Charles River

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "The main emphasis of the KGB is not in the area of intelligence at all. Only about 15% of time, money, and manpower is spent on espionage and such. The other 85% is a slow process which we call either ideological subversion or active measures ... or psychological warfare." - Yuri Bezmenov The KGB is one of the most famous abbreviations of the 20th century, and it has become synonymous with the shadowy and often violent actions of the Soviet Union's secret police and internal security agencies. In fact, it is often used to refer to the Soviet state security agencies throughout its history, from the inception of the inception of the Cheka (Extraordinary Commission) in 1917 to the official elimination of the KGB in 1992. Whether it's associated with the Russian Civil War's excesses, Stalin's purges, and even Vladimir Putin, the KGB has long been viewed as the West's biggest bogeyman during the second half of the 20th century. Inevitably, some of the Cold War's most shadowy actions involved trying to turn Soviet assets, whether for propaganda or intelligence purposes, but the Soviet system constantly had to worry about defections, as evidenced by the construction of the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s. That said, while the whistleblowers may be celebrated if they damage the public relations of an adversary, they can be controversial if they damage one's own country, as evidenced by the polarizing reputations of individuals like Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing "truths" they were once sworn to harbor, as well as the disconcerting covert operations of which they once allegedly partook. In fact, the history of Russian defectors who later emerged as informants in the name of public interest stretches back to the 16th century, when Andrey Kurbsky, a former boyar, high-ranking military commander, and trusted adviser to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, decamped to Lithuania on April 30, 1564. Nonetheless, Bezmenov remains known for his works after becoming disillusioned with the Soviet system in middle age, his interest in India, and his ultimate defection to Canada, which led to him railing against Soviet communism in various lectures and works throughout the 1980s. Yuri Bezmenov: The Life and Legacy of the Influential KGB Informant Who Defected to the West chronicles how Bezmenov went from the KGB to a thunderous anti-Soviet activist in America in the 1980s. Along with pictures of important people and places, you will learn about Bezmenov like never before.

The Life and Legacy of the Influential KGB Informant Who Defected to the West

Yuri Bezmenov

Charles River Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes quotes from the Qur'an, Hadith, and descriptions of sharia law *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading With the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its affiliated "lone wolf" attackers garnering much media coverage, there is a concern that attempts by radical Muslims to attack Westerners is one stage in a longer process to spread Islam and Sharia law. The term sharia is used quite a bit, but is generally used in a vague manner, particularly by media outlets and political pundits. In essence, Sharia law refers to the body of laws and culture surrounding religious prescriptions in Islam. It encompasses the Qur'an, the Hadith, as well as legal opinions developed since Islam's inception in the 7th century CE. While many Muslims claim that legal opinions on particular topics have been settled and the community as a whole accepts certain actions as right or wrong, one can see this may not always be the case when delving deeper. An interesting fact about Islam is that there is no central governing body of the religion, like the Pope and the Vatican in Roman Catholicism. Instead, there are Muslim religious scholars and leaders around the world who utilize particular standards of practice to enact rulings on the issue of the day. In fact, it is possible to search for databases developed and maintained by Muslim religious leaders containing religious rulings, or fatwas, on a variety of topics that touch the everyday lives of Muslims around the world. It is important, therefore, for readers to not see Sharia law as a monolithic entity that coherently and ubiquitously controls each aspect of Muslims' lives. Instead, one should view Sharia law as a process by which norms, traditions, and values are negotiated and renegotiated based on the context in which Muslims live. Sharia Law: The History and Legacy of the Religious Laws that Governed Islamic Societies explores the basics of Sharia law in Islam and how it is rooted in the important foundations set by the prophet Muhammad during his lifetime, as well as the traditions developed after his passing by the Caliphs. It is important as well to look at the conditions of life in the Arabian Peninsula prior to the founding of Islam so that we may juxtapose and understand the changes that took place when Muhammad was called to prophethood. This book also chronicles the development of Sharia law under the Sunni Ottoman Empire, as well as the Shi'a Safavid Empire, to understand Sharia law's development within both sects of Islam. It is important for readers to remember that there is no central governing body within Islam and that practice and institutionalization can vary from country to country and even within the countries themselves. In most cases, religious leaders like muftis provide fatwas so as to provide guidance to believers based on the original sources (the Qur'an and the Hadith). The fact that there is no central governing body, like in the different denominations of Christianity, lends itself to the fact that Islam is very concerned with the development of the overall community of its believers. These various topics are chosen to provide a broad analysis of various issues surrounding Sharia law so that a newcomer may understand law in Islam beyond the headlines and, rather, see into the lives of Muslims affected by these laws and processes. In order to ensure consistency throughout this writing, the term "sharia" is used as a transliteration of the Arabic word with the understanding that some of the letters in the word are non-existent in English and cannot be entirely written in English. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Salafism like never before.

The History and Legacy of the Religious Laws That Governed Islamic Societies

Sharia Law

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading “I know I'm not much on face value, but when it comes to stage value, I'll deliver for you.” – Edward G. Robinson For most enthusiasts of film history, Edward G. Robinson's name is virtually synonymous with the Depression-era gangster films of the 1930s. After all, Robinson starred in Little Caesar (1931), which was one of the first major gangster films and is perhaps the most representative example of the genre. Little Caesar remains his most iconic gangster role, but he acted in several other notable gangster films over the course of the decade, including The Little Giant (1933) and A Slight Case of Murder (1938). Even during the 1940s, after the gangster genre had ceded much of its standing to the postwar film noir genre, Robinson retained his ties to gangster films, memorably playing gangster Johnny Rocco in Key Largo (1948). With his short, round physique and irascible screen persona, Robinson became a kind of cinematic brother to James Cagney, and the two remain the most famous of the Hollywood gangster stars. As much as Robinson's fame remains attached to the rise of the gangster films of the 1930s, it also is important to recognize that he was successful in progressing into the postwar noir films—a genre that bears important similarities with the gangster genre but reworks it in significant ways. Indeed, Robinson starred in what may have been the most famous gangster picture – he played a memorable role in Double Indemnity (1944), which may well be the most famous noir movie ever made. Edward established his status as a worthy noir actor by starring in a duo of underrated Fritz Lang films—The Woman in the Window (1944) and Scarlet Street (1945)—as well as the Orson Welles movie The Stranger (1946). As his memorable noir performances demonstrate, Edward G. Robinson was more than just a famous gangster villain. He represents someone who was able to successfully navigate the changes in Hollywood cinema from the 1930s through the following decade. Interestingly, even as Robinson became a star on the screen, events off screen also made him abdicate his lofty standing. A first-generation immigrant who moved to the United States from Romania while still a child, Robinson's rise in the entertainment industry—first on stage and then in Hollywood—embodied the Horatio Alger myth of a self-made man. Lacking the conventional attractiveness that characterized most male actors (particularly leading men), it was through his sheer skill and virtuosity that Robinson was able to fashion a successful career. However, if Robinson benefited early in his career from the opportunities presented by Hollywood, it was also at the hands of the industry that his career was compromised during the early 1950s through the efforts of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Although he was not a member of the Hollywood Ten, Robinson was a suspected Communist, and his name was tarnished within the acting community and in the eyes of the American public. He would continue to act through the end of his life, but his days as a major figure in Hollywood were brought to an abrupt end. Legends of Hollywood: The Life and Legacy of Edward G. Robinson analyzes Robinson's career in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his real life roles as Hollywood star and victim.. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about Edward G. Robinson like never before, in no time at all.

The Life and Legacy of Edward G. Robinson

Legends of Hollywood

Gustavo Vazquez-Lozano

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." - The Book of Revelation 6:2 About 2,000 years ago, a prophet named John wrote a book about his strange visions while he was in Patmos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. This John, the Seer, the Revelator, was long believed to be one of Jesus's apostles, but recent historians have determined that he was a second-generation disciple. In fact, he was likely a political exile, writing for Christians under the threat of persecution by the Roman Empire, and his book, the Book of Revelation, was controversial, obscure, and rejected by many local churches as early as the 2nd century CE. Even after it managed to slip into the Bible as the last book of the canon, for years many doubted its authenticity, and others later branded it as the heretical hallucinations of a madman. Despite those controversial origins, the Apocalypse or Revelation of John remains firmly embedded in the Bible as the final chapter of the great saga that opens with Genesis, the beginning of everything. As a bookend to Genesis, Revelation provides a narrative of the end times, the completion of history, and the end of the world. Genesis and Revelation thus constitute the Alpha and the Omega, a surprising expression that the Book of Revelation applies to the divinity. In the opening verses of the Book of Revelation, God says to John, "I am the Alpha and the Omega - the beginning and the end. I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come." John proclaims, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: `Write on a scroll what you see.'" His esoteric narrative, impenetrable to most of his readers, is full of symbols, keys, and metaphors, abounds in strange visions and prophecies, monsters, natural catastrophes, and describes terrifying scenes that are typically described as apocalyptic. This fascinating book also features some of the most well-known religious concepts in the West, things that have provoked fear and fascination for centuries, including the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the famous number of the Beast (666), the Antichrist (whom Revelation calls "the beast"), and the whore of Babylon. Perhaps inevitably, the interpretation of the Book of Revelation has also generated significant controversy. Once it obtained its canonical status, meaning it was accepted by the whole Church as a divinely inspired text, countless generations immersed themselves in its verses in an effort to decode the visions of the prophet John. Theologians of many ages, and even recent Biblical scholars, have dissected the sentences and found clues regarding the work's authorship, context, and date of composition. One position is that Revelation is the literal truth of things to come, those who await the return of Christ in the clouds, commanding the Heavenly army, while others take a more spiritual interpretation. Still another position is that the book narrates events that were happening while John composed the tractate, and that it is a codified description, in terms which were understandable to the readers of its time, of the persecution of Christians under Emperor Nero or Emperor Domitian. A more intriguing proposition says that Revelation, in its primitive form, consisted of two or more shorter texts, and interestingly, that it originally formed a Jewish document that originally had nothing to do with Jesus. The Book of Revelation: The History and Legacy of the Apocalyptic Final Book of the Bible examines what was written in Revelation, the authorship, and the history behind its placement in the Bible. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Revelation like never before.

The History and Legacy of the Apocalyptic Final Book of the Bible

The Book of Revelation

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the bridge's construction written by workers and the chief engineer *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "To this Gate I give the name of 'Chrysopylae, ' or Golden Gate, for the same reason that the harbor of Byzantium was called 'Chrysoceras, ' or Golden Horn." - Captain John C. Fremont, 1846 "[A] perpetual monument that will make this city's name ring around the world and renew the magical fame which the Golden Gate enjoyed in the days of '49." - S.F. Examiner editorial, March 24, 1925 San Francisco has countless landmarks and tourist spots, but few are associated with the city as the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the modern world's engineering marvels. The giant suspension bridge spans the San Francisco Bay, with a length of over 1.5 miles, a height of nearly 750 feet, and a width of around 100 feet. While it is a beautiful and instantly recognizable landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge was also a very practical one born of necessity. After the California Gold Rush helped turn San Francisco into a destination site, connecting people on both sides of the beautiful Golden Gate Strait became vitally important. There was a consistent ferry service in the area, but the advent of automobiles made a bridge even more imperative. At the same time, no one in the world had ever successfully built a bridge as long as this one would be, and indeed, no one else would for another three decades after the Golden Gate Bridge opened. Given its size, it should come as little surprise that the Golden Gate Bridge was one of the most ambitious and expensive projects of its age. Indeed, it would take nearly 20 years from the time the bridge was proposed to its grand opening, and it cost hundreds of millions of dollars (the equivalent of several billion today). When it finally opened in 1937, Joseph Strauss, the man most responsible for the bridge, remarked, "This bridge needs neither praise, eulogy nor encomium. It speaks for itself. We who have labored long are grateful. What Nature rent asunder long ago, man has joined today." The Golden Gate Bridge: The History of San Francisco's Most Famous Bridge chronicles the story of how one of America's most famous bridges was built. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Golden Gate Bridge like never before, in no time at all.

The History of San Franciscos Most Famous Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "Migration was not a word I would have used to describe what I was doing when I sailed with other West Indians to England in 1950. We simply thought we were going to an England that had been painted in our childhood consciousness as a heritage and a place of welcome. It is the measure of our innocence that neither the claim of heritage nor the expectation of welcome would have been seriously doubted. England was not for us a country with classes and conflicts of interest like the islands we left. It was the name of a responsibility whose origin may have coincided with the beginning of time." - George Lamming, In the Castle of My Skin On the morning of June 22, 1948, the HMT Empire Windrush, a repurposed German troopship, drew up alongside the Tilbury docks, lowering its gangplanks onto the wide, cobbled quays. To the casual interest of the dockworkers, a small army of well-dressed, luggage laden blacks stepped onto the shores of England, looking around for the first time at their new home. Most originated from Kingston, the capital of the British island colony of Jamaica, with a few others from Trinidad and a handful of other British Caribbean dependencies. These were the men and women who led the vanguard of what would come to be known as the Windrush Generation, the first substantial wave of non-white immigration to the British Isles from the outer marches of the Empire. Ultimately, between 1948 and 1970, more than half a million souls would migrate to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean and other non-white Commonwealth countries, establishing the bedrock of the British black community and prompting the first ripples of racial discomfort that would conclude in the infamous Windrush Scandal of 2018. The issue of race in the British Empire is as complex as the history of the British Empire itself. The origins of the British Empire lie in the settlement of North America and the Caribbean, both of which led to complex intersections of imperialism, commerce and race. While the first European encounters with the New World were Spanish, the British arrived on the scene in a permanent way with the establishment of a General Assembly of the Leeward Islands in 1674, after which, in a complex evolution in competition and conflict with other European trading powers, the British West Indies finally comprised the British Leeward Islands, the British Windward Islands, Jamaica, and other colonies such as the Cayman Islands, British Honduras and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Caribbean was colonized for reasons both economic and strategic, the former being the seedbed of the institution that would define the demographics of the region up to the present and impact race relations back in Britain as well. The Windrush Scandal: The History of the Modern Controversy and Race Relations in the British Empire examines how racism in the United Kingdom affected the empire at home and abroad. Along with pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the Windrush Scandal like never before.

The History of the Modern Controversy and Race Relations in the British Empire

The Windrush Scandal

*Includes pictures. *Includes Lee''s own quotes about his life, martial arts, and philosophy. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. "When you''re talking about fighting, as it is, with no rules, well then, baby you''d better train every part of your body!" - Bruce Lee "The slender, swift Bruce Lee was the Fred Astaire of martial arts, and many of the fights that could be merely brutal come across as lightning-fast choreography." - Pauline Kael''s review of Enter the Dragon A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history''s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors'' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America''s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. It would be nearly impossible for someone to pack more action into 32 years than Bruce Lee, whose name remains practically synonymous with martial arts excellence and kung fu movies. He was undoubtedly the forerunner to martial arts stars who came in his wake, including Chuck Norris and Jackie Chan, a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that he grew up as a sickly child. His upbringing was simultaneously one of great privilege and hardship, which had a huge impact on his career down the road; even when he began to fill out his skinny frame, trouble on the streets created a whirlwind set of circumstances that all but required Lee to move to America before he was 20. Despite being the most famous star of the genre and the man who almost singlehandedly popularized martial arts in the West, the films that helped make Lee a global icon were not even made in the United States but were instead shot and produced in Hong Kong, after which they received large-scale international distribution. Furthermore, for all of his fame, none of Bruce Lee''s movies are commonly regarded as masterpieces, and they have always been viewed more as popular entertainment than as significant artistic achievements. Some might be able to name the short list of movies in which he starred and may know that Enter the Dragon (1973) is his most iconic picture, but his movies were never among those considered for Academy Award nominations. Nonetheless, Bruce Lee has not been neglected by serious scholars of cinema, a fact that attests to the cultural significance of his films and his own star image. That Lee was able to become an international icon is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that he died suddenly and unexpectedly before the age of 33, leaving many to reasonably argue that he had yet to even reach the pinnacle of his career. As it was, the list of accomplishments speaks to his relentless work schedule and unparalleled drive. Bruce Lee was arguably the greatest martial artist who ever lived, but he''s also remembered today for being spiritual and philosophical. In addition to writing at length about those topics, Lee considered those elements essential to his physical fitness and training. In reference to a form of martial arts that came to bear his name, he explained, "Too much time is given to the development of skill and too little to the development of the individual for participation...[Jeet Kune Do] ultimately is not a matter of petty techniques but of highly developed spirituality and physique." In the process of becoming so famous, Lee played an outsized part in changing the representation of Asians on screen and in pop culture, even though Lee was both a product of his cultural background and someone who broke away from his background and challenged cultural conventions. American Legends: The Life of Bruce Lee examines the life and career of the world''s most famous martial artist. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Bruce Lee like never before, in no time at all.

The Life of Bruce Lee

American Legends

The term Moor is a historical rather than an ethnic name. It is an invention of European Christians for the Islamic inhabitants of Maghreb (North Africa), Andalusia (Spain), Sicily and Malta, and was sometimes use to designate all Muslims. It is derived from Mauri, the Latin name for the Berbers who lived in the Roman province of Mauretania, which ranged across modern Algeria and Morocco. Saracen was another European term used to designate Muslims, though it usually referred to the Arabic peoples of the Middle East and derives from an ancient name for the Arabs, Sarakenoi. The Muslims of those regions no more refer to themselves by that term than those of North Africa call themselves Moors. Maghreb, or al-Maghreb, is a historical term used by Arabic Muslims for the territory of coastal North Africa from Alexandria to the Atlantic Coast. It means "The West" and is used in opposition to Mashrek, "The East," used to refer to the lands of Islam in the Middle East and north-eastern Africa. The Berbers refer to the region in their own language as Tamazgha. In a limited, precise sense it can also refer to the Kingdom of Morocco, the proper name of which is al-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah, "Kingdom of the West." Ethnically the people of North Africa are mostly of mixed Arab-Berber descent, and the Berbers are a proud and noble group of peoples dating from ancient times. The term Berber is again a foreign designation, coming from the Greek barbaroi, meaning stranger. By implication, as far as the Greeks and Romans were concerned, the word indicated the people were uncivilized. From this comes the archaic English name Barbary, used to designate the north coast of Africa and still used in "Barbary ape" and the breed of horse known as the Barb. The Berbers call themselves Imazighen, though in truth they are a grouping of different tribes rather than a strictly homogenous group. There are at least 12 linguistic families spoken in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, parts of Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. The last, a large republic on the north-western African coast, shares the same name as the ancient Roman province, though they are unconnected: its former French rulers gave it the name. In ancient times the Berbers established powerful and important kingdoms in northern Africa and the kingdoms of Syphax and Gala ruled Numidia - now part of Algeria - until conquered by Carthage. After the fall of Carthage, the Berber kingdom of Mauritania - not to be confused with the country created by the French - dominated North-western Africa before itself succumbing to the Romans in the 1st century BCE. Christian Europe has generally given the Berbers a reputation as a wild and barbarous people, whereas in fact they have had a long, sophisticated and cultured history, and under Roman rule they made great contributions to civilization. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, was a Berber and one of the greatest philosophers and theologians not only of his own time, but of all time. The theologian Tertullian also hailed from North Africa, and the Berbers produced three popes: Victor I, Miltiades and Gelasius I. Arius, the priest who denied the divinity of Christ and gave his name to a form of Christianity that rivalled Catholicism for more than 400 years, called North Africa home. In the 5th century, the Northwest African Coast was conquered by the Vandals, a Germanic tribe originating in Eastern Europe, but they in turn succumbed to the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century. The whole of the African coast from the Sinai Peninsula to the Straits of Gibraltar remained under Byzantine rule until the 7th century, when a major geopolitical change elevated the Berbers once again to the status of regional powers and ushered in the domination of Islam across the region.

The History of the Muslims in North Africa During the Middle Ages

The Moors of the Maghreb

Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures *Includes quotes and summaries of the famous Hitchcock movies *Includes bibliographies for further reading *Includes a table of contents Considering that her film career lasted just six years, it would seem as though the reputation of Grace Kelly far outweighs her actual output. Indeed, from the time of her arrival in Hollywood in 1951 through her final film, High Society, in 1956, Kelly acted in just 11 films, leaving viewers to wonder whether Kelly was still in the beginning of her career or whether High Society was a proper culmination to an extraordinarily brief stay in the film industry? Ultimately, it is might be most accurate to state that Kelly was still in the prime of her career, but it's unclear what direction her career would have taken, as well as who inherited the void she left. Despite the short resume, Kelly is one of America's most famous actresses, and she left an indelible impact on Hollywood. Kelly brought a well-heeled, almost regal quality that deviated from the film noir roles and musical showgirls who had populated the screen during the 1930s and 1940s, and it is this new identity Kelly brought to the motion picture industry that remains her overriding trademark. Ingrid Bergman's fame cannot be doubted, but the international quality of her career has prevented most people from gaining a complete understanding of her filmography. Moreover, the immense success of her most famous films obscured her other achievements; one of Bergman's persistent lamentations late in her career was that even though she appeared in other films she deemed more significant, the only film of hers that people wanted to discuss was Casablanca. As a result, her early films in Sweden, the Italian Neorealist films she made with famous director and future husband Roberto Rossellini, and her French film with Jean Renoir have all been relegated to the margins. Bergman is thus recognized as a Hollywood star rather than an actress who should be identified with an array of different film industries, reducing the enormous scope of her career to a relatively small proportion of her filmography. In 1939, Olivia de Havilland had her most memorable role as Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind (1939), perhaps the most famous movie in American history, but Hollywood legend has it that she only got the role because her own younger sister, Joan Fontaine, was asked to audition for the part and recommended Olivia instead so that she could audition for Scarlett O'Hara. Although Fontaine and de Havilland would make history by becoming the only sisters to both win an Academy Award for Best Actress, that anecdote was just one of the various stories about the siblings that has shed light on their notoriously contentious and complicated relationship. As Fontaine once put it, "I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she'll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!" De Havilland herself once said, "Joan is very bright and sharp and can be cutting." An art student in her early 20s, Novak found herself in Los Angeles by chance and appeared as an extra in a 1954 film to earn money, only to be almost immediately discovered by Columbia and turned into a star when she appeared in Picnic (1955). Picnic began a 10 year run that witnessed Novak become one of the biggest names in Hollywood, starring in major hits like Pal Joey (1957), Middle of the Night (1959), The Notorious Landlady (1962), and Of Human Bondage (1964). However, Novak's most famous role was as one of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary "icy blondes" in Vertigo (1958), beguiling Jimmy Stewart's character to the point of madness in what is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. In addition to being one of the country's most recognizable and alluring sex icons, the girl who originally wanted to be an artist had reached the upper echelon of Hollywood itself, all before she turned 30.

The Lives of Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Fontaine, and Kim Novak

Alfred Hitchcocks Legendary Leading Ladies

*Includes pictures. *Includes Joplin's own quotes about her life and career. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. "The more you live, the less you die.” – Janis Joplin The life and career of Janis Joplin marks such a stark departure from the blues, rock and soul traditions as American society has come to know them that her brief and tempestuous career defies artistic analysis, if only because there is so little precedent aside from the great African-American blues and jazz singers that influenced her. For a woman born in 1943 and coming into her professional prime in the 1960s, Joplin stood as a mesmerizing and baffling foil to the female tradition in non-classical music, which had previously been symbolized by pure, mellow voices singing thoughtful texts. In the world of rock ensembles, women often stood near the back to play peripheral percussion instruments, such as the tambourine, and from time to time, they filled in a harmony or enjoyed a brief stint on the front of the stage. However, due to Joplin's belief that the mellow and refined tradition was not the way for her to go, the young firebrand with the conflicted past and personality opted for a complete, unrestrained expression of her deepest feelings. In the process, she both thrilled and frightened American audiences who had never seen her kind and never would again. The American music scene was entirely unprepared to witness the emergence of a white woman who could sing the blues with such authenticity, force, and depth of feeling. Dubbed by many as the “First Lady” or “Queen” of Rock & Roll, Joplin both invented and installed the “rock mama paradigm” into the American rock consciousness, a patriarchal and fraternal industry that, much like the societal traits it protested, restricted women to a narrow and conservative criteria for entrance. However, when Joplin was fully committed, she would have none of it, and in time she became “the middle class white girl who sang the blues” for her generation and the generation to come, releasing four powerful albums between the socially intense years of 1966-1970. With only a very few kindred spirits, such as Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane, “she pioneered a new range of expression for white women.” In Joplin's case, performing was a critical aspect of her popularity, but drugs and alcohol were central to her performances, which often found her under the influence of heroin and sipping from a whiskey bottle while playing before live crowds. Despite the dangerous mixtures, Joplin's performances became such a phenomenon that they turned her into an unlikely sex symbol, something she had a hard time understanding and often joked about (“Guess what, I might be the first hippie pinup girl.”). Nonetheless, she could pull it off because her “blues-soaked voice…was matched by her uninhibited physical movements…in a mesmerizing display of soulfulness few thought a white singer could pull off.” At the height of her powers, before crippling addictions eventually overwhelmed her, her Monterey and Woodstock appearances are “considered by many specialists…to have been classic moments in the history of rock” Of course, for all the mention of Joplin's career, there is nearly as much focus on her untimely death at the age of 27, particularly because she died just a few weeks after Jimi Hendrix's death at the age of 27 and was followed in death by Jim Morrison at the age of 27 less than a year later. Those three all died as a result of alcohol and drug abuse, and they formed the starting point for the legendary “27 Club”, which memorializes rock stars who died at the age of 27. American Legends: The Life of Janis Joplin examines the life and career of one of America's most famous musicians. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Janis Joplin like never before, in no time at all.

The Life of Janis Joplin

*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Rome and Carthage rarely could maintain peace after the end of the 4th century BCE. As the two most powerful civilizations in the western Mediterranean, they were destined to clash, curse or not. Roman historians placed the foundation of Carthage at approximately 814 BCE, several decades before Rome. The settlers of Carthage were of Phoenician descent, tracing their ancestry back to the great city of Tyre on the southern coast of Lebanon, but Carthage soon transformed from a minor Phoenician colony into the capital of its own growing civilization. The city itself was well positioned for shipping, and it soon dominated maritime trade. Along with that, the Carthaginians built a powerful and well-trained navy, whose protection, combined with its strategic location, made the city of Carthage a formidable prospect to attack. At its height, Carthage housed several hundred thousand inhabitants, living under a republican governmental system operated by the Carthaginian Senate. As Carthage grew, it began to expand, conquering by sea and establishing new colonies to improve trade networks. One of the Carthaginians' key objectives was Sicily. Certain foreign policy decisions led to continuing enmity between Carthage and the burgeoning power of Rome, and what followed was a series of wars which turned from a battle for Mediterranean hegemony into an all-out struggle for survival. Although the Romans gained the upper hand in the wake of the First Punic War, Hannibal brought the Romans to their knees for over a decade during the Second Punic War. While military historians are still amazed that he was able to maintain his army in Italy near Rome for nearly 15 years, scholars are still puzzled over some of his decisions, including why he never attempted to march on Rome in the first place. After the serious threat Hannibal posed during the Second Punic War, the Romans didn't wait much longer to take the fight to the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War, which ended with Roman legions smashing Carthage to rubble. As legend has it, the Romans literally salted the ground upon which Carthage stood to ensure its destruction once and for all. Despite having a major influence on the Mediterranean for nearly five centuries, little evidence of Carthage's past might survives. The city itself was reduced to nothing by the Romans, who sought to erase all physical evidence of its existence, and though its ruins have been excavated, they have not provided anywhere near the wealth of archaeological items or evidence as ancient locations like Rome, Athens, Syracuse, or even Troy. Today, Carthage is a largely unremarkable suburb of the city of Tunis, and though there are some impressive ancient monuments there for tourists to explore, the large majority of these are the result of later Roman settlement. The Punic Wars spanned more than a century, brought the loss of approximately 400,000 lives, and eventually led to the utter defeat and destruction of Carthage, but it was no easy victory for Rome, and on several occasions the young Roman Republic was close to annihilation. Given what happened in the wake of the Punic Wars, historians have long been left to ponder what might have happened had the Carthaginians won, especially given how close Hannibal came to accomplishing such a victory against Rome during the Second Punic War. What if Carthage Won the Punic Wars? An Alternative History of the Conflict Between Rome and Carthage profiles the conflict and examines how events may have gone quite differently for Europe if Rome had been defeated.

What If Carthage Won the Punic Wars? An Alternative History of the Conflict Between Rome and Carthage

*Includes pictures of important people and places. *Includes some of the authors' most famous quotes. *Analyzes the real life inspirations behind their work and relationships. *Explains the relationship and rivalry between Hemingway and Fitzgerald. *Includes a Bibliography of each for further reading. The 1920s in the United States were known as the "Roaring Twenties" and the Jazz Age, a time in the nation that glorified hard and fast living. Nobody personified the age or wrote so descriptively about it better than F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), whose name became synonymous with the times after penning the epic Great Gatsby. Along with his dazzling wife Zelda, Fitzgerald was all too keen to play the role. When his writing made them celebrities, they were celebrated by the national press for being "young, seemingly wealthy, beautiful, and energetic." While Scott used their relationship as material in his novels, Zelda wrote herself, and she also strove to become a ballerina. However, the Fitzgerald's barely outlasted the '20s. Their hard living left Fitzgerald, a notorious alcoholic, in poor health by the '30s. Financially broke, he would die of a massive heart attack in 1940, by which time Zelda had already suffered various mental illnesses. Zelda died in a freak fire in 1948, both Fitzgerald's having burned out almost as quickly as they had shined. Fitzgerald traveled constantly, and one of his expatriate friends in Europe was none other than Ernest Hemingway, widely considered one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century. Students are unlikely to leave high school without reading one of Hemingway's classics, especially The Sun Also Rises (1926), and they are usually introduced to rudimentary details about Hemingway's eclectic life and controversial death. Hemingway's literary career included several unquestioned classics, but a great deal of his fame and notoriety today comes from the fact that it has become impossible to separate his work from his life. In fact, Hemingway's service in World War I and his time as a war correspondent at places like Normandy during D-Day in World War II have also established him as the kind of masculine, adventurous man that Americans have long held out as cultural heroes. This is made even more ironic by the fact that Hemingway spent so much time overseas, both in Europe and Africa, to the extent that he became one of the most identifiable members of the "Lost Generation" of American expatriates, which included literary stars like Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein. It is possible today for people to be familiar with the basic outline of his life despite rarely coming into contact with his writing. Fitzgerald and Hemingway had tumultuous lives, so it was only fitting that they had a tumultuous friendship that also bordered on rivalry. In fact, Fitzgerald hoped that the last novel he was working on before his untimely end, The Last Tycoon, would propel him to the top of the literary world again, a spot occupied by Hemingway after the publication of For Whom The Bell Tolls. While that novel wouldn't do it, The Great Gatsby ultimately ensured that Fitzgerald would remain renowned, and the two have been permanently associated with each other ever since. America's Greatest 20th Century Novelists profiles the lives and careers of two of America's most famous writers and cultural icons. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Hemingway and Fitzgerald like you never have before.

America's Greatest 20th Century Novelists

Ernest Hemingway & F. Scott Fitzgerald

*Includes pictures *Includes Berry's quotes about his life and career *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading “I grew up thinking art was pictures until I got into music and found I was an artist and didn't paint.” – Chuck Berry "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry.'" – John Lennon The origins of rock music claim several founding fathers, with each perspective holding merit and directly contributing to the golden age to follow in rock music. While Elvis Presley remains perhaps the most high profile figure of early rock, he was not truly a member of the first generation, and if anything, he was a product of a slightly older wave of ground-breaking artists. Appearing immediately before Presley's rise was Texan Buddy Holly, whose borrowings from driving black rhythms blended with white lyrics to make him one of the first successful cross-over artists. However, perhaps the first and ultimately the most successful of this category - those artistic explorers who most effectively blurred racial and political lines through their music - was Chuck Berry, an African-American blues, country singer/guitarist songwriter who perfectly blended the prevailing forms of his generation to attract both black and white audiences with a virtuosity and originality that set the bar for the next half century. Unlike Presley, and more in the manner of Holly, Chuck Berry wrote his own classics, and he thrived as both a composer and lyricist based on his early love of poetry and hard blues, jump blues jazzy ballads, boogie-woogie, and hillbilly music. As a double-threat musician and imaginative literary figure, Berry trained his musical focus on American “teen life…consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.” Indeed, Chuck Berry was the first artist to reach the charts who was both a virtuoso guitarist and songwriter. As with the gyrations of Elvis and the moonwalk of Michael Jackson, Berry had his trademark stage gesture, the “duck walk,” a maneuver in which the right foot is kicked across the stage and leaves the left dragging along behind. It is suggested by some that this signature gesture was not actually planned for anything other than to camouflage a wrinkled rayon suit in a mid-'50s performance in New York, but either way, only a small part of Berry's success came from the visual. Berry also “crafted many of rock 'n' roll's greatest riffs” for guitar, and he became the standard for brilliance on the instrument. In addition to pioneering the sound of rock, Berry's performances set the bar for rock bands across the world. In particular, his specific brand of showmanship served as a template for front men, and all the while, the complete package included iconic guitar riffs that showed blinding tactile skill, energetic boogie-based hits, and depictions of village life and love for both blacks and whites. Put together, Berry's work made the careers of subsequent stars and superstars of the genre possible. As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put it, “While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, 'Maybellene.'" American Legends: The Life of Chuck Berry looks at the life and career of one of America's most influential rock stars. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Chuck Berry like never before, in no time at all.

The Life of Chuck Berry

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts of its design, construction, and history *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "London Bridge is falling down,Falling down, falling downLondon Bridge is falling down,My fair lady." For most people, this playful child's rhyme conjures up visions of the tall, majestic, two-towered bridge spanning the River Thames near the Tower of London, with its high footpath providing one of the best views available of the city. The only problem is, this vision is wrong, for the London Bridge of modern times is neither tall nor majestic. Indeed, it is not at all memorable for any reason except for its ability to get the city's commuters back and forth to work each day. In fact, the tall bridge that symbolizes not just the city but the nation is Tower Bridge, and while it is among the oldest major bridges in London, it is hardly the first to have been built on the Thames, or even on that spot. In actuality, the first men to build a bridge on that spot probably spoke Latin as their first language. As time passed, technology changed, and with it, the nature of bridge building. Wood gave way to stone, which in turn gave way to iron and steel. At the same, London grew on both land and water, with more people living in and near the city, and more people plying the river in bigger and bigger ships. The people on land needed to get across the river, and the people on the river needed to be able to move along without too much interference. It was obvious that the city needed a new bridge, but years passed before the right design for one came along. When it finally did, there were still other, non-practical concerns, specifically that the bridge fit in with its surrounding historical environment. In particular, this meant that Londoners wanted to ensure that the bridge's look fit in with the nearby Tower of London. Thus was born a bridge conceived within the marriage of need and desire, strength and beauty. Tower Bridge is unlikely to fall down, or even be torn down, anytime soon, but it is still worthy of singing about. Tower Bridge: The History and Legacy of London's Most Iconic Bridge examines the long and storied history of one of England's most famous landmarks. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Tower Bridge like never before.

The History and Legacy of London's Most Iconic Bridge

Tower Bridge

During the Age of Exploration, Native American tribes fell victim to European conquerors seeking legendary cities made of gold and other riches, attempts that were often being made in vain. And yet, of all the empires that were conquered across the continent, the one that continues to be most intimately associated with legends of gold and hidden riches is the Inca Empire. The Inca Empire, which flourished in modern day Peru and along the west coast of South America, was the largest Native American empire in pre-Columbian America until Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadores conquered them in the 16th century. What ultimately sealed their doom was the rumor that huge amounts of gold were available in regions south of the Andes Mountains. Though the Spanish physically conquered them in quick fashion, the culture and legacy of the Inca Empire has continued to endure throughout the centuries in both Europe and South America, due in no small part to the fact they were one of the most advanced and sophisticated cultures on the continent. Like the Aztecs, the Spanish burned much of the Inca's extant writings, but it is estimated that as many as 35 million once fell under their banner, and the empire's administrative skills were so sharp that they kept accurate census records. Their religion, organization, and laws were also effectively centralized and tied to the rulers of the empire, and their military mobilization would have made the ancient Spartans proud. After the Spanish conquest, several rebellions in the area attempted to reestablish the proud Inca Empire over the next two centuries, all while famous Europeans like Voltaire glorified the Inca Empire in optimistic artistic portrayals. Although the Inca's oral traditions suggested that the history of the region began with their empire, the various gods and the religious ceremonies of the peoples that inhabited the Inca's lands before their arrival were assimilated into the Inca Empire and were incorporated into Inca religion. However, under Inca rule, all those gods were to be subordinate to those gods of the Incas themselves, so as to ensure that imperial authority was clear and without dispute among all quarters of the empire. Viracocha was the primary god in the Inca pantheon as the origin and creator of all things. His son, the god Inti, or the Sun, was married to Mama Quilla, the Moon, who was also created by Viracocha. According to one myth, Inti was the father of Manco Cápac, the founder of the Inca ruling dynasty, but it was believed by some that Viracocha himself fathered Manco Cápac. In practice, the Inca centered their religious worship on Inti, and this god's High Priest was the second most important person in Inca society. The god Inti was honored at an annual celebration held each June, and the Inti Raymi festival included sacrifices, feasts and sexual abstinence. This cosmology was imposed throughout the empire, and temples to the Sun were constructed and staffed by religious officials who were allotted farmland called "lands of the Sun." Other local cults were provided with produce from these lands as well. The main temple of Inca religion was the Coricancha or Sun Temple in Cuzco, in which was kept the great golden disk of the Sun. The disk was appropriated by the Spanish in 1571 and sent off to the Pope. While it has disappeared, perhaps lost somewhere during the tortuous route to Spain, it remains alive in the fabulous world of adventure story writers, New Age mystics and manufacturers of souvenirs. It became a major element in the iconography of the 19th century independence movement in South America, as a symbol of nations freed from the yoke of the Spanish crown. For all these reasons, the Inca continue to fascinate people today, and at the center of it all for the Inca themselves was Viracocha.

The History and Legacy of the Inca's Creator God

Viracocha

The legendary Pablo Picasso once paid a visit to the legendary Altamira Caves, located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain. There, he viewed the ancient cave paintings, deemed to be among the most sophisticated examples in the world. He summarized the visit by saying, "After Altamira, all is decadence,"[1] suggesting a purity in early man that modern people have apparently lost. Other lesser-known artists, psychologists and various scientists have dismissed even the best of the Paleolithic cave painters. They relegate the early paintings to the rudimentary beginnings of modernity with no special insights of life in the Stone Age outside of the struggle for survival. Picasso's subsequent visit to the caves of El Castillo earned largely the same sentiment, as he asserted, "We have learned nothing in 12,000 years."[2] Even for Picasso, it seems, the discovery of "Ice Age Art" has opened an avenue of inquiry into the psychology of modern man as we draw our conclusions and varying empathies toward early humans. Drawn into the question of art are studies of the ancient brain and its gradual development, and diverse speculation as to the reasons for the existence of ancient art. Cave painting falls under the heading of "parietal art," a term used to note any prehistoric art found on the walls or ceilings of caves. It includes five basic types of work, from stencils of handprints, and other hand and finer marks, to a number of abstract signs and symbols, figurative painting, engraving and relief sculpture. It also encompasses all petroglyphs and engravings. The term generally implies prehistoric art as coming from the dawn of early man, but can also be far more recent, into what is called the Holocene Period. This is an easing period of the Ice Age in which modern man currently lives and ice age boundaries place prehistoric art in a range of 40,000 years ago to approximately 14000 BCE. A simple red disc at the center of the Panel de las Manos has been dated to 40,800 years ago. The contention that the disc is the oldest artwork of Homo sapiens is based on uranium/thorium testing, which only gives the minimum age of its subjects. Carbon dating could not be employed due to the absence of organic pigment in stenciled hand outlines. There is plenty of debate over who was responsible for the art, because dating takes the disc to the edge of Homo sapiens' arrival from Africa in Europe. Modern humans arrived in Britain around 44,200-41,500 years ago, and in Italy around 45,000 to 43,000 years ago. Homo sapiens were making flutes in Germany by 42,000 years ago, and opinions on the Neanderthal culture's ability to create paintings is shifting as historians consider whether they began the transition to art. Either way, what is clear is that some of the world's oldest and most fascinating art date back well beyond antiquity, and scholars are still uncovering more that help paint a fuller picture.

The History and Legacy of Prehistoric Man-made Art

Cave Paintings

*Includes pictures *Includes Shatner's own quotes about his life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading “I'm not a Starfleet commander, or T. J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170...or own a phaser. I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock. And no, I've never had green alien sex, but I'm sure it'd be quite an evening. I speak English and French, not Klingon! I drink Labatt's, not Romulan Ale! And when someone says to me 'live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg. And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS! And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in Priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals! I've appeared on stage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but... I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission! My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian!” – William Shatner It almost goes without saying that nobody occupies a place in pop culture that remotely resembles the one William Shatner finds himself in. As an actor who has been about as critically acclaimed as he has been lampooned, Shatner seems to relish every aspect of his image, whether he's making fun of himself and others on a celebrity roast or appearing in humorous commercials as a spokesman for Priceline.com. Given the length and scope of his career, it's easy to forget that Shatner started as a pretty typical dramatic actor in his early years, including appearances in Judgment at Nuremberg, episodes of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and even the Western series Outlaws. It's almost impossible to believe now, but Shatner was once heralded as the peer of leading men like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Of course, that all changed when Shatner took the role he has been most famously associated with ever since. Shatner was cast as Captain Kirk on the original television series Star Trek in an episode that was aired in 1966, and though the show was canceled in 1970, its unanticipated resurgence revived both the franchise and Shatner's career. As Shatner joked, “Captain Kirk has been a source of pleasure and income for a long time.” Even when he took other roles over the next few decades, including starring as a police officer in the television series T.J. Hooker, Shatner could never shake the effects that being typecast as Captain Kirk had on his career, at least in middle age. In addition to being permanently associated with Kirk, Shatner and his career were viewed as something of a joke, and he was often criticized for overacting. Shatner was frequently nominated for Razzies, including one for “Worst Actor of the Century”, and when he took his most recognizable role of the 21st century as Denny Crane in The Practice, a writer in The New York Times Magazine described his role as "William Shatner the man... playing William Shatner the character playing the character Denny Crane, who was playing the character William Shatner." That said, Shatner's character was beloved not just on The Practice but also on Boston Legal, winning him 2 Emmy awards and a Golden Globe, as well as nominations for a string of several straight years. Legends of Hollywood: The Life of William Shatner examines the life and career of the famous actor. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Heston like never before, in no time at all.

The Life of William Shatner

A history of Burgundy could more accurately be described as the "history of the Burgundies," because at different points between 406 and 1795, there were at least 10 distinct entities known as "Burgundy." One of the least known of these was the Kingdom of the Burgundians, which lasted from 406-534. This early dominion developed into the Kingdom of Burgundy under the Merovingians and was finally subsumed into the next Kingdom of Burgundy, often known as Cis-Jurane Burgundy, founded in 877. The Burgundians may have originated as far away as Scandinavia, but by the 5th century CE they had settled in the heart of Roman Gaul, or Gallia as the Romans called it. Gaul had once covered a huge area of Western Europe that today comprises northern Italy, France, Belgium, parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and parts of Germany on the west bank of the Rhine. Julius Caesar estimated the population of Gaul in the mid-1st century BCE as approximately 10 million, an enormous number for that time. The Gauls at the time were not a single nation but a loose confederation of tribes sharing a common language, customs and ethnic origin. As such, they were in a constant flux of alliances, double-crossings and wars, both among themselves and with the neighboring Germans of the Rhineland. This only made it easier for the Romans to gradually conquer parts of Gaul, most famously through Caesar's Gallic Wars, and Gaul became an even more prosperous region. The power vacuum left by Rome's decline allowed groups like the Burgundians to carve out territories in various parts of the empire, and after the Western Roman Empire collapsed, the next few centuries would see a patchwork of different groups fighting each other across Europe, whether for living space or for imperial purposes. Given their location, the Burgundians would end up playing a crucial role in the establishment of Western Europe as it is known today. The Burgundians: The History of the Early Kingdoms of Burgundy in the Middle Ages chronicles how the Burgundians established their medieval kingdom, the important events that took place in the region, and the early Burgundians' lasting legacy. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Burgundians like never before.

The History of the Early Kingdoms of Burgundy in the Middle Ages

The Burgundians

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading World War II stood apart in many ways from every earlier war, not least in the way that it reached to every corner of the planet and involved a noticeable segment of humanity's collective resources. Battles erupted not only on land and the sea's surface as they had for centuries, but also in the ocean depths and the windswept heights of the sky. One of the war's most crucial struggles happened in the realm of the unseen, inside the human mind and amid the invisible flow of radio waves. Every war is a battle of wits as intelligence-gathering, tactics, and strategies clash, from the level of individual action up to the grand, overarching schemes of generals and statesmen. Intelligence took on a freshly urgent aspect in World War II, however, as the fate of offensives, armies, and nations came to hang on the struggle to decrypt vital enemy radio traffic and military communications. By the end of 1941, it seemed as if nothing could stop Germany. German forces had swept deep into Russia, killing or capturing hundreds of thousands of prisoners and were closing in on Moscow. In North Africa, German and Italian forces under the command of General Erwin Rommel were poised to take British-controlled Egypt. In the Atlantic, German U-boats were sinking such large numbers of British merchant ships that it seemed as if Britain might be starved into submission.The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor presented President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a strategic problem that went beyond how to deal with Japanese aggression. Although the war in Europe had been raging for more than two years, many Americans felt it was not their concern, especially with the ultimate defeat of the British seeming all but certain. Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitler declared war on America, almost casually and without seeming to consider the consequences. There was no diplomatic necessity for him to have done this and no obvious strategic reason. Germany's military successes were so complete at that point that Hitler seemed to believe declaring war on one more country was a trifling matter. In some ways, he was right, because in December 1941, the US Army was tiny and poorly equipped. In September 1939, the German army invading Poland comprised 100 infantry divisions and six panzer divisions. At that time, the whole US Army was comprised of just five divisions. Even two years later, the US Army was relatively small and ill-equipped. It was clear that, in strictly military terms, the United States was no threat to Nazi Germany when Hitler declared war in late 1941. However, American industry had the capacity and power ahead of virtually any other country in the world, so if America posed a threat to Germany, it would be through its capacity to produce weapons, tanks, aircraft, and ships in vast numbers. At the same time, America was simply too far from any German-controlled airbases to make strategic bombing a possibility. Thus, if a direct attack on American industry was not feasible, the best alternative was to mount a campaign of subterfuge and sabotage. The responsibility for mounting an attack on American industry was given to the German military secret intelligence service, the Abwehr, which devised a plan to land saboteurs in America to attack factories, railroads, and perhaps conduct a random bombing campaign against American civilians. The Nazi plan was given the codename of Operation Pastorius, and it was launched in June 1942, just six months after Germany had declared war on America. What followed was one of World War II's most bizarre spy stories. Operation Pastorius: The History of the Nazi Intelligence Operation to Commit Sabotage in the United States during World War II looks at one of the war's most unique operations.

The History of the Nazi Intelligence Operation to Commit Sabotage in the United States During World War II

Operation Pastorius

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading The early history of Earth covers such vast stretches of time that years, centuries, and even millennia become virtually meaningless. Instead, paleontologists and scientists who study geochronology divide time into periods and eras. The current view of science is that Earth is around 4.6 billion years old, but despite all of the scientific advances made in the past few centuries, including an enhanced understanding of Earth's geological past, relatively little is known about the planet's early history. In a modern study of prehistoric man, the twenty-first century mind may struggle with the vast timeline of what we call the Stone Age. Most authorities set the pre-human and human occupation of the planet at three to four million years in the past. From our perch in today's technological age with its relatively quiet climate, charting the journey of ancient humans to preeminence among Earth's life forms is an unsettling effort. Should one pursue a history of the physical planet, the inquiry will track the agitated natural forces that brought pre-humans onto the evolutionary stage. Of the many hominids fighting for life in an ongoing state of planetary upheaval, all but one fell to extinction. The species that survives today has crossed paths with fallen ancestors who lent us elements of their genetic code. As one generation stands on the shoulders of those who came before, so it has been with human evolution, if a flawed species is fortunate enough to survive the process. As the fossil record expands, dating the early human is conducted within a constant state of flux. Thus, the most common period names for phases of early history must do the same. A linear chronology of human development defies possibility as tribal relevance moves out and back in all directions. Each genetic path requires a return to separate points of origin, and the primary archaeological sites must disentangle disparate genetic biographies taken from the same soil or sediment. A generally accepted figure for the larger Stone Age featuring the first use of stone tools begins at 3.4 million years in the early Paleolithic Age. In a brief interim period of two thousand years following the end of the most recent Ice Age, the Mesolithic period serves as a transition to the Neolithic running from 8700 to 2000 BCE. More conservative estimates place the span of the Stone Age at 2.5 million years, ending around 3000 BCE. Modern dating systems are intended to provide approximate conclusions within large epochs, not pinpoint calendar dates, and shifts of opinion are ongoing. Grouped together, the Stone Age phases for the tripartite Stone Age are drawn from the Greek words Palaios (old) and Lithos (stone). The proliferation of sub-categorizations was designed as a method for studying early humans within a more organized set of chronologies. Before such terms came into use in the eighteenth century, the best available tracing of early man came from the Greek poet Hesiod. His categorization of prehistory followed a scheme through the Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age, Heroic Age, and Iron Age. Such an arrangement is by all appearances more of a reflection of and salute to human mythology gathered by the threads of emerging and past cultures. Something more scientific was required for scholars of the Enlightenment. The solution was provided by Christian J. Thomsen, a Danish antiquarian who relied on a three-part system of identification. In the larger picture of earth's pre-history, his sequence of Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages gained consensus. The Stone Age's separation into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic brought about a clearer dividing line for epochs where humans began to work with metal.

Charles River

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