The American Civil War was one of the longest & bloodiest of modern wars. It is also one of the most mysterious. It has captured the imagination of writers artists & film-makers for decades but the reality of it confuses & divides historians even today. In this magisterial history of the first modern war the distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography leadership & strategic logic of the war & takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War. ...

This title offers a visual history of the Civil War. Visually arresting & comprehensive The American Civil War" covers the history causes & consequences of the conflict providing first-person accounts by soldiers & civilians key profiles of military leaders & clear timelines that give an instant overview of the developments during the tumultuous war. Packed with galleries of weaponry & equipment the treatment of wounded soldiers & information on slavery this is a rich detailed account of one of the most controversial conflicts of our time. This is an invaluable resource for schools & libraries as well as a perfect companion for anyone interested in military & social history." ...

At the start of the American Civil War (1861) some of the most powerful torts in the country were located in the secessionist states & many of these fell into Confederate hands. Although a handful of key sites remained in the Union the remainder had to be won back through bombardment or assault. Forts such as Fort Sumter Fort Morgan & Fort Pulaski formed the centerpiece in the struggle for control of the Confederate coastline. This book examines the stone forts that played a crucial part in the course of the Civil War covering their design construction & the way they were armed & manned. ...

This hugely successful text provides students of American studies with the perfect background & introductory information on contemporary American life. Thoroughly revised this fifth edition covers all the central

Dimensions of American society from geography & the environment government & politics to religion education media & the arts. American Civilization" covers all core American studies topics at introductory level contains essential historical background for American studies students at the start of the twenty-first century analyzes gender class & race & Americas cosmopolitan population contains photos case studies questions & terms for discussion & suggests websites for further research. With new illustrations & case studies this edition of " American Civilization" also examines the 2008 election US foreign policy activities the impact of climate change & the shifting economic situation. An invaluable online resource the " American Civilization" companion website features a wealth of material including biographies of major historical & contemporary figures links to key primary sources worked answers to essay questions & suggestions for classroom activities & discussions."

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American Desperado" is possibly the most jaw-dropping event-filled adrenaline-soaked criminal autobiography ever written. Like a real-life Scarface Jon was born into the upper levels of the Gambino crime family & witnessed his first murder at age seven. He became a one-man juvenile crime wave before joining an assassination squad in Vietnam. He returned to New York at age 20 to become one of the city's top nightclub promoters then journeyed to Miami where he became the de facto transportation chief of the Medellin Cartel & along with a tech-wizard partner created some of the most sophisticated smuggling technologies ever. With a hulking 6'6" bodyguard always at his side & a rural fortress protected by mortars tear-gas cannons & a gold-fanged attack dog Roberts was brutally effective at what he did. To law enforcement he was known as the " Bearded Gringo" a spectre they could never touch. To United States senators & CIA officials he was "the guy who can get things done". He eventually formed a clandestine alliance with the US government & in the end found personal late-life redemption." ...

Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink New Mexico. & the closer Mona gets to her mother's past the more she understands that the people of Wink are very very different... From one of our most talented & original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark

Dimensions of the hometowns & the neighbours we thought we knew.

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The American Future traces the history of a country whose most enduring trait is its capacity for self-renewal especially at times of disaster. Examining issues of power race & immigration religious fervour & prosperity this masterful portrait of the worlds most controversial superpower looks backwards & forwards to understand why now more than ever the fate of America & by extension the rest of the world is hanging in the balance. ...

Through her very personal telling of the story behind the White House Kitchen Gardens First Lady Michelle Obama examines how increased access to wholesome affordable food can promote better eating habits & enhanced health. Mrs Obama describes how her daughters Sasha & Malia were the catalysts for change in her own familys eating behaviour & inspired her to plant a vegetable garden on the South Lawn
- the first of its kind since Eleanor Roosevelts Victory Garden. Illustrated throughout with more than 200 photographs many never seen before the book reveals a year in the life of the garden. It

Includes:: practical advice from the White House Kitchen Garden Team for growing a whole range of produce from herbs & salads to squashes aubergines & berries whatever sized space you have. There are also delicious seasonal recipes like Spring Pea Salad Sweet Potato Quick Bread & Braised Pork Shoulder with Butternut Squash & Greens. With inspirational top tips for developing community & school gardens advice on how to get involved in your local farmers market & ideas for planting your own Michelle Obama shares the pleasures & endless benefits of home-grown food.


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This brief history of America will span the earliest migrations to the present reflecting Paul S. Boyer's interests in social intellectual & cultural history including popular culture & religion. It will reflect his personal view of American history in which a sense of paradox & irony loom large. While noting positive achievements-political economic social & cultural-he will also discuss the United States's failures to live up to its oft-stated ideals; although America has figured in the world's imagination (and its own self-image) as a land of opportunity" offering "liberty & justice for all " the reality has often fallen short. For example the establishment of the North American colonies had very different meanings for colonists from the British Isles & Europe for Native peoples & for enslaved Africans brought against their will. The late nineteenth century saw not only impressive industrial expansion & the creation of vast fortunes but also appalling conditions in urban-immigrant slums & a degraded exploited labor force. The twentieth-century emergence of a suburban society of consumer abundance meant a better life for many & laid the groundwork for impressive cultural creativity yet left behind crime-ridden inner cities & spawned a stultifying mass culture. The immigrants who have renewed & revitalized the nation have also stirred hostility & resentment. While American popular culture has demonstrated global appeal the projection of U.S. military power abroad from the Philippines early in the twentieth century to Iraq early in the twenty-first has sometimes failed in its purpose & damaged the nation's international standing. Although this book will not be a muckraking expose or anachronistic moral tract neither will it be a celebratory panegyric or a bland recital of facts. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable." ...

For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the US Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North & South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book the European & white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world. Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness & diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico & Central & South America then north to Florida Virginia & New England & finally out across the Great Plains & Southwest to California & the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went the native people were caught between imported plagues & barbarous atrocities typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people he asks do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European & Christian attitudes toward sex race & war he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans & their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today he adds & one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia & the Middle East. At once sweeping in scope & meticulously detailed American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical & moral debate. ...