Now revised — the easy-to-understand guide to the story ofAmerica Want to better understand U.S. History? This friendly book servesas your tour guide through the important events of America's pastand present, introducing you to the people who helped to shapehistory. From pre-Columbus to the American Revolution, fromWatergate to Iraq to Barack Obama, you'll discover fascinatingdetails that you won't find in dry history texts! They're coming to America — explore early civilizations, meetNative Americans, and see how the development of the Englishcolonies led to slavery and the American Revolution From Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln — examine thecontributions of great Americans as well as the discovery of gold,the birth of California, the Civil War, and Manifest Destiny America grows up — be there during the conquering of the West,industrial development, and the invention of the light bulb and thetelephone The impact of the World Wars — understand the sweeping

Menzies makes the fascinating argument that the Chinese discovered the Americas a full 70 years before Columbus. Not only did the Chinese discover America first, but they also, according to the author, established a number of subsequently lost colonies in the Caribbean. Furthermore, he asserts that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe, desalinated water, and perfected the art of cartography. In fact, he believes that most of the renowned European explorers actually sailed with maps charted by the Chinese. Though most historical records were destroyed during centuries of turmoil in the Far East, he manages to cobble together some feasible evidence supporting his controversial conclusions. Sure to cause a stir among historians, this questionable tale of adventure on the high seas will be hotly debated in academic circles. Margaret Flanagan

A military leader of legendary genius, Caesar was also a greatwriter, recording the events of his life with incomparableimmediacy and power. "The Civil War" is a tense and grippingdepiction of his struggle with Pompey over the leadership ofRepublican Rome - a conflict that spanned the entire Roman world,from Gaul and Spain to Asia and Africa. Where Caesar's own accountleaves off in 48 BC, his lieutenants take up the history,describing the vital battles of Munda, Spain and Thapsus, and theinstallation of Cleopatra, later Caesar's mistress, as Queen ofEgypt. Together these narratives paint a full picture of the eventsthat brought Caesar supreme power - and paved the way for hisassassination only months later.

Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1788, is the undisputed masterpiece of English historical writhing which can only perish with the language itself. Its length alone is a measure of its monumental quality: seventy-one chapters, of which twenty-eight appear in full in the edition, With style, learning and wit, Gibbon takes the reader through the history of Europe from the second century AD to the fall of Constantinople in 1453-an enthralling account by ‘the greates of the historians of the Englightenment'. This edition includes Gibbon's footnotes and quotation, here translated for the first time, togerther with brief explanatory comments, a precis of the chapters not included, 16 maps, a glossary, and a list of emperors.

This book marries a child`s wonder a genius`s intellect .we journey into hawking`s universe,while marvelling at his mind` sunday times. Was there a beginning of time?Could time run backwards?IS the universe infinite ordoes it have boundaries?These are iust some of the questions considered in aninternationallV acclaimed asterpiecewhich begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein．before delving into the secrets which still Iie at the heart of space and time．

Edward III is a major new addition to the Shakespearean canon.Melchiori claims that Shakespeare is the author of a significantpart of the play, the extent of which is discussed in detail. Theintroduction explores the play's historical background and itsrelationship to the early cycle of history plays. The commentaryexamines in depth the play's linguistic and poetic features, whilean extensive appendix on the use of sources explains the stages ofits composition.

More populous than any other country on earth, China alsooccupies a unique place in our modern world for the continuity ofits history and culture. In this sumptuously illustratedsingle-volume history, now in its second edition, noted historianPatricia Buckley Ebrey traces the origins of Chinese culture fromprehistoric times to the present. She follows its development fromthe rise of Confucianism, Buddhism, and the great imperialdynasties to the Mongol, Manchu, and Western intrusions and themodern communist state. Her scope is phenomenal - embracing Chinesearts, culture, economics, society and its treatment of women,foreign policy, emigration, and politics, including the keyuprisings of 1919 and 1989 in Tiananmen Square. Both acomprehensive introduction to an extraordinary civilization and anexpert exploration of the continuities and disjunctures of Chinesehistory, Professor Ebrey's book has become an indispensable guideto China past and present. This second edition includes a newchapter on China's rece

Although 'continually and bitterly ashamed' that the Arabs had risen in revolt against the Turks as a result of fraudulent British promises of self-rule, Lawrence led them in a triumphant campaign which revolutionized the art of war. Seven Pillars of Wisdom recreates epic events with extraordinary vividness. In the words of E. M. Forster, 'Round this tent-pole of a military chronicle, T. E. has hung an unexampled fabric of portraits, de*ions, philosophies, emotions, adventures, dreams'. However flawed, Lawrence is one of the twentieth century's most fascinating figures. This is the greatest monument to his character and achievements.

Most current reconstructions of Aegean prehistory are predominantly based on archaeology. This book, however, approaches the subject from the vantage point of linguistics and Greek heroic tradition. Its main thesis is that the ancient Greeks started their history as a mixed population group consisting of both Greek-speaking newcomers and the indigenous population of the land. Issues such as intermarriage and cultural and linguistic fusion are discussed as well as the eventual collapse of Mycenaean Greece and the creation of the myth of the Trojan War.

Since its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject -- unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, and

A highly illustrated and cemprehensive reference guide tn more than 66 tanks and armeured fighting vehicles from 1916 tn the present day Illustrated threaghnut with photographs and detailed artworks shewing every aspect ef the featured military vehicles Ileledes a full specification table fer each machine,detailing arilaleat, crew, dimensien, weight, speed, range, engine types and pewer output

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.

On January 30, 1889,at the champagne-splashed height of the Viennese Carnival, theHandsome and charming Crown Prince Rudolf fired a revolver at histeenaged mistress and them himself. The two shots that rang out atMayerling in the Vienna Woods echo still.

Another influential Penguin Classic-nowavailable in our signature black-spinedress For more than two thousand years,Sun-Tzu's The Art of War has provided military leaders withessential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops andterrain, and employing cunning and deception. An elemental part ofChinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Westernstruggle for survival and success, whether in battle, in business,or in relationships. With this volume's crisp, accessibletranslation and lively, learned introduction, even those readersfamiliar with The Art of War will experience it anew,finding it more fascinating-and more chilling-than ever.

Why did the industrial revolution take place ineighteenth-century Britain and not elsewhere in Europe or Asia? Inthis convincing new account Robert Allen argues that the Britishindustrial revolution was a successful response to the globaleconomy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. He shows thatin Britain wages were high and capital and energy cheap incomparison to other countries in Europe and Asia. As a result, thebreakthrough technologies of the industrial revolution - the steamengine, the cotton mill, and the substitution of coal for wood inmetal production - were uniquely profitable to invent and use inBritain. The high wage economy of pre-industrial Britain alsofostered industrial development since more people could affordschooling and apprenticeships. It was only when British engineersmade these new technologies more cost-effective during thenineteenth century that the industrial revolution would spreadaround the world.

This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies. First published as a lavish colour coffeetable book, this new expanded paperback edition has double the original number of contributions from many celebrities including Bill Bryson, Michael Palin, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Sebastian Faulks, Kate Adie, Kevin Spacey, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Richard Mabey , Simon Jenkins, John Sergeant, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joan Bakewell, Antony Beevor, Libby Purves, Jonathan Dimbleby, and many more: and a new preface by HRH Prince Charles.

In October 1942, a panzer officer wrote Stalingrad is no longer a town... Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure . The battle for Stalingrad became the focus of Hitler and Stalin's determination to win the gruesome, vicious war on the eastern front. The citizens of Stalingrad endured unimaginable hardship; the battle, with fierce hand-to-hand fighting in each room of each building, was brutally destructive to both armies. But the eventual victory of the Red Army, and the failure of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, was the first defeat of Hitler's territorial ambitions in Europe, and the start of his decline. An extraordinary story of tactical genius, civilian bravery, obsession, carnage and the nature of war itself, Stalingrad will act as a testament to the vital role of the soviet war effort.

From Solon to Socrates is a magisterial narrativeintroduction to what is generally regarded as the most importantperiod of Greek history. Stressing the unity of Greek history andthe centrality of Athens, Victor Ehrenberg covers a rich anddiverse range of political, economic, military and cultural issuesin the Greek world, from the early history of the Greeks, includingearly Sparta and the wars with Persia, to the ascendancy of Athensand the Peloponnesian War.