Best of
History

1900

1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World


Salim T.S. Al-Hassani - 1900
    . . . I wish I had had this book fifty years ago."—Adam Hart-Davis, photographer, writer, and TV science presenter of the BBC series What the Ancients Did for UsWhat do coffee beans, torpedoes, surgical scalpels, arches, and observatories all have in common?Were Leonardo da Vinci’s flight ideas originals?Who devised the casing for pill capsules, and where did Fibonacci learn to flex his mathematical fingers?The answers to these questions and more can be found in this book.1001 Inventions: Muslim Heritage in Our World presents an excellent overview of Muslim heritage written to appeal to the everyday reader and to amaze and redefine many people's current assumptions of medieval times and of their history and roots.This is an essential introduction to the great epoch of Muslim civilization. Readers now have access to one thousand years of missing history, covering medicine, technology, economics, civilization, the environment, and much more. From Spain to China, scholars of different genders, cultures, and various faiths worked together to build upon the knowledge of ancient civilization.Written by a team of internationally renowned experts, the contributions were selected to give the reader reassurance and confidence that the facts presented in the book are from the most reliable and unbiased academic sources.Salim T S Al-Hassani is professor emeritus of mechanical engineering and professorial fellow at the School of Languages, Linguistics, and Cultures at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.Sir Roland Jackson is the chief executive of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

Up from Slavery


Booker T. Washington - 1900
    Washington, the most recognized national leader, orator and educator, emerged from slavery in the deep south, to work for the betterment of African Americans in the post Reconstruction period. "Up From Slavery" is an autobiography of Booker T. Washington's life and work, which has been the source of inspiration for all Americans. Washington reveals his inner most thoughts as he transitions from ex-slave to teacher and founder of one of the most important schools for African Americans in the south, The Tuskegee Industrial Institute.

Al Farooq / الفاروق


Shibli Nomani - 1900
    Regarded as the architect of the Islamic empire, Omar established a model political structure that would hold together the growing empire for centuries. Nomani delves into Omar's reputation as one of history's great conquerors and political geniuses, while also examining his pious and just nature, which earned him the title Al-Farooq ("the one who distinguishes between right and wrong"). Under Omar's leadership, the empire expanded at an unprecedented rate ruling the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and more than two thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. As a leader, Omar was known for his simple, austere lifestyle. Rather than adopt the pomp and display affected by the rulers of the time, he continued to live much as he had when Muslims were poor and persecuted.The book consists of two parts: the first deals the events embracing the lifetime of Omar as well as his political achievements, while the second is a detailed examination of his system of government, both political and ecclesiastical, as well as his intellectual attainments, personal virtues and habits.Author and renowned Islamic scholar Shibli Nomani undertook an extensive study of the subject through several years of research in many of the great libraries of the day, including Istanbul, Beirut, Alexandria, Paris, Berlin and London. The result is what many consider to be the definitive biography of Omar "The Great".Upon publication, the book was hailed as a major event in the history of Islamic literature. Originally published in India and written in urdu, the book was quickly translated into several other languages. Celebrated Pakistani writer and activist Maulana Zafar Ali Khan published the English translation in 1900.

The Boer War (London to Ladysmith via Pretoria Ian Hamilton's March)


Winston S. Churchill - 1900
    Winston Churchill left his regiment the 4th Hussars, in the spring of that year, but was eager to be back in action. He wasted no time getting hired as a war correspondent for The Morning Post, and sailed from Southampton aboard the Dunottar Castle on October 14, reaching Cape Town by October 31st.For the next eight months he filed regular despatches to The Morning Post. His articles were later printed as two comparatively short books -- London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton's March. They have since been published together as one book under the title, The Boer War.Churchill's unique style paints a vivid and dramatic picture of the conflict, and the problems confronting the long untried British Army in their fight against the Boers' determined resistance.

The Usborne Official Knight's Handbook: Be a Knight Overnight


Sam Taplin - 1900
    Goes through the facts of how to become a knight in medieval europe.

Myths of the Cherokee


James Mooney - 1900
    In North Carolina, he lived for several years with the Cherokee, studying their language, culture, and mythology. His research resulted in this comprehensive volume, comprising 126 Cherokee myths, including sacred stories, animal myths, local legends, wonder stories, historical traditions, and miscellaneous myths and legends.Among the myths included are these:How the World Was Made; Origin of Strawberries; Why the Deer's Teeth Are Blunt; How the Turkey Got His Beard; The Rattlesnake's Vengeance; The Ice Man; The First Fire; Why the Possum's Tail Is Bare; The Bride from the South; The Water Cannibals; The Haunted Whirlpool; The War Medicine, and many more.In addition to his clear retelling of the myths themselves, the author provides extensive background information on Cherokee history, notes on the myths, parallels between Cherokee and other myths, and further important information. Anyone interested in mythology or Native American legend and lore will welcome this treasury of authentic tales presented in the context of Cherokee history, life, and culture.

The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 2 (of 12) Dresden Edition-Lectures


Robert G. Ingersoll - 1900
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Grandfather Remembers: Memories for My Grandchild


Judith Levy - 1900
    When finished and given to his grandchild it contains his likes, dislikes, wedding picture, happiest memories -- and more. Lighthearted color illustrations throughout.

Wellington's Men


W.H. Fitchett - 1900
    As a commentary on the texts, Fitchett inserts his own criticism and analysis of parts of four biographies.Each of these men were eyewitnesses to the major events of Wellington’s Peninsula Campaign, and write critically about their own experiences in vivid prose that takes us directly back to the battlefields of Europe.They are the “actual human documents, with the salt of truth, of sincerity, and of reality in every syllable,” as Fitchett writes.‘Wellington’s Men’ is a fascinating history of the Napoleonic Wars as told by the men who saw it.W.H. Fitchett (1841-1928) was a minister, educator and writer, who wrote a column for the Spectator magazine. He published works of fiction and non-fiction, including a four-volume collection How England Saved Europe in 1909.Albion Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier


Charles Eugene Flandrau - 1900
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

A Vizier's Daughter


Lillias Hamilton - 1900
    A VIZIER'S DAUGHTERA tale of the Hazara WarBY LILLIAS HAMILTON, M.D.COURT PHYSICIAN TO ABDUR RAHMAN, AMIR OF AFGHANISTAN

The Archaeology Handbook: A Field Manual and Resource Guide


Bill McMillon - 1900
    Covers subjects ranging from excavation techniques, tools, site locations, archaeological methods, archaeology and the law to conducting your own dig. Besides providing extensive data on gaining experience as volunteers of professionally organized digs, it offers an extensive resource section that includes archaeology organizations, field schools and sites, archaeological musems and a bibliography of reading matter which deals with archaeology. A large variety of line-drawings and photographs also assist the would-be archaeologist.

The Global City. On the Streets of Renaissance Lisbon


Annemarie Jordan Gschwend - 1900
    Focusing on unpublished objects, and incorporating newly discovered documents and inventories that allow novel interpretations of the Rua Nova and the goods for sale on it, these essays offer a compelling and original study of a metropolis whose reach once spanned four continents. The Rua Nova views painted by an anonymous Flemish artist portray an everyday scene on a recognisable street, with a diverse global population. This thoroughfare was the meeting point of all kinds of people, from rich to poor, slave to knight, indigenous Portuguese to Jews and diasporic black Africans.The volume highlights the unique status of Lisbon as an entrepôt for curiosities, luxury goods and wild animals. As the Portuguese trading empire of the fifteenth and sixteenth century expanded sea-routes and networks from West Africa to India and the Far East, non-European cargoes were brought back to Renaissance Lisbon. Many rarities were earmarked for the Portuguese court, but simultaneously exclusive items were readily available for sale on the Rua Nova, the Lisbon equivalent of Bond Street or Fifth Avenue. Specialized shops offered West African and Ceylonese ivories, raffia and Asian textiles, rock crystals, Ming porcelain, Chinese and Ryukyuan lacquerware, jewellery, precious stones, naturalia and exotic animal byproducts. Lisbon was also a hub of distribution for overseas goods to other courts and cities in Europe. The cross-cultural and artistic influences between Lisbon and Portuguese Africa and Asia at this date will be re-assessed. Lisbon was imagined as the head of empire or caput mundi, while the River Tagus became the aquatic gateway to a globally connected world. Lisbon evolved into a dynamic Atlantic port city, excelling in shipbuilding, cartography and the manufacture of naval instruments. The historian Damião de Góis bragged of the “Tagus reigning over the world”. Lisbon’s fame depended on its river, an aquatic avenue that competed with the Rua Nova, providing a means of interaction, trade and communication along Lisbon’s coastline. Even for the cosmopolitan Góis, who travelled extensively for the Portuguese crown, Lisbon’s chaotic docks were worth describing. Of all the European cities he experienced, only Lisbon and her rival Seville could be “rightfully called Ladies and Queens of the Sea”. Góis contended that they had opened up the early modern world through circumnavigation. Lisbon was destroyed in a devastating earthquake and tsunami in November 1755. These paintings are the only large-scale vistas of Rua Nova dos Mercadores to have survived, and together with the new objects and archival sources offer a fresh and original insight into Renaissance Lisbon and its material culture.

The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo


B.H. Roberts - 1900
    It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: Salt Lake City, Utah, The Deseret News; Publication date: 1900; Subjects: Mormons; Nauvoo (Ill.); Mormons and Mormonism in Illinois; Religion / Christianity / History; Religion / Christianity / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon);

AIDS Doctors: Voices from the Epidemic


Ronald Bayer - 1900
    Yet it was less than twenty years ago that doctors confronted a sudden avalanche of strange, inexplicable, seemingly untreatable conditions that signaled the arrival of a devastating new disease. Bewildered, unprepared, and pushed to the limit of their diagnostic abilities, a select group of courageous physicians nevertheless persevered. This unique collective memoir tells their story. Based on interviews with nearly eighty doctors whose lives and careers have centered on the AIDS epidemic from the early 1980s to the present, this candid, emotionally textured account details the palpable anxiety in the medical profession as it experienced a rapid succession of cases for which there was no clinical history. The physicians interviewed chronicle the roller coaster experiences of hope and despair, as they applied newly developed, often unsuccessful therapies. Yet these physicians who chose to embrace the challenge confronted more than just the sense of therapeutic helplessness in dealing with a disease they could not conquer. They also faced the tough choices inherent in treating a controversial, sexually and intravenously transmitted illness as many colleagues simply walked away. Many describe being gripped by a sense of mission: by the moral imperative to treat the disempowered and despised. Nearly all describe a common purpose, an esprit de corps that bound them together in a terrible yet exhilarating war against an invisible enemy. This extraordinary oral history forms a landmark effort in the understanding of the AIDS crisis. Carefully collected and eloquently told, the doctors' narratives reveal the tenacity and unquenchable optimism that has paved the way for taming a 20th-century plague.

Celts


Leonie Pratt - 1900
    Developed with reading experts, each title helps young readers to grow in confidence and to build their reading skills.

The Noble Art of the Sword: Fashion and Fencing in Renaissance Europe 1520–1630


Tobias Capwell - 1900
    It will feature weapons and related works of art from the Wallace Collection as well as other great collections of arms and armor; never-before-seen works on fencing drawn from the library of the 8th Lord Howard de Walden; and portraits, prints and drawings that will help place the Renaissance civilian sword in its social and artistic context. It will also help explore the ancient origins since the first Olympiad of the modern era of 1896, revealing a place in history where art and sport converged.

The Amazon Journal Of Roger Casement


Roger Casement - 1900
    It follows Casement's transition from observer to anti-imperial revolutionary and Irish patriot, leading to his execution by the British in August 1916 after the failure of the Easter Rising.

Lords of the North


Agnes C. Laut - 1900
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

See Inside Exploration And Discovery


Emily Bone - 1900
    Lift the flaps to discover incredible journeys through history, from dangerous ocean voyages by intrepid Vikings and conquistadors, to the 'Apollo 11' mission to be the first on the moon.

Fruits of Bali


Fred B. Eiseman Jr. - 1900
    

Stone Age


Jerome Martin - 1900
    Each book is packed with brilliant photographs and illustrations, and simple, bite-sized chunks of text. Discover how Stone Age people used stone to make sophisticated tools; how they gathered food, hunted wild animal and built shelters. Find out about prehistoric art and clothing and how human lives changed forever with the invention of farming. Internet links via Usborne Quicklinks allow readers to discover more online, through quizzes, games, interactive maps and videos.

Vanishing Japan: Traditions, Crafts & Culture


Elizabeth Kiritani - 1900
    In Vanishing Japan, Elizabeth Kiritani sets out to record the vanishing phenomena of what was once daily life for the residents of working-class neighborhoods in Japan

Scottish Highlanders and Their Regiments


Brander Michael - 1900
    In fact, when we think of Scotland, it is usually the Highlands we think of, even though this ruggedly beautiful region comprises only the extreme northerly part of the country. A "considerable race of hillmen" whose language and customs differed radically from other inhabitants of the British Isles, the Highlanders were systematically persecuted by the British and mistrusted by the Lowland Scots. The April 26, 1746 battle of Culloden ended not only the Scottish nation but the clan system itself, leading to the despoilation of the Highlands and the dispersion of its people around the world. Michael Brander's lively history focuses on those who stayed behind, who found an outlet for their fighting spirit in the Highland regiments of the British army, where their traditions survived to become a proud national legacy. Using battle accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, Brander is able to illustrate Highlander customs and manners, and reveals their proud, haunting echo in modern Scotland.

Ancient Babylonian Medicine: Theory and Practice


Markham J. Geller - 1900
    Utilizing a great variety of previously unknown cuneiform tablets, Ancient Babylonian Medicine: Theory and Practice examines the way medicine was practiced by various Babylonian professionals of the 2nd and 1st millennium B.C.Represents the first overview of Babylonian medicine utilizing cuneiform sources, including archives of court letters, medical recipes, and commentaries written by ancient scholars Attempts to reconcile the ways in which medicine and magic were related Assigns authorship to various types of medical literature that were previously considered anonymous Rejects the approach of other scholars that have attempted to apply modern diagnostic methods to ancient illnesses

Southern Arabia


James Theodore Bent - 1900
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.Though James Theodore Bent was credited as the primary author, the book is written from his wife Mabel's point of view.

Shield of Empire


Brian Lavery - 1900
    The Royal Navy's most dramatic effect on Scotland, aside from its role in the British Empire and European wars, was in suppressing the Jacobite campaigns from 1708 to 1746. This book breaks new ground in telling the stories of almost forgotten campaigns, such as the submarine war in the Firth of Forth in 1914-18. In two world wars, and since the 1960s, a large proportion of the Navy's power has been based in Scotland, from the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow to Trident submarines at Faslane. Most British sailors of the Second World War had part of their training in Scotland, and the famous base at Tobermory was only one of many. Yet, the Navy never felt at home in Scotland. As one Scottish admiral put it, 'In both wars the Royal Navy flooded into Scotland to make use of our deep water ports and sea lochs for large-scale and safer anchorages. After each war the Navy unimaginatively retreated en masse to the Channel.' The book ends with a unique account of the setting up of the controversial missile bases in the Holy Loch and Gareloch. Brian Lavery then looks at the future in order to determine the effect devolution and possible independence might have on Scotland and the Royal Navy.

Speeches, Lectures and Letters


Wendell Phillips - 1900
    This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library’s preservation reformatting program.

A History of Norway: From the Earliest Times


Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen - 1900
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

St Valery: The Impossible Odds


Bill Innes - 1900
    This book includes accounts that present the chaos and horror of war and the grim deprivation of the camps and forced marches which so many endured. It contains stories that resound with the spirit, humour and sense of comradeship.

The First World War


Henry Brook - 1900
    It explores life before the war, conditions in the trenches and how the war extended beyond Europe.

Saint Louis IX of France: The Most Christian King


Frederick Perry - 1900
    

The Last of the Climbing Boys (Victorian London Ebooks)


George Elson - 1900
    Born in Northampton in 1833, belonging to a family of hawkers, George Elson apprenticed himself to a chimney-sweep, and became one of a ragged band of 'climbing boys'. As a youth, he toured the Midlands, chopping and changing between different masters, keeping company with prize-fighters, Irish navvies and gipsies, until finally moving to London and graduating to the role of 'master sweep'. He adopted teetotalism, became the secretary of a Mutual Instruction Society at Teddington; briefly attempted to become a seller/hawker of fine maps; then finally, bizarrely enough, settled on the role of swimming master and Turkish Bath masseur in Worcester, then Leamington. The real strength of the book is the description of the roving life of hawkers, sweeps et al. in the Midlands in the 1840s; and Elson's account of the perils and sufferings of young 'apprentices' is also marvellously detailed, told at first hand, rather than through the prism of campaigning literature. Thus we hear of miseries of the trade - the physical pain, the skin scraped from bone, the choking soot - but also the kindly servants in country houses who lavished food and drink on the poor child labourers; even the occasional race when two boys would playfully compete to reach the top of adjoining chimneys. Elson leaves the reader in no doubt that he was horribly exploited by his masters; and that the child apprentice was a victim of brutality and cruelty; but he adopts a cheery, resigned tone, and does not linger on past grief. The book ends with Elson in charge of a profitable practice as masseur/hydropathist to the gentry. Self-educated, an ardent proponent of the philosophy of 'self improvement', he is inordinately proud of entering country-houses by the front door (as opposed to the servants' entrance), and sometimes even dining with his clients. There is something of Mr. Pooter's barely-suppressed vanity in Elson's account of his later years, but it is hard to grudge him his success - not least for bequeathing to posterity such an unusual, fascinating account of working-class life. Lee Jackson