Search results for ""author philip j. potter""

On 11 October 1492 the sun set on a clear Atlantic Ocean horizon and the night was cloudless with a late rising moon. As the lookouts high in the riggings of Christopher Columbus three ships strained their eyes into the golden light of the moon, near two o clock in the morning the watchman on the Pinta shouted out, Land, land igniting the era of exploration to the New World. The Age of Discovery became an epic adventure sweeping across the continent of North America, as the trailblazers dared to challenge the unknown wilderness to advance mankind s knowledge of the world. _Explorers Discovering North America_ traces the history of the discovery, exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere through the comprehensive biographies of fourteen explorers, who had the courage and inquisitiveness to search the limits of the world. The book features many famous adventurers including Hernan Cortes whose victorious battles against the Aztecs conquered Mexico for Spain, Henry Hudson s sea voyages in search of the Northwest Passage led to the colonization of New York and exploration of the Hudson Bay in Canada, while Meriwether Lewis journey across the Louisiana Purchase began the mass migration of settlers to western America. Among the lesser known explorers discussed in the work are Vitus Bering whose discovery of Alaska established Russia s claim to the region and Alexander Mackenzie s 107-day trek across western Canada that opened the frontier to settlement, commerce and development of its natural resources. From Columbus to Lewis the exploration of the New World became one of humankind s greatest quests that altered history forever.

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In early October 1795, Napoleon Bonaparte led the governing Directory's army against the rioting royalists in Paris (who were rebelling to restore the monarchy), crushing their campaign and beginning his rise to supremacy and greatness. Napoleon is one of the eight sovereigns discussed in _The Soldier Kings of France_, who brought glory, power and territorial expansion to France, while altering the course of European history. The work begins in the ninth century with King Charles II's seizure of the French crown and concludes in the nineteenth century with Napoleon's rise and fall. In the book, the reign of Philip II and his participation in the Third Crusade to the Holy Land is the second monarch reviewed, followed by Louis XI, who ended the Hundred Year War with the English and Louis XII's rule is next, which fought to expand French territorial holdings into the Lombardy region of Italy. The fifth king surveyed is Francis I and his enlargement of French lands into Italy, while the si

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The Mighty Warrior Kings traces the history of early Europe through the biographies of nine kings, who had the courage, determination and martial might to establish their dominance over the fragmented remnants of the Roman Empire. The book begins with Charlemagne, who united large regions of current-day France, Germany and Italy into the Holy Roman Empire and ends with Robert the Bruce, who gallantry defended Scotland against the attempted usurpation of England. There are many famous warrior kings in the book, including Alfred the Great of Wessex, whose victories over the Vikings led to the unification of England under a single ruler, William I of Normandy, whose triumph at Hastings in 1066 changed the course of English history, while Frederick I Barbarossa led his army to victory in Germany and Italy solidifying and expanding the lands under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor. Among the lesser known monarchs discussed in the work are Cnut, whose victory at the battle of Ashingdon won the English crown and resulted in the creation of the North Sea Empire, which ruled over the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway, while during the reign of Louis IX of France the knights of Europe answered his call for the Seven Crusade to expel the Muslims from the Holy City of Jerusalem. From Charlemagne to Robert the Bruce, the warrior kings created a new Europe with a centralized powerbase and set the stage for the following Age of Absolutism.

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During the 1,000-year history of the English monarchy there have been eight kings with the name of Henry. The Eight King Henrys of England is the history of the reigns of these sovereign lords. In 1100 King William II of England was killed by a wayward arrow while hunting and his younger brother, Henry I, succeeded to the crown of England. As king, Henry I secured and strengthened his governing powers over the English kingdom. The second king of England named Henry crossed the English Channel in 1153 with his army to overthrow his cousin, King Stephen of Blois. Henry III reigned over England for fifty-six years, where he was occupied with the revolts of his recalcitrant nobles. In 1398 the future King Henry IV was exiled from England and spent the next year in France orchestrating the downfall of King Richard II. He returned to England in 1399 with a small band of advocates and was joined by numerous English lords, who supported him in the overthrow of the king, recognizing Henry IV as

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