This collection of short autobiographies, compiled and edited by Hamilton Holt, offers eye-opening accounts of how ordinary Americans lived and worked at the turn of the 20th century. The contributors to this collection were anonymous, drawn from various vocations of American society. The occupations range from laborers to dressmakers to domestic servants to peddlars and bootblacks. A minority of the accounts are dictated, but the bulk are written or edited from manuscripts solicited by the original publisher. We witness a society which had, owing to decades of immigration from around the world, become industrious and diverse. Several contributors to this collection are first generation immigrants; for many the conditions of the United States at the time were jarringly different. Some yearn for their homelands, and for the comforts and customs which they left behind, while others openly admire the attitude and values of the country they have come to call home.

A thorough study of significant wars throughout history and their influence on world affairs-from the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmore III's Campaigns during 479-459 BCE through the Iraq War of 2003-2011. For hundreds of years, wars have played a determining role in history and have decided the rise and fall of civilizations. Many believe that understanding the causes and consequences of warfare may move humankind towards world peace. This selection of the 50 most consequential wars, compiled by award-winning military historian Spencer C. Tucker, presents each conflict in chronological order and discusses its causes, its course, and its significance in world history. Through thoughtful essays and supporting visual evidence, this reference work examines the types of weapons systems employed and their effects in the field; the roles played by individual leaders such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, and Adolf Hitler; and the impact of geography and economics on the battlefield. The work includes fascinating information about warfare, addressing subjects such as how transportation and logistics changed the face of war over time, what invention marked the ascendancy of infantry over cavalry, why World War I remains the most important war in the 20th century, and which war killed nearly half of the population of Germany. Each essay includes the latest interpretations of strategy, agendas, and consequences of the featured event. Features Illustrations, maps, and photographs to visually engage readers Discusses the significance of major conflicts and their broad historical consequences Offers the most recent interpretations as to the causes and effects of each war covered Provides a list of books for additional reading to expand learning opportunities Reveals the meaning of the term "tech-tac disjoint" and explains its relevance to to modern use of technology-enabled weaponry

Petitioning for Land is the first book to examine the extent of First Peoples political participation through the use of petitions. Interpreting petitions as a continuous form of political articulation, Karen O'Brien considers petitioning for recognition of prior land ownership as a means by which to locate First Peoples petitioning for change within the broader narrative of historical and contemporary notions of justice. The book follows the story of First Peoples' activism and shows how they actively reform discourse to disseminate a self-determined reality through the act of petitioning. It discloses how, through the petition, First Peoples reject colonialism, even whilst working within its confines. In a reconfiguration of discourse, they actively convey a political or moral meaning to re-emerge in a self-determined world. Taking a socio-legal and historical approach to petitioning, the book questions the state domination of First Peoples, and charts their political action against such control in the quest for self-determination. By uniquely focusing on the act of petitioning, which places First Peoples aspirants centre-stage, O'Brien presents fresh and innovative perspectives concerning their political enterprise. From early modern colonial occupation to contemporary society, the hundreds of petitions that called for change are uncovered in Petitioning for Land, shedding new light on the social and political dynamics that drove the petitions.

This book provides an analysis of the articulation and organisation of radical international solidarity by organisations that were either connected to or had been established by the Communist International (Comintern), such as the International Red Aid, the International Workers' Relief, the League Against Imperialism, the International of Seamen and Harbour Workers and the International Trade Union Committee of Negro Workers. The guiding light of these organisations was a radical interpretation of international solidarity, usually in combination with concepts and visions of gender, race and class as well as anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism and anti-fascism. All of these new transnational networks form a controversial part of the contemporary history of international organisations. Like the Comintern these international organisations had an ambigious character that does not fit nicely into the traditional typologies of international organisations as they were neither international governmental organisations nor international non-governmental organisations. They constituted a radical continuation of the pre-First World War Left and exemplified an attempt to implement the ideas and movements of a new type of radical international solidarity not only in Europe, but on a global scale. Contributors are: Gleb J. Albert, Bernhard H. Bayerlein, Kasper Brasken, Fredrik Petersson, Holger Weiss.