Showing results by author "A. Rivers" in All Categories

Separated by vast gulfs of political, cultural, and philosophical divergence, the three chief Allied nations of World War II - the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain - attempted to formulate a joint policy through a series of three conferences during and immediately after the conflict. The first meeting took place in Tehran in late 1943, while the fate of World War II still hung in the balance. The fate of World War II hung in the balance in 1943.

On February 14, 1929, members of Bugs Moran's North Side gang arrived at a warehouse on North Clark Street in Chicago, only to be approached by several police officers. The officers then marched them outside up against a wall, pulled out submachine guns and shotguns, and gunned them all down on the spot. A famous legend is that one of the shot men, Frank Gusenberg, dying from 14 gunshot wounds, told police that nobody shot him. Though Gusenberg's statement is probably apocryphal, nobody opened their mouths.

World War I, also known in its time as the “Great War” or the “War to End all Wars”, was an unprecedented holocaust in terms of its sheer scale. Fought by men who hailed from all corners of the globe, it saw millions of soldiers do battle in brutal assaults of attrition which dragged on for months with little to no respite.

One of the most turbulent and romanticized eras in ancient Chinese history is that of the three kingdoms period. During the third century AD in China, warlords battled for supremacy. This turbulent and bloody era is known as the three kingdoms period. It's also one of the most romanticized eras in Chinese history; heroes and villains like Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Zhuge Liang have served has inspiration for poetry, novels, opera, and song in China.

Benito Mussolini: The Life and Legacy of Italy’s Fascist Prime Minister profiles one of the 20th century’s most notorious leaders. You will learn about Mussolini like never before.

Stalin had ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years before his death in 1953, just as Stalin was preparing to conduct another purge. With his death, Soviet strongman and long-time Stalinist Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971), became the Soviet premier...Khrushchev made his most audacious and ultimately costly decision by attempting to place nuclear warheads at advanced, offensive bases located in Cuba...the Cuban Missile Crisis would show the Kennedy Administration’s resolve, force Khrushchev to back down, and ultimately sow the seeds of Khrushchev’s fall from power.

The British Royal Family is held in awe across Britain, and they have captured the interest of people around the globe. Queen Elizabeth II is respected for her stately demeanor, Prince William and his new wife, Kate Middleton, are deemed trendsetters and attract attention from media starved for gossip, and nobody has held as unique a place in pop culture as the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

In their long history of suffering, nothing was ever so terrible as what the Irish endured during the Great Potato Famine that struck the country in the 1840s and produced massive upheaval for several years. While countless numbers of Irish starved, the famine also compelled many to leave, and all the while, the British were exporting enough food from Ireland on a daily basis to prevent the starvation. Over the course of 10 years, the population of Ireland decreased by about 1.5 million people, and taken together, these facts have led to charges as severe as genocide.

The history of East Germany was closely intertwined with the development of its security services, specifically the Stasi. In an era of totalitarian countries dominated by repressive state agencies, the Stasi stood out for its size and the sheer breadth and depth of its surveillance. The Stasi: The History and Legacy of East Germany’s Secret Police Agency examines the history of one of the most notorious agencies in history. You will learn about the Stasi like never before.

The history of Ukraine is a fascinating story of how cultures, political systems, religions, and power have met, intersected, morphed, and expanded. The region was relatively sparsely populated for much of ancient history, a wilderness of rivers, forests, and steppes, but that does not detract from the rich historical development of the region.

Today, Chechnya is a republic with some degree of autonomy in the contemporary Russian Federation. The majority of Chechnya’s population is comprised of Sunni Muslims, meaning religion has played a key role in the territory’s development. Wedged in the North Caucasus mountain range and bordering the Caspian Sea, Dagestan is a true meeting point of cultures, religions and geopolitical rivalries. A crossroad between east and west, Dagestan has been vitally important at different times for various powers in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The term “Reconquista” is a Spanish word transferred to the English language to represent the nearly 800 years in which the Moors and Christians struggled against one another for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Reconquista: The History and Legacy of the Conflicts Between the Moors and Christians on the Iberian Peninsula examines the events that shaped the modern history of Spain and Portugal, as well as the ramifications.

Tere is perhaps no artist who produced more art than Picasso, whose enormous oeuvre (which spanned most of his 91-year life) contained a countless number of paintings and drawings. His constant experimentation with form makes him a useful case study through which to chart the growth of modernism as an artistic movement, and many of the artistic trends that would dominate the 20th century. Picasso's works within each medium are also vastly differed.

As a basic definition, it may be said that an Ice Age is simply a period of time during which thick ice sheets cover vast areas of land. These sheets have advanced and retreated, at times taking over the entire planet, and conversely disappearing nearly altogether. Glacial ice formed by this regularly occurring process does not sit in a state of inertia, but moves dynamically, reshaping the geological features of the continents.

During the period after the collapse of the Roman Empire and the establishment of medieval Europe, which was once commonly referred to as the Dark Ages, many different tribes migrated across Europe, feeding on what was left of Rome and attempting to establish new kingdoms in the vacuum. Most of these tribes were Germanic in ethnicity and language and shared the same goals of either entering Roman territory to become Roman citizens or tearing down Rome completely.

Sherwood is a sleepy little town. A town full of friendly faces and even friendlier neighbors. Which is why FBI agent Emma Griffin isn't surprised when her new neighbor starts stopping by to chat. Turns out her neighbor has a dark past and secrets that made her run. As much as Emma wished it wasn’t true, a dark past and secrets are things that she is far too familiar with, especially now more than ever.

The Mutiny on the Bounty is one of those great stories in history that most people have heard of but few people know much about. In fact, those who think they know what happened are likely to have formed their opinions from what they saw on a movie screen than what they read in a book. Fortunately, the true story itself is every bit as exciting as anything Hollywood could dream up.

Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Life and Legacy of Medieval Europe’s Most Famous Queen attempts to provide an unbiased look at Eleanor's life by exploring the achievements and trials of the duchess-queen and deconstructing the “black legends” and other compelling tales that continue to envelop her to this day. You will learn about Eleanor of Aquitaine like never before.

For France, Egypt offered an overland route to India and a chance to beat Britain at its own game via economic strangulation. Admiral Horatio Nelson, however, could only speculate at French intentions. Whatever the destination of the French fleet, he sought a battle of annihilation. Only by those means could Britain secure the Mediterranean and neutralize the threat of a French army operating overseas. His understanding was icily accurate.

Of all the goals the Bolshevik Revolution aimed to bring about, perhaps nowhere were Russian promises delivered on more than in the success of the Soviet Space program of the 1950s and 1960s. As a result of Russian innovation and technology, but also due to incredible drive to modernize and compete with the United States for world power, Russia was finally and triumphantly modernized in the eyes of her own people and the world.