In Lone Star Nation , Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W.Brands demythologizes Texas’s journey to statehood and restores thegenuinely heroic spirit to a pivotal chapter in Americanhistory. From Stephen Austin, Texas’s reluctant founder, to the alcoholicSam Houston, who came to lead the Texas army in its hour of crisisand glory, to President Andrew Jackson, whose expansionistaspirations loomed large in the background, here is the story ofTexas and the outsize figures who shaped its turbulent history.Beginning with its early colonization in the 1820s and taking inthe shocking massacres of Texas loyalists at the Alamo and Goliad,its rough-and-tumble years as a land overrun by the Comanches, andits day of liberation as an upstart republic, Brands’ livelyhistory draws on contemporary accounts, diaries, and letters toanimate a diverse cast of characters whose adventures, exploits,and ambitions live on in the very fabric of our nation.

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.

This "New York Times" bestseller tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down over the Pacific. One of them, George H.W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. This edition features the same Afterword by the author that appeared in the trade paperback edition. 作者简介： James Bradley is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The story of the events on Chichi Jima was first brought to his attention after the publication of that book and involved several years of research, travel, and writing-including a return trip to Chichi Jima with President George H. W. Bush. This is Bradley's second book. He lives in New York.

A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius wasthe Empire's official chronicler, and his "History of the Wars ofJustinian" proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor'sreign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a verydifferent - and dangerous - history to be published only once itsauthor was safely in his grave. "The Secret History" portrays the'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption andtyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress and whore, and thebrilliant general Belisarius as the pliable dupe of his schemingwife Antonina. Magnificently hyperbolic and highly opinionated,"The Secret History" is a work of explosive energy, depicting holyByzantium as a hell of murder and misrule.

This acclaimed book on the Wright Brothers takes the readerstraight to the heart of their remarkable achievement, focusing onthe technology and offering a clear, concise chronicle of preciselywhat they accomplished and how they did it. This book deals withthe process of the invention of the airplane and how the brothersidentified and resolved a range of technical puzzles that othershad attempted to solve for a century. Step by step, the book details the path of invention (includingthe important wind tunnel experiments of 1901) which culminated inthe momentous flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, the first majormilestone in aviation history. Enhanced by original photos,designs, drawings, notebooks, letters and diaries of the WrightBrothers, Visions of a Flying Machine is a fascinating book thatwill be of interest to engineers, historians, enthusiasts, oranyone interested in the process of invention.

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.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Garry Wills makes a compelling argumentfor a reassessment of Henry Adams as our nations greatest historianand his History as the "nonfiction prose masterpiece of thenineteenth century in America." Adams drew on his own southernfixations, his extensive foreign travel, his political service inthe Lincoln administration, and much more to invent the study ofhistory as we know it. His nine-volume chronicle of America from1800 to 1816 established new standards for employing archivalsources, firsthand reportage, eyewitness accounts, and othertechniques that have become the essence of modern history.Ambitious in scope, nuanced in detail, Henry Adams and the Makingof America throws brilliant light on the historian and the makingof history.

In his first three Commanders books, Tom Clancy teamed withGenerals Fred Franks, Jr., Chuck Horner, and Carl Stiner to providemasterful blends of history, biography, you-are-there narrative,insight into the practice of leadership, and plain, old-fashionedstorytelling. Battle Ready is all of that-and it is also somethingmore. Marine General Tony Zinni was known as the "Warrior Diplomat"during his nearly forty years of service. As a soldier, hiscredentials were impeccable, whether leading troops in Vietnam,commanding hair-raising rescue operations in Somalia, or-asCommander in Chief of CENTCOM-directing strikes against Iraq and AlQaeda. But it was as a peacemaker that he made just as great amark-conducting dangerous troubleshooting missions all over Africa,Asia, and Europe; and then serving as Secretary of State ColinPowell's special envoy to the Middle East, before disagreementsover the 2003 Iraq War and its probable aftermath caused him toresign. Battle Ready follows the evolution of both G

A useful, important book that reminds us, at the right time,how hard [European unity] has been, and how much care must be takento avoid the terrible old temptations. --Los Angeles Times Dark Continent provides an alternative history of the twentiethcentury, one in which the triumph of democracy was anything but aforgone conclusion and fascism and communism provided rivalpolitical solutions that battled and sometimes triumphed in aneffort to determine the course the continent would take. Mark Mazower strips away myths that have comforted us since WorldWar II, revealing Europe as an entity constantly engaged in abloody project of self-invention. Here is a history not ofinevitable victories and forward marches, but of narrow squeaks andunexpected twists, where townships boast a bronze of Mussolini onhorseback one moment, only to melt it down and recast it as a pairof noble partisans the next. Unflinching, intelligent, DarkContinent provides a provocative vision of Europ's past, present,and fut

The national bestselling World War II memoir with aforeword by John McCain. As part of the elite101st Airborne paratroopers, Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton fought incritical battles of World War II as a member of Easy Company,immortalized as the Band of Brothers. This is the true story of a real-life hero. From his years as atwo-sport UCLA star who played baseball with Jackie Robinson andfootball in the 1943 Rose Bowl, through his legendary post-WorldWar II legal career as a prosecutor, in which he helped convictSirhan Sirhan for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy, Buck Compton'sstory truly embodies the American Dream: college sports star,esteemed combat veteran, detective, attorney, judge.

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.

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.

The author of the New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music reveals music's role in the evolution of human culture-and "will leave you awestruck" (The New York Times) Daniel J. Levitin's astounding debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, enthralled and delighted readers as it transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in his second New York Times bestseller, his genius for combining science and art reveals how music shaped humanity across cultures and throughout history. Dr. Levitin identifies six fundamental song functions or types-friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love-then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for human culture and society to evolve. He shows, in effect, how these "six songs" work in our brains to preserve the emotional history of our lives and species. Dr. Levitin combines cutting-edge scientific research from his music cognition lab at McGill University and work i

For this rousing,revisionist history, the former head of exhibitions at England'sNational Maritime Museum has combed original documents and recordsto produce a most authoritative and definitive account of piracy's"Golden Age." As he explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking theplank" is pure fiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth thatis more complex and often bl... (展开全部) For this rousing, revisionist history, the formerhead of exhibitions at England's National Maritime Museum hascombed original documents and records to produce a mostauthoritative and definitive account of piracy's "Golden Age." Ashe explodes many accepted myths (i.e. "walking the plank" is purefiction), Cordingly replaces them with a truth that is more complexand often bloodier. 16 pp. of photos. Maps. From the Hardcover edition.

Award-winning author Alexander Stille has been called "one ofthe best English-language writers on Italy" by the New YorkTimes Book Review , and in The Sack of Rome he sets outto answer the question: What happens when vast wealth, a virtualmedia monopoly, and acute shamelessness combine in one man? Manyare the crimes of Silvio Berlusconi, Stille argues, and, with deftanalysis, he weaves them into a single mesmerizing chronicle—anepic saga of rank criminality, cronyism, and self-dealing at thehighest levels of power.

In this widely praised history of an infamous institution,award-winning scholar Marcus Rediker shines a light into thedarkest corners of the British and American slave ships of theeighteenth century. Drawing on thirty years of research in maritimearchives, court records, diaries, and firsthand accounts, TheSlave Ship is riveting and sobering in its revelations,reconstructing in chilling detail a world nearly lost to history:the “floating dungeons” at the forefront of the birth of AfricanAmerican culture.

When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664,the truth about its thriving, polyglot society began to disappearinto myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and acartoonish peg-legged governor. But the story of the Dutch colonyof New Netherland was merely lost, not destroyed: 12,000 pages ofits records–recently declared a national treasure–are now beingtranslated. Drawing on this remarkable archive, Russell Shorto hascreated a gripping narrative–a story of global sweep centered on awilderness called Manhattan–that transforms our understanding ofearly America. The Dutch colony pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yetit seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan andmulti-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individualrights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a progressive,young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck, who emerges in thesepages as a forgotten American patriot and whose political visionbrought him into conflict with Pete

News flash: The Indians didn’t save the Pilgrims fromstarvation by teaching them to grow corn. The “Wild West” was morepeaceful and a lot safer than most modern cities. And the biggestscandal of the Clinton years didn’t involve an intern in a bluedress. Surprised? Don’t be. In America, where history is riddled withmisrepresentations, misunderstandings, and flat-out lies about thepeople and events that have shaped the nation, there’s the historyyou know and then there’s the truth. In 33 Questions About AmericanHistory You’re Not Supposed to Ask, New York Times bestsellingauthor Thomas E. Woods Jr. reveals the tough questions about ournation’s history that have long been buried because they’re toopolitically incorrect to discuss, including: Are liberals really so antiwar? Was the Civil War all about slavery? Did the Framers really look to the American Indians as the modelfor the U.S. political system? Did Bill Clinton actually stop a genocide in Kosovo, a

"Narrative history in the great tradition . . ." ChicagoTribune Two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and bestselling authorBarbara W. Tuchman analyzes the American Revolution in abrilliantly original way, placing the war in the historical contextof the centuries-long conflicts between England and both France andHolland. This compellingly written history paints a magnificentportrait of General George Washington and recounts in rivetingdetail the events responsible for the birth of our nation.