The special work to which I had been appointed at Fair View was the school work; although my instructions given by Superintendent Roberts on the eve of my departure for Africa gave full liberty to evangelize as well as to teach. My manual read something like this: "Do not be satisfied to be merely a school teacher. Be an evangelist. Go out to the kraals, preaching as you go. Make the salvation of souls your one and only business." -from "Chapter XIII: My School" The missionary work of Westerners in Africa is long and storied-here's another tale of the long-term attempts to convert a continent. Privately published, this is one woman's account of her Christian work in Zulu country, from her childhood-she was born in 1863-on farms in Iowa and Kansas, where she had a youthful brush with death that led to her conversion to an active Christianity, to her return home after long years doing the Lord's work. The time in between is fraught with culture shock: her difficulties in learning the Zulu language, her disdain for Zulu tradition and mythology, even a particular scorn for the food she found unpalatable. Stolid and unbending, this is a curious document of a less enlightened time, a firsthand look at the mindset of a bygone time.

Aggressive voices promote minority special interests. Wealth is concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. The middle class is under siege. Giant corporations and big business threaten democracy itself. Such was the state of the United States after the Civil War, and if it sounds familiar, then it only underlines the continuing relevance of Herbert Croly's The Promise of American Life, first published in 1909. Croly saw an American culture desperately fragmented, torn by the transformation from a rural, agrarian economy to an urban, industrial one, and called for a righting of societal and economic imbalances through collective national efforts and strong government. President Teddy Roosevelt backed his theories, which also influenced the shape and scope of FDR's New Deal years later. But the historical import of Croly's passionate and stirring manifesto on Progressive political belief is overshadowed by its pertinence to the social and economic issues facing Americans today. American journalist HERBERT CROLY (1869-1930), one of the foremost political philosophers of the early 20th century, helped found The New Republic magazine in 1914.

This candid essay by one of the nation's leading businessmen originally appeared in American Magazine in November 1916. In it, Charles Schwab, one-time president of Carnegie Steel, U.S. Steel, and Bethlehem Steel, offered his secrets for success. Surprisingly, he didn't believe that genius was required -- he believed in hard work. "For thirty-six years I have been moving among workingmen in what is now the biggest branch of American industry, the steel business," Schwab wrote. "In that time it has been my good fortune to watch most of the present leaders rise from the ranks, ascend step by step to places of power. These men, I am convinced, are not natural prodigies. They won out by using normal brains to think beyond their manifest daily duty." Thanks to his appreciation of devoted workers, Schwab placed the ability to succeed in any employee's hands. More of Schwab's surprising insights are contained in this fascinating look at the path to success, written by one who traveled it. CHARLES M. SCHWAB (1862-1939) joined Carnegie Steel in 1879 and became president when he was 35, working closely with Andrew Carnegie. He sold the company to J.P. Morgan, and became president of Morgan's new corporation, U.S. Steel. Schwab later ran Bethlehem Steel, a company known for its efficiency and competitiveness. During World War I, Schwab became Director-General of the Emergency Fleet Corporation for the U.S. government.