Nine Greek biographies illustrate the rise and fall of Athens,from the legendary days of Theseus, the city's founder, throughSolon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias, andAlcibiades, to the razing of its walls by Lysander.
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A lively, compulsively browsable collection of neglectednotables-from the bestselling author of A Treasury of RoyalScandals "History," wrote Thomas Carlyle, "is the essence of innumerablebiographies." Yet countless fascinating characters are relegated toa historical limbo. In A Treasury of Foolishly ForgottenAmericans , Michael Farquhar has scoured the annals and rescuedthirty of the most intriguing, unusual, and yes, memorableAmericans from obscurity. From the mother of Mother's Day to PaulRevere's rival rider, the Mayflower murderer to "America'sSherlock Holmes," these figures are more than historicalrunners-up-they're the spies, explorers, patriots, and martyrswithout whom history as we know it would be very differentindeed.
In the early nineteenth century, the U.S. government shifted itspolicy from trying to assimilate American Indians to relocatingthem, and proceeded to forcibly drive seventeen thousand Cherokeesfrom their homelands. This journey of exile became known as theTrail of Tears. Historians Perdue and Green reveal the government’s betrayals andthe divisions within the Cherokee Nation, follow the exiles alongthe Trail of Tears, and chronicle the hardships found in the West.In its trauma and tragedy, the Cherokee diaspora has come torepresent the irreparable injustice done to Native Americans in thename of nation building—and in their determined survival, itrepresents the resilience of the Native American spirit.
The Hellenistic Age chronicles the years 336 to 30 BCE, aperiod that witnessed the overlap of two of antiquity’s greatcivilizations, the Greek and the Roman. Peter Green’s remarkablyfar-ranging study covers the prevalent themes and events of thosecenturies: the Hellenization, by Alexander’s conquests, of animmense swath of the known world; the lengthy and chaotic partitionof this empire by rival Macedonian bands; the decline of thecity-state as the predominant political institution; and, finally,Rome’s moment of transition from republican to imperial rule. It isa story of war and power-politics, and of the developing fortunesof art, science, and statecraft, spun by an accomplished classicistwith an uncanny knack for infusing life into the distant past, andapplying fresh insights that make ancient history seem alarminglyrelevant to our own times. “Spectacular . . . [filled with] Mr. Green’s criticalacumen.” –The Wall Street Journal “Green draws upon a li
Bring[s] a new perspective to World War IIliterature...Exciting" -- Library Journal. A powerful chronicle of loyalty, love, and heroism under fire,this is the unforgettable memoir of a member of the GreatestGeneration who fought in America's greatest battles-and of the warone man waged both in and out of the skies. High-spirited young Robert Morgan was transformed from afast-living, privileged playboy who grew up hobnobbing with theVanderbilts into a steel-nerved pilot forged in the cauldron ofWorld War II's most dangerous and desperate aerial encounters. Thisis the triumphant tale of that transformation-and of the plane andcrew that never failed to bring him back home.
Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the beginning of theAmerican Civil War. This well-rounded selection of Abraham Lincoln's finest speechescombines the classic and obscure, the lyrical and historical, andthe inspirational and intellectual to present a historical arcmarking periods of the Civil War-crisis, outbreak, escalation,victory, and Reconstruction. Addressing the conflict's multipleaspects-the issue of slavery, state versus federal power, themeaning of the Constitution, civic duty, death, and freedom-thiselegant keepsake collection will make a wonderful inspirationalgift for professed Lincoln fans, Civil War buffs, and lovers ofrhetorical genius.
In 1542, after years of witnessing Indian suffering andslavery, Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this indictment againstEuropean exploitation and mistreatment of the native peoples of theNew World. The document was dedicated to Prince Philip of Spain andappeared in published form in 1552. It carries all the urgency of amoment in history when it still seemed possible to reverse thetide.
In this thrilling real-life account of bravery, greed,obsession, and ultimate betrayal, award- winning writer Joe Jacksonbrings to life the story of fortune hunter Henry Wickham and hiscollaboration with the empire that fueled, then abandoned him. In1876, Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds out of therainforests of Brazil and delivered them to Victorian England'smost prestigious scientists at Kew Gardens. The story of howWickham got his hands on those seeds-and the history-makingconsequences-is the stuff of legend. The Thief at the End of theWorld is an exciting true story of reckless courage andambition that perfectly captures the essential nature of GreatBritain's colonial adventure in South America.
The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trottingtale of unquenchable desire, fanatical religion, raw greed, ficklefashion, and mouthwatering cuisine–in short, the very stuff ofwhich our world is made. In this engaging, enlightening, andanecdote-filled history, Michael Krondl, a noted chef turned writerand food historian, tells the story of three legendarycities–Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam–and how their single-mindedpursuit of spice helped to make (and remake) the Western diet andset in motion the first great wave of globalization. Sharing mealsand stories with Indian pepper planters, Portuguese sailors, andVenetian foodies, Krondl takes every opportunity to explore theworld of long ago and sample its many flavors. Along the way, hereveals that the taste for spice of a few wealthy Europeans ledto great crusades, astonishing feats of bravery, and even wholesaleslaughter. As stimulating as it is pleasurable, and filled with surprisinginsights, The Taste of Conquest offers a compell