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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > General
Americans call the Second World War "the Good War." But before it
even began, America's ally Stalin had killed millions of his own
citizens-and kept killing them during and after the war. Before
Hitler was defeated, he had murdered six million Jews and nearly as
many other Europeans. At war's end, German and Soviet killing sites
fell behind the Iron Curtain, leaving the history of mass killing
in darkness. ? Assiduously researched, deeply humane, and utterly
definitive, Bloodlands is a new kind of European history,
presenting the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist
regimes as two aspects of a single story. With a new afterword
addressing the relevance of these events to the contemporary
decline of democracy, Bloodlands is required reading for anyone
seeking to understand the central tragedy of modern history and its
meaning today.
Exam Board: Edexcel Level: A level Subject: History First teaching:
September 2015 First exams: June 2017 This book: covers the
essential content in the new specifications in a rigorous and
engaging way, using detailed narrative, sources, timelines, key
words, helpful activities and extension material helps develop
conceptual understanding of areas such as evidence,
interpretations, causation and change, through targeted activities
provides assessment support for both AS and A level with sample
answers, sources, practice questions and guidance to help you
tackle the new-style exam questions. It also comes with three
years' access to ActiveBook, an online, digital version of your
textbook to help you personalise your learning as you go through
the course - perfect for revision.
Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was one of the most inspiring leaders
of the twentieth century, and one of its greatest wits. War
reporter, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Prime Minister, Nobel
Laureate, wordplay enthusiast, he was a powerful man of many words.
Throughout his life, he moved, entertained, and sometimes enraged
people with his notorious wit and razor-sharp tongue. Consequently,
he is one of the most oft-quoted and misquoted leaders in recent
history. Now in paperback, "Churchill by Himself" is the first
fully annotated and attributed collection of Churchill
sayings--edited by longtime Churchill scholar Richard M. Langworth
and authorized by the Churchill estate--that captures Churchill's
wit in its entirety.
Tracing the interwoven traditions of modern welfare states in
Europe over five centuries, Thomas McStay Adams explores social
welfare from Portugal, France, and Italy to Britain, Belgium and
Germany. He shows that the provision of assistance to those in need
has faced recognizably similar challenges from the 16th century
through to the present: how to allocate aid equitably (and with
dignity); how to give support without undermining autonomy (and
motivation); and how to balance private and public spheres of
action and responsibility. Across two authoritative volumes, Adams
reveals how social welfare administrators, critics, and improvers
have engaged in a constant exchange of models and experience
locally and across Europe. The narrative begins with the founding
of the Casa da Misericordia of Lisbon in 1498, a model replicated
throughout Portugal and its empire, and ends with the relaunch of a
social agenda for the European Union at the meeting of the Council
of Europe in Lisbon in 2000. Volume 1, which focuses on the period
from 1500 to 1700, discusses the concepts of 'welfare' and
'tradition'. It looks at how 16th-century humanists joined with
merchants and lawyers to renew traditional charity in distinctly
modern forms, and how the discipline of religious reform affected
the exercise of political authority and the promotion of economic
productivity. Volume 2 examines 18th-century bienfaisance which
secularized a Christian humanist notion of beneficence, producing
new and sharply contested assertions of social citizenship. It goes
on to consider how national struggles to establish comprehensive
welfare states since the second half of the 19th century built on
the power of the vote as politicians, pushed by activists and
advised by experts, appealed to a growing class of industrial
workers. Lastly, it looks at how 20th-century welfare states
addressed aspirations for social citizenship while the
institutional framework for European economic cooperation came to
fruition
Bestselling author Nicholson Baker, recognized as one of the most
dexterous and talented writers in America today, has created a
compelling work of nonfiction bound to provoke discussion and
controversy -- a wide-ranging, astonishingly fresh perspective on
the political and social landscape that gave rise to World War II.
"Human Smoke" delivers a closely textured, deeply moving
indictment of the treasured myths that have romanticized much of
the 1930s and '40s. Incorporating meticulous research and
well-documented sources -- including newspaper and magazine
articles, radio speeches, memoirs, and diaries -- the book
juxtaposes hundreds of interrelated moments of decision, brutality,
suffering, and mercy. Vivid glimpses of political leaders and their
dissenters illuminate and examine the gradual, horrifying advance
toward overt global war and Holocaust.
Praised by critics and readers alike for his exquisitely observant
eye and deft, inimitable prose, Baker has assembled a narrative
within "Human Smoke" that unfolds gracefully, tragically, and
persuasively. This is an unforgettable book that makes a profound
impact on our perceptions of historical events and mourns the
unthinkable loss humanity has borne at its own hand.
In this bold reevaluation of a decisive moment in American history,
Michael Hiltzik dispels decades of accumulated myths and
misconceptions about the New Deal to capture with clarity and
immediacy its origins, its legacy, and its genius.
St. Louis was a city under siege during Prohibition. Seven
different criminal gangs violently vied for control of the town's
illegal enterprises. Although their names (the Green Ones, the
Pillow Gang, the Russo Gang, Egan's Rats, the Hogan Gang, the
Cuckoo Gang and the Shelton Gang) are familiar to many, their
exploits have remained largely undocumented until now. Learn how an
awkward gunshot wound gave the Pillow Gang its name, and read why
Willie Russo's bizarre midnight interview with a reporter from the
St. Louis Star involved an automatic pistol and a floating hunk of
cheese. From daring bank robberies to cold-blooded betrayals, The
Gangs of St. Louis chronicles a fierce yet juicy slice of the
Gateway City's history that rivaled anything seen in New York or
Chicago.
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year A riveting account of
a forgotten holocaust: the slaughter of over one hundred thousand
Ukrainian Jews in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In the
Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining
moment of the twentieth century. 'Exhaustive, clearly written,
deeply researched' - The Times 'A meticulous, original and deeply
affecting historical account' - Philippe Sands, author of East West
Street Between 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were
murdered in Ukraine by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed
the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of
separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbours
with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah
scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely
forgotten today, these pogroms - ethnic riots - dominated headlines
and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that
six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty
years later, these dire predictions would come true. Drawing upon
long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly
discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders,
acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how
this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the
Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers,
and governmental officials, he explains how so many different
groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was
an acceptable response to their various problems.
Following the resounding success of the eponymous West End and
Broadway hit play, "Frost/Nixon" tells the extraordinary story of
how Sir David Frost pursued and landed the biggest fish of his
career--and how the series drew larger audiences than any news
interview ever had in the United States, before being shown all
over the world.
This is Frost's absorbing story of his pursuit of Richard Nixon,
and is no less revealing of his own toughness and pertinacity than
of the ex-President's elusiveness. Frost's encounters with such
figures as Swifty Lazar, Ron Ziegler, potential sponsors, and Nixon
as negotiator are nothing short of hilarious, and his insight into
the taping of the programs themselves is fascinating.
"Frost/Nixon" provides the authoritative account of the only
public trial that Nixon would ever have, and a revelation of the
man's character as it appeared in the stress of eleven grueling
sessions before the cameras. Including historical perspective and
transcripts of the edited interviews, this is the story of Sir
David Frost's quest to produce one of the most dramatic pieces of
television ever broadcast, described by commentators at the time as
"a catharsis" for the American people.
In "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations," the premier collection of
noted sayings, Mark Twain is the only American with more citations
under his name than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was the greatest
raconteur to occupy the White House between the presidencies of
Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. A superb mimic with a
professional comic's sense of timing, he had an ear for a ringing
phrase and could laugh at himself, relishing the opportunity to
tell stories at his own expense.
The anecdotes, sayings, and witticisms collected in this hugely
entertaining and edifying volume are a testament to the high humor
and insouciant, infectious personality of one of our greatest
presidents.
An explosive, long-forgotten story of police violence that exposes
the historical roots of today's criminal justice crisis A deeply
researched and propulsively written story of corrupt governance,
police brutality, Black resistance, and violent white reaction in
turn-of-the-century New Orleans that holds up a dark mirror to our
own times.--Walter Johnson, author of River of Dark Dreams On a
steamy Monday evening in 1900, New Orleans police officers
confronted a black man named Robert Charles as he sat on a doorstep
in a working-class neighborhood where racial tensions were running
high. What happened next would trigger the largest manhunt in the
city's history, while white mobs took to the streets, attacking and
murdering innocent black residents during three days of bloody
rioting. Finally cornered, Charles exchanged gunfire with the
police in a spectacular gun battle witnessed by thousands. Building
outwards from these dramatic events, To Poison a Nation connects
one city's troubled past to the modern crisis of white supremacy
and police brutality. Historian Andrew Baker immerses readers in a
boisterous world of disgruntled laborers, crooked machine bosses,
scheming businessmen, and the black radical who tossed a flaming
torch into the powder keg. Baker recreates a city that was home to
the nation's largest African American community, a place where
racial antagonism was hardly a foregone conclusion--but which
ultimately became the crucible of a novel form of racialized
violence: modern policing. A major new work of history, To Poison a
Nation reveals disturbing connections between the Jim Crow past and
police violence in our own times.
General Sir Gordon MacMillan's five children decided to write this
life of their father to learn more about what he had done, and so
allow their children and grandchildren to draw inspiration from the
great man from whom they are descended. Fascinating details came to
light about his bravery in the First World War, his successes in
command in the Second World War, his good fortune in surviving
three assassination attempts during the last years of the British
Mandate in Palestine, and his disagreement with Churchill over the
handling of delicate issues in Gibraltar. But this is not just a
tale of a soldier and his military exploits, and of his subsequent
engagement in civilian and Clan activities in Scotland. It is a
story that is placed in the broader family setting within which his
children feel fortunate to have been brought up.
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