When the United States entered the Gilded Age after the CivilWar, argues cultural historian Christopher Benfey, the nation lostits philosophical moorings and looked eastward to “Old Japan,” withits seemingly untouched indigenous culture, for balance andperspective. Japan, meanwhile, was trying to reinvent itself as amore cosmopolitan, modern state, ultimately transforming itself, inthe course of twenty-five years, from a feudal backwater to aninternational power. This great wave of historical and culturalreciprocity between the two young nations, which intensified duringthe late 1800s, brought with it some larger-than-lifepersonalities, as the lure of unknown foreign cultures promptedpilgrimages back and forth across the Pacific. In The Great Wave, Benfey tells the story of the tightly knitgroup of nineteenth-century travelers—connoisseurs, collectors, andscientists—who dedicated themselves to exploring and preserving OldJapan. As Benfey writes, “A sense of urgency impelled them, forthe

Although written over four hundred years after Alexander'sdeath, Arrian's account of the man and his achievements is the mostreliable we have. Arrian's own experience as a military commandergave him unique insights into the life of the world's greatestconqueror. He tells of Alexander's violent suppression of theTheban rebellion, his defeat of Persia and campaigns through Egyptand Babylon - establishing new cities and destroying others in hispath. While Alexander emerges as a charismatic leader, Arriansucceeds brilliantly in creating an objective portrait of a man ofboundless ambition, who was exposed to the temptations ofpower.

Pulitzer Prize Finalist Anisfield-Wolf Award Winner Over a frigid few weeks in the winter of 1741, ten fires blazedacross Manhattan. With each new fire, panicked whites saw moreevidence of a slave uprising. In the end, thirteen black men wereburned at the stake, seventeen were hanged and more than onehundred black men and women were thrown into a dungeon beneath CityHall. In New York Burning , Bancroft Prize-winning historian JillLepore recounts these dramatic events, re-creating, withpath-breaking research, the nascent New York of the seventeenthcentury. Even then, the city was a rich mosaic of cultures,communities and colors, with slaves making up a full one-fifth ofthe population. Exploring the political and social climate of thetimes, Lepore dramatically shows how, in a city rife with stateintrigue and terror, the threat of black rebellion united the whitepolitical pluralities in a frenzy of racial fear andviolence.

Pliny's "Natural History" is an astonishingly ambitious workthat ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology.Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers afascinating view of the world as it was understood in the firstcentury AD, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges,the first water-clock, or the use of asses' milk to removewrinkles. Pliny himself died while investigating the volcaniceruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79, and the natural curiositythat brought about his death is also very much evident in the"Natural History" - a book that proved highly influential right upuntil the Renaissance and that his nephew, Pliny the younger,described 'as full of variety as nature itself'.

In The War with Hannibal, Livy (59 BC AD 17) chronicles theevents of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage, until theBattle of Zama in 202 BC. He vividly recreates the immense armiesof Hannibal, complete with elephants, crossing the Alps; the panicas they approached the gates of Rome; and the decimation of theRoman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene. Yet it is also theclash of personalities that fascinates Livy, from great debates inthe Senate to the historic meeting between Scipio and Hannibalbefore the decisive battle. Livy never hesitates to introduce bothintense drama and moral lessons into his work, and here he brings aturbulent episode in history powerfully to life.

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

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, only twenty-eight, set sail forEgypt with 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, and a collection ofscholars, artists, and scientists to establish an eastern empire.He saw himself as a liberator, freeing the Egyptians fromoppression. But Napoleon wasn’t the first—nor the last—whotragically misunderstood Muslim culture. Marching across seeminglyendless deserts in the shadow of the pyramids, pushed to the limitsof human endurance, his men would be plagued by mirages, suicides,and the constant threat of ambush. A crusade begun in honor woulddegenerate into chaos. And yet his grand failure also yielded atreasure trove of knowledge that paved the way for modernEgyptology—and it tempered the complex leader who believed himselfdestined to conquer the world.

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.

The first complete history of the Caribbean islands--updatedthrough the year 2000. This comprehensive volume takes the reader and student throughmore than five hundred years of Caribbean history, beginning withColumbus's arrival in the Bahamas in 1492. A Brief History of theCaribbean traces the people and events that have marked thisconstantly shifting region, encompassing everything from economicbooms and busts to epidemics, wars, and revolutions, and bringingto life such important figures as Sir Francis Drake, Blackbeard,Toussaint Louverture, Fidel Castro, the Duvaliers, andJean-Bertrand Aristide. This superbly written history, revised and updated, with newchapters that reflect the islands' most recent social, economic,and political developments, is a work of impeccable scholarship.Featuring maps, charts, tables, and photographs, it remains theideal guide to the region and its people. "A veritable sourcebook of information . . . analysis,de*ion, interpretation . . . interesting and

The 2007–08 subprime financial crisis is the jumping-off point for Smick's (Johnson Smick International) examination of current threats to global prosperity. He explains that although the subprime losses are small in the context of world financial markets, a lack of transparency has diminished investor confidence, dried up financial liquidity, and threatened the very foundations of our world financial system. He says that the growth of global financial markets has made it more difficult for central banks like the U.S. Federal Reserve to intercede effectively in times of crisis. Smick compares the subprime crisis to past events like the UK's forced devaluation of the pound in 1992 and Japan's economic stagnation in the 1990s. He warns of pending dangers like an overheating of the Chinese development juggernaut and the present calls for protectionism by U.S. politicians. He favors a global financial system built on transparency and trust. Smick's role for some 30 years as an economic adviser to central banker

A war that started under questionable pretexts. A presidentwho is convinced of his country’s might and right. A military andpolitical stalemate with United States troops occupying a foreignland against a stubborn and deadly insurgency. The time is the 1840s. The enemy is Mexico. And the war is one ofthe least known and most important in both Mexican and UnitedStates history—a war that really began much earlier and whoseconsequences still echo today. Acclaimed historian David A. Clarypresents this epic struggle for a continent for the first time fromboth sides, using original Mexican and North Americansources. To Mexico, the yanqui illegals pouring into her territories ofTexas and California threatened Mexican sovereignty and security.To North Americans, they manifested their destiny to rule thecontinent. Two nations, each raising an eagle as her standard,blustered and blundered into a war because no one on either sidewas brave enough to resist the march into it. In Eagles and Empi

In this "informative and inspiring volume" (Chicago Tribune),Robert Harvey reconstructs in vivid detail the gripping story ofLatin America's independence and those who made it possible.Treated with contempt by their Spanish overlords, given todissipation and grandiose proclamations, these fearless mennonetheless achieved military feats unsurpassed elsewhere inhistory. The aristocratic Simón Bolívar led his guerilla armiesthrough swamp, jungle, and Andean ice to surprise his enemies andliberate most of northern South America. The inarticulate SanMartín joined Bernardo O'Higgins, illegitimate son of a Spanishviceroy, to do the same in the south. These and five others wagedthe war for freedom against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars,the American Revolution, the collapse of the Spanish Empire, andthe revolutionary ferment of the nineteenth century. Despite thesuccess of their revolutions, all seven liberators died in poverty,disgrace, or oblivion. This fascinating and dramatic story takes in a

Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the RomanEmpire from the second century a.d. to its collapse in the west inthe fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, iswidely considered the greatest work of history ever written. Thisabridgment retains the full scope of the original, but in a compassequivalent to a long novel. Casual readers now have access to thefull sweep of Gibbon’s narrative, while instructors and studentshave a volume that can be read in a single term. This uniqueedition emphasizes elements ignored in all other abridgments—inparticular the role of religion in the empire and the rise ofIslam.

In Patton, Montgomery, Rommel , one of Britain's mostaccomplished military scholars presents an unprecedented study ofthe land war in the North African and European theaters, as well astheir chief commanders—three men who also happened to be the mostcompelling dramatis personae of World War II. Beyond spellbinding depictions of pivotal confrontations at ElAlamein, Monte Cassino, and the Ardennes forest, author-scholarTerry Brighton illuminates the personal motivations and historicalevents that propelled the three men's careers: how Patton's,Montgomery's, and Rommel's Great War experiences helped to moldtheir style of command—and how, exactly, they managed to applytheir arguably megalomaniacal personalities (and hithertounrecognized political acumen and tact) to advance their careersand strategic vision. Opening new avenues of inquiry into the lives and careers of threemen widely profiled by scholars and popular historians alike,Brighton definitively answers numerous lingering and controversialquestion

Nominated for the National Book Award, this book is set incolonial Massachusetts where, in 1704, a French and Indian warparty descended on the village of Deerfield, abducting a Puritanminister and his children. Although John Williams was eventuallyreleased, his daughter horrified the family by staying with hercaptors and marrying a Mohawk husband.

The story of two World War II battalions--one German, oneAmerican--each cut off behind enemy lines in the same forest at thesame time, and the heroic efforts to save them--InfantryMagazine

More than fifteen million Americans currently practice yoga (according to Yoga Journal ), but how many of them know the true story of how Downward Dog first captivated America? Resurrecting a fascinating and forgotten tale, journalist Robert Love returns to the Gilded Age, when Dr. Pierre Bernard (n Perry Baker in Iowa) revived a discipline banned in Victorian India, packaged it for Americans, and taught legions of followers, who bankrolled his luxurious Hudson River ashram- the first in the nation. Filled with Jazz Age celebrities, heiresses, spies, and outraged clergy, The Great Oom is the enthralling life story of the unlikeliest of gurus, and a stunning saga of mysticism, intrigue, and the American dream.

Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson ranges across the entirehistory of America’s foreign entanglements and delves into all thedimensions of American power—military, economic, cultural, andpolitical. The result is a book whose conclusions are asconvincing, and troubling, as they are original. Fergusondemonstrates that America has always been an empire in denial andshows the fateful consequences of its special brand of imperialism.He examines the challenges to the United States from its principalrivals, the European Union and China, and offers a compellinganalysis of the connection between the country’s domestic economichealth and its foreign affairs—the bottom line of imperialism,American style. Colossus is a peerless reckoning withAmerican power that should be read by any thinking citizen of thisunspoken empire.

The popular primer to Latino life and culture—updatedfor 2008 Latinos represent the fastest-growing ethnic population in theUnited States. In an accessible and entertainingquestion-and-answer format, this completely revised 2008 editionprovides the most current perspective on Latino history in themaking, including: ? New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s announced candidacy for the2008 presidential election ? Ugly Betty —the hit ABC TV show based on the Latinotelenovela phenomenon ? The number of Latino players in Major League baseball surpassingthe 25 percent mark ? Immigration legislation and the battle over the Mexicanborder ? The state of Castro’s health and what it means for Cuba More than ever, this concise yet comprehensive reference guide isthe ideal introduction to the vast and varied history and cultureof this multifaceted ethnic group.

Peter Ackroyd at his most magical and magisterial—aglittering, evocative, fascinating, story-filled portrait ofVenice, the ultimate city. The Venetians’ language and way of thinking setthem aside from the rest of Italy. They are an island people,linked to the sea and to the tides rather than the land. Thislat?est work from the incomparable Peter Ackroyd, like a magicgondola, transports its readers to that sensual and surprisingcity. His account embraces facts and romance, conjuring up the atmosphereof the canals, bridges, and sunlit squares, the churches and themarkets, the festivals and the flowers. He leads us through thehistory of the city, from the first refugees arriving in the mistsof the lagoon in the fourth century to the rise of a greatmercantile state and its trading empire, the wars against Napoleon,and the tourist invasions of today. Everything is here: themerchants on the Rialto and the Jews in the ghetto; theglassblowers of Murano; the carnival masks and the sad colonies oflepers; the