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The fate of Rome: climate, disease, and the end of an empire (ITK audio)
By Kyle Harper. 2017
The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played…
in the collapse of Rome's power -- a story of nature's triumph over human ambition. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes readers from Rome's pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted. Harper describes how the Romans were resilient in the face of enormous environmental stress, until the besieged empire could no longer withstand the combined challenges of a "little ice age" and recurrent outbreaks of bubonic plague. A poignant reflection on humanity's intimate relationship with the environment, The Fate of Rome provides a sweeping account of how one of history's greatest civilizations encountered, endured, yet ultimately succumbed to the cumulative burden of nature's violence. 2017.The far land
By Eva MacLean. 1993
Eva MacLean left her settled, Presbyterian Ontario life behind to accompany her young minister-veternarian husband to the "wilds" of northwestern…
B.C. in the early 1900s, during times of mining rushes and railroad-building. 1993.The far west and the great plains in transition, 1859-1900
By Rodman W Paul. 1988
The author looks at the development of the mining industry in the West which he believes was the primary factor…
in encouraging settlement. Cities and improvements in transportation and agriculture are viewed as responses to the needs of the miners. 1988.The enemy at the gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe
By Alex Wheatle. 2009
In 1683, two empires - the Ottoman, based in Constantinople, and the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna - came face to…
face in the culmination of a 250-year power struggle: the Great Siege of Vienna. Within the city walls the choice of resistance over surrender to the largest army ever assembled by the Turks created an all-or-nothing scenario: every last survivor would be enslaved or ruthlessly slaughtered. Both sides remained resolute, sustained by hatred of their age-old enemy, certain that their victory would be won by the grace of God. 2009.Ranging from the late-eighteenth century to the present, a narrative history reveals how the boundaries and borders that formed both…
states and the nation as a whole created a sense of identity that is central to defining American character. 2007.The Enlightenment: reason, tolerance, and humanity (The modern scholar)
By James Schmidt. 2005
In this course, Boston University professor James Schmidt offers a balanced assessment of the Enlightenment, considering both its achievements and…
its shortcomings and focusing not only on its most important intellectual achievements but also on the strange and often colourful characters that populated it. 2005.The enchanted islands: the Galapagos discovered
By John Hickman. 1991
The author chronicles the fitful history of the Galapagos Islands from Inca times and presents an intriguing cast of conquistadors,…
buccaneers, pirates, as well as eccentric explorers, hopeful colonists and naturalists - including Charles Darwin. 1991.The English and the Norman conquest
By Ann Williams. 1995
This text escapes the traditional view of the Norman Conquest by examining the more truly representative experience of the lesser…
lords and landowners among the English, who survived the Conquest and settlement, adapted to foreign customs and preserved much of the native tradition and culture. 1995.The enemy that never was: a history of the Japanese Canadians
By Ken Adachi. 1976
Adachi presents a comprehensive history of the Japanese experience in Canada from 1877 to 1975, focusing on the internment of…
Japanese Canadians in camps in the interior of British Columbia. He examines the course of Japanese immigration, transplanted traditions and beliefs, the growth of social, economic, and political organizations, and struggle against discrimination.The end of Hong Kong: the secret diplomacy of imperial retreat
By Robert Cottrell. 1993
On June 30, 1997, Britain ended its colonial rule over Hong Kong, the wealthy city state with six million people.…
The terms of the handover to China were to be those set out in a Joint Declaration initialled by Britain and China in 1984. This is an account of the diplomacy behind that settlement, and the prospects that lay ahead for Hong Kong. 1993.The Etruscans
By Michael Grant. 1980
Author reviews the latest scholarly thinking about the Bronze Age origins and subsequent development of civilization in Etruria. A major…
section of the book deals with the geographical and cultural history of the major Etruscan city-states and their territories at the height of their power. 1980.The Faber book of reportage
By John Carey. 1987
John Carey has selected accounts of some of the most extraordinary events in history. Events range from the plague in…
Athens in 430 BC to the fall of Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. Exploration and discovery, historical figures, and great battles are all described by eyewitnesses. 1987.The face of the Third Reich (Pelican Ser.)
By Joachim C Fest, Michael Bullock. 1972
This text is a psychological profile of both individual Nazi leaders and various sections of German society at the time.…
Through this approach though, the main causes of the rise of Hitler and the Nazis are explained. Among other things, Fest illustrates the essential nihilism of the Nazi movement, whose ideology was based on the acquisition of power as an end rather than a means. The vacuous adoration of and devotion to Hitler was in itself a cornerstone of Nazi philosophy, the Fuhrer cult providing the basis for Fest's religious analogies. He also discusses how initially vague assertions of Aryan superiority and Semitic evil were later focused after the seizure of power, developed and expanded on by Himmler and the SS. 1972. Uniform title: Das Gesicht des Dritten Reiches.The European dictatorships 1918-1945
By Stephen J Lee. 1987
"European Dictatorships 1918–1945" surveys the extraordinary circumstances leading to, and arising from, the transformation of over half of Europe’s states…
to dictatorships between the first and the second World Wars. It describes the course of dictatorship in Europe before and during the Second World War, and examines the phenomenon of dictatorship itself and the widely different forms it can take. 1987.The curse of Akkad: climate upheavals that rocked human history
By Peter Christie. 2008
The world's first empire, Akkad, was toppled 4,000 years ago by a disastrous drought in Mesopotamia, Ancient Rome experienced 18…
months of darkness, possibly from a volcanic eruption half a world away, and Mayan society in Mexico began to crumble when fresh water became scarce. Christie explores climate shifts of the past, from ice ages to a World War II El Niño that frustrated the battle plans of Hitler. Grades 4-7. 2008.Before Owen Wister's publication of "The Virginian" in 1902, the image of the cowboy was essentially that of the dime…
novel. This book details the evidence that Everett Johnson, a cowboy from Virginia who had been a friend of Wister's in Wyoming in the 1880s, was the initial and prime inspiration for Wister's cowboy. 2015.The chosen ones: Canada's test pilots in action
By Sean Rossiter. 2002
From the dawn of aviation, Canada has produced intrepid pilots of renown. Learning their craft in some of the most…
difficult conditions anywhere, many of these flyers became expert pilots, navigators and mechanics. These great Canadians pilots were among the highest-scoring Allied aces of both world wars. 2002.The China mission: George Marshall's unfinished war, 1945–1947
By Daniel Kurtz-Phelan. 2018
As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set…
to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission--this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatened to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. 2018.The Emperor: downfall of an autocrat (Vintage International)
By Ryszard Kapuscinski. 1984
Haile Selassie, His Most Puissant Majesty and Distinguished Highness the Emperor of Ethiopia, enjoyed a 44-year reign until his own…
army gave him the boot in 1974. In the days following the coup, Polish journalist Kapuscinski travelled to Ethiopia and sought out members of the imperial court for interviews. Some descriptions of violence. 1984, c1978. Uniform title: Cesarz.The emergence of modern Japan: an introductory history since 1853
By Janet Hunter. 1989
Understanding Japan's recent history is essential to form an efficient working relationship with the country. The author concentrates on the…
years from 1853, when the outer world broke through Japan's isolation, to 1952 when the postwar settlement and economic recovery set her on the road to becoming an economic superpower. 1989.