Showing results by author "Mark Steinberg" in All Categories

It's difficult to imagine a nation with a history more compelling for Americans than Russia. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, this was the nation against which we measured our own nation's values and power and with whom war, if it ever came, could spell unimaginable catastrophe for our planet.Yet many Americans have never had the opportunity to study Russia in depth, and to see how the forces of history came together to shape a future so different from the dreams of most ordinary Russian people, eager to see their nation embrace Western values of progress, human rights, and justice.

Now extensively revised in this ninth edition, A History of Russia covers the entire span of the country's history, from ancient times to the post-communist present. Keeping with the hallmark of the text, Riasanovsky and Steinberg examine all aspects of Russia's history—political, international, military, economic, social, and cultural—with a commitment to objectivity, fairness, and balance, and to reflecting recent research and new trends in scholarly interpretation.

Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father is the story of one of America's great founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. The book is a detailed account of this very important but controversial figure in American history. The story is a classic rags-to-riches one and begins with his childhood in the British West Indies.

The New World. Popular conceptions of colonists in a reduced role spread. Heated debates and pamphleteers ignited the spirits of the underrepresented as various European powers involved the colonies in attempts to dominate North America. A brand of civilized order was brought to the chaos found in the colonial wilderness. Without the trouble that 18th-century Europe faced, a new ordered world along European lines could glorify its past in bringing its best self back to life.

From the 17th century to the 21st century, humans went from being almost universally agrarian with sailing vessels, muskets, and astrolabes being the most cutting-edge technology on the planet, to an era where the world is almost universally industrial or post-industrial with airplanes, cars, spaceships, computers, widespread electricity, and the ability to produce much more food than was ever possible before the Industrial Revolution.

Joan of Arc - Her very name inspires a sense of heroism and bravery. But the story of one of Europe's most valiant soldiers is plagued with intrigue and deception, and the brightness of her character obscured by charges of witchcraft and more. How did a peasant girl wind up leading a revolution? How did an illiterate pen letters to the leading men of her day? How was Joan transformed from a pious farm girl to a heretical witch, and ultimately into a Christian saint and martyr?

John Quincy Adams: The Often Ignored Sixth President of the United States tracks the life and times of John Quincy Adams from boyhood until his death. John Quincy was the first case of the son of a president of the United States taking office after the father. In many ways, the two President Adams were similar in temperament and in performance. Neither understood politics; neither had the common touch. Both of them were scholars, and in another era might have made a career of teaching or research.

This book is about the life and times of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was one of our founding fathers. As a founding father, Franklin contributed to the development of the United States by participating in the American Revolution, working on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and acting as ambassador to England and France for the American colonies. But Franklin was not just a statesman and patriot. He was a versatile entrepreneur.

Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father chronicles the remarkable life of one of America's most controversial and significant founding fathers. From his humble beginnings in the British West Indies to his eventual rise to power in the United States government, Hamilton's story is one of perseverance and ambition. Through his contributions to the establishment of the country's banking and currency systems and his role in the ratification of the United States Constitution, Hamilton left an indelible mark on American history.