"But I hope that you know something already of the history of your own country. For, after all, you know, this is only a play book. It is not a book which you need knit your brows over, or in which you will find pages of facts, or politics, and long strings of dates. But it is a book, I hope, which when you lay it down will make you say, 'I'm glad that I was born an American. I'm glad that I can salute the stars and stripes a ...
Jacob A. Riis (1849-1941), pioneer of social documentary photography and journalism, occupies a singular position in the history of social journalism. Jacob A. Riis spent his life bringing to light the societal effects of urban decay and poverty in 19th century America. Here is presented his 1901 book «The Battle with the Slum», an arresting account of New York City's blighted areas. His exploration of the squalor found in Lower East Side t ...
"Quo Vadis: a Narrative of the Time of Nero" is the story of a love that develops between a young Christian woman, Lygia, and Marcus Vinicius, a Roman patrician. 'Quo Vadis' is Latin, meaning 'Where are you going?' and it is a reference to the New Testament verse John 13:36 which states, 'Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou sha ...
An epic endeavor by a man genuinely enamored of his native Rome, Livy's «The History of Rome» was originally written in 142 books spanning the entire history of the Roman people up to Livy's day in the time of Augustus in the first century BC. While this Roman historian's monumental undertaking took most of his life, only 35 books still survive today. Livy begins with Aeneas' landing on Italy and the myth of Romulus and Remus ...
Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880), French novelist and short story writer, was considered to be a master of style, obsessively devoted to finding the right word («le mot juste»), in every piece of literature he produced. As a child he expressed great imagination and took in all the stories he could from his nurse and neighbors, and in doing so, he prepared himself for a life consumed by literature and history. In addition to his «Madame Bovary», his ...
Edmund Burke's «Reflections on the Revolution in France» is considered by many to be a masterpiece of political analysis. In the book, Burke presents the points with which he disagrees with the members of the National Assembly who were responsible for the French Revolution. Originally written as a letter in response to a young Parisian and later expanded upon and published in book format, «Reflections on the Revolution in France» presents a ...
"Montcalm and Wolfe" is Francis Parkman's detailed account of the French and Indian War framed through portraits of its two opposing generals. The French and Indian War, which was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War between the French and the British, pitted the commander of the French troops, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran, against the commander of the British forces, British Brigadier Gener ...
Jacob Burckhardt was a European historian and critic of the nineteenth century who is commonly referred to as the world's first cultural historian. He believed that historical writings should describe the spirit, forms of expression, people, and setting of a particular era. He viewed the Italian Renaissance as the world's finest period of culture and chose it as the subject of his most well-known work, «The Civilization of the Renaissa ...
First published in 1880, this epic novel follows much of the life of Judah Ben-Hur, a man living in the time of Christ. Wallace intertwines the lives of Judah and Jesus of Nazareth, beginning the novel with the events of the Nativity and later following the downfall and ensuing hardships of Judah's life. The events depicted in the Gospels of the New Testament concerning Jesus are carefully threaded throughout Judah's story, ultimately ...
