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Raiders and Rebels: A History of the Golden Age of Piracy
By Frank Sherry. 1986
I he most authoritative history of piracy, Frank Sherry's rich and colorful account reveals the rise and fall of the…
real "raiders and rebels" who terrorized the seas. From 1692 to 1725 pirates sailed the oceans of the world, plundering ships laden with the riches of India, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean. Often portrayed as larger-than-life characters, these outlaw figures and their bloodthirsty exploits have long been immortalized in fiction and film. But beneath the legends is the true story of these brigands—often common men and women escaping the social and economic restrictions of 18th-century Europe and America. Their activities threatened the beginnings of world trade and jeopardized the security of empires. And together, the author argues, they fashioned a surprisingly democratic society powerful enough to defy the world.Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance (Twenty Five Women Who Shaped the...)
By Meredith K. Ray. 2024
Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance takes readers on a journey through early modern Italy that places women at…
the heart of the artistic and cultural developments of this transformative era. Highlighted here are figures like Caterina Sforza, who defended her city against an invading army; Veronica Franco, the Venetian courtesan whose erotic verse enthralled Europe; Sofonisba Anguissola, acclaimed for her arresting portraits; Isabella Andreini, the original "prima donna" of Italian theater; and Margherita Sarrocchi, the epic poet and mathematics prodigy who corresponded with Galileo Galilei.Though many of their names have been neglected by history, the artists, writers, performers, leaders, and feminists of Twenty-Five Women Who Shaped the Italian Renaissance overcame daunting obstacles to find their own voices. Excluded from the educational opportunities granted to men, often compelled into arranged marriages or confined to the convent, and subject to ingrained hostility toward female sexuality, each dared to challenge entrenched ideas about what a woman should or could do or be. Springing from a range of backgrounds and circumstances, these women defied conventions about the "proper" place of their sex to make their own mark on the Renaissance.The perfect resource for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of the Renaissance and early modern women.The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival After Yorktown
By Thomas Fleming. 1776
On October 19, 1781, Great Britain's best army surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown. But the future of the…
13 former colonies was far from clear. A 13,000 man British army still occupied New York City, and another 13,000 regulars and armed loyalists were scattered from Canada to Savannah, Georgia. Meanwhile, Congress had declined to a mere 24 members, and the national treasury was empty. The American army had not been paid for years and was on the brink of mutiny. In Europe, America's only ally, France, teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and was soon reeling from a disastrous naval defeat in the Caribbean. A stubborn George III dismissed Yorktown as a minor defeat and refused to yield an acre of "my dominions" in America. In Paris, Ambassador Benjamin Franklin confronted violent hostility to France among his fellow members of the American peace delegation. In his riveting new book, Thomas Fleming moves elegantly between the key players in this drama and shows that the outcome we take for granted was far from certain. Not without anguish, General Washington resisted the urgings of many officers to seize power and held the angry army together until peace and independence arrived. With fresh research and masterful storytelling, Fleming breathes new life into this tumultuous but little known period in America's history.Saddam: King of Terror
By Con Coughlin. 2004
“... readers looking for a biography of Iraq’s strongman will need to look no further.” — Publishers Weekly“Coughlin sheds especially…
valuable light on the viciousness of Saddam Hussein’s early career.” — Foreign Service Journal“...the most sought after biographer of Saddam Hussein.” — Los Angeles Times“.... a timely, detailed portrait of the Iraqi dictator.” — Publishers WeeklyThe Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers
By Thomas Fleming. 2009
A compelling, intimate look at the founders—George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison—and the…
women who played essential roles in their livesWith his usual storytelling flair and unparalleled research, Tom Fleming examines the women who were at the center of the lives of the founding fathers. From hot-tempered Mary Ball Washington to promiscuous Rachel Lavien Hamilton, the founding fathers' mothers powerfully shaped their sons' visions of domestic life. But lovers and wives played more critical roles as friends and often partners in fame. We learn of the youthful Washington's tortured love for the coquettish Sarah Fairfax, wife of his close friend; of Franklin's two "wives," one in London and one in Philadelphia; of Adams's long absences, which required a lonely, deeply unhappy Abigail to keep home and family together for years on end; of Hamilton's adulterous betrayal of his wife and then their reconciliation; of how the brilliant Madison was jilted by a flirtatious fifteen-year-old and went on to marry the effervescent Dolley, who helped make this shy man into a popular president. Jefferson's controversial relationship to Sally Hemings is also examined, with a different vision of where his heart lay.Fleming nimbly takes us through a great deal of early American history, as his founding fathers strove to reconcile the private and public, often beset by a media every bit as gossip seeking and inflammatory as ours today. He offers a powerful look at the challenges women faced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While often brilliant and articulate, the wives of the founding fathers all struggled with the distractions and dangers of frequent childbearing and searing anxiety about infant mortality—Jefferson's wife, Martha, died from complications following labor, as did his daughter. All the more remarkable, then, that these women loomed so large in the lives of their husbands—and, in some cases, their country.Knightly Memories: Remembering and Reinventing the Military Orders in Britain (ISSN)
By Elizabeth Siberry. 2024
This is the first book-length study of the legacy and memory of the main military orders in Britain, the Templars…
and Knights of St. John. It provides a survey from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries using hitherto neglected sources and identifies areas for further research and analysis.The volume first examines the historiography of the Orders, delving past the standard histories to examine their authors, readership, accessibility, advertisements. and reviews. It then discusses the material memory of the Orders, from the Temple Church in London and St. John’s Gate at Clerkenwell to archaeological discoveries and romanticised stained-glass depictions. Turning next to the revival and reinvention of the Order of St John after the loss of Malta in 1798 and the foundation of the British Order based at Clerkenwell, it unravels fact from fiction in the claims of continuity with the medieval knights made by the Masonic Knights Templars. For many, memory was shaped by popular fiction as well as history, so the final part considers various literary interpretations of the Orders’ history.This book will interest scholars and students of the Military Orders and Crusades, as well as general readers of the history of memory and reception.Open the Door to Liberty
By Anne Rockwell. 2009
"Christie&’s stirring illustrations, including the cover painting of a triumphant L&’Ouverture surrounded by his people, complement the dramatic tale."--Kirkus Reviews"In…
this eye-opening biography, Rockwell makes a strong case that Toussaint L&’Ouverture is one of the most overlooked heroes of the eighteenth century . . . Evocative paintings in primary colors help tell the story (the rendition of Toussaint in prison is especially poignant), while biographies and source notes make up the excellent back matter."--Booklist"Altogether, this is a beautiful and captivating portrait of a leader whose story will probably be unfamiliar to most youngsters."--School Library Journal, starred review"Rockwell succeeds admirably in explaining a complicated life, and the American-primitive-style drawings are a good match."--New York Times Book Review Bookshelf"The brevity of the text and Christie's moving and sophisticated paintings . . . help bring the challenging political chaos within the reach of a young audience."--The Bulletin —First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents
By Bonnie Angelo. 2001
In this highly acclaimed book, Bonnie Angelo celebrates a group of remarkable women who played a pivotal role in developing…
the characters of the modern American presidents — their mothers. Angelo, a veteran reporter and writer for TIME magazine, explores the lives, thoughts and feelings of these women who so influenced the twentieth century’s most powerful leaders. From the aristocratic and formidable Sara Delano Roosevelt to diehard Democrat Martha Truman, from stoic Hannah Milhous Nixon to the hard-living Virginia Clinton Kelly, First Mothers is an in-depth look at the special mother-son relationship that has nurtured America’s presidents and helped them to achieve great things. A veteran correspondent at TIME magazine and the first woman to head a TIME foreign bureau, Bonnie Angelo has reported on the White House and presidential families throughout eight administrations. As a Washington correspondent and bureau chief in London and New York, she has covered newsmakers and major events in all fifty states and around the world. “A fascinating book, gracefully written ... gives the reader fresh insights into how the characters and values of our recent presidents were shaped.” — Washington Post Book WorldA graphic and thrilling account of the sinking of the greatest floating palace ever built, carrying down to watery graves…
more than 1,500 soulsWith newly commissioned artwork, Wreck and Sinking of the ‘Titanic’ is a deluxe reproduction of the 1912 memorial edition edited by the great descriptive writer Marshall Everett and published immediately after the event occurred. This collectible volume gives a sobering account of the disaster, detailing exciting escapes from death and acts of heroism not equaled in ancient or modern times.Priscilla: The Hidden Life of an Englishwoman in Wartime France
By Nicholas Shakespeare. 2013
When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a box of documents belonging to his late aunt, Priscilla, he was completely unaware of…
where this discovery would take him and what he would learn about her hidden past. The glamorous, mysterious figure he remembered from his childhood was very different from the morally ambiguous young woman who emerged from the trove of love letters, photographs, and journals, surrounded by suitors and living the dangerous existence of a British woman in a country controlled by the enemy. He had heard rumors that Priscilla had fought in the Resistance, but the truth turned out to be far more complicated.As he investigated his aunt's life, dark secrets emerged, and Nicholas discovered the answers to the questions over which he'd been puzzling: What caused the breakdown of Priscilla's marriage to a French aristocrat? Why had she been interned in a prisoner-of-war camp, and how had she escaped? And who was the "Otto" with whom she was having a relationship as Paris was liberated?Piecing together fragments of one woman's remarkable and tragic life, Priscilla is at once a stunning story of detection, a loving portrait of a flawed woman trying to survive in terrible times, and a spellbinding slice of history.It's All Greek To Me: From Homer to the Hippocratic Oath, How Ancient Greece Has Shaped Our World
By Charlotte Higgins. 2010
Why is ancient Greece important? Because, quite simply, if we want to understand the modern Western world, we need to…
look back to the Greeks. Consider the way we think about ethics, about the nature of beauty and truth, about our place in the universe, about our mortality. All this we have learned from the ancient Greeks. They molded the basic disciplines and genres in which we still organize thought, from poetry to drama, from medicine to philosophy, from history to ethnography.Packed with useful facts, including a timeline, a "mythology for dummies," a who's who, a guide to Homer's epics, and a handy map for those struggling to know their Lemnos from their Lesbos, It's All Greek to Me is an entertaining and insightful tour through the world of the ancient Greeks. Why are some laws Draconian? What is an Achilles' heel? Why were the Spartans spartan? Charlotte Higgins provides these answers and more, arming average readers with the knowledge they need to understand the Greeks and their tremendous contributions to our lives. This book aims to unlock the richness of a fascinating culture and place it where it should be—in the mainstream of life.Communication in History: Stone Age Symbols to Social Media
By Peter Urquhart, Paul Heyer. 2024
This updated eighth edition provides a thorough and engaging history of communication and media through a collection of essential, field-defining…
essays. The collection reveals how media has been influential in both maintaining social order and enabling social change. Contributions from a wide range of voices offer instructors the opportunity to customize their courses while challenging students to build upon their own knowledge and skill sets. From stone age symbols and early writing to the internet and social media, readers are introduced to an expansive, intellectually enlivening study of the relationship between human history and communication media. New case studies explore the Black Press, the impact of photography on journalism, gender and civil rights discourses in the media, and the effects of algorithmic data on modern social media platforms. This book can be used as a core text or supplemental reader for courses in communication history, communication theory, and introductory courses in communication and media studies.Biographies Between Spheres of Empire: Life History Approaches to Colonial Africa
By Achim Von Oppen, Silke Strickrodt. 2018
Biographical research can illuminate imperial and colonial history. This is particularly true of Africa, where empires competed with one another…
and colonial society was characterised by rigid divisions. In this book, five biographical studies explore how, in the course of their lives, interpreters, landowners, students and traders navigated the boundaries between the various spaces of the colonial world. With a focus on African life worlds, the authors show the disruptions and constraints as well as the new options and forms of mobility that resulted from colonial rule. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth Studies.Love, Desire and Melancholy: Inspired by Constance Maynard (1849-1935)
By Angharad Eyre, Jane Mackelworth, Elsa Richardson. 2017
Originally inspired by the digitisation of the autobiographical writings of Constance Maynard, this volume considers women’s historical experience of sexuality…
through the frame of the history of emotions. Constance Maynard (1849-1935) rose to prominence as the first Mistress and Principal of Westfield College, holding that position from 1882 to 1913. However, her writings offer more than an insight into the movement for women’s higher education. As pioneering feminist scholars such as Martha Vicinus have discovered, Maynard’s life writings are a valuable source for scholars of gender and sexuality. Writing about her relationships with other women teachers and students, Maynard attempted to understand her emotions and desires within the frame of her evangelical religious culture. The contributions to this volume draw out the significance of Maynard’s writings for the histories of gender, sexuality, religion, and the emotions. Interdisciplinary in nature, they use the approaches of literary studies, architecture studies, and life writing to understand Maynard and her historical significance. This book was originally published as a special issue of Women’s History Review.The Revolting French, 1787–1889 (Seminar Studies)
By Pamela Pilbeam. 2024
This book investigates the impact of revolution on the French from the Revolution of 1789 to its centenary in 1889.…
It explores specific and linking factors in the main revolts and how historians have differed in their explanations.Revolution has been explained in a multitude of ways from economic, social and philosophic, to a range of identities including religion, race and gender, contingency, emotions, and most recently global factors. The nineteenth-century French state was threatened by an unprecedented number of revolts. What impact did the 1789 Revolution have on nineteenth-century events? Why were there so many revolutions at the time? Were there common factors? Were non-revolutionary issues as significant or more significant in provoking change? Why was it that insurrection was rarer in the second half of the century when revolutionary rhetoric was more prolific? The book weighs political and philosophical differences, lack of trust and willingness to compromise, economic, social and cultural issues, urban geography, archaeology and contingency. The final section presents some contemporary explanations, written and visual.This book will be essential reading for A-level and undergraduate historians of France and Europe and will be of interest to general readers keen to understand the impact of revolutions in the modern world.The Vistas of American Military History 1800-1898
By Brian Holden Reid Joseph G. Dawson III. 2007
A team of leading American military historians here investigate the factors that shaped the United States Army in the nineteenth…
century.Throwing new light on its history, this deeply researched book explores a mulitplicity of themes. These include the social structure, command system and relationship with civil power which are all important in assessing its efficiency and behaviour in war; and the way the army is depicted in military literature and cinema which affects its social portrait.Deliberately exploring neglected themes, this key work includes discussion on:* the roles of the many volunteer colonels in the Mexican War, 1846-48* Robert Wettemann and the alleged 'isolation' of the US Army in the nineteenth century* John Ford's famous 'cavalry trilogy' of motion pictures.Containing so much food for thought, for students of US history and military history this is an entertaining as well as instructional book.An Extraordinary Theory of Objects: A Memoir of an Outsider in Paris
By Stephanie LaCava. 2012
A haunting and moving collection of original narratives that reveals an expatriate's coming-of-age in Paris and the magic she finds…
in ordinary objectsAn awkward, curious girl growing up in a foreign country, Stephanie LaCava finds solace and security in strange yet beautiful objects.When her father's mysterious job transports her and her family to the quaint Parisian suburb of Le Vésinet, everything changes for the young American. Stephanie sets out to explore her new surroundings and to make friends at her unconventional international school, but her curiosity soon gives way to feelings of anxiety and a deep depression.In her darkest moments, Stephanie learns to filter the world through her peculiar lens, discovering the uncommon, uncelebrated beauty in what she finds. Encouraged by her father through trips to museums and scavenger hunts at antique shows, she traces an interconnected web of narratives of long-ago outsiders, and of objects historical and natural, that ultimately help her survive.A series of illustrated essays that unfolds in cinematic fashion, An Extraordinary Theory of Objects offers a universal lesson—to harness the power of creativity to cope with loneliness, sadness, and disappointment to find wonder in the uncertainty of the future.GI Brides: An Exclusive E-book Short Story (GI Brides #1)
By Duncan Barrett, Nuala Calvi. 2013
She left everything behind to follow her heart … The enthralling true story of a British war bride after World…
War II.June Baker saw the American soldier walking toward her. In the gray of wartime England, he looked out of place—as if a blond movie star had just dropped out of the sky. They had a whirlwind courtship, and June fell in love with and married Borgy, the handsome GI from St. Charles, Missouri. She eagerly anticipated her new life in America. But when the war ended, June was horrified to learn they'd be moving to Germany—land of the enemy—instead. And just like that, June's unexpected journey began …June's story is a bonus installment of the international bestseller GI Brides.Crazy ’08 is simply a delight, required reading for all fans of baseball in Chicago. — --Chicago Tribune“If you are…
any kind of fan, you ought to relish and revel in this wonderful book” — --Washington TimesA penetrating look at the dead-ball era, when the game truly was the national pastime. A- — --Entertainment Weekly“picturesque details are what make...Crazy ‘08 such a fun and revealing journey through the early days of baseball.” — --Sports Illustrated“Entertaining and meticulously researched.” — Wall Street Journal“Beguiling” — Raleigh News & Observer“[A] rollicking tour... will fascinate students of baseball... cause today’s Cub fans to experience an unaccustomed feeling---pride...” — New York Times Book Review“[W]orthy to stand alongside The Glory of Their Times..., out in front.” — Raleigh News & ObserverModern Maternities: Medical Advice about Breastfeeding in Colonial Calcutta
By Ranjana Saha. 2024
Modern Maternities: Medical Advice about Breastfeeding in Colonial Calcutta brings to light rare textual and visual materials on medical opinions…
about breastfeeding by memsahibs (European women), dais (indigenous midwives and/or wet nurses) and the bhadramahila (here the focus is on ‘respectable’ Bengali-Hindu women). With the help of archival resources, the author discusses themes like: modernity, maternities and medicine intersections of ‘race’, gender, class, caste, community and age in diet artificial foods versus wet nursing ‘cleanliness’, corporeality and culture ‘clean midwifery’ versus ‘dirty midwifery’ customary breastfeeding practices child-mothers and childcare breastfeeding, mothercraft and modern clocks exhibitions, baby shows and baby weeks colonialism and anti-colonial nation-building The book offers critical insights into social histories of medicine, motherhood and childcare in nineteenth and early twentieth century colonial Calcutta. It is intended for anyone interested in the book’s interdisciplinary focus on the regional, national and global resonances of childrearing advice. In particular, it will interest scholars and researchers from modern Indian history, global history, health history, medical anthropology, gender studies and South Asian studies.