"Contrary to popular wisdom, American Quakers did not first appear in Pennsylvania, the Quaker State, in 1682. Rather they appeared in 1655 in Virginia. In the 330-odd years thereafter, the Friendly Virginians, as I have come to call them, have stood for peace and against violence, for religious freedom, civil rights and women's rights. They have striven to end war, change the penal system and aid Native Americans. Their world view has affected their lives and characters and also, as you read, the ways of the larger society." *From the Preface. Chapters include: The Quaker Way Comes to Virginia, 1655-1660 which opens on a street corner in the city of London in the summer of 1654; Virginia's Quakers and the Right to Worship as One Wishes, 1660-1663; In Which the Truth is Crushed to Earth, 1664-1677; The Friendly Virginians Become Somewhat Respectable, 1677-1700; At Last within the Law, 1700-1733; West of the Blue Ridge, 1733-1750; The Quaker Way Alters Course, 1750-1763; Farewell, Britannia, 1763-1775; The Friendly Virginians and the American Revolution, 1775-1781; After So Many Ages, 1782-1800; To the Westward Waters, 1800-1820; The Blood of Christ, 1820-1833; On Laying Down Virginia Yearly Meeting, 1833-1850; O, Virginia Virginia 1850-1865; They Leap the Hedge, 1865-1900; Thee Interests Me, 1900-1950; and, I Think of the Great Work, 1950-Now. Photographs, a map, an appendix listing Quaker Meetings in Virginia, a bibliography, and a full-name index enhance the text.

"The silence of Barbara Synge" provides a fascinating companion volume to Bill McCormack's acclaimed "Fool of the Family" (2000), a biography of the playwright J.M. Synge (1871--1909).

Taking the alledged death of Mrs John Hatch (née Synge) in 1767 as a focal point, this book explores the varied strands of the Synge family tree in eighteenth and nineteenth century Ireland.

Key events in the family's history are carefully documented, including a suicide in 1769 which is echoed in an early Synge play, the effects of the famine which influenced The "Playboy of the Western World" in 1907, and the behavior of Francis Synge at the time of the union.

"The Silence of Barbara Synge" is a unique work of cultural enquiry, combining archival research, literary criticism, and religious and medical history to pull the strands together and relate them to the family's literary descendent J.M. Synge.

'The particular Bellamys I am writing about here arrived in the New World very early on, certainly no later than 1710 and possibly as early as 1634. It was a time of great upheaval in England, from whence they came, and we do not know expressly why they came. But there are a number of likely reasons.."

Joe David Bellamy's "The Bellamys of Early Virginia" provides the historical background as well as the hard evidence for a clearer understanding of this quintessentially American family. It is based on over a decade of original research into the genealogy and family history of the early Bellamys in areas of Virginia where many of the vital records were destroyed in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. This book cites numerous previously undiscovered sources, corrects many misconceptions, and puts forth compelling suggestions for further research.

This book is a scholarly, comprehensive, and critical biography of Nicholas II from his birth in 1868 to his execution in 1918. It features a chronological narrative emphasizing the political aspects of the Tsar's reign rather than details from his personal life--although new information about his life is revealed. Nicholas II is portrayed as a conscientious and reasonably intelligent ruler whose reign was marred by inept statesmanship and a stubborn determination to uphold the autocratic tradition of the Romanov dynasty even though he was forced to grant major political concessions in 1905. His imprudent foreign policy in East Asia precipitated a losing war with Japan. But a more cautious policy in Europe nevertheless involved Russia in a far greater conflict in 1914 that resulted in enormous casualties, economic hardship, and the collapse of the monarchy in 1917. As an individual, Nicholas was gentle and benevolent (except towards political dissidents) and proved to be a good husband and father. The serenity of his family life was disrupted by his son and heir's hemophilia, and the ensuing Rasputin scandal impaired the Tsar's image and contributed to his unpopularity. A final chapter examines his legacy and provides a theory of revolutionary causation.

Was Elizabeth I worshipped by her subjects? Many twentieth-century scholars have suggested that the Virgin Queen was a cult-figure who replaced the Virgin Mary. But how could this be in a Protestant state officially opposed to idolatry? Helen Hackett examines these issues through readings of a wide variety of Elizabethan texts. She traces some of the cross-currents in Elizabethan culture, and considers both Elizabeth and the Virgin Mary in terms of the history of representations of gender, sexuality and power.

Never before have the women of the Capetian royal dynasty in France been the subject of a study in their own right. The new research in Capetian Women challenges old paradigms about the restricted roles of royal women, uncovering their influence in social, religious, cultural, and even political spheres. The scholars in the volume consider medieval chroniclers' responses to the independent actions of royal women as well as modern historians' use of them as vehicles for constructing the past. The essays also delineate the creation of reginal identity through cultural practices such as religious patronage and the commissioning of manuscripts, tomb sculpture, and personal seals.