard Nixon Chapter 10: The President at Bay: Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter Chapter 11: Ronald Reagan Chapter 12: George H. W. Bush Chapter 13: Bill Clinton Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWhile existentialism has long been associated with Parisian Left Bank philosophers sipping cocktails in smoke-filled cafés, or with a brooding, angst-filled outlook on life, Gosetti-Ferencei shows how vital and heterogeneous the movement really was.In this concise, accessible book, Gosetti-Ferencei offers a new vision of existentialism. As she lucidly demonstrates, existentialism is a rich and diverse philosophy that encourages meaningful engagement with the world around us, offering a host of fascinating concepts that pertain to life as we experience it. The movement was as heterogeneous as it is now misunderstood, influenced by jazz music, involving diverse thinkers from around the world, challenging received ideas about the meaning of human existence. Part of the difficulty in defining existentialism is that it was never a unified philosophy, but came to identify a set of shared concerns about the meaning and possibility of human freedom, as it may be expressed in authentic choices, actions, and projects. Existentialists all explored how, in the absence of traditional reassurances about the meaning of life, we may transcend our present circumstances, and give our situation new meaning. With existentialism, concrete, lived experience of the single individual emerged from the shadow of abstract systems and long-defended traditions, and became subject-matter in its own right for philosophical inquiry. Far from solipsistic, Gosetti-Ferencei shows that existentialist attention to the human self can be intertwined with ways of conceiving the world, our being with others, the earth, and the encompassing concept of being. Fully appreciating what existentialism has to offer requires recognizing the rich diversity of its prospects, which involve not only anxiety, absurdity, awareness of death and the loss of religious meaning, but also hope, the striving for happiness, and a sense of the transcendent. On Being and Becoming unpacks this philosophical movement''s insights, and reveals how its core ideas promote creative responses to the question of life''s meaning.Trade ReviewOn Being and Becoming not only offers help to those wanting to understand what existentialism was: it also makes a valuable contribution to showing what existentialism could mean for us today. * MLN *In this deceptively easy to read book, Jennifer Gosetti-Ferencei packs three treatises in one: a smart introduction to continental philosophy, a brisk guide for living well and not dying stupid in an age of selfie-narcissism, and a new bridge between European and American culture linking Sartre with Kerouac, Rilke with Frost, de Beauvoir with Wright, Camus with Ellison, Heidegger with Du Bois, all asking the key question 'Why am I here?' The answer? You'll find it yourself in these pages. * Jean-Michel Rabaté, University of Pennsylvania, American Academy of Arts and Sciences *On Being and Becoming is a timely book, as existentialism is an evocative response to the deep crises challenging our mortal and vulnerable existence. This book explores the existentialist answer to create our own meaning through our individual choices, not just in solitude but in engaged action seeking to transform the social world. The broad existential movement is sympathetically and accurately portrayed by Gosetti-Ferencei. This book is richly packed with insights and fluidly written for a general audience. It is not just a work of academic philosophy--discussing, among others, Martin Heidegger, Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Frantz Fanon--but it also documents the influence of existentialism on African-American thinkers, such as W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright. * Dermot Moran, Boston College *This small book weaves together a generous discussion of the history of philosophy and an erudite presentation of key themes of existentialism....Gosetti-Ferencei erases naïve formulations of existentialist themes and replaces them with rigorous, sometimes uplifting, accounts of freedom, responsibility, self-creation, and the inescapability of death. This work serves as both an excellent introduction to existentialist thought and a provocative read for those familiar with the works of such figures as Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ralph Ellison, Martin Heidegger, Franz Kafka, Søren Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Richard Wright...Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsPart I: Encountering Existentialism Prologue Chapter 1:Existentialism in Style and Substance Part II: Existentialism: from Antiquity to Modern Europe Chapter 2. The Rise of Existentialism: A Philosophy for Human Existence Chapter 3. Historical Roots of Existentialism Chapter 4. Romantic Upheavals, Modern Movements Chapter 5. Literature and Art of Existentialism: the 20th Century Part III. Existentialism in Living Dimensions Chapter 6. Self Chapter 7. Others Chapter 8. World Chapter 9. Earth Chapter 10. Being Part IV. Living Existentialism 11. Existentialist Lives: Imitation, Inspiration, and Authenticity 12. Seeking and Taking (and Giving) Advice 13. Being in the Crowd: Anonymity and Individuality in Modern Life 14. Into One's Own, or on 'Finding' Oneself 15. I Selfie, Therefore I Am: On Self-Imaging Culture 16. Being and Waiting (Tables), or The Roles We Play 17. Seizing the Day: On the Present and Presence 18. Love in the Time of Existentialism 19. Existential Suffering, Happiness and Hope 20. Life as a Work of Art: an Existential Need for Creativity Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Race, slavery, and ideology in colonial North America Chapter 2: Resistance and African American identity before the Civil War Chapter 3: War, freedom, and a nation reconsidered Chapter 4: Civilization, race, and the politics of uplift Chapter 5: The making of the modern Civil Rights Movement(s) Chapter 6: The paradoxes of post-civil rights America Epilogue: Stony the road we trod References Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThe Vikings continue to fascinate us because their compelling stories connect with universal human desires for exploration and adventure. In Age of Wolf and Wind: Voyages through the Viking World, author Davide Zori argues that recent advances in excavation and archaeological science, coupled with a re-evaluation of oral traditions and written sources, inspire the telling of new and engaging stories that further our understanding of the Viking Age. Drawing upon his fieldwork experience across the Viking world, he proposes that the best method for weaving together these narratives is a balanced, interdisciplinary approach that integrates history, archaeology, and new scientific techniques.The book delves into key questions of the Viking Age, such as the motivations of Scandinavians to board open wooden ships to raid England or cross the North Atlantic in search of new worlds beyond Europe. Each chapter offers new conclusions about the Vikings--their views on death, their raiding tactics

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