Included are the familiar masterpieces--"The Kiss," "The Darling," and "The Lady with the Dog"--as well as several brilliant lesser-known tales such as "A Blunder," "Hush!," and "Champagne." These stories, ordered from 1886 to 1899, are drawn from Chekhov's most fruitful years as a short-story writer. A truly balanced selection, they exhibit the qualities that make Chekhov one of the greatest fiction writers of all time: his gift for detail, dialogue, and humor; his emotional perception and compassion; and his understanding that life's most important moments are often the most overlooked."The reason we like Chekhov so much, now at our century's end," writes Ford in his perceptive introduction, "is because his stories from the last century's end feel so modern to us, are so much of our own time and mind." Exquisitely translated by the renowned Constance Garnett, these stories present a wonderful opportunity to introduce yourself--or become reaquainted with--an artist whose genius and influence only increase with every passing generation.

    Re-creating the successes and harrowing failures of the original extreme adventurers, Fergus Fleming captures the incredibly brave, and often downright insane, passion for exploration that led a band of men into situations that would humble even the bravest adventurers today.These men served under John Barrow, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, who, after the Napoleonic wars, launched the most ambitious program of exploration the world has ever seen. For the next thirty years, his handpicked teams of elite naval officers scoured the globe on a mission to fill the blanks that littered the atlases of the day.From the first disastrous trip down the Congo, in search of the Niger River, Barrow maintained his resolve in the face of continuous catastrophes. His explorers often died of sickness or at the hands of unfriendly natives, and they struggled under minuscule budgets that forced them to resort to pulling enormous ships across floating ice fields; to eating mice, raw meat, or their own shoes; and even to horrifying acts of cannibalism.While many of the journeys failed entirely, Barrow and his men ultimately opened Africa to the world, discovered Antarctica, and pried apart the mandibles of the Arctic. Many of the missions have gone down among the greatest in history, yet they have never before been collected into one volume that captures the full sweep of Barrow's program. Beyond their own renowned discoveries, Barrow's officers inspired scores of men, from Livingstone to Shackleton, to continue the incredible quest for knowledge well into the twentieth century.Never again would such a disparate and entertaining band of explorers stalk the world.

    Isabel Arundell was a schoolgirl, the scion of England's most distinguished Catholic family. When she first saw him while walking at a seaside resort, Richard Burton had already made his mark as a linguist (he was fluent in twenty-nine languages), scholar, soldier, and explorer--at once a symbol of Victorian England's vision of empire and an avowed rebel against its mores. When she turned and saw him staring after her, she decided that she would marry him. By their next meeting, Burton had become the first infidel to infiltrate Mecca as one of the faithful, and, in an expedition to discover the source of the Nile, would soon be the first white man to see Lake Tanganyika. After being married, the Burtons traveled and experienced the world, from diplomatic postings in Brazil and Africa to hair-raising adventures in the Syrian desert. In later life Richard courted further controversy as a self-proclaimed erotologist and the translator of The Kama Sutra. Based on previously unavailable archives, Mary Lovell has written a compelling joint biography that sets Isabel in her proper place as Burton's equal in daring and endurance, a fascinating figure in her own right.

    Although there is no evidence the letters were ever posted, they indicate a long relationship, geographically apart, in which correspondence would have been the primary means of communication. Dickinson did not write letters as a fictional genre, and these were surely part of a much larger correspondence yet unknown to us. In the week following Dickinson’s death on May 15, 1886, Lavinia Dickinson found what she described as a locked box containing seven hundred of her sister’s poems. The Master letters may have been among them, for they were clearly not with the correspondence, which Lavinia destroyed upon discovery. Of primary importance, the Master letters nevertheless have had an uncertain history of discovery, publication, dating, and transcription. This publication, issued at the centennial of Emily Dickinson’s death, presents the three letters in chronological order, based upon new dating of the manuscripts, and provides their texts in facsimile as well as in transcriptions that show stages in the composition of each letter.

     Asie Taylor is a half-blood Indian raised by Mormons, a gifted musician and a sharp-tongued philosopher. Sun Moon is a Tibetan nun, kidnapped and sold into prostitution in California. Each is on the run--Asie toward his heritage and the secret of his name, Sun Moon from her captors, in particular the fanatical "Destroying Angel" of Mormondon, Porter Rockwell. The fate of these two innocents takes its strangest turn when they are thrown together with a man innocent of nothing, the scar-faced Nile explorer Sir Richard Burton who in 1862 is making his leisurely way across the American West. The journey of this remarkable trio, their footsteps dogged by the relentless Rockwell, ranges from Brigham Young's Salt Lake City through the mining camps of the Comstock Lode in Nevada (where a reporter named Sam Clemens befriends them) is a dazzling tour-de-force adventure. “Win Blevins has done it again with Of Love and Demons. A wonderfully wild one which you don’t want to miss.” – Tony Hillerman “Win Blevins displays an antic imagination, not only in mingling actual and invented characters, but in melding gritty action-adventure and metaphysical musings.” Dale Wasserman, Author of Man of La Mancha “Win Blevins’ Of Love and Demons is a risqué And veritable romp through the history of the West. Highly enjoyable reading.” Clyde M. Hall, Shoshone-Bannock lecturer of Western and Native American History. From Kirkus Reviews A colorful novel set among the Mormons in 1862, featuring such real folks as Sam Clemens, Sir Richard Burton, Brigham Young, and Porter Rockwell, by the author of Stone Song (1995), an imaginary life of Crazy Horse. Half-Indian Asie Taylor, a musical prodigy who has been accepted into the Church of the Latter-day Saints, drowns when his delivery wagon is overturned in a flash flood, has an out-of-body experience, returns to life, and is amazed to see hovering over him the scarred but beautiful face of Sun Moon, a Tibetan Buddhist nun who was kidnapped in Asia and shipped to America to be sold into prostitution. There, she ended up in Idaho, where Tarim, the local tavernkeeper/whoremaster who bought her, expected to resell her for a hefty sum. When Porter Rockwell, a Mormon known as the Destroying Angel (he seeks out and kills enemies of the church) wins Sun Moon, he attempts to satisfy his lust, is frustrated by his inability to do so, and disfigures her face. Having learned some English while storekeeping, Sun Moon flees Tarim and falls in with Asie, who decides to go in search of his origins and of the meaning of his Shoshone name, Rock Child. Meantime, Rockwell is in pursuit of Sun Moon, determined to kill her--and anyone who gets in his way. Tibetan-speaking British explorer/translator Sir Richard Burton, an opium addict of none-too-sound mind, who's in Salt Lake City to persuade Brigham Young to form a separate Western Confederacy, saves Asie and Sun Moon from Rockwell and joins their quest. For a while, Brigham Young gives them sanctuary from Rockwell, though Rockwell later follows the trio to San Francisco. The climax would satisfy the Buddha himself as his teachings resoundingly bring the murderous Rockwell to heel. Historical detail serves a charming treasure. From Library Journal Blevins, whose Stone Song (Tor, 1995) fictionalized the life of the legendary Crazy Horse, has stated his aim is to write "mythic novels of the American West.

    McPherson, professor emeritus of U.S. history at Princeton, is one of the foremost scholars of the Civil War. In this informative and meticulously researched masterpiece, he clarifies the differing ways of life and philosophy that led to this shattering conflict. Abraham Lincoln wondered whether "in a free government the minority have the right to break up the government." Jefferson Davis felt "forced to take up arms" to guarantee his states' rights. McPherson merges the words of these men and other political luminaries, housewives, and soldiers from both armies with his own concise analysis of the war to create a story as compelling as any novel. Battle Cry of Freedom vividly traces how a new nation was forged when a war both sides were sure would amount to little dragged for four years and cost more American lives than all other wars combined."... of the 50,000 books written on the Civil War, the finest compression of that national paroxysm ever fitted between two covers."-Los Angeles Times Book Review

    He was the youngest, a strong-willed, likeable character with an immense thirst for life who faced two overwhelming handicaps. One was haemophilia, then barely understood, which might have killed him at any moment, and in any case subjected him to recurring pain and disability. The other was his mother’s determination to keep complete control over his life. Leopold’s struggle for independence is a compelling human story, using previously unseen correspondence to explore his illness and treatment, his troubled and often stormy relationship with the Queen, and his place in the royal family. It touches on the wider worlds of Victorian Oxford and of literature, art and politics and the varied friendships he made, with Lewis Carroll, John Ruskin, Oscar Wilde, and Disraeli among others. Set against this background, Leopold’s story is a moving account of one man’s search against the odds for personal happiness and a meaningful role in the world.

    But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice, Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but a process that was more than once seriously derailed. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed.Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson's skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln's contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling (as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes). Wilson also reconstructs Lincoln's frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women - from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd.Meticulously researched and well written, this is a fascinating book that makes us reexamine our ideas about one of the icons of American history.From the Hardcover edition.

    He tells you all you need to know to become a true Wagnerite--from story lines to historical background; from when to visit the rest room to how to sound smart during intermission; from the Jewish legend that possibly inspired Lohengrin to the tragic death of the first Tristan. Funny, informative, and always a pleasure to read, Wagner Without Fear proves that the art of Wagner can be accessible to everyone.Includes:- The strange life of Richard Wagner--German patriot (and exile), friend (and enemy) of Liszt and Nietzsche- Essential opera lore and "lobby talk"- A scene-by-scene analysis of each opera- What to listen for to get the most from the music- Recommended recordings, films, and sound tracks

    Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by nineteenth-century women of less-exulted class.Victoria and Albert's precocious firstborn child, Vicky, wed a Prussian prince in a political match her high-minded father hoped would bring about a more liberal Anglo-German order. That vision met with disaster when Vicky's son Wilhelm-- to be known as Kaiser Wilhelm-- turned against both England and his mother, keeping her out of the public eye for the rest of her life. Gentle, quiet Alice had a happier marriage, one that produced Alexandra, later to become Tsarina of Russia, and yet another Victoria, whose union with a Battenberg prince was to found the present Mountbatten clan. However, she suffered from melancholia and died at age thirty-five of what appears to have been a deliberate, grief-fueled exposure to the diphtheria germs that had carried away her youngest daughter. Middle child Helena struggled against obesity and drug addition but was to have lasting effect as Albert's literary executor. By contrast, her glittering and at times scandalous sister Louise, the most beautiful of the five siblings, escaped the claustrophobic stodginess of the European royal courts by marrying a handsome Scottish commoner, who became governor general of Canada, and eventually settled into artistic salon life as a respected sculptor. And as the baby of the royal brood of nine, rebelling only briefly to forge a short-lived marriage, Beatrice lived under the thumb of her mother as a kind of personal secretary until the queen's death.Principally researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa-- and entertainingly written by an experienced biographer whose last book concerned Victoria's final days-- Victoria's Daughters closely examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and finally passed over entirely with the accession of their n0 brother Bertie to the throne. Packard provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as daughters of their time.

    Haskell, with thirty dollars in his pocket, set off west to find his fortune in the West. Over the next two years he panned and dug in search of gold in the freezing conditions of Canada and the Klondike. Two Years in the Klondike and Alaskan Gold Fields 1896-1898 is a brilliant account of the short period that Haskell risked his life for “rich dirt — enough to provide them with a comfortable amount of gold dust.” “Woven around a detailed, frequently humorous narrative of the successes and failures of the author and his partner, the book offers insights into Klondike life ranging from practical advice on the techniques of cabin and boat building to observations on the virulence of mosquitoes, tent care, the quality of Klondike ‘restaurants,’ and the wisdom of justice dispensed by Alaskan miners’ meetings in the absence of any other form of law.” Ian N. Higginson, Polar Record “His account of his months in the North has the drama and color of the bestsellers he most likely read” Charlotte Gray, Gold Diggers: Striking It Rich in the Klondike “Unlike most of the books on the Klondike, Haskell told folks how life really was in the gold camps. He didn’t bother to make exaggerated claims or paint a rosy picture. … surprisingly easy to read, and his unique observations and witty remarks help make the book a gem.” Jeremiah Wood, The Outdoor Sporting Library Two Years in the Klondike and Alaskan Gold Fields 1896-1898 formed the basis of the Discovery Channel’s mini-series Klondike directed by Simon Cellan Jones and produced by Ridley Scott. Haskell was played by Richard Madden. Haskell’s book was first published when he returned from the Klondike in 1898.

    The first-ever biography of the perpetrator of the Centralia and Baxter Springs Massacres, as well as innumerable atrocities during the Civil War in the West.

    He was an early advocate of criticism as an independent branch of literature and stressed its vital role in the creative process. Scholars continue to debate many of Wilde's critical positions.Included in Richard Ellmann's impressive collection of Wilde's criticism, The Artist as Critic, is a wide selection of Wilde's book reviews as well as such famous longer works as "The Portrait of Mr. W.H.," "The Soul Man under Socialism," and the four essays which make up Intentions. The Artist as Critic will satisfy any Wilde fan's yearning for an essential reading of his critical work."Wilde . . . emerges now as not only brilliant but also revolutionary, one of the great thinkers of dangerous thoughts."—Walter Allen, New York Times Book Review"The best of Wilde's nonfictional prose can be found in The Artist as Critic."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

    Even within portraiture, his style ranged from bold experiments to studied formality. And the subjects of his paintings were as varied as his styles, including the leaders of fashionable society, rural laborers, city streets, remote mountains, and the front lines of World War I. This beautiful book surveys and evaluates the extraordinary range of Sargent's work, and reproduces 150 of his paintings in color. It accompanies a spectacular international exhibition--the first major retrospective of the artist's career since the memorial exhibitions that followed his death.Sargent (1856-1925) was a genuinely international figure. Born of American parents, he grew up in Europe and forged his early reputation in Paris. Later, he established himself in England and the United States as the leading portraitist of the day, and traveled widely in North Africa and the Middle East. Contributors to this book assess Sargent's career in three essays. Richard Ormond presents a biographical sketch and, in a second essay, reviews Sargent's development as an artist. Mary Crawford Volk explores his thirty-year involvement with painting murals--in particular the works at the Boston Public Library and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts that Sargent regarded as his greatest achievement.The book arranges Sargent's paintings into sections that reflect every phase and aspect of his career. We encounter, for example, such famous early works as Oyster Gatherers of Cancale, Sargent's robust and brilliantly lit scene of fishing life in Brittany. We see many of his greatest American and English portraits, including his daringly posed portrait of Bostonian Isabella Stewart Gardner and his audacious painting of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw, which caused a sensation in London in 1893. The book also includes important late works such as Gassed, his monumental painting of soldiers blinded by mustard gas on the western front, and many of his ambitious murals in Boston. Sargent is a visually stunning, beautifully written, and perceptive work on one of the most important and admired artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

    Her masterworks were written after years of living an unconventional life, including a scandalous voyage to Europe with the married writer and editor George Henry Lewes. The scandal intensified when she moved in with Lewes after he separated from his wife. Eliot re-entered London's social life years later, when her literary success made it impossible for respectable society to dismiss her (even Queen Victoria enjoyed her books). She counted among her friends and supporters Dickens, Trollope, and several other Victorian literati. In this intimate biography, author Hughes provides insight into Eliot's life and work, weighing Eliot's motivations for her controversial actions, and examining the paradoxical Victorian society which she documented to perfection in her novels.

    Generations of innovators tried and failed to develop speedier messaging devices. But in the mid-1800s, a few extraordinary pioneers at last succeeded. Their invention--the electric telegraph--shrank the world more quickly than ever before.A colorful tale of scientific discovery and technological cunning, The Victorian Internet tells the story of the telegraph's creation and remarkable impact, and of the visionaries, oddballs, and eccentrics who pioneered it. By 1865 telegraph cables spanned continents and oceans, revolutionizing the ways countries dealt with one another. The telegraph gave rise to creative business practices and new forms of crime. Romances blossomed over the wires. Secret codes were devised by some users, and cracked by others. The benefits of the network were relentlessly hyped by its advocates and dismissed by its skeptics. And attitudes toward everything from news gathering to war had to be completely rethought. The telegraph unleashed the greatest revolution in communications since the development of the printing press. Its saga offers many parallels to that of the Internet in our own time--and is a fascinating episode in the history of technology.

    This beautifully packaged boxed set of Marita Conlon-McKenna's masterful famine trilogy, with a beautiful cover by PJ Lynch.

    Three Roads to the Alamo is the definitive book about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barret Travis, ”the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their destiny at the Alamo in one of the most famous and tragic battles in American history” and about what really happened in that battle.

    

    The lovely Cordelia Underwood unexpectedly inherits a large parcel of land, and discovers that it holds an irresistible secret; it is her newfound friend, Tobias Walton -- a man of a certain age and Pickwickian characteristics -- who will eventually help her to unravel the mystery. In parallel journeys up the coast of Maine, Cordelia collects a handsome suitor and several opinionated relatives, and Mister Walton is soon accompanied by an entourage of hapless friends -- the honorable members of the Moosepath League. Together this motley group encounters a colorful variety of true Maine eccentrics -- from old salts to bootleggers, grande dames to prospective beaus -- and find themselves embroiled in some good old-fashioned wonderment and laughter that includes a boxing match between two aging politicians, an escaped circus bear named Maude, a dastardly kidnapping, and the parachutist Mrs. Roberto in her attractive suit of tights! Superbly written, with a vivid sense of place and period, this is a book for any day that begs a few hours of pure delight.

    A powerful work of historical fiction that dramatizes the romantic, brutal, and glorious life of Stonewall Jackson, one of the Civil War's greatest heroes.

    Writers from Lord Alfred Douglas to Edna St. Vincent Millay, from Aldous Huxley to Seamus Heaney, from Arthur Symons to John Ashbery, from Basil Bunting to Robert Lowell, have all attempted to transmit in English his psychological and sexual complexity, his images of urban alienation. This superb addition to the Poets in Translation series brings together the translations of his poetry and prose poems that best reveal the different facets of Baudelaire's personality: the haughtily defiant artist, the tormented bohemian, the savage yet tender lover, and the celebrant of strange and haunted cityscapes.

    But this was not always the popular response to murder. In Murder Most Foul, Karen Halttunen explores the changing view of murder from early New England sermons read at the public execution of murderers, through the nineteenth century, when secular and sensational accounts replaced the sacred treatment of the crime, to today's true crime literature and tabloid reports.The early narratives were shaped by a strong belief in original sin and spiritual redemption, by the idea that all murders were natural manifestations of the innate depravity of humankind. In a dramatic departure from that view, the Gothic imagination--with its central conventions of the fundamental horror and mystery of the crime--seized upon the murderer as a moral monster, separated from the normal majority by an impassable gulf. Halttunen shows how this perception helped shape the modern response to criminal transgression, mandating criminal incarceration, and informing a social-scientific model of criminal deviance.The Gothic expression of horror and inhumanity is the predominant response to radical evil today; it has provided a set of conventions surrounding tales of murder that appear to be natural and instinctive, when in fact they are rooted in the nineteenth century. Halttunen's penetrating insight into her extraordinary treasure trove of creepy popular crime literature reveals how our stories have failed to make sense of the killer and how that failure has constrained our understanding and treatment of criminality today.

    This volume tells of the Mormon church leaders' struggle to establish in Utah an independent, theocratic Kingdom of God.

    Over 550 are included, virtually all uncut, and there are over a dozen published here for the first time in any language. Although he corresponded throughout his life with some of the great performers, composers, musicologists, writers, scientists, and artists of the day, and although thousands of his letters have survived, English readers have until now had scant opportunity to meet Brahms in person, through his words, and in his own voice.The letters in this volume range from 1848 to just before his death. They include most of Brahm's letters to Robert Schumann, over a hundred letters to Clara Schumann, and the complete Brahms-Wagner correspondence. They are joined by a running commentary to form an absorbing narrative, documented with scholarly care, provided with comprehensive notes, but written for the general music lover--the result is a lively biography. The work is generously illustrated, and contains several detailed appendices and an index.

    It is set amid the battle for women's suffrage, the Spiritualist movement that swept across the nation in the age of Radical Reconstruction following the Civil War, and the bitter fight that pitted black men against white women in the struggle for the right to vote.Peter Gay found Other Powers "Irresistible...this is a biography guaranteed to keep the reader reading." And Gloria Steinem called it "A real-life novel of how one charismatic woman...turned women's suffrage, the church, New York City, and much of the country on its ear."

    At a time when white elites were concerned with imperialist projects and civilizing missions, progressive white women developed an explicit racial ideology to promote their cause, defending patriarchy for "primitives" while calling for its elimination among the "civilized." By exploring how progressive white women at the turn of the century laid the intellectual groundwork for the feminist social movements that followed, Louise Michele Newman speaks directly to contemporary debates about the effect of race on current feminist scholarship.

    Now, in Like Men of War, he focuses on African-American soldiers in the Union army. In all, more than 175,000 black soldiers fought in more than 400 battles. But once the war was won, their efforts were largely ignored or forgotten. Drawing from the diaries and letters of these veterans, Trudeau vividly re-creates their experiences. At the outset, the white military believed that blacks were simply incapable of combat duty. But, as in the courageous assault on Fort Wagner in South Carolina, African Americans more than proved their mettle. Thoroughly researched and copiously illustrated, Like Men of War illuminates the struggles of these courageous men and brings a fresh perspective to our understanding of the Civil War

    In just a few years he created a unique lexicon of carnal knowledge in pen and ink and, wielding his remarkable graphic talent like a scalpel, sliced through the hypocrisy of Victorian society.

    16-page photo insert.

    Her Gaelic Symphony, given its premiere by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first work of its kind by an American woman to be performed by an American orchestra. Almost all of her more than 300 works were published soon after they were composed and performed, and today her music is finding new advocates and audiences for its energy, intensity, and sheer beauty. Yet, until now, no full-length critical biography of Beach's life or comprehensive critical overview of her music existed. This biography admirably fills that gap, fully examining the connections between Beach's life and work in light of social currents and dominant ideologies.Born into a musical family in Victorian times, Amy Beach started composing as a child of four and was equally gifted as a pianist. Her talent was recognized early by Boston's leading musicians, who gave her unqualified support. Although Beach believed that the life of a professional musician was the only life for her, her parents had raised her for marriage and a career of amateur music-making. Her response to this parental (and later spousal) opposition was to find creative ways of reaching her goal without direct confrontation. Discouraged from a full-scale concert career, she instead found her m�tier in composition.Success as a composer of art songs came early for Beach: indeed, her songs outsold those of her contemporaries. Nevertheless, she was determined to separate her work from the genteel parlor music women were writing in her day by creating large-scale works--a Mass, a symphony, and chamber music--that challenged the accepted notion that women were incapable of creating high art. She won the respect of colleagues and the allegiance of audiences. Many who praised her work, however, considered her an exception among women. Beach's reaction to this was to join with other women composers of serious music by promoting their works along with her own.Adrienne Fried Block has written a biography that takes full account of issues of gender and musical modernism, considering Beach in the contexts of her time and of her composer contemporaries, both male and female. Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian will be of great interest to students and scholars of American music, and to music lovers in general.

    The meticulously reproduced plates include depictions of dresses, gowns, and coats as well as accessories. A must for costume designers, cultural historians, and fashion enthusiasts. Introduction. Captions.

    Then she met Chadwick Brunfield, Earl of Rossland. Known as the Devil's Delight, the charming earl had a reputation so scandalous, Minerva was certain she could never lose her heart to him. So when the much-maligned earl asked for her assistance in a delicate family matter, she agreed. But soon, the unthinkable happened. Minerva fell in love with Lord Rossland--a man the town had condemned as a murderer!

    All these details are drawn from a vast array of primary sources. '

    These wars between cousins functioned as crucial anvils on which various religious, ethnic, and political alliances were hammered out between the English-speaking cousin-nations, setting them on a unique two-track path toward world leadership - one aristocratic and aloof to dominate the imperial nineteenth century and the other more egalitarian and democratic to take over in the twentieth century. They also functioned as unfortunate and deadly cultural crucibles for African Americans, Native Americans, and the Irish. Phillips's analysis shows exactly how these conflicts are inextricably linked and how they seeded each other. He offers often surprising interpretations that cut across the political spectrum - for instance, that the Constitution of the United States, while brilliant in many respects, was also a fatally flawed political compromise that contributed mightily in setting the stage for the final - and the bloodiest - cousins' war: the American Civil War. With the new millennium upon us and triggering widespread assessment of our nation's place in world history, The Cousins' Wars provides just the kind of magisterial sweep and revisionist spark to ignite widespread interest and debate. This grand religious, military, and political epic is the multi-dimensional story of the triumph of Anglo-America.

    Lee, his principal subordinates, the treatment they received in the literature of the Confederate military history, and the continuing influence of Lost Cause arguments into the late-20th century United States.

    Alison Winter's fascinating cultural history traces the history of mesmerism in Victorian society. Mesmerized is both a social history of the age and a lively exploration of the contested territory between science and pseudo-science. "Dazzling. . . . This splendid book . . . gives us a new form of historical understanding and a model for open and imaginative reading."—James R. Kinkaid, Boston Globe"A landmark in the history of science scholarship."—John Sutherland, The Independent"It is difficult to imagine the documentary side of the story being better done than by Winter's well-researched and generously illustrated study. . . . She is a lively and keen observer; and her book is a pleasure to read purely for its range of material and wealth of detail. . . . Fruitful and suggestive."—Daniel Karlin, Times Literary Supplement"An ambitious, sweeping and fascinating historical study. . . . Beautifully written, thoroughly researched, and well-illustrated."—Bernard Lightman, Washington Times

    Brody’s readings of Victorian novels, plays, paintings, and science fiction reveal the impossibility of purity and the inevitability of hybridity in representations of ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and race. She amasses a considerable amount of evidence to show that Victorian culture was bound inextricably to various forms and figures of blackness. Opening with a reading of Daniel Defoe’s “A True-Born Englishman,” which posits the mixed origins of English identity, Brody goes on to analyze mulattas typified by Rhoda Swartz in William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, whose mixed-race status reveals the “unseemly origins of English imperial power.” Examining Victorian stage productions from blackface minstrel shows to performances of The Octoroon and Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she explains how such productions depended upon feminized, “black” figures in order to reproduce Englishmen as masculine white subjects. She also discusses H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau in the context of debates about the “new woman,” slavery, and fears of the monstrous degeneration of English gentleman. Impossible Purities concludes with a discussion of Bram Stoker’s novella, “The Lair of the White Worm,” which brings together the book’s concerns with changing racial representations on both sides of the Atlantic. This book will be of interest to scholars in Victorian studies, literary theory, African American studies, and cultural criticism.

    Bergeron traces the history of the Gregorian revival from its Romantic origins in a community of French monks at Solesmes, whose founder hoped to rebuild the moral foundation of French culture on the ruins of the Benedictine order. She draws out the parallels between this longing for a lost liturgy and the postrevolutionary quest for lost monuments that fueled the French Gothic revival, a quest that produced the modern concept of "restoration."Bergeron follows the technological development of the Gregorian restoration over a seventy-year period as it passed from the private performances of a monastic choir into the public commodities of printed books, photographs, and Gramophone records. She discusses such issues as architectural restoration, the modern history of typography, the uncanny power of the photographic image, and the authority of recorded sound. She also shows the extent to which different media shaped the modern image of the ancient repertory, an image that gave rise to conflicting notions not only of musical performance but of the very idea of music history.

    He lands in Mexico City, where he proposes marriage to Lucia, the spinster daughter of a Cuban lawyer exiled in that city. Knowing that the wedding must wait until he establishes himself professionally, Julian goes to Guatemala City, where a teaching job awaits and where Lucia is to follow him in time. What Julian has not reckoned on is that in Guatemala he will meet and fall madly in love with Sol, daughter of that country's great liberator, Don Manuel. For Sol, on the verge of womanhood, Julian is her first love, and she places her trust in him with total abandon. But Julian, a man of great principle, knows that even though he loves Sol beyond limits, he is expected to honor the pledge he made to Lucia, no matter how great the sacrifice, or how tragic the consequences.

    This was Chicago during an unprecedented period of rapid growth: a burgeoning metropolis that quickly became a "concentration of risk." The many thousands of immigrants and rural Americans who streamed into the city during these years found it far more congested, crowded, dangerous, unpleasant, immoral, and unhealthy than they had anticipated. Challenging Chicago reveals the survival strategies to which the many people who flocked to the city resorted, especially those of the lower and middle classes for whom urban life was a new experience.

    At the same time, it produces insights into the history of anthropology. Organized around an historical reconstruction of the great anthropological controversy over doctrines of virgin birth, the book argues that the allegation a great deal about European colonial discourse and little if anything about indigenous beliefs. By means of an Australian example, the book shows not only that the alleged ignorance was an artefact of the anthropological theory that produced it, but also that the anthropology was an artefact of the anthropological theory that produced it, but also that the anthropology concerened has been closely tied into both the historical dispossesion and the continuing oppresion of native peoples. The author explores the links between metropolitan anthropological theory and local colonial politics from the 19th century up to the present, settler colonialism, and the ideological and sexual regimes that characterize it.

    When people realized how much money could be made from whales in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, entire species were wiped out in the rush to hunt these gentle and magnificent creatures. This account is an even-handed portrayal of the exciting, grisly, and sometimes profitable business of pelagic whaling, told from the perspective of young whalers through their detailed journal entries and letters. Glossary, bibliography,index.

    She was even the secret author of a scandalous new novel--the tale of a lady "rake" and her passionate exploits. Yet one titled gentleman grew ever more intrigued with this headstrong young woman, and Felicity would soon learn that real life was infinitely more interesting than fiction. . . QUADRILLEEveryone in the Haute Ton knew that Lord Hubert Challenge had married country mouse Mary Tyre for her dowry. But no one guessed that the lady had actually fallen in love with her husband! And she would try anything--sumptuous clothes, a saucy manner, even flirting with another man--to get her handsome husband's attention. Until she learned that two could play at that particular game. . . .

    Once thought to be merely passive servants of the male clerical hierarchy, women's religious orders were in fact at the very centre of the creation of a devout Catholic culture in Ireland. Often well-educated, articulate, and evangelical, nuns were much more social and ambitious than traditional stereotypical views have held. They used their wealth and their authority to effect changes in both the religious practices and daily activity of the larger Irish Catholic population, and by doing so, Magray argues, deserve a far larger place in the Irish historical record than they have previously been accorded. Magray's innovative work challenges some of the most widely-held assumptions of social history in nineteenth-century Ireland. It will be of interest to scholars and students of Irish history, religious history, women's studies, and sociology.

    C. Keith Wilbur takes you on a detailed and fascinating tour through the medical history of this bloody and devastating war.

    Both these women haunted James, his elusive friendship with Constance Fenimore Woolson, who died in 1894, echoed his mysterious relationship with Minnie Temple, who died twenty years earlier.

    Hundreds of photographs portray the magnificent beauty of the Portuguese islands and mainland and take us into the many corners of American life where Luso Americans have left their mark. Together, the words and images of Portuguese Spinner create a beautiful tribute.

    By blending historical sources, archaeological evidence, and painstaking analysis of the skeletal remains, Douglas D. Scott, P. Willey, and Melissa A. Connor reconstruct biographies of many of the individual soldiers, identifying age, height, possible race, state of health, and the specific way each died. They also link reactions to the battle over the years to shifts in American views regarding the appropriate treatment of the dead.

    -- An electronic voyage through time offering hours of fascinating thought-provoking reading for history lovers and students of all ages-- Flashing lights guide you through a quiz with electronic sounds signaling 'victory' or 'try again'-- Detailed timelines also provide a picture of the interrelationships of events at different places and times

    Indeed, as James E. Davis shows, many newcomers found Illinois a hospitable and relatively peaceful place in which to start a new life. In this sweeping history of the making of the state, Davis tells the story of Illinois from the Ice Age to the eve of the Civil War. He describes the earliest Indiancivilizations, the coming of LaSalle and Joliet and the founding of the French colony, the brief history of British Illinois, and the complex history of subsequent settlement that brought distinct cultural traditions to Illinois.A major theme of this book is the relative absence of violence, at least after the Blackhawk War of 1832, even over explosive issues such as slavery. Davis treats these developments in careful detail, while keeping the reader mindful of the experiences of Illinois' ordinary people.

    In Writing the Civil War, fourteen distinguished historians present a wide-ranging examination of the vast effort to chronicle the conflict--an undertaking that began with the remembrances of Civil War veterans and has become an increasingly prolific field of scholarship. Covering topics from battlefield operations to the impact of race and gender, this volume is an informative guide through the labyrinth of Civil War literature. The contributors provide authoritative and interpretive evaluations of the study and explication of the struggle that has been called the American Iliad.

    To understand the generals of the American Civil War, look to the war where they learned their trade. The future generals of the North and South served their apprenticeship in Mexico as junior officers fighting together for a common cause. This war would determine the border between two nations

    The campaign was a classic of Napoleonic tactics, as Marshal Davout held one German army at bay while Napoleon concentrated his forces to defeat the main one.This excellent book combines an informative narrative with paintings oft he battles and a superb collection of images of uniforms and equipment from the period - all in color.By the same author and available from CasemateBorodino-The Moskova: The Battle for the RedoubtsWagram: At the Heyday of the Empire

    The Aboriginal peoples of the Woodlands were the first in North America to experience economic and social marginalization and, in consequence, the first to rely on the production of commodities for the tourist trade. These hybrid art forms combine indigenous materials and techniques such as quillwork, moosehair embroidery, birchbark, and basketry with Euro-American genres and styles. Tourist art of the period is generally of high quality and great aesthetic interest. Yet scholars have largely ignored these objects because of their incorporation of Euro-North American influences.Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the production, sale, and consumption of tourist art constituted a system for the circulation of objects within which images of Indianness were negotiated. To produce marketable commodities, Aboriginal people constructed images of themselves that mediated European notions of the savage, the natural, and the primitive. By accepting this imagery, colonizers and settlers naturalized their own identities as the rightful successors to the "Indians." While stereotypes of Indianness were being transported into parlors and bedchambers, the objects made for sale were also influencing things Aboriginal people made for their own use. The beaded purses, pincushions, and shopping baskets carried Euro-American styles and concepts into aboriginal communities, together with associated ideas of gender roles and domestic organization.An innovative combination of fieldwork, art historical analysis, and historical contextualization, this study for the first time rigorously compares a Native souvenir production to a wide range of Euro-American decorative arts and home crafts. It identifies the sources of object types and styles and reveals the innovative differences displayed by Aboriginal trade wares. Images newly uncovered in archives and travel literature--including depictions of Native vendors and makers--illustrate the book, along with never before displayed or published objects from museum collections in Europe and North America.

    What difference does this difference make? In Eileen Crist's analysis of the language used to portray animal behavior, the difference is that in the reader's mind the very image of the cat's 'body' is transfigured...from an experiencing subject...into a vacant object. "Images of Animals" examines the literature of behavioral science, revealing how works with the common aim of documenting animal lives, habits, and instincts describe realities that are worlds apart. Whether the writer affirms the Cartesian verdict of an unbridgeable chasm between animals and humans or the Darwinian panorama of evolutionary continuity, the question of animal mind is ever present and problematic in behavioral thought. Comparing the naturalist writings of Charles Darwin, Jean Henri Fabre, and George and Elizabeth Peckham to works of classical ethology by Konrad Lorenz and Nikolaas Tinbergen and of contemporary sociobiology, Crist demonstrates how words matter. She does not attempt to defend any of these constructions as a faithful representation of animal existence, but to show how each internally coherent view molds the reader's understanding of animals. Rejecting the notion that a neutral language exists, or can be constructed, which yields incontestably objective accounts of animal behavior, Crist argues that language is not instrumental in the depiction of animals and, in particular, it is never impartial with respect to the question of animal mind.

    The selections translated here illustrate in colorful detail how the experiences and the composition of Russian society and culture evolved from the late eighteenth century through the 1917 revolution, in response to economic, technological, and political changes. Fortunetelling and etiquette manuals, thieves' tales, children's literature, popular songs, war stories, women's novels, satires of life in America, and vaudeville skits are just a few of the genres represented.

    This book provides new insight into the personal life and artistic endeavors of this extraordinary woman.

    Wilfrid Prest investigates this remarkable transformation from domestic instability and external weakness to global, economic, and military predominance. Geographically, the main focus is on England and Wales, but Prest also analyses the broader British context, discussing the role played by Ireland and Scotland, as well as the interrelations between England, Europe, and the wider world. He examines the lives of ordinary people as well as the ruling elite, and explores the distinctive nature of women's experiences; allowing the voices of the past to speak directly to the modern reader. The result is a lively, up-to-date, and comprehensive overview of Britain's long eighteenth century. It will remain a standard text on the subject for many years to come.

    In this thorough reinvestigation of Canadian legal history, Sidney L. Harring sets the record straight, showing how Canada has consistently denied Aboriginal peoples even the most basic civil rights.Drawing on scores of nineteenth-century legal cases, Harring reveals that colonial and early Canadian judges were largely ignorant of British policy concerning Indians and their lands. He also provides an account of the remarkable tenacity of First Nations in continuing their own legal traditions despite obstruction by the settler society that came to dominate them.The recognition of 'pre-existing Aboriginal rights' in the Constitutional Act of 1982 has shown that Aboriginal legal traditions have a definite place in contemporary Canadian law. This study clearly demonstrates that Canadian Native legal culture requires further study by scholars and more serious attention by courts in rendering decisions.