For the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, The Library ofAmerica re-issues the memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and WilliamTecumseh Sherman in a handsome, newly designed case. An ailingGrant wrote his Personal Memoirs to secure his family'sfuture. In doing so, the Civil War's greatest general won himself aunique place in American letters. John Keegan has called it"perhaps the most revelatory autobiography of high command to existin any language." The Library of America's edition of Grant's Memoirs includes 175 of his letters to Lincoln, Sherman, andhis wife, Julia, among others. Hailed as a prophet of modern warand condemned as a harbinger of modern barbarism, William T.Sherman is the most controversial general of the Civil War. "War iscruelty, and you cannot refine it," he wrote in fury to theConfederate mayor of Atlanta, and his memoir is filled with dozensof such wartime exchanges and a fascinating account of the famousmarch through Georgia and the Carolinas.

The epic story of the collision between one of nature’ssmallest organisms and history’s mightiest empire During the golden age of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinianreigned over a territory that stretched from Italy to North Africa.It was the zenith of his achievements and the last of them. In 542AD, the bubonic plague struck. In weeks, the glorious classicalworld of Justinian had been plunged into the medieval and modernEurope was born. At its height, five thousand people died every day inConstantinople. Cities were completely depopulated. It was thefirst pandemic the world had ever known and it left its indeliblemark: when the plague finally ended, more than 25 million peoplewere dead. Weaving together history, microbiology, ecology,jurisprudence, theology, and epidemiology, Justinian’s Flea is aunique and sweeping account of the little known event that changedthe course of a continent.

Hailed on publication in 1957 as "probably the only book published this year that will outlive the century," this is a brilliant of the idea that there are fixed laws in history and that human beings are able to predict them.

With What's So Great About America , Dinesh D'Souza isnot asking a question, but making a statement. The former WhiteHouse policy analyst and bestselling author argues that in theaftermath of September 11, 2001, American ideals and patriotismshould not be things we shy away from. Instead he offers thegrounds for a solid, well-considered pride in the Western pillarsof "science, democracy and capitalism," while deconstructingarguments from both the political Left and political Right. As an"outsider" from India who has had amazing success in the UnitedStates, D'Souza defends not an idealized America, but America as itreally is, and measures America not against an utopian ideal, butagainst the rest of the world in a provocative, challenging, andpersonal book.

Vivid, powerful and absorbing, this is a first-person accountof one of the most startling military episodes in history: theoverthrow of Montezuma's doomed Aztec Empire by the ruthless HernanCortes and his band of adventurers. Bernal Diaz del Castillo,himself a soldier under Cortes, presents a fascinatingly detailedde*ion of the Spanish landing in Mexico in 1520 and theiramazement at the city, the exploitation of the natives for gold andother treasures, the expulsion and flight of the Spaniards, theirregrouping and eventual capture of the Aztec capital.

More dramtatic than fiction...THE GUNS OF AUGUST is amagnificent narrative--beautifully organized, elegantly phrased,skillfully paced and sustained....The product of painstaking andsophisticated research. CHICAGO TRIBUNE Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman hasbrought to life again the people and events that led up to Worl WarI. With attention to fascinating detail, and an intense knowledgeof her subject and its characters, Ms. Tuchman reveals, for thefirst time, just how the war started, why, and why it could havebeen stopped but wasn't. A classic historical survey of a time anda people we all need to know more about, THE GUNS OF AUGUST willnot be forgotten.

The Crusades were the bridge between medieval and modernhistory, between feudalism and colonialism. In many ways, thelittle explored later Crusades were the most significant of themall, for they made the crisis truly global. The LastCrusaders is about the period?s last great conflict betweenEast and West, and the titanic contest between Habsburg-ledChristendom and the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies. From the great naval campaigns and the ferociousstruggle to dominate the North African shore, the conflict spreadout along trade routes, consuming nations and cultures, destroyingdynasties, and spawning the first colonial empires in South Americaand the Indian Ocean. Acclaimed scholar of Islamic history and author Barnaby Rogersonilluminates the Last Crusades in an accessible and skillful manner.He shows how, to this day, the disputed borders of the Crusades erastand as defining frontiers and dividing lines between languages,nations, and religions. From Constantinople to Fez, from Rhode

Books VI-X of Livy's monumental work trace Rome's fortunesfrom its near collapse after defeat by the Gauls in 386 bc to itsemergence, in a matter of decades, as the premier power in Italy,having conquered the city-state of Samnium in 293 bc. In thisfascinating history, events are described not simply in terms ofpartisan politics, but through colorful portraits that bring thestrengths, weaknesses and motives of leading figures such as thenoble statesman Camillus and the corrupt Manlius vividly to life.While Rome's greatest chronicler intended his history to be amemorial to former glory, he also had more didactic aims - hopingthat readers of his account could learn from the past ills andvirtues of the city.

Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empirecompresses thirteen turbulent centuries into an epic narrative shotthrough with insight, irony and incisive character analysis.Sceptical about Christianity, sympathetic to the barbarian invadersand the Byzantine Empire, constantly aware of how political leadersoften achieve the exact opposite of what they intend, Gibbon wasboth alert to the broad pattern of events and significant revealingdetails.

THIS UNIQUE TIMECHART CELEB RATES THE 100 YEAR LEGEND OF HARLEY-DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES 11-foot foldout chronological Timechart showing a full color illustrated history of Harley-Davidson.

Rome’s famed historian illuminates the twilight of the oldRoman Republic from 157 to 43 BC in succinct accounts of thegreatest politicians and statesmen of the classical period.

Following the enormous success of "Hitler: Hubris" this booktriumphantly completes one of the great modern biographies. Nofigure in twentieth century history more clearly demands a closebiographical understanding than Adolf Hitler; and no period is moreimportant than the Second World War. Beginning with Hitler'sstartling European successes in the aftermath of the Rhinelandoccupation and ending nine years later with the suicide in theBerlin bunker, Kershaw allows us as never before to understand themotivation and the impact of this bizarre misfit. He addresses thecrucial questions about the unique nature of Nazi radicalism, aboutthe Holocaust and about the poisoned European world that allowedHitler to operate so effectively.

No period in British history has more resonance and mysterytoday than the sixteenth century. New Worlds, Lost Worlds brings the atmosphere and events of this great epoch to life.Exploring the underlying religious motivations for the savageviolence and turbulence of the period-from Henry VIII's break withRome to the overwhelming threat of the Spanish Armada-Susan Brigdeninvestigates the actions and influences of such near-mythicalfigures as Elizabeth I, Thomas More, Bloody Mary, and Sir WalterRaleigh. Authoritative and accessible, New Worlds, LostWorlds , the latest in the Penguin History of Britain series,provides a superb introduction to one of the most important,compelling, and intriguing periods in the history of the Westernworld. This is a splendid piece of scholarship that engages thereader's imagination; Brigden's (history, Lincoln Coll., Oxford)extensive research has paid off in spades. While readers may findthemselves running to the OED to check words and concepts longforgotten, the chase is worth

You’re no idiot, of course. You’re aware that WallStreet crashed in 1929, leading to a financial disaster that lastedmore than a decade. But despite what you’ve heard about“Black Tuesday,” the Great Depression didn’t happen overnight orbecause of one bad day on Wall Street. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Great Depression will show youexactly how the economy collapsed – and how the United Statessurvived it. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide, you get: The causes in the 1920s that led to the Black Tuesday marketcrash on October 29, 1929 How the administration under President Herbert Hoover attemptedto manage the nationwide crisis. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s election, his formation of the BrainTrust, and his reassuring fireside chats. Soup kitchens, bread lines, homelessness, and other hardshipsAmericans faced during the Depression. How Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor brought the country’s economicwoes and the Great Depression to an end.

Lawyer, philosopher, statesman and defender of Rome'sRepublic, Cicero was a master of eloquence, and his pure literaryand oratorical style and strict sense of morality have been apowerful influence on European literature and thought for over twothousand years in matters of politics, philosophy, and faith. Thisselection demonstrates the diversity of his writings, and includesletters to friends and statesmen on Roman life and politics; thevitriolic Second Philippic Against Antony; and, his two most famousphilosophical treatises, "On Duties" and "On Old Age" - acelebration of his own declining years. Written at a time of brutalpolitical and social change, Cicero's lucid ethical writings formedthe foundation of the Western liberal tradition in political andmoral thought that continues to this day.

Case one: A little girl goes missing in the night. Case two: A beautiful young office worker falls victim to amaniac's apparently random attack. Case three: A new mother finds herself trapped in a hell of herown making - with a very needy baby and a very demanding husband -until a fit of rage creates a grisly, bloody escape. Thirty years after the first incident, as private investigatorJackson Brodie begins investigating all three cases, startlingconnections and discoveries emerge . . .

Marine Sniper is not only one of the most astonishingtrue stories to emerge from the Vietnam War, it has become aclassic of military nonfiction, inspiring a sequel, SilentWarrior: The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues . There have been many Marines. There have been many marksmen. Butthere has only been one Sergeant Carlos Hathcock. A legend in theMarine ranks, Hathcock stalked the Viet Cong behind enemy lines-ontheir own ground. And each time he emerged from the jungle havingdone his duty. His record is one of the finest in military history,with 93 confirmed kills. This is the story of a simple man who endured incredible dangersand hardships for his country and his Corps. These are the missionsthat have made Carlos Hathcock a legend in the brotherhood ofMarines.

Edward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall ofthe Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the most magnificent andambitious narratives in European literature. Its subject is thefate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteencenturies - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that ledto its disastrous collapse. Here, in volumes three and four, Gibbonvividly recounts the waves of barbarian invaders under commanderssuch as Alaric and Attila, who overran and eventually destroyed theWest. He then turns his gaze to events in the East, where even theachievements of the Byzantine emperor Justinian and the campaignsof the brilliant military leader Belisarius could not conceal thefundamental weaknesses of their empire.

Tanks and armored fighting vehicles have dominated the battlefield in all conflicts all over the world. Their amazing firepower, armor, and mobility has lead to most countries maintaining a fleet of these versatile and fearsome machines. Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles features the best of these vehicles.Entries are listed chronologically from 1915 to the present day. Each entry is accompanied by a de*ion of its development and service record, and a full specification table is included, detailing all the essential data:armament, crew, dimensions, speed,range, engine types, and power utput. Specifications are given with both imperial and metric measures listed. Among the vehicles featured in the volume are the British Mk I tank of World War I, the German Panther, and the American M4 Sherman of World War II, and the MI Abrams seen in battle today. All of the major manufacturers in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Russia are covered, alongside the smaller nations to present a global commentary on the

The Complete Idiots Guide(r) to World War II, SecondEdition , will feature updated and expanded coverage of thefateful D-Day invasion, a critical timeline of major WW II events,and a WW II timeline highlighting the crucial and most importantevents of the war. It will include details about major battles onland, in the air, and on the sea-starting with Hitler's rise topower and his goal of European conquest; to Japan's bombing ofPearl Harbor; to the decisive battles such as D-Day and the Battleof the Midway, which turned they tides of the war toward theAllies.

There has been a great deal written on the secret longings andsexual hypocrisy of the Victorian era's upper crust, but almostnothing has chronicled the erotic desires and sexuality of London'sworking class. Now, in this painstakingly researched book, theirtouching and emotional stories can be told.

Indispensible biographies of major figures in Romanhistory. A mathematician and philosopher, Plutarch was also an acclaimedbiographer and historian. Bringing together nine biographies fromhis Parallel Lives series, Rome in Crisis examines the lives ofsome of the most important people in the roman empire- TiberiusGracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Sertorius, Lucullus, Younger Cato,Brutus, Antony, Galba, and Otho, a reckless young noble whoconsorted with the tyrannical, debauched emperor Nero beforebriefly becoming emperor himself. Each biography is preceded by aninsightful introduction by the distinguished historian ChristopherPelling. Taken together, these portraits provide a wonderfullycompelling picture of the ancient world.

Leading a Learning Revolution tells the compelling story of a learning revolution that took place within the U.S. Department of Defense. Written by practitioners who actually walked the walk, this account of the creation of Defense Acquisition University (DAU) provides a clear blueprint that others can follow. It shares, in detail, the best practices they developed, so that the thousands of training organizations worldwide striving to create premier corporate universities can catapult forward. Offering an insider s look at the process, the authors clearly explain how they transformed an outdated training provider into a world-class university. Step-by-step the book outlines the enduring principles that were pivotal to Defense Acquisition University s success and describes the environment, early victories, current methods, and subsequent results. The authors discuss how to establish a mission and vision, develop a performance-based strategic planning process, and tackle change initiative. They also expl