Expanded and updated for the new millennium.Covering the life of Christ, the election of Pope Benedict XVI, and everything in between, A Concise History... of the Catholic Church has been one of the bestselling religious histories of the past two decades and a mainstay for scholars, students, and others looking for a definitive, accessible history of Catholicism. With a clarity that will appeal to any reader, Thomas Bokenkotter divides his study into five parts that correspond to the major historical and epochal developments in Catholicism. His authoritative, thorough approach takes readers from the Church’s triumph over paganism, through "the sound and fury of renewal," to a new section devoted to such topics as dissent and current developments in the ecumenical movement. Informative illustrations throughout the book, new to this edition, enrich the reader's experience, and the addition of a wide-ranging bibliography increases its value as a sourcebook.

'God wills it!' With that cry of medieval knights a new era in European history began. Across Europe a wave of pious enthusiasm led many thousands to... leave their homes, family, and friends to march to a distant land in a great struggle for Christ. Yet the crusades were more than simply a holy war. They represent a synthesis of attitudes and values that were uniquely medieval--so medieval, in fact, that the crusading movement is rarely understood today. This book places the crusades within the medieval social, economic, religious, and intellectual environments that gave birth to the movement and nurtured it for centuries. The events of the crusades to Palestine and Europe's periphery are narrated in a clear, concise, and compelling manner. Special attention is also given to the crusades' effects on the Islamic world and the Christian Byzantine East. Also included is a historiographical overview of the subject as well as an up-to-date select biography.

This concise yet rich introduction to the French Revolution explores the origins, development, and eventual decline of a movement that defines France to... this day. Through an accessible chronological narrative, Sylvia Neely explains the complex events, conflicting groups, and rapid changes that characterized this critical period in French history. She traces the fundamental transformations in government and society that forced the French to come up with new ways of thinking about their place in the world, ultimately leading to liberalism, conservatism, terrorism, and modern nationalism. Throughout, the author focuses on the essential political events that propelled the Revolution, at the same time deftly interweaving the intellectual, social, diplomatic, military, and cultural history of the time. Neely explains how the difficult choices made by the royal government and the revolutionaries alike not only brought on the collapse of the Old Regime but moved the nation into increasingly radical policies, to the Terror, and finally to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Written with clarity and nuance, this work offers a deeply knowledgeable understanding of the political possibilities available at any given moment in the course of the Revolution, placing them in a broad social context. All readers interested in France and revolutionary history will find this an engaging and rewarding read.

This book offers students a concise and clearly written overview of the events of the Haitian Revolution, from the slave uprising in the French colony... of Saint-Domingue in 1791 to the declaration of Haiti’s independence in 1804.Draws on the latest scholarship in the field as well as the author’s original researchOffers a valuable resource for those studying independence movements in Latin America, the history of the Atlantic World, the history of the African diaspora, and the age of the American and French revolutionsWritten by an expert on both the French and Haitian revolutions to offer a balanced viewPresents a chronological, yet thematic, account of the complex historical contexts that produced and shaped the Haitian Revolution

This book offers students a concise and clearly written overview of the events of the Haitian Revolution, from the slave uprising in the French colony... of Saint-Domingue in 1791 to the declaration of Haiti’s independence in 1804.Draws on the latest scholarship in the field as well as the author’s original researchOffers a valuable resource for those studying independence movements in Latin America, the history of the Atlantic World, the history of the African diaspora, and the age of the American and French revolutionsWritten by an expert on both the French and Haitian revolutions to offer a balanced viewPresents a chronological, yet thematic, account of the complex historical contexts that produced and shaped the Haitian Revolution

In this updated edition of A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands the reader is invited to experience Hawaii s riveting story. Momentous events... focused worldwide attention on the 50th state as it celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Most notable was the election of Hawaii-born Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency. Hawaii s colorful history, written in the informal style that students found so appealing in Dr. Barnes classes, comes to life through interesting anecdotes and compelling images. The author touches upon major events and personalities that shaped the Hawaii we know today: from the geologic forces that formed the island chain; to the first human landfall; through the transformation of its society by the blending of cultures; into the dawn of the 21st century.

The ninth edition of this widely acclaimed text by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. and Lawrence Davidson has been extensively revised to reflect the latest... scholarship and the most recent events in the Middle East. As an introduction to the history of this turbulent region from the beginnings of Islam to the present day, the book is distinguished by its clear style, broad scope, and balanced treatment. It focuses on the evolution of Islamic institutions and culture, the influence of the West, the modernization efforts of Middle Eastern governments, the struggle of various peoples for political independence, the course of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the reassertion of Islamic values and power, the issues surrounding the Palestinian Question, and the roles of Iraq and Iran in the post-9/11 Middle East. Nine maps newly commissioned for the ninth edition highlight key aspects of Middle East history. Two popular study aids, the chronology and the glossary, have been extensively revised, and the superlative bibliographic essay, an essential guide to further reading, has been thoroughly rewritten to reflect current scholarship.

The author of the classic two-volume study, The Russian Revolution and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime, now distills those works into an authoritative... new chronicle of Russia between 1900 and the death of Lenin. "A deep and eloquent condemnation."--The New York Times.

This well-illustrated, highly accessible book at last gives general readers and students a compact, yet comprehensive and authoritative history of the... twelve years of the Third Reich--from political takeover of January 30, 1933 to the German capitulation of May 1945. Originally published to rave reviews in Germany, A Concise History of the Third Reich describes the establishment of the totalitarian dictatorship, the domestic and foreign politics of the regime, everyday life and terror in National Socialist Germany, the events leading to World War II and the war itself, various forms of resistance against Hitler, and the Holocaust. The book's extensive illustrations are thoroughly treated as documents that illuminate the visual power of Nazi ideology.

Born out of violence and the aspirations of its early settlers, the United States of America has become one of the world's most powerful nations, even... as its past continues to inform its present and to mould its very identity as a nation. The search for nationhood and the ambiguities upon which the nation was founded are at the root of this intelligent and forthright book. Taking a broadly chronological approach, it begins in colonial America as the first Europeans arrived, lured by the promise of financial profit, driven by religious piety, and accompanied by the diseases which would ravage and consume the native populations. It explores the tensions inherent in a country built on slave labor in the name of liberty, one forced to assert its unity and reassess its ideals in the face of secession and civil war, and one that struggled to establish moral supremacy, military security, and economic stability during the financial crises and global conflicts of the twentieth century. Woven through this richly crafted study of America's shifting social and political landscapes are the multiple voices of the nation's history: slaves and slave owners, revolutionaries and reformers, soldiers and statesmen, immigrants and refugees. It is their voices, together with those of today's multicultural America, that define the United States at the dawn of a new century.

Whether used for personal reference or as a text for a class in the history of the wind band this book is the most comprehensive single-volume history... of the wind band ever written. This volume draws on the author’s multi-volume History and Literature of the Wind Band and follows the development of the wind band through the civic, court, church and military performances of the Ancient World through the nineteenth century.

W.M. Spellman explores the past half century focusing on key topics such as human migration, science and technology, international business, religion... and politics, and the break-up of Europe's overseas empires. Two central points of debate are examined: the struggle between centralized socialism and free-market capitalism and the interaction between the forces of cultural fragmentation and the competing integrative forces of "globalization" or world culture.

Now in a fully updated edition, A Concise History of U.S. Foreign Policy offers a conceptual and historical overview of American foreign relations from... the founding to the present. Compact and accessible, the text provides students with a clear and concise understanding of key decisions and why they were made. Joyce Kaufman introduces the major themes that have driven the making of U.S. foreign policy, with an emphasis on the importance of economics and trade as well as the relevant political issues of the time to both describe and explain critical decisions. Beginning with the question "what is foreign policy and why is it important?" the author shows the reader how foreign policy is relevant to everyone, and in some way touches all our lives. The book develops the themes historically to show how various presidents and administrations built upon the past, and where they set a new course and why. Kaufman pays particular attention to the Cold War and beyond, with a chapter devoted specifically to the changes in direction of American foreign policy as a result of September 11. She concludes with a look forward to challenges the United States will face in the coming decades. With its strong narrative and use of compelling case studies, the book engages students fully in this crucial topic, encouraging them to form their own ideas about American foreign policy.

Based on the most recent historical research and current debates about Wales and Welshness, this volume offers the most up-to-date, authoritative and... accessible account of the period from Neanderthal times to the opening of the Senedd, the new home of the National Assembly for Wales, in 2006. Within a remarkably brief and stimulating compass, Geraint H. Jenkins explores the emergence of Wales as a nation, its changing identities and values, and the transformations its people experienced and survived throughout the centuries. In the face of seemingly overwhelming odds, the Welsh never reconciled themselves to political, social and cultural subordination, and developed ingenious ways of maintaining a distinctive sense of their otherness. The book ends with the coming of political devolution and the emergence of a greater measure of cultural pluralism. Professor Jenkins's lavishly illustrated volume provides enthralling material for scholars, students, general readers, and travellers to Wales.