Charles River Editors

During the first half of the 1st millennium CE, an empire arose in Persia that extended its power and influence to Mesopotamia in the east, Arabia in the south, the Caucasus Mountains in the north, and as far east as India.

Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Blackfeet and Blackfoot Confederacy comprehensively covers the history and legacy of one of the Great Plains’ most famous Native American groups....

Yugoslavia was arguably one of the most unusual geopolitical creations of the 20th century. The Yugoslav state had never existed in any historical sense, and the ties that bound together its constituent peoples were tenuous at best. Listen to learn more about Yugoslavia....

The Portuguese Inquisition: The History of the Portuguese Empire’s Religious Persecution of Non-Christians in Portugal and Asia looks at how the Inquisition came to be and how people were persecuted by it over the course of several centuries....

The modern history of Africa was, until very recently, written on behalf of the indigenous races by the white man, who had forcefully entered the continent during a particularly hubristic and dynamic phase of European history....

The library of Nag Hammadi, Egypt, is as significant in the study of early Christianity as the writings of the Essenes to the understanding of Judaism during the time of the Roman occupation....

Those unfamiliar with the Mohawk associate them with the conspicuous Mohawk haircut, and images of a warlike people who scalp their enemies are still evoked....

Freedom of the press isn’t just a fundamental right in America but a key part of the democratic process. When the United States secured its independence against Britain in the War of Independence in 1783, there was no certainty about what the new country would look like....

Victor Lustig: The Life and Legacy of the 20th Century’s Most Notorious Con Artist profiles one of the most eccentric personalities of his age. You will learn about Victor Lustig like never before....

Latin American Revolutionaries: The Life and Legacy of Che Guevara chronicles the world's most famous revolutionary's life and examines his writings and the revolutions he led....

The Apocrypha of the Bible examines the history of the books excluded from the Bible, the characters and events told by the books, and the discoveries that have influenced Biblical studies in the last few centuries....

Many ancient civilizations have influenced and inspired people in the 21st century....

Most anyone who has received a basic education in world history knows the story of how "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."....

John Dee was one of the greatest scientific minds of his time, but also one of the most controversial. He was a learned man in fields as varied as mathematics and astronomy, centuries before they became formalized fields of study, but he is remembered for performing magic and alchemy....

The most improbable approach toward American civil rights for Black citizens blended the beliefs of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, and it was spearheaded by global activist Marcus Aurelius Garvey. He aimed to transport much of America’s Black population back to Africa....

Much of the popular picture of the Vikings is a result of the romantic imagination. However, the Vikings' reputation for ferocious seaborne attacks is no exaggeration....

One of the most important and memorable events of the United States' westward push came with the discovery of gold, in the lands that became California, in January 1848....

Since the early days of human warfare, which may date back to the Stone Age, combatants have sought to gain an advantage through the acquisition of secret information. With the growth of technology, a parallel advantage was sought through the application of numerous types of torture....

On September 13, 1759, a battle was fought on the Plains of Abraham outside the old city of Québec. It was one of the turning-point battles in world history....

To say Edith Stein lived a remarkable life would be a dramatic understatement. Born in Breslau (then part of Germany) at the end of the 19th century, Edith was raised as an observant jew, only to turn her back on religion right around the time World War I devastated the continent....