Best of
18th-Century

2016

The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence: A Pocket Constitution


Paul B. Skousen - 2016
    Reading them as they were written is a must for every American. Regular reading is required for any historian or member of the legal profession, and a good idea for all Americans. Acclaimed Constitutional scholar Paul Skousen, author of How to Read the Constitution, frames this simple text with a brief preface and a summary of important facts about these two documents, including important dates, for the ultimate quick reference. Throughout the text of the Constitution, he provides a clear guide to parts that became invalid due to later amendments, making the current meaning clear. Without intruding on the meaning, Skousen gives you a great tool for understanding our most basic principles of good government. An inspiring introduction by New York Times best-selling author Dan Clark will put you in the right frame of mind to read and appreciate these great documents. This handy guide can become your best friend, and you'll want to keep a copy nearby. Fortunately, this little book will easily fit into your pocket or briefcase, top desk drawer, or iPad case. You'll may find you want to have extra copies around to hand out, too. Here is your chance to become an expert on two of the most important documents that shaped our country!

The Whaler


Ines Thorn - 2016
    Most families must rely on arranged marriage just to survive. But free-spirited Maren Luersen doesn’t care for riches—her heart belongs to handsome but poor Thies Heinen. He may not have prospects or fortune to offer, but Maren knows their intense love can overcome any obstacle, and she is determined to be his bride.The wealthy and mysterious Captain Rune Boyse has other plans. He shocks Maren with a startling marriage proposal, and even though he can give her family a better life, her love for Thies is too powerful to deny. But when tragedy strikes, she finds herself in debt to the captain and must set sail with him on a dangerous whale hunt—with no promise of a safe return.If Maren survives, will life be the same back on shore? Or will her heart change course somewhere over the icy swells of the Arctic Sea?

The Body on the Doorstep


A.J. MacKenzie - 2016
    Carter's, The Strangler Vine, The Body on the Doorstep is the first Romney Marsh Mystery by A. J. MacKenzieKent, 1796. Shocked to discover a dying man on his doorstep - and lucky to avoid a bullet himself - Reverend Hardcastle finds himself entrusted with the victim's cryptic last words.With smuggling rife on England's south-east coast, the obvious conclusion is that this was a falling out among thieves. But why is the leader of the local Customs service so reluctant to investigate? Ably assisted by the ingenious Mrs Chaytor, Hardcastle sets out to solve the mystery for himself. But smugglers are not the only ones to lurk off the Kent coast, and the more he discovers, the more he realises he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

The Wife's Tale


Christine Wells - 2016
    When she discovers Seagrove is linked to a notorious eighteenth-century court case, Liz becomes fascinated – not only by the house and its history, but also by its current owners.In the winter of 1789, the infamous Delany Nash scandalised London when details of her alleged affair with her husband's brother were aired in a public courtroom. Yet her journals reveal an extraordinary woman's tale of passion, betrayal and heartbreak.Captivated by Delany's story, Liz delves into her research but the more she uncovers, the more she risks jeopardising the future of everyone at Seagrove. For there are dark secrets that surround the house, and when the truth emerges the repercussions will echo down through the centuries.The Wife's Tale is a mesmerising story of love, loyalty and sacrifice.

A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley


Jane Kamensky - 2016
    But, married to the daughter of a tea merchant and seeking artistic approval from abroad, he could not sever his own ties with Great Britain. Rather, ambition took him to London just as the war began. His view from abroad as rich and fascinating as his harrowing experiences of patriotism in Boston, Copley’s refusal to choose sides cost him dearly. Yet to this day, his towering artistic legacy remains shared by America and Britain alike.

Scattered Seeds


Julie Doherty - 2016
    Henry finds it in the foul belly of The Charming Hannah , only to lose it when an elusive trader purchases his sweetheart’s indenture.With nothing but their broken hearts, a lame ox, and a torc they cannot sell without invoking a centuries-old curse, they head for the backcountry, where all hope rests upon getting their seed in the ground. Under constant threat of Indian attack, they endure crushing toil and hardship. By summer, they have wheat for their reward, and unexpected news of Henry’s lost love. They emerge from the wilderness and follow her trail to Philadelphia, unaware her cruel new master awaits them there, his heart set on obtaining the priceless torc they protect.

American Revolution: A History From Beginning to End (One Hour History Revolution Book 2)


Henry Freeman - 2016
    The colonists were fighting for rights they felt they deserved, not only as British citizens, but as human beings. The belief that rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were God given and not dependent upon any government or ruler gave the revolutionaries the courage to fight against overwhelming odds and eventually win their freedom. Inside you will read about... ✓ A Series of Oppressions ✓ Death and Taxes ✓ Out of Many, One ✓ War in Earnest ✓ Voices of Liberty ✓ Independence And more! The new government they created for the United States of America would be unlike anything seen before in world history, and their fight has continued to change the world to this day.

1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga


Dean Snow - 2016
    Utilizing historical archaeology and the words of the men and women that served in both armies, words taken directly from their letters, journals, diaries, and memoirs, of which many remain unpublished, Snow weaves an intimate and personal telling of the battles. It was for both sides a story of endurance. The Americans fielded an improvised and inexperienced army under Horatio Gates to face the highly trained British and German forces led by John Burgoyne. In addition to these initial inequalities were the advantages of short distances, regular supply, and fresh reinforcements enjoyed by the Americans and the disadvantages of long inadequate supply lines and thinning ranks endured by the British and German forces. There were painful losses on both sides, tragic deaths, and the combination of relief and protracted pain that always accompanies armed conflict. But in the end, the stark fact remained that one of the world's finest armies had been beaten by a force of amateurs, changing the direction of the American insurrection and making eventual independence inevitable.The skein of personal stories that comprise the bigger story of Saratoga has many threads, including that of Benedict Arnold, whose flawed personality was not yet fully evident. The contrasting personalities and fates of the commanding generals, Gates and Burgoyne, are better known, but these are but a few of the threads that form the larger story of Saratoga. By bringing together the stories of both the famous and the anonymous on both sides, Snow's narrative presents a thorough micro-history of the battles that tipped the balance of the American War of Independence.

THE CALLING OF THE CLAN: Book II


Parris Afton Bonds - 2016
    She would have to be well bred, well read, and gifted with the ability to turn the primitive into the palatial. If she Is favorable to look upon and sweetly dispositioned, that would be even better. That she could ever come to love him is irrelevant. The Lady Catriona Kilcairn is desperately seeking to save her familial colonial home from 1776’s bloodthirsty insurrectionists, demanding she take the American Oath of Allegiance. Marriage with the backwoods oaf Jacob Dare is her only immediate option, and a most objectionable one, given that her love and loyalty belong to the Sassenach of her youth, the aristocratic Barrett Fairfax. Yet, as the famous Scotsman Sir Walter Scott warned, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!”

James Madison: A Life From Beginning to End


Henry Freeman - 2016
    As the people who crafted the documents that would win Americans freedom from Great Britain and establish a constitutional republic, they were indeed a special group. One of the most overlooked Founders is James Madison. His life was as extraordinary as the others, but for some reason, he doesn't often find himself in the popularity column. Inside you will read about... ✓ Early Life ✓ Early Political Career ✓ Father of the Constitution ✓ The Federalist Papers ✓ Politician and Statesman ✓ President 1809-1817 ✓ Personal Life ✓ Later Years This ebook will introduce you to James Madison. Besides becoming the 4th president of the United States, he served in government for most of his life. You will meet him as he goes off to college, when he returns home to Montpelier, and when he decides to assist with the greatest achievement of his life, the writing of the U. S. Constitution. James Madison was a man not to be forgotten. This ebook will prove to you why.

Reigning Men: Fashion in Menswear, 1715–2015


Sharon Sadako Takeda - 2016
    The fashionable male may be making a comeback, but early fashion trends centered around what men--not women--were wearing. This intriguing book traces the history of men's fashion since the 18th century, when young Englishmen imitated foreign dress and manners after touring the European continent. This phenomenon is only one of many explored in sections titled "Revolution/Evolution," "East/West," "Uniformity," "Body Consciousness," and "The Splendid Man." In addition to numerous illustrations of extant menswear, the book captures the 19th-century dandy, a more restrained brand of expensive elegance which became the hallmark of Savile Row; the post-WWII mod, who relished the colorful styles of Carnaby Street; and the 21st-century man--ultra-chic in a sleek suit by day, wearing a flowered tuxedo by night. "Reigning Men" illuminates connections between history and high fashion, traces cultural influences over the centuries, examines how uniforms have profoundly shaped fashionable dress, and reveals that women aren't the only ones who cinch and pad their bodies. Beautifully produced and lavishly illustrated, this eye-opening book will certainly appeal to men and women alike.

Clash of Empires


Paul Bennett - 2016
    The eventual result can be described as the first world war, known as the Seven Year’s War in Europe and the French and Indian War in the colonies. The Mallory family uproots from eastern Pennsylvania, and moves to the western frontier, where they find themselves in the middle of war. Daniel, Liam, and Liza (the three Mallory siblings) become involved in the conflict in ways that lead to emotional trauma for each. The story focuses on historical events and includes historical characters. Clash of Empires is an exciting look at the developments leading to the events of July 1776, which are chronicled in the sequel as we follow the exploits and fate of the Mallory clan.

Portrait of a Woman in Silk: Hidden Histories of the British Atlantic World


Zara Anishanslin - 2016
    While most scholarship on commodities focuses either on labor and production or on consumption and use, Anishanslin unifies both, examining the worlds of four identifiable people who produced, wore, and represented this object: a London weaver, one of early modern Britain’s few women silk designers, a Philadelphia merchant’s wife, and a New England painter.   Blending macro and micro history with nuanced gender analysis, Anishanslin shows how making, buying, and using goods in the British Atlantic created an object-based community that tied its inhabitants together, while also allowing for different views of the Empire. Investigating a range of subjects including self-fashioning, identity, natural history, politics, and trade, Anishanslin makes major contributions both to the study of material culture and to our ongoing conversation about how to write history.

18th Century Fashion in Detail


Susan North - 2016
    With an authoritative text, exquisite color photography of garment details, and line drawings showing the complete construction of each piece, the reader has the unique opportunity to examine up close historical clothing that is often too fragile to be on display.It is an inspirational resource for students, collectors, designers, and anyone who is fascinated by fashion and clothing.This new edition features an updated design, improved navigation, a comprehensive index, and an introduction that sets the examples in full historical context.

Tender


Anne Meredith - 2016
    She arrives in Colonial Williamsburg with her best friend, Camisha, and soon learns that the man who raised her has been keeping a dark secret from her for twenty years and blackmailing Camisha. Now, he'll do everything to stop Rachel from revealing his secret. An endearing couple dressed in colonial clothing shelter the young women at Rosalie, an historic estate that was once a tobacco plantation. That evening, while a thunderstorm crashes outside, she hears the legends of Rosalie, including the story of Grey Trelawney and his young daughter Emily, who died at a fire at Rosalie in the 18th century. As she dresses for bed, she looks out the window and finds a little girl - Emily Trelawney - begging for her help. Could the child be a ghost? She races after the child into the ruins of the original plantation house, and as lightning strikes, she collapses. She awakens in the arms of Grey Trelawney, the wealthy plantation owner who has a dark secret of his own. She learns that secret when she discovers that Camisha, too, has traveled back to the year 1746 - with disastrous results. Will Rachel ever remember what happened in her childhood that wiped away her most treasured memories? How can a man as contemptible as Grey not only awaken in her the most tender passions, but also hold the key to restoring those memories? Can she prevent the fire that killed both the man and the child she now loves? How can she keep Camisha safe in a time and place so dangerous for her? This latest steamy time-travel romance from Anne Meredith is a sweeping drama of treachery, friendship, and redemption, set on a backdrop of forbidden love and overflowing with the history of the era. It will take you away, make you think, and leave you hungry for Book Two in The Trelawneys of Williamsburg Series by Anne Meredith.

The Gambler


Carré White - 2016
    After stealing money from the handsome gambler who kindly offered her assistance, she runs from him, although the memory of that night will haunt her forever.The beauty with the emerald green eyes played him for a fool, which is something Nash can never forgive. Gambling with ruthless intensity and skill, he's amassed a fortune, heading west to secure land. That is, until he stumbles upon an old enemy--the stunning saloon girl who hurt his pride, stole his money, and made off with his heart.Revenge never tasted this sweet...

Jonas and Olivia


Victoria Minks - 2016
    Directed by his will to be placed in the care of an old friend, Olivia is forced to venture away from all she’s ever known to make her new life among people who are strangers to her.Unaware of the new responsibility about to be thrust on him, Jonas Carmichael lives the life of a reclusive in an attempt to ignore the painful memories of the past. His heart has grown hard and bitter over the past thirty years of solitude, and his hatred towards people has only multiplied.Suddenly burdened with Olivia, Jonas’s only burning desire is to shove the girl off on somebody else. But Olivia, still suffering from her loss, is only looking for someone to love her as her father did--and soon realizes that there is more to Jonas than meets the eye.With the Revolutionary War pressing closer around Jonas’s secluded bubble of safety and threatening to burst it at any moment, Jonas discovers that there are choices to be made--choices that will not only affect himself but those around him as well.

R Is for Railway: An Industrial Revolution Alphabet


Greg Paprocki - 2016
    Twenty-six Industrial Revolution concepts paired with Greg Paprocki’s adorable illustrations: From “F is for factory” to “P is for printing,” teach your little one about the inventions and changes brought about in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Babies will love this board book’s engaging art, and parents will enjoy its slice of history with this primer’s Industrial Revolution theme. Greg Paprocki proves it’s never too early to start looking back; collect all six of his alphabet history primers!

Toussaint Louverture: A Revolutionary Life


Philippe Girard - 2016
    He was born a slave on Saint-Domingue yet earned his freedom and established himself as a small-scale planter. He even purchased slaves of his own.Philippe Girard shows how Louverture transformed himself from lowly freedman into revolutionary hero as the mastermind of the bloody slave revolt of 1791. By 1801, Louverture was governor of the colony where he had once been a slave. But his lifelong quest to be accepted as a member of the colonial elite ended in despair: he spent the last year of his life in a French prison cell. His example nevertheless inspired anticolonial and black nationalist movements well into the twentieth century.Based on voluminous primary-source research, conducted in archives across the world and in multiple languages, Toussaint Louverture is the definitive biography of one of the most influential men in history.

Captain Cook


Oliver Warner - 2016
    He was the first to discover Australia and the Hawaiian Islands and the first to circumnavigate New Zealand. By the 1700s, England, eager to expand its realm of trade, promoted exploration of all the unclaimed regions of the world. The eighteenth century, the age of reason and enlightenment, required a new kind of explorer: not a rover or a plunderer or a seeker of adventure for its own sake, but a master of navigation and seamanship. Captain James Cook filled the bill. No one ever surpassed Cook's record. From South America to Australia, from the ice islands of the South Pacific to the fogbound Bering Strait, lay thousands of miles of islands, atolls, and ocean that Cook charted.

Paisanos: The Forgotten Irish Who Changed the Face of Latin America


Tim Fanning - 2016
    Featuring armed revolutionaries such as the Irish-born Argentine hero, Admiral William Brown, and Chile's great liberator, Bernardo O'Higgins; trailblazing women like Eliza Lynch and Camila O'Gorman; and the viceroy of Peru, Ambrose O'Higgins.

The Secret Life of the Georgian Garden


Kate Felus - 2016
    But scratch below the surface and history reveals they were a lot less serene and, in places, a great deal more scandalous. This book about the private life of the Georgian garden reveals its previously untold secrets. It explains how by the eighteenth century there was a desire to escape the busy country house where privacy was at a premium, and how these gardens evolved aesthetically, with modestly-sized, far-flung temples and other eye-catchers, to cater for escape and solitude as well as food, drink, music and fireworks. Its publication coincides with the tercentenary of the birth of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, arguably Britain's greatest ever landscape gardener, and the book is uniquely positioned to put Brown's work into its social context.

The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War


J.L. Bell - 2016
    British general Thomas Gage had been searching for them, both to stymie New England’s growing rebellion and to erase the embarrassment of having let cannon disappear from armories under redcoat guard. Anxious to regain those weapons, he drew up plans for his troops to march nineteen miles into unfriendly territory. The Massachusetts Patriots, meanwhile, prepared to thwart the general’s mission. There was one goal Gage and his enemies shared: for different reasons, they all wanted to keep the stolen cannon as secret as possible. Both sides succeeded well enough that the full story has never appeared until now.The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War by historian J. L. Bell reveals a new dimension to the start of America’s War for Independence by tracing the spark of its first battle back to little-known events beginning in September 1774. The author relates how radical Patriots secured those four cannon and smuggled them out of Boston, and how Gage sent out spies and search parties to track them down. Drawing on archives in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, the book creates a lively, original, and deeply documented picture of a society perched on the brink of war.

Beth: The Story of a Child Convict


Mark L. Wilson - 2016
    Through Beth's story, we discover the unbearable hardships those first convicts suffered, not only on the long journey to Sydney Cove but also in the two years of near-famine following their arrival. The story also explores the new arrivals' relationship with the Indigenous population, and the devastation that the Europeans brought with them.But through Beth's experiences we also see the sense of hope that many in the new colony held for the future, and how they survived - and in some cases thrived.This moving story, illustrated with Mark Wilson's beautifully crafted and evocative artwork, was inspired by the experiences of Elizabeth Hayward, the youngest female convict with the First Fleet, and the journals of naval officer William Bradley and Arthur Bowes Smyth, the surgeon and artist from the First Fleet vessel 'Lady Penrhyn'.

What is Modern Israel?


Yakov M. Rabkin - 2016
    In What Is Modern Israel?, however, Yakov M. Rabkin turns this understanding on its head, arguing convincingly that Zionism, far from being a natural development of Judaism, in fact has its historical and theological roots in Protestant Christianity. While most Jewish people viewed Zionism as marginal or even heretical, Christian enthusiasm for the Restoration of the Jews to the Promised Land transformed the traditional Judaic yearning for ‘Return’—a spiritual concept with a very different meaning—into a political project.   Drawing on many overlooked pages of history, and using on a uniquely broad range of sources in English, French, Hebrew, and Russian, Rabkin shows that Zionism was conceived as a sharp break with Judaism and Jewish continuity. Rabkin argues that Israel’s past and present must be understood in the context of European ethnic nationalism, colonial expansion, and geopolitical interests rather than—as is all too often the case—an incarnation of Biblical prophecies or a culmination of Jewish history.

The Common Cause: Creating Race and Nation in the American Revolution


Robert G. Parkinson - 2016
    Few on either side of the Atlantic expected thirteen colonies to stick together in a war against their cultural cousins. In this pathbreaking book, Robert Parkinson argues that to unify the patriot side, political and communications leaders linked British tyranny to colonial prejudices, stereotypes, and fears about insurrectionary slaves and violent Indians. Manipulating newspaper networks, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and their fellow agitators broadcast stories of British agents inciting African Americans and Indians to take up arms against the American rebellion. Using rhetoric like domestic insurrectionists and merciless savages, the founding fathers rallied the people around a common enemy and made racial prejudice a cornerstone of the new Republic. In a fresh reading of the founding moment, Parkinson demonstrates the dual projection of the common cause. Patriots through both an ideological appeal to popular rights and a wartime movement against a host of British-recruited slaves and Indians forged a racialized, exclusionary model of American citizenship.

Nation-States: Consciousness and Competition


Neil Davidson - 2016
    Through probing inquiry, Davidson draws out how nationalist ideology and consciousness is used to bind the subordinate classes to “the nation,” while simultaneously using “the state” as a means of conducting geopolitical competition for capital.

The Lady's Guide to Plain Sewing


Kathleen Kannik - 2016
    These skills are used in the creation of reproduction historical garments and household items, and are also used in heirloom sewing and haute couture. "Plain sewing" consists of stitches and methods used in basic construction of items, including some decorative techniques, as opposed to "fancy work" or embroidery. Explore tips on gathering your tools and supplies, and on sewing position and tension. Discover basic stitches, seam techniques, whipped gathers and attaching ruffles, worked button-holes and eyelets, thread buttons, slit finishing, picot or “mice-teeth” edging, and an 18th century cross stitch alphabet. The paper version of this book has been regarded by historical costumers as a valuable reference in their sewing kits. Now this is available as an even handier version. Just please remember to keep this digital version out of site at historical settings and events! Happy Sewing!

The Russian Canvas: Painting in Imperial Russia, 1757-1881


Rosalind P. Blakesley - 2016
    Starting with the foundation of the Imperial Academy of the Arts in 1757 and culminating with the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, it details the professionalization and wide-ranging activities of painters against a backdrop of dramatic social and political change. The Imperial Academy formalized artistic training but later became a foil for dissent, as successive generations of painters negotiated their own positions between pan-European engagement and local and national identities. Drawing on original archival research, this groundbreaking book recontextualizes the work of major artists, revives the reputations of others, and explores the complex developments that took Russian painters from provincial anonymity to international acclaim.

Wives, Slaves, and Servant Girls: Advertisements for Female Runaways in American Newspapers, 1770–1783


Don N. Hagist - 2016
    Indentured servants and slaves absconded from the custody of their masters, and their value prompted the masters to seek their return. Wives ran from abusive husbands or into the arms of another. Newspapers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries carried large numbers of advertisements offering rewards for the return of runaways or announcing the detention of fugitives. Each ad provided a description of the individual and often included some circumstances of their elopement. The overall effectiveness of these advertisements cannot be measured, but the sheer number of ads suggests they were perceived as useful tools by those who placed them. What could not have been known at the time was the substantial contribution to history that these ads make. The descriptive advertisements provide textual snapshots of thousands of individuals who would otherwise be lost to history, people whose names might not otherwise be recorded. In Wives, Slaves, and Servant Girls: Advertisements for Female Runaways in American Newspapers, 1770–1783, historian Don N. Hagist focuses on the American Revolutionary period to provide a striking portrait of a substantial but largely forgotten segment of the population. Comprised of four hundred advertisements presented chronologically, the volume provides invaluable descriptions of women’s clothes, footwear, jewelry, physical appearances, education, nationalities, occupations, and other details.

Beyond Derrynane: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe


Kevin O'Connell - 2016
    The sisters learn to navigate the complex and frequently contradictory ways of the court--making a place for themselves in a world far different from remote Derrynane. Together with the general, they experience a complex life at the pinnacle of the Habsburg Empire.Beyond Derrynane - and the three books to follow in The Derrynane Saga - will present a sweeping chronicle, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant change, dramatising the roles, which have never before been treated in fiction, played by a small number of expatriate Irish Catholics of the fallen "Gaelic Aristocracy" (of which the O'Connells were counted as being amongst its few basically still-intact families) at the courts of Catholic Europe, as well as relating their complex, at times dangerous, lives at home in Protestant Ascendancy-ruled Ireland. In addition to Eileen's, the books trace the largely-fictional lives of several other O'Connells of Derrynane, it is the tantalisingly few facts that are historically documented about them which provide the basic threads around which the tale itself is woven, into which strategic additions ofnumerous historical and fictional personalities and events intertwine seamlessly.

Once There Was Fire: A Novel of Old Hawaii


Stephen Shender - 2016
    Then one day, strangers came from beyond the horizon on floating islands. At first, the Hawaiians thought they were gods. Having no metal of their own, they marveled at the visitors’ iron daggers, axes, muskets, and cannons. One man, Kamehameha, was the first among the Hawaiians to understand that the strangers’ arrival had transformed everything for his people. He would go on to use these new weapons to defeat his rivals, unite the Hawaiian Islands, and found a new kingdom at the crossroads of the Pacific Ocean.Once There Was Fire brings a little-understood, historically remote era to life through the words and actions of its memorable characters: Kamehameha, his strong-willed and rebellious consort, Ka‘ahumanu, his favorite brother, Keli‘imaika‘i, and Kamehameha’s sons, nephews, comrades in arms, haole advisers, and bitter enemies. The novel invites readers to see Hawaii of the mid-18th and early 19th centuries as the old Hawaiians themselves might have seen and experienced it on the cusp of their passage from splendid isolation to the wider world.

Dissecting the Criminal Corpse: Staging Post-Execution Punishment in Early Modern England (Palgrave Historical Studies in the Criminal Corpse and its Afterlife)


Elizabeth T. Hurren - 2016
    Yet, from 1752, whether criminals actually died on the hanging tree or in the dissection room remained a medical mystery in early modern society. Dissecting the Criminal Corpse takes issue with the historical cliché of corpses dangling from the hangman’s rope in crime studies. Some convicted murderers did survive execution in early modern England. Establishing medical death in the heart-lungs-brain was a physical enigma. Criminals had large bull-necks, strong willpowers, and hearty survival instincts. Extreme hypothermia often disguised coma in a prisoner hanged in the winter cold. The youngest and fittest were capable of reviving on the dissection table. Many died under the lancet. Capital legislation disguised a complex medical choreography that surgeons staged. They broke the Hippocratic Oath by executing the Dangerous Dead across England from 1752 until 1832.  This book is open access under a CC-BY license.

Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution Through Painters' Eyes


Paul Staiti - 2016
    Since then they have endured as indispensable icons, serving as historical documents and timeless reminders of the nation's unprecedented beginnings.As Paul Staiti reveals in Of Arms and Artists, the lives of the five great American artists of the Revolutionary period--Charles Willson Peale, John Singleton Copley, John Trumbull, Benjamin West, and Gilbert Stuart--were every bit as eventful as those of the Founders with whom they continually interacted, and their works contributed mightily to America's founding spirit. Living in a time of breathtaking change, each in his own way came to grips with the history being made by turning to brushes and canvases, the results often eliciting awe and praise, and sometimes scorn. Ever since the passing of the last eyewitnesses to the Revolution, their imagery has connected Americans to 1776, allowing us to interpret and reinterpret the nation's beginning generation after generation. The collective stories of these five artists open a fresh window on the Revolutionary era, making more human the figures we have long honored as our Founders, and deepening our understanding of the whirlwind out of which the United States emerged.

Fool Me Twice


Philippa Jane Keyworth - 2016
    By day she plays a proper gentlewoman on the lookout for a wealthy husband. By night she plays the infamous Angelica, her fictional half-sister with a talent for cards and an ability to finance the life her respectable self has built. An introduction to a rich Marquis brings marriage and security within Caro’s grasp…until the arrival of the unpredictable and totally ineligible Mr. Tobias Felton. Dismayed by Felton’s persistent appearances, shocking frankness, and enigmatic green eyes, Caro watches helplessly as he comes closer than anyone to guessing her secret, but when complete and utter ruin threatens, she finds that Felton’s suspicions just might become her salvation. As the walls she has built to protect herself crumble down around her, Caro learns that no matter how careful your plans, life and love have a habit of falling quite spectacularly out of control!

Moments of Joy Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun


Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun - 2016
    In 1783, she was admitted to France's Academie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. Before she fled the French Revolution, she made her way painting portraits of the French court, including Marie Antoinette. In exile, she painted the royalty of Naples, Russia, and Great Britain. Unlike most of the great old masters, Vigee Le Brun left a detailed memoir recounting her travels as an independent woman and artist. With a lively wit she describes meeting Catherine the Great, the hazards of painting sessions with live eagles, and sharp observations of daily life in post-revolutionary France and pre-revolutionary Russia. With humor, she observed that the legendary "blackbird pie" became an extraordinary event when live birds encountered lofty powdered wigs. She was aware that in a era with few divorces, there were many duels. Moments of Joy-Elisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun is generously illustrated with 79 high-quality color plates. This is a readers' edition with quality design, comfortably-sized text, and a format that is easy to hold and use. It is the perfect introduction to this great artist.

Arab Orthodox Christians Under the Ottomans 1516–1831


Constantin A. Panchenko - 2016
    Of these minorities Christians are by far the largest, comprising over 10% of the population in Syria and as much as 40% in Lebanon.The largest single group of Christians are the Arabic-speaking Orthodox. The author draws on archaeological evidence and previously unpublished primary sources uncovered in Russian archives and Middle Eastern monastic libraries to present a vivid and compelling account of this vital but little-known spiritual and political culture, situating it within a complex network of relations reaching throughout the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.

A Minor Deception


Nupur Tustin - 2016
    But with the Empress Maria Theresa’s visit scheduled in three weeks, Haydn can ill-afford to lose his surly virtuoso. But when Bartó disappears—along with all the music composed for the imperial visit—the Kapellmeister is forced to don the role of Kapell-detective, or risk losing his job. Before long Haydn's search uncovers pieces of a disturbing puzzle. Bartó, it appears, is more than just a petty thief—and more dangerous. And what seemed like a minor musical mishap could modulate into a major political catastrophe unless Haydn can find his missing virtuoso.

Building the British Atlantic World: Spaces, Places, and Material Culture, 1600-1850


Daniel Maudlin - 2016
    In this groundbreaking study, thirteen leading scholars explore the idea of transatlanticism--or a shared Atlantic world experience--through the lens of architecture, built spaces, and landscapes in the British Atlantic from the seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. Examining town planning, churches, forts, merchants' stores, state houses, and farm houses, this collection shows how the powerful visual language of architecture and design allowed the people of this era to maintain common cultural experiences across different landscapes while still forming their individuality.By studying the interplay between physical construction and social themes that include identity, gender, taste, domesticity, politics, and race, the authors interpret material culture in a way that particularly emphasizes the people who built, occupied, and used the spaces and reflects the complex cultural exchanges between Britain and the New World.

An Agreeable Tyrant: Fashion After the Revolution


Alden O'Brien - 2016
    What is a patriotic American to wear?"Q: What is Fashion?A: An Agreeable Tyrant.Q: What does it regulate?A: The Dresses of the Ladies, the Philosophical, Religious, and Political Tenets of the Men..."

Bison and People on the North American Great Plains: A Deep Environmental History


Geoff Cunfer - 2016
    This interpretation remains seductive because of its simplicity; there are villains and victims in this familiar cautionary tale of the American frontier. But as this volume of groundbreaking scholarship shows, the story of the bison’s demise is actually quite nuanced.Bison and People on the North American Great Plains brings together voices from several disciplines to offer new insights on the relationship between humans and animals that approached extinction. The essays here transcend the border between the United States and Canada to provide a continental context. Contributors include historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, paleontologists, and Native American perspectives. This book explores the deep past and examines the latest knowledge on bison anatomy and physiology, how bison responded to climate change (especially drought), and early bison hunters and pre-contact trade. It also focuses on the era of European contact, in particular the arrival of the horse, and some of the first known instances of over-hunting. By the nineteenth century bison reached a “tipping point” as a result of new tanning practices, an early attempt at protective legislation, and ventures to introducing cattle as a replacement stock. The book concludes with a Lakota perspective featuring new ethnohistorical research.Bison and People on the North American Great Plains is a major contribution to environmental history, western history, and the growing field of transnational history.

Lanterns In The Mist


Mairi Norris - 2016
    So what is a pragmatic man to do but combine the two. When he learns a bride ship is en route to Norfolk with women aboard who might fit his qualifications, it appears his problem is solved. Londoner Susanna Cooper is desperate. With her father’s sudden death, the family livelihood is gone. Her only sibling, a younger brother, abandons her to sail to China. All other options exhausted, she joins the complement of a bride ship headed for the Colony of Virginia. The only guarantee: employment or a husband. Destiny joins Duncan and Susanna and love binds them, but a pitiless adversary, his desire for Susanna thwarted, plots a chilling vengeance to separate them—forever.

The World of Mr Casaubon: Britain's Wars of Mythography, 1700–1870


Colin Kidd - 2016
    The author of an unfinished Key to All Mythologies, Casaubon has become an icon of obscurantism, irrelevance and futility.Crossing conventional disciplinary boundaries, Colin Kidd excavates Casaubon's hinterland, and illuminates the fierce ideological war which raged over the use of pagan myths to defend Christianity from the existential threat posed by radical Enlightenment criticism.Notwithstanding Eliot's portrayal of Casaubon, Anglican mythographers were far from unworldly, and actively rebutted the radical freethinking associated with the Enlightenment and French Revolution. Orientalism was a major theatre in this ideological conflict, and mythography also played an indirect but influential role in framing the new science of anthropology.The World of Mr Casaubon is rich in interdisciplinary twists and ironies, and paints a vivid picture of the intellectual world of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain.