In Continental Divide, a Banff Prize-winner tells the history of American mountaineering through four centuries of landmark climbs and first ascents. Maurice Isserman traces the evolving social, cultural and political roles mountains played in shaping the country.

In Continental Divide, Maurice Isserman tells the history of American mountaineering through four centuries of landmark climbs and first ascents. Mountains were originally seen as obstacles to civilization; over time they came to be viewed as places of redemption and renewal. The White Mountains stirred the transcendentalists; the Rockies and Sierras pulled explorers westward toward Manifest Destiny; Yosemite inspired the early environmental conservationists. Climbing began in North America as a pursuit for lone eccentrics but grew to become a mass-participation sport. Beginning with Darby Field in 1642, the first person to climb a mountain in North America, Isserman describes the exploration and first ascents of the major American mountain ranges, from the Appalachians to Alaska. He also profiles the most important American mountaineers, including such figures as John C. Fremont, John Muir, Annie Peck, Bradford Washburn, Charlie Houston, and Bob Bates, relating their exploits both at home and abroad. Isserman traces the evolving social, cultural, and political roles mountains played in shaping the country. He describes how American mountaineers forged a "brotherhood of the rope," modeled on America's unique democratic self-image that characterized climbing in the years leading up to and immediately following World War II. And he underscores the impact of the postwar "rucksack revolution," including the advances in technique and style made by pioneering "dirtbag" rock climbers. A magnificent, deeply researched history, Continental Divide tells a story of adventure and aspiration in the high peaks that makes a vivid case for the importance of mountains to American national identity.

Starting with the final expedition of John Franklin, 19th-century England's most honored and respected Arctic explorer, the opening of the polar regions resulted in the establishment of the multitudes of research stations that produce observations, measurements, and data crucial to all areas of scientific inquiry. The first mariners to venture south signed on for voyages that lasted for years with no guarantee they would return. If they did come back from the frigid zones, it was with their health permanently damaged by bouts of scurvy and months of inadequate diet. Yet, there was never a shortage of eager, courageous men willing to replace the unfit. ""Exploring the Polar Regions, Revised Edition"" tells the story of polar exploration and the men who wittingly put themselves in danger to take on the unknown frozen straits. Coverage of this title includes: the mythical stories of a 'Great Southern Continent' and the numerous Spanish, French, and British explores who searched for it; a description of the race to the North Pole, including various explorers' theories on how to achieve this goal; Roald Amundsen's and Robert Scott's race to the South Pole in 1911 and 1912; how developments in equipment, machines, and communications changed exploration; and, Ernest Shackleton's epic voyage between 1914 and 1916 to Antarctica Aerial exploration of Antarctica.

The story of the world's highest peaks and the remarkable people who have sought to climb them The first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa teammate Tenzing Norgay is a familiar saga, but less well known are the tales of many other adventurers who also came to test their skills and courage against the world's highest and most dangerous mountains. In this lively and generously illustrated book, historians Maurice Isserman and Stewart Weaver present the first comprehensive history of Himalayan mountaineering in fifty years. They offer detailed, original accounts of the most significant climbs since the 1890s, and they compellingly evoke the social and cultural worlds that gave rise to those expeditions. The book recounts the adventures of such figures as Martin Conway, who led the first authentic Himalayan climbing expedition in 1892; Fanny Bullock Workman, the pioneer explorer of the Karakoram range; George Mallory, the romantic martyr of Mount Everest fame; Charlie Houston, who led American expeditions to K2 in the 1930s and 1950s; Ang Tharkay, the legendary Sherpa, and many others. Throughout, the authors discuss the effects of political and social change on the world of mountaineering, and they offer a penetrating analysis of a culture that once emphasized teamwork and fellowship among climbers, but now has been eclipsed by a scramble for individual fame and glory.

Fighting in the Jim Crow Army is filled with first-hand accounts of everyday life in 1940s America. The soldiers of the 92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions speak of segregation in the military and racial attitudes in army facilities stateside and abroad. The individual battles of black soldiers reveal a compelling tale of discrimination, triumph, resistance, and camaraderie. What emerges from the multitude of voices is a complex and powerful story of individuals who served their country and subsequently made demands to be recognized as full-fledged citizens. Morehouse, whose father served in the 93rd Infantry Division, has built a rich historical account around personal interviews and correspondence with soldiers, National Archive documents, and military archive materials. Augmented with historical and recent photographs, Fighting in the Jim Crow Army combines individual recollections with official histories to form a vivid picture of life in the segregated Army. In the historiography of World War II very little has emerged from the perspective of the black foot soldier. Morehouse allows the participants to tell the tale of the watershed event of their participation in World War II as well as the ongoing black freedom struggle.

- An examination of some of the earliest accounts of Egyptian and Mesopotamian explorations
- An account of Dr. David Livingstone's search for the source of the Nile River in the jungles of central Africa in 1871
- The exciting story of the ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
- A description of the race to the North Pole and all that it entailed, including various explorers' theories on how to achieve this goal
- The epic saga of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery and their journey across America
- The dramatic story of the explosion that damaged Apollo 13 and the three-day struggle of the men inside, along with those in mission command on the ground, culminating in their safe return to Earth.
- and more.

Most Americans first heard of Michael Harrington with the publication of The Other America, his seminal book on American poverty. Isserman expertly tracks Harrington's beginnings in the Catholic Worker movement, his abandonment of his once deeply-held Catholicism, his life in 1950s Greenwich Village, and his evolution as a thinker. Along the way he dispels numerous myths, including several Harrington himself encouraged. And he explains why Harrington, who more than any other single individual seemed perfectly positioned to play the role of adult mentor to the New Left in the 1960s, but instead fell into disfavour with young campus activists, and lost the opportunity of a lifetime to make his Democratic Socialist perspective a relevant force in American politics.

The Middle Ages, though marked by plague in Europe, was a time of increased investigation of the world. People from civilizations around the globe - from the Chinese in Asia to a curious Venetian named Marco Polo - sought to understand the world at large and discover its secrets. ""Exploration in the World of the Middle Ages, 500-1500, Revised Edition"" is an account of travels, expeditions, discoveries, and cross-cultural contacts in the span of 1,000 years throughout the world. This era encompassed periods of sophisticated civilization, learning, and outstanding achievement in many cultures around the world. Coverage of this title includes: the role played by three major religions - Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam - and these religions' pilgrims and missionaries who traveled throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; the Vikings' advanced shipbuilding technology and how they sent exploratory, mercantile, and colonizing expeditions across the North Atlantic; Marco Polo's extensive travels and the wealth of geographical knowledge he gathered around China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Japan, and the lands of the Indian Ocean; and, Portuguese expeditions to Africa and Asia supported by Prince Henry the Navigator Zheng He's monumental seventh voyage between 1431 and 1433 that included 100 ships and approximately 27,500 officers and crew.

In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned the Corps of Discovery as a scientific expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Purchase. The goal was to learn more about the Northwest's natural resources, inhabitants, and possibilities for settlement. The Lewis and Clark expedition was the second recorded transcontinental crossing of North America north of Mexico by white Americans. Their journey was significant in that the first accurate maps of the area were produced, there was a better understanding of the Northwest's natural resources, and they established friendly relations with American Indians. Although they were unable to locate the fabled, elusive Northwest Passage, Lewis and Clark's achievements sparked American interest in the West and strengthened the nation's claim to the area. The coverage includes: Thomas Jefferson's support of the expedition as U.S. president; Meriwether Lewis' and William Clark's preparations for their journey, including gathering advice and purchasing supplies; the party's interactions with American Indians, both friendly and hostile; the animals they encountered; the role played by Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone; and, the expedition's difficult journey across the Bitterroot Mountains.

The definitive interpretive survey of the political, social and cultural history of 1960s America, this book is written by two of the top experts on the era -- Isserman, a scholar of the Left, and Kazin, a specialist in Right-wing politics and culture. Arguing that the period marked the end of the country's two-century-long ascent toward widespread affluence, domestic consensus,and international hegemony, the authors explore what did and did not change in the 1960s, and why American culture and politics have never been the same since.