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Book Review Assignment Requirements:
A book review will give you the opportunity to critique what the author has written. After reading the book, write and type a 2-3 page
(double-spaced, Times New Roman size 12 type) book review, using MLA format. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/13/
Do not use Cliff Notes or other online resources. This assignment will count as a project grade, and is due 1/9/15. In your essay,
amidst your reflections, be sure to include answers to the questions which follow:
1. What is the overall thesis of this book?
2. Describe three ethnic groups/ societies mentioned in this book.
3. Compare and contrast these three societies in the following areas
a. roles of men and women
b. role of religion in the society
4. Describe three technologies mentioned in this book.
5. Explain how these technologies changed society in the following timeframes
a. within ten years
b. over the long term
6. Describe three ways land and laborers combined economically in this book
7. Explain how these economic factors of production effected the environment in the following contexts
a. changes to the plants and animal ecosystems
b. impact on human health and welfare
8. Describe three political and/or military leaders mentioned in this book.
9. Explain how these leaders influenced history in the following contexts
a. choice of violence or cooperation to achieve goals
b. protecting the rights of the majority or minorities
10. Based on what you read, felt and learned from the book, what will you do differently in the future?
11. To which of your friends and family would you recommend this book? Explain.
12. To which of your friends and family would you NOT recommend this book? Explain.
Reading List
Artic/Antarctic Regions:
Farthest North, by Fridtjof Nansen (1897) In 1893, Nansen purposely froze his ship into the Arctic ice and traveled with the drift of the pack. When
the ship approached striking distance of the Pole, he set out for it by dogsled, reaching the highest latitude yet attained by man before turning back to
Norway. He was gone three years.
South, by Ernest Shackleton (1919) Shackleton's story bears endless retelling (and it has been retold, in fine accounts by Alfred Lansing and, more
recently, Caroline Alexander). Here we have it in the great British explorer's own words, quiet, understated, enormously compelling. We all know the
story: the expedition to Antarctica in the Endurance, the ship breaking up in the ice, the incredible journey in an open boat across the world's
stormiest seas.
Asia:
Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer (1997) Was it fate that put Krakauer—at once a crack climber, a seasoned journalist, and a sensitive conscience—on
the world's highest mountain during that notorious 1996 season? Unpredictable weather, human folly, and a mind-set committed to client satisfaction
killed 12 people on Everest that year, while the whole world watched.
Seven Years in Tibet, by Heinrich Harrer (1953) Escaping from a British prisoner-of-war camp in India, the great Austrian climber headed for the
mountains, Tibet, and freedom. Amazingly, he got all the way to Lhasa, where he befriended the young Dalai Lama.
Man-Eaters of Kumaon, by Jim Corbett (1944) Corbett was an Indian-born Englishman who became legendary for his ability to track and kill maneating tigers and leopards—a valuable skill in a region where a single tiger could kill as many as 400 people.
Stranger in the Forest, by Eric Hansen (1988) After trying and failing several times, spraining his ankle, and being frightened by tales of crocodiles
seven meters (23 feet) long, Hansen managed to walk across Borneo, for reasons not at all clear to himself.
The Long Walk, by Slavomir Rawicz (1956) The author, a Polish cavalry officer, and six other men escaped from a Siberian prison camp in 1941,
walked across Mongolia and the Gobi, through Tibet and the Himalaya, enduring incredible hardship all the way.
My Journey to Lhasa, by Alexandra David-Neel (1927) At the age of 55, Frenchwoman David-Neel crossed the Himalaya in midwinter and entered
forbidden Tibet in native disguise. It was an extremely dangerous journey; she faced starvation, bandits, and unspeakable weather.
Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth
Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi Mohandas K. Gandhi is one of the most inspiring figures of our time. In his classic autobiography he
recounts the story of his life and how he developed his concept of active nonviolent resistance, which propelled the Indian struggle for independence
and countless other nonviolent struggles of the twentieth century.
The Analects Of Confucius by Confucius Written during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period (ca. 479 BCE - 221
BCE), the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a tremendous influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and
values today. For almost two thousand years, the Analects had also been the fundamental course of study for any Chinese scholar, for a man was not
considered morally upright or enlightened if he did not study Confucius' works.
The Dhammapada Eknath Easwaran (translator) Dhammapada means "the path of dharma," the path of truth, harmony, and righteousness. Eknath
Easwaran's best-selling translation of this essential Buddhist text, based on the oldest version, consists of 423 short verses gathered by the Buddha's
direct disciples after his death and organized by theme: anger, thought, joy, pleasure, and others. The Buddha's timeless teachings take the form of
vivid metaphors from everyday life and are well served by Easwaran's lucid translation. An authoritative introduction and chapter notes offer helpful
context for modern readers.
China: Land of Dragons and Emperors [Hardcover]
Adeline Yen Mah
The history of China spans thousands of years. Journey through China in this fascinating and absorbing book: discover the land of dragons and
emperors, and learn about the significance of its ancient dynasties. Countless tools and materials that people have used every day for centuries—
paper, gunpowder, cast iron, matches, and silk, to name just a few—were first made in China. Chinese society has progressed through major changes,
but lucky numbers, festivals, beliefs about colors, the practic of footbinding, the building of the Great Wall, and the larger-than-life people of China
are all integral parts of this ancient civilization and still have an impact on life today.
Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire [Hardcover]
Diana Preston
While Galileo suffered under house arrest at the hands of Pope Urban VIII, the Thirty Years War ruined Europe, and the Pilgrims struggled to
survive in the New World, work began on what would become one of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Taj Mahal. Built by the Moghul emperor
Shah Jahan as a memorial to his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, its flawless symmetry and gleaming presence have for centuries dazzled everyone
who has seen it, and the story of its creation is a fascinating blend of cultural and architectural heritage.
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World [Paperback]
Jack Weatherford
(Author)
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-?ve years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every
country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed
feudal systems of aristocratic privilege.
The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]
William Dalrymple The Siege of Delhi was the Raj’s Stalingrad: one of the most horrific events in the history of Empire, in which thousands on both
sides died. And when the British took the city—securing their hold on the subcontinent for the next ninety years—tens of thousands more Indians
were executed, including all but two of Zafar’s sixteen sons. By the end of the four-month siege, Delhi was reduced to a battered, empty ruin, and
Zafar was sentenced to exile in Burma. There he died, the last Mughal ruler in a line that stretched back to the sixteenth century.
The Art of War Sun Tzu These are the words of ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, whose now-classic treatise, The Art of War, was written
more than 2,500 years ago. Originally a text for victory on the battlefield, the book has vastly transcended its original purpose.Today many leading
American business schools use the text as required reading for aspiring managers, and even Oliver Stone's award-winning film Wall Street cites The
Art of War as a guide to those who strive for success.
The Travels of Marco Polo Marco Polo Marco Polo’s vivid descriptions of the splendid cities and people he encountered on his journey along the
Silk Road through the Middle East, South Asia, and China opened a window for his Western readers onto the fascinations of the East and continued
to grow in popularity over the succeeding centuries. To a contemporary audience, his colorful stories—and above all, his breathtaking description of
the court of the great Kublai Khan, Mongol emperor of China—offer dazzling portraits of worlds long gone.
The 47 Ronin John Allyn 47 Ronin is the classic Japanese story of Lord Asano of Ako and one of the bloodiest vendettas in Japan's feudal history. In
a shocking clash between the warriors and the merchant class of seventeenth century Japan, there emerged the most unlikely set of heroes--the fortyseven ronin, or ex-samurai, of Ako.
Geisha: A Life Mineko Iwasaki Trained to become a geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other "women of art" in Kyoto's Gion
Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and wealthy statesmen
alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life.
The Last Manchu: The Autobiography of Henry Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China Henry Pu Yi In 1908 at the age of two, Henry Pu Yi ascended to
become the last emperor of the centuries-old Manchu dynasty. After revolutionaries forced Pu Yi to abdicate in 1911, the young emperor lived for
thirteen years in Peking’s Forbidden City, but with none of the power his birth afforded him. The remainder of Pu Yi’s life was lived out in a topsyturvy fashion: fleeing from a Chinese warlord, becoming head of a Japanese puppet state, being confined to a Russian prison in Siberia, and enduring
taxing labor.
Zheng He and the Treasure Fleet 1405-1433 Paul Rozario Admiral Zheng He is a major historical figure in China and a great explorer in the history
of navigation. An Admiral under the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He undertook a total of seven epic voyages between 1405 and 1433,
spanning over 30 countries throughout the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. These historic voyages are, to this day, the largest maritime
expeditions in world history.
Freedom from Fear: And Other Writings [Paperback]
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi’s collected writings—edited by her late husband, who the ruling military junta prevented from visiting Burma
as he was dying of cancer—reflects her greatest hopes and fears for her fellow Burmese people, and her concern about the need for international
cooperation in the continuing fight for Burma’s freedom. Bringing together her most powerful speeches, letters and interviews, this remarkable
collection gives a voice to Burma’s “woman of destiny,” whose fate remained in the hands of her enemies for fifteen years, before her release from
house arrest in 2010.
Survival in the Killing Fields Haing Ngor Nothing has shaped my life as much as surviving the Pol Pot regime. I am a survivor of the Cambodian
holocaust. That's who I am," says Haing Ngor. And in his memoir, Survival in the Killing Fields, he tells the gripping and frequently terrifying story
Africa:
Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt [Hardcover]
Nina Burleigh Hazarding hunger, hardship, uncertainty, and disease, Napoleon's scientists risked their lives in pursuit of discovery. They approached
the land not as colonizers, but as experts in their fields of scholarship, meticulously categorizing and collecting their finds—from the ruins of the
colossal pyramids to the smallest insects to the legendary Rosetta Stone.
The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa Patricia McKissack Based on folklore, contemporaneous accounts and
modern scholarly research, their discussion covers the origins, customs, people and political history of these civilizations, which flourished from
approximately A.D. 500 to 1700 but which until recently have been neglected by historians. Because much of the available information about
medieval Africa is sketchy at best, the narrative is sometimes confusing, especially when the authors combine divergent theories or rely on myth and
legend to fill holes in the historical record. Still, their volume contains insightful information about an important period in both African and world
history and explores such complicated issues as African involvement in the slave trade and the role of religion in establishing, shaping and destroying
bygone kingdoms.
The Washing Of The Spears: The Rise And Fall Of The Zulu Nation
Donald R. Morris This is the ultimate work on the rise and fall of the Zulu nation. Morris gives a rich, detailed and quite frankly amazing history of
Shaka's rise and the ultimate fall of the Zulu nation to the British. This is a long, exciting historically wonderful labor of love and a must read for
anyone wishing knowledge of this fascinating period of history.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African Written by Himself [Paperback]
Olaudah Equiano Autobiographical work from the eighteenth century merchant seaman. It tells in stark, yet very human terms, how a slave's life
could go, from a slave's perspective. Olaudah Equiano, kidnapped at age 11, from his Nigerian village (of course, that nation had not come into
existence yet), was sold and re-sold, shipped across the seas in a slave vessel with abominable conditions, then sold and sold again. He prayed
continually for freedom, but did not win it for many years. Even `good' masters betrayed him, what to say of the devils who treated him worse than a
dog. He survived battles, shipwrecks, the attentions of American kidnappers of freed slaves, and much more. He learned good English, reading,
writing and navigation. At last, in the West Indies he bought his freedom with money he'd earned by bitter toil, returned to England and roamed no
more.
Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey Fergal Keane When Rwandan president Habyarimana’s jet was shot down in April 1994, the country erupted
into a hundred-day orgy of killing which left up to one million dead. Now, following the lines of blood and history, Fergal Keane takes us right along
with him on a journey through the holocaust that preempted our television screens. Season of Blood is a veteran Africanist’s deeply personal and
elucidating account of ordinary people caught in a nightmare of manipulation and massacre, an encounter with unimaginable evil. Contradicting the
popular assumption that the genocide erupted as a result of tribal tensions, Keane demonstrates how a power-hungry clique actually planned the
massacres far in advance through a systematic campaign of brainwashing and propaganda delivered with a precision not seen since Nazi Germany.
Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela [Paperback]
Nelson Mandela Mandela was raised in the traditional, tribal culture of his ancestors, but at an early age learned the modern, inescapable reality of
what came to be called apartheid, one of the most powerful and effective systems of oppression ever conceived. In classically elegant and engrossing
prose, he tells of his early years as an impoverished student and law clerk in Johannesburg, of his slow political awakening, and of his pivotal role in
the rebirth of a stagnant ANC and the formation of its Youth League in the 1950s. He describes the struggle to reconcile his political activity with his
devotion to his family, the anguished breakup of his first marriage, and the painful separations from his children. He brings vividly to life the
escalating political warfare in the fifties between the ANC and the government, culminating in his dramatic escapades as an underground leader and
the notorious Rivonia Trial of 1964, at which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Herecounts the surprisingly eventful twenty-seven years in
prison and the complex, delicate negotiations that led both to his freedom and to the beginning of the end of apartheid.
Travels in West Africa, by Mary Kingsley (1897) She went by steamboat and canoe, accompanied by native crewmen, up the Ogooué. She fought off
crocodiles with a paddle, hit a leopard over the head with a pot, and wrote with equal charm about beetles and burial customs.
First Footsteps in East Africa, by Richard Burton (1856) He spoke fluent Arabic and traveled in disguise to places barred to infidels. Harer, in East
Africa, was one such place, and he wrote this extraordinary book about his adventures there. Burton was the very archetype of the British explorer—
eccentric, restless, brave.
Through the Dark Continent, by Henry M. Stanley (1878) We know him for finding Livingstone, who wasn't lost, in 1871, but the truly adventurous
trip was Stanley's next, in 1874, when the British explorer became one of the first Europeans to run the length of the Congo.
Journey Without Maps, by Graham Greene (1936) Liberia, 1935: "The great majority of all mosquitoes caught in Monrovia are of a species known to
carry yellow fever." The U.S. Army map of the country's interior filled in the blanks with the word "Cannibals."
Travels, by Ibn Battúta (circa 1354) The great 14th-century Moroccan wan-derer Battúta spent half his long life on the move. He went deep into
Africa, circled India, and reached Russia, Sumatra, Shanghai. He was sometimes wealthy, sometimes penniless, often in danger.
Middle East:
Ramesses: Egypt's Greatest Pharaoh Joyce A. Tyldesley Everyone has heard of Ramesses the Great - but what is the truth behind the legend? Joyce
Tyldesley's lively book explores the life and times of Egypt's greatest king. Ramesses II was the archetypal Egyptian pharoah: a mighty warrior, an
extravagant builder and the father of scores of children. His monuments and image were to be found in every corner of the Egyptian empire. This is
his amazing story.
Hatchepsut: The Female Joyce A. Tyldesley Egypt’s Queen or, as she would prefer to be remembered, King Hatchepsut ruled over an age of peace,
prosperity, and remarkable architectural achievement (c. 1490 b.c.). Had she been born a man, her reign would almost certainly have been
remembered for its stable government, successful trade missions, and the construction of one of the most beautiful structures in the world-the Deir elBahri temple at Luxor. After her death, however, her name and image were viciously attacked, her monuments destroyed or usurped, her place in
history systematically obliterated. At last, in this dazzling work of archaeological and historical sleuthing, Joyce Tyldesley rescues this intriguing
figure from more than two thousand years of oblivion and finally restores the female pharaoh to her rightful prominence as the first woman in
recorded history to rule a nation.
Cleopatra: A Life Stacy Schiff Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else,
Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the
first and poisoned the second; incest and assassination were family specialties. She had children by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most
prominent Romans of the day. With Antony she would attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled both their ends.
Arabian Sands, by Wilfred Thesiger (1959) The southern Arabian desert, a quarter million square miles of sand (650,000 square kilometers), is now a
place of oil wells and Land Rovers, but before the 1950s it was still known as the Empty Quarter, a place you entered only on camel and only as an
Arab. Only a few white men had ever seen it, much less crossed it. From 1945 to 1950, the British Thesiger crossed it twice.
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T.E. Lawrence (1926) A desert woman speaks to the British adventurer of his "horrible blue eyes which looked, she
said, like the sky shining through the eye-sockets of an empty skull." Indeed. He must have been something—crazily intense in his white robes, as
romantic a figure as any who has ever lived: Lawrence of Arabia.
Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures -- The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text: Torah * Nevi'im * Kethuvim The Jewish
Publication Society Regarded throughout the English-speaking world as the standard English translation of the Holy Scriptures, the JPS TANAKH
has been acclaimed by scholars, rabbis, lay leaders, Jews, and Christians alike. The JPS TANAKH is an entirely original translation of the Holy
Scriptures into contemporary English, based on the Masoretic (the traditional Hebrew) text. Not since the third century b.c.e., when 72 elders of the
tribes of Israel created the Greek translation of Scriptures known as the Septuagint has such a broad-based committee of Jewish scholars produced a
major Bible translation.
Holy Bible, KJV English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611.[3] First printed by the
King's Printer Robert Barker,[4][5] this was the third official translation into English.
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Translator) This superb new translation of the Qur'an is written in contemporary
language that remains faithful to the meaning and spirit of the original, making the text crystal clear while retaining all of this great work's eloquence.
The translation is accurate and completely free from the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures that mar existing translations. Thus, for the first
time, English-speaking readers will have a text of the Qur'an which is easy to use and comprehensible. Furthermore, Haleem includes notes that
explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference.
SALADIN: Hero of Islam Geoffrey Hindley The extraordinary character and career of Saladin are the keys to understanding the Battle of Hattin, the
fall of Jerusalem and the failure of the Third Crusade. He united warring Muslim lands, reconquered the bulk of Crusader states and faced the
Richard the Lion Heart, king of England, in one of the most famous confrontations in medieval warfare. Geoffrey Hindley's sympathetic and highly
readable study of the life and times of this remarkable, many-sided man, who dominated the Middle East in his day, gives a fascinating insight into
his achievements and into the Muslim world of his contemporaries.
Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World Justin Marozzi He was not born to a distinguished family, nor did he find his apprenticeship
easy -- at one point his mobile army consisted only of himself, his wife, seven companions and four horses -- but his dominion grew with astonishing
rapidity. In the last two decades of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, he blazed through Asia. Cities were razed to the ground,
inhabitants tortured without mercy, sometimes enemies were buried alive -- more commonly they were decapitated. On the ruins of Baghdad,
Tamerlane had his princes erect a pyramid of 90,000 heads.
Europe:
The Iliad (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) Homer the stirring story of the Trojan War and the rage of Achilles that has gripped listeners and readers
for 2,700 years. This timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling
amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to its wrenching, tragic conclusion. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his
superb Introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and relentless, it co-exists with both images of civilized life and a poignant
yearning for peace.
The Trial and Death of Socrates Plato THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF SOCRATES is a compilation four dialogues: the "Euthyphro," the "Apology,"
"Crito," and the "Phaedo". As the title clearly states, these four dialogues convey the story - and philosophical debate - that surrounded Socates' trial
and death. In these dialogues we find Socrates defending the righteousness of his actions and views, and tearing away at his prosecutors with the skill
of expert lawyer. His only weapon being the truth.
The history of Herodotus: Volume 1
HerodotusThe Histories of Herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in Western literature. Written from the 450s to the 420s BC
in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures
that were known around the Mediterranean and Western Asia at that time. It is not an impartial record but it remains one of the West's most important
sources regarding these affairs.
The History of the Peloponnesian War [Paperback]
Thucydides Thucydides is considered the father of "scientific history", because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of
cause and effect without reference to the intervention of the gods. The History of the Peloponnesian War is the history of the 5th century B.C.
struggle between Athens, a democratic state and sea power, and the states of the Peloponnese headed by Sparta, a conservative power with an
efficient military force.
Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician Anthony Everitt
He squared off against Caesar and was friends with young Brutus. He advised the legendary Pompey on his somewhat botched transition from
military hero to politician. He lambasted Mark Antony and was master of the smear campaign, as feared for his wit as he was for exposing his
opponents’ sexual peccadilloes. Brilliant, voluble, cranky, a genius of political manipulation but also a true patriot and idealist, Cicero was Rome’s
most feared politician, one of the greatest lawyers and statesmen of all times.
Caesar: The Gallic War Julius Caesar Extremely fun to read and in general of significant importance not only as it pertains to Rome - it's politics,
military agenda, etc. -- but in respect to understanding who was doing what in the provinces.As a fan of barbarians everywhere, but particular of
those tall woad-blue fellows, I can say this work is critical, although there are assuredly some historians that would debate Caesar's accuracy.
Nero Edward Champlin
Nero murdered his younger brother and rival to the throne, probably at his mother's prompting. He then murdered his mother, with whom he may
have slept. He killed his pregnant wife in a fit of rage, then castrated and married a young freedman because he resembled her. He mounted the
public stage to act a hero driven mad or a woman giving birth, and raced a ten-horse chariot in the Olympic games. He probably instigated the
burning of Rome, for which he then ordered the spectacular punishment of Christians, many of whom were burned as human torches to light up his
gardens at night.
The Silent World, by Jacques Cousteau (1953) Here is Jacques Cousteau before he became, well, Jacques Cousteau. This is his first book, about the
invention of scuba gear and those first, daring dives with the new equipment.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s empire has
been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the twentieth century’s blackest hours. A worldwide bestseller with millions of copies in print, The
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the
world.
Rome: A Cultural, Visual, and Personal History [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]
Robert Hughes
(Author)
From the beginning, Rome was a hotbed of power, overweening ambition, desire, political genius, and corruption. Hughes details the turbulent years
that saw the formation of empire and the establishment of the sociopolitical system, along the way providing colorful portraits of all the major
figures, both political (Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Nero, Caligula) and cultural (Cicero, Martial, Virgil), to name just a few. For almost a
thousand years, Rome would remain the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world.
Here I Stand - A Life Of Martin Luther Roland Bainton ROLAND H. BAINTON (1894-1984), a specialist in Reformation history, was for forty-two
years Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale, and he continued writing well into his twenty years of retirement. He wore his
scholarship lightly and had a lively, readable style. His most popular book, Here I Stand, sold more than a million copies.
Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End SlaveryEric Metaxas Amazing Grace tells the story of the remarkable life of
the British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This accessible biography chronicles Wilberforce's extraordinary role as a human rights
activist, cultural reformer, and member of Parliament. At the center of this heroic life was a passionate twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave
trade, a battle Wilberforce won in 1807, as well as efforts to abolish slavery itself in the British colonies, a victory achieved just three days before his
death in 1833.
The Communist Manifesto Karl Marx Marx and Engels's critique of capitalism and its deleterious effect on all aspects of life, from the increasing rift
between the classes to the destruction of the nuclear family, has proven remarkably prescient. Their spectre, manifested in the Manifesto's vivid
prose, continues to haunt the capitalist world, lingering as a ghostly apparition even after the collapse of those governments which claimed to be
enacting its principles.
Mein Kampf [Hardcover]
Adolf Hitler Had the book been taken seriously when it was first published, perhaps the 20th century would have been very different. Beyond the
anger, hatred, bigotry, and self-aggrandizing, Mein Kampf is saddled with tortured prose, meandering narrative, and tangled metaphors (one person
was described as "a thorn in the eyes of venal officials"). That said, it is an incredibly important book. It is foolish to think that the Holocaust could
not happen again, especially if World War II and its horrors are forgotten. As an Amazon.com reader has pointed out, "If you want to learn about
why the Holocaust happened, you can't avoid reading the words of the man who was most responsible for it happening."
Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs John Foxe (Author) This is
such an inspiring read although many of the stories are very graphic in detailing how Christians were tortured and killed (in horrid ways) for their
faith. It makes my problems seem pretty non-existent! I think that this is a definite "must read" for the believer. It gives so much history as to how
our faith has been handed down over the years by men, women and even children who gave all instead of denying their Lord and Savior
Prince Henry the Navigator Sir Peter Russell Examining the full range of the prince's activities as an imperialist and as a maritime, cartographical and
navigational pioneer, Peter Russell shows that while Henry was firmly rooted in medieval times, his innovations set in motion changes that altered
the history of Europe and regions far beyond.
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe Laurence Bergreen Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation
of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World,
prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand accounts, bringing to life this groundbreaking and
majestic tale of discovery that changed both the way explorers would henceforth navigate the oceans and history itself.
The Four Voyages: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narratives Christopher Columbus No gamble in history has
been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus' ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of
a 'New World'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central
America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating from
awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian
civilization to 'savages' matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement.
The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000 A.D.
James Reston Jr. As the millennium approached, Europeans feared the world would end. The old order was crumbling, and terrifying and confusing
new ideas were gaining hold in the populace. Random and horrific violence seemed to sprout everywhere without warning, and without apparent
remedy. And, in fact, when the millennium arrived the apocalypse did take place; a world did end, and a new world arose from the ruins.
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
Maria Rosa Menocal It was a time when three cultures--Judaic, Islamic, and Christian--forged a relatively stable (though occasionally contentious)
coexistence. Such was this period that there remains in Toledo a church with an "homage to Arabic writing on its walls [and] a sumptuous 14thcentury synagogue built to look like Granada's Alhambra." Long gone, however, is the Córdoba library--a thousand times larger than any other in
Christian Europe. Menocal's history is one of palatine cities, of philosophers, of poets whose work inspired Chaucer and Boccaccio, of weeping
fountains, breezy courtyards, and a long-running tolerance "profoundly rooted in the cultivation of the complexities, charms and challenges of
contradictions," which ended with the repression of Judaism and Islam the same year Columbus sailed to the New World.
Dogs of God: Columbus, the Inquisition, and the Defeat of the Moors
James Reston Jr. James Reston, Jr., brings to life the epic story of Spain’s effort to consolidate its own burgeoning power by throwing off the yoke of
the Vatican. By waging war on the remaining Moors in Granada and unleashing the Inquisitor Torquemada on Spain’s Jewish and converso
population, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella attained enough power and wealth to fund Columbus’ expedition to America and to chart a Spanish
destiny separate from that of Italy.
Defenders of the Faith: Charles V, Suleyman the Magnificent, and the Battle for Europe, 1520-1536 Jr., James Reston Reston examines the ultimate
battle in that centuries-long war, which found Europe at its most vulnerable and Islam on the attack. This drama was propelled by two astonishing
young sovereigns: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Turkish sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Though they represented two colliding worlds,
they were remarkably similar. Each was a poet and cultured cosmopolitan; each was the most powerful man on his continent; each was called
"Defender of the Faith"; and each faced strident religious rebellion in his domain.
The Essential Galileo Galileo Galilei Spanning Galileo's entire career, this new collection presents an annotated translation of Galileo's most
important writings as judged by their historical impact from the seventeenth century to the present. It thus presents not only those writings that bear
most closely on key developments in physics, astronomy, epistemology, and scientific methodology, but those most relevant to general culture as
well, including writings on the relationship between science and religion.
The Prince Niccolo Machiavelli Based upon Machiavelli’s first-hand experience as an emissary of the Florentine Republic to the courts of Europe,
The Prince analyzes the usually violent means by which men seize, retain, and lose political power. Machiavelli added a dimension of incisive
realism to one of the major philosophical and political issues of his time, especially the relationship between public deeds and private morality. His
book provides a remarkably uncompromising picture of the true nature of power, no matter in what era or by whom it is exercised.
On War [Paperback]
Carl von Clausewitz Carl von Clausewitz was a 19th century military theorist who drew many of his ideas from his own experience as a Prussian
soldier. Clausewitz's conception of war is strikingly unique: characterizing it as a Hegelian dialectic of opposing factors which interact and build
upon each other, Clausewitz's theories are surprisingly romantic. Nevertheless, the author stresses war as a political action that must be ruthless and
uncompromising in its annihilation of the enemy.
The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan It details the role of sea power throughout history and discusses
the various factors needed to support and achieve sea power, with emphasis on having the largest and most powerful fleet. Scholars consider it the
single most influential book in naval strategy; its policies were quickly adopted by most major navies, ultimately causing the World War I naval arms
race.
The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest Hour [Paperback]
Winston S. Churchill In the second volume "Their Finest Hour," Britain was holding the fort against Hitler alone. After Dunkirk, spirits were low all
over the place and the value of Dr Goebells's secret weapon was able to come into play with great effect. One can imagine the feeling of the citizenry
of Britain at that time, trapped as they felt themselves to be in that little island, with an unbeaten army just across the channel snarling at them. The
whys and wherefores of the actions of both Hitler and the German General Staff at that time, can be discussed until you are blue in the face. The fact
is that, although most people on both sides of the Atlantic thought they were about to hop across and finish the job, the Germans hesitated, mainly for
lack of a plan, and lost the chance.
The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle
Charles Williams This is a splendid popular biography of French leader Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970), who saved France's honor through his
leadership of the Free French during WWII and saved France itself from civil war in 1958. All this is familiar territory but is recounted here with
verve and anecdotal warmth, along with fresh appraisals of de Gaulle's career as soldier, politician and head of state. Williams contrasts the
infuriatingly obstinate public figure with the private man, emotional and affectionate in the bosom of his family. Especially interesting is the account
of de Gaulle's tender relationship with his retarded daughter, "about whom he cared perhaps more than any [other] human being." The author also
sheds light on de Gaulle's determined anti-Americanism during his final years. This is an admiring examination of a man whose single-minded
patriotism made him the living symbol of France for three decades.
The Struggle and the Triumph: An Autobiography Lech Walesa Walesa presents a witty, Kafkaesque replay of government wiretapping and judicial
harassment of him through 1986, and vividly re-creates the news-making kidnap and murder of the Rev. Jerzy Popieluszko in 1984. He credits
Solidarity's survival as due in large measure to the moral support of the Roman Catholic Church. In down-to-earth prose, the former electrician writes
about his father's internment in a Nazi concentration camp, his own religious faith, and the joys of family life and of raising eight children.
Gorbachev Mikhail Gorbachev Here is the whole sweep of the Soviet experiment and experience as told by its last steward. Drawing on his own
experience, rich archival material, and a keen sense of history and politics, Mikhail Gorbachev speaks his mind on a range of subjects concerning
Russia's past, present, and future place in the world. Here is Gorbachev on the October Revolution, Gorbachev on the Cold War, and Gorbachev on
key figures such as Lenin, Stalin, and Yeltsin.
Crossing the Threshold of Hope Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II brings to an accessible level the profoundest theological concerns of our lives.
He goes to the heart of his personal beliefs and speaks with passion about the existence of God; about the dignity of man; about pain, suffering, and
evil; about eternal life and the meaning of salvation; about hope; about the relationship of Christianity to other faits and that of Catholicism to other
branches of the Christian faith.With the humility and generosity of spirit for which he is known, John Paul II speaks directly and forthrightly to all
people. His message: Be not afraid!
The Innocents Abroad [Paperback]
Mark Twain
(Author)
In 1867, Mark Twain and a group fellow-Americans toured Europe and the Holy Land, aboard a retired Civil War ship known as Quaker City.
Throughout the journey, Twain kept a written record of his experiences. The Innocents Abroad is both a travelogue and a critique of clashing cultures
but more importantly, it is an entertaining and insightful work written by one of the great masters of American prose.
The Guns of August [Paperback]
Barbara W. Tuchman Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Barbara Tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to
World War I. With attention to fascinating detail, and an intense knowledge of her subject and its characters, Ms. Tuchman reveals, for the first time,
just how the war started, why, and why it could have been stopped but wasn't. A classic historical survey of a time and a people we all need to know
more about, THE GUNS OF AUGUST will not be forgotten.
Wind, Sand & Stars, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1940) Saint-Exupéry was without question the great pilot-poet of the air. And this remarkable
classic attains its high ranking here by soaring both as a piece of writing and as a tale of adventure. It was Saint-Exupéry's job in the 1920s to fly the
mail from France to Spain across the Pyrenees, in all kinds of weather, with bad maps and no radio.
Oceania:
Kon-Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl (1950) Nine balsa-wood logs, a big square sail, a bamboo "cabin" with a roof made of banana leaves—thus did
Norwegian Heyerdahl and his companions set sail from Peru toward Polynesia to prove a point: that the South Pacific was settled from the east. Point
proved?
Journals, by James Cook (1768-1779) Captain Cook made three voyages to the Pacific, discovered the east coast of Australia, stove a hole in his boat
within the Great Barrier Reef, tried to find the Northwest Passage, had countless encounters with natives—and died during one of them
The Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin (1839) The grand old man of modern biology was a gentleman of leisure, a crack shot, and no scientist
when, at 22, he boarded the Beagle for its long survey voyage to South America and the Pacific. His record of the trip is rich in anthropology and
science.
Mutiny on the Bounty, by William Bligh (1790) The movies have taught us to see Captain Bligh as a villain and the mutineers as justified, but
Bligh's own account, naturally, tells a different story. Once the rebellious sailors force Bligh and 18 loyal crew members onto the Bounty's 23-foot (7
meter) longboat, it becomes a remarkable survival story.
The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding
Robert Hughes The history of the birth of Australia which came out of the suffereing and brutality of England's infamous convict transportation
system.
Central America:
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, by John Lloyd Stephens (1843) Imagine hacking your way through thick jungle while racked with malaria. The
country around you is in chaos and on the brink of civil war. And you discover, despite all this, the lost city of Tikal.
Castaways, by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (1555) Three hundred would-be conquistadores land near present-day Tampa in 1528 to make Florida
their own. Eight years later, four naked survivors, our author among them, emerge from the wilderness of Mexico.
The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
David McCullough The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of
constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical
accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures.
Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution Frank McLynn Recounting the decade of bloody events that followed the eruption of the
Mexican Revolution in 1910, Villa and Zapata explores the regional, international, cultural, racial, and economic strife that made the rebels Francisco
(Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata legends.
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies
Bartolome de las Casas In 1542, a Spanish Dominican friar named Bartolome de las Casas wrote an account of the abuses enacted against the
indigenous population of the New World by Spanish explorers. Fearing both for the souls of his own countrymen, and for the souls of the native
peoples whom they had so brutally subjugated, de las Casas sent the document to Prince Philip II of Spain. A Short Account of the Destruction of the
Indies was responsible for a new set of laws abolishing native slavery in the Spanish colonies.
Daily Life of the Aztecs Jacques Soustelle Vivid account of a profoundly religious warrior society — from its most primitive days to the eve of the
Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. Detailed accounts of life in a city-state, religious beliefs, public buildings and markets, home furnishings,
family life, the conduct of war, language, music, much more.
Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs Buddy Levy It was a moment unique in human history, the face-toface meeting between two men from civilizations a world apart. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived on the shores of Mexico, determined not only to
expand the Spanish empire but to convert the natives to Catholicism and carry off a fortune in gold. That he saw nothing paradoxical in carrying out
his intentions by virtually annihilating a proud and accomplished native people is one of the most remarkable and tragic aspects of this unforgettable
story. In Tenochtitlán Cortés met his Aztec counterpart, Montezuma: king, divinity, commander of the most powerful military machine in the
Americas and ruler of a city whose splendor equaled anything in Europe. Yet in less than two years, Cortés defeated the entire Aztec nation in one of
the most astounding battles ever waged. The story of a lost kingdom, a relentless conqueror, and a doomed warrior, Conquistador is history at its
most riveting.
South America:
Running the Amazon, by Joe Kane (1989) Kane joined up with an international team—if that's the word for this squabbling group—to paddle from
the high Andes all the way to the Atlantic through terrifying rapids and everything else.
Alive, by Piers Paul Read (1974) People are still talking about the events this book describes: the crash of a Fairchild F-227 in the Chilean Andes in
1972 with a Uruguayan rugby team aboard; the fruitless search for survivors; the 16 people who did survive; and, most important, how they survived
for ten weeks in the mountains—by eating their dead.
Through the Brazilian Wilderness, by Theodore Roosevelt (1914) All bluff and bluster? Not Teddy. People died on this trip down the Rio da Dúvida,
or the River of Doubt, which had never been mapped.
The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara The young Che Guevara’s lively and highly entertaining travel diary.This new, expanded edition
features exclusive, unpublished photos taken by the 23-year-old Ernesto on his journey across a continent, and a tender preface by Aleida Guevara,
offering an insightful perspective on the man and the icon.
The Last Days of the Incas Kim MacQuarrie In 1532, the fifty-four-year-old Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro led a force of 167 men,
including his four brothers, to the shores of Peru. Unbeknownst to the Spaniards, the Inca rulers of Peru had just fought a bloody civil war in which
the emperor Atahualpa had defeated his brother Huascar. Pizarro and his men soon clashed with Atahualpa and a huge force of Inca warriors at the
Battle of Cajamarca. Despite being outnumbered by more than two hundred to one, the Spaniards prevailed -- due largely to their horses, their steel
armor and swords, and their tactic of surprise. They captured and imprisoned Atahualpa. Although the Inca emperor paid an enormous ransom in
gold, the Spaniards executed him anyway. The following year, the Spaniards seized the Inca capital of Cuzco, completing their conquest of the
largest native empire the New World has ever known. Peru was now a Spanish colony, and the conquistadors were wealthy beyond their wildest
dreams.
Americanos: Latin America's Struggle for Independence (Pivotal Moments in World History) John Charles Chasteen Americanos offers an
engagingly written, compact history of the Latin American wars of independence. Proceeding almost cinematically, scene by vivid scene, John
Charles Chasteen introduces the reader to lead players, basic concepts, key events, and dominant trends, braided together in a single, taut narrative.
He vividly depicts the individuals and events of those tumultuous years, capturing the gathering forces for independence, the clashes of troops and
decisions of leaders, and the rich, elaborate tapestry of Latin American societies as they embraced nationhood
Recent additions:
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman [Paperback] Jon Krakauer (Author) In Where Men Win Glory, Jon Krakauer draws on Tillman’s
journals and letters, interviews with his wife and friends, conversations with the soldiers who served alongside him, and extensive research on the
ground in Afghanistan to render an intricate mosaic of this driven, complex, and uncommonly compelling figure as well as the definitive account of
the events and actions that led to his death. Before he enlisted in the army, Tillman was familiar to sports aficionados as an undersized, overachieving
Arizona Cardinals safety whose virtuosity in the defensive backfield was spellbinding. With his shoulder-length hair, outspoken views, and
boundless intellectual curiosity, Tillman was considered a maverick. America was fascinated when he traded the bright lights and riches of the NFL
for boot camp and a buzz cut. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell” —and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was
driven by complicated, emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, patriotism, and masculine pride, and he was
determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers.
Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962 [Hardcover] Jisheng Yang (Author) The much-anticipated definitive account of China’s Great
Famine : An estimated thirty-six million Chinese men, women and children starved to death during China’s Great Leap Forward in the late 1950’s
and early ‘60’s. One of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century, the famine is poorly understood, and in China is still euphemistically referred
to as the “three years of natural disaster.”