Modern World History

During the late nineteenth century, tens of thousands of diggers, prospectors, merchants, and dealers extracted and shipped over 50 million carats of diamonds from South Africa to London. The primary supplier to the world, South Africa's diamond fields became one of the formative sites of modern capitalist production. At each stage of the diamond's route through the British empire and beyond—from Cape Town to London, from Amsterdam to New York City—carbon gems were primarily mined, processed, appraised, and sold by Jews.

In this engaging history, James MacGregor Burns brings to vivid life the two-hundred-year conflagration of the Enlightenment, during which audacious questions and astonishing ideas tore across Europe and the New World, transforming thought, bringing down governments, and inspiring visionary political experiments that would ultimately reach every corner of the globe. Unlike most historians, Burns pays particular attention to America's intellectual revolution, beginning and ending his story on American soil.

Are you intrigued by the impact of secret societies on historical events? If so, this guide is perfect for you. It delves into secret societies' origins, rituals, and symbolism, exploring their influence on significant events such as the American Revolution. Additionally, you'll uncover the lives of influential members, gain psychological insights, and examine these enigmatic groups' societal and cultural impact. The book is written in an engaging and accessible style, focusing on evidence-based narratives while avoiding sensationalism. Are you ready to uncover centuries-old secrets?

On September 3, 1901, a Protestant missionary named Ellen Stone set out on horseback across the mountainous hinterlands of Balkan Macedonia and was ambushed by a band of armed revolutionaries. In The Miss Stone Affair, Teresa Carpenter re-creates an event that captured the attention of the world and posed a dilemma for incoming president Theodore Roosevelt. Should he send in the Navy or not? And, if so, send it where? Drawing upon a wealth of contemporary correspondence and documents, Carpenter constructs a narrative that is suspenseful, harrowing, and at times even comical. It is a story for our time.

Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government wrongfully imprisoned thousands of Japanese American citizens and profited from their labor. Japanese American Incarceration recasts the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II as a history of prison labor and exploitation.

Delve into the enigmatic realms of "The Salem Witchcraft, the Planchette Mystery, and Modern Spiritualism." This audiobook uncovers the mysterious and supernatural, exploring the historical witch trials of Salem and the intriguing phenomenon of the planchette. From the chilling tales of accused witches to the eerie world of communicating with the beyond, this audiobook delves into the boundaries between the seen and the unseen. With meticulous research and thought-provoking analysis, it navigates the complexities of belief, superstition, and the inexplicable.

Today, it is difficult to imagine a living room without a sofa. When the first sofas on record were delivered in 17th-century France, the result was a radical reinvention of interior space. Symptomatic of a new age of casualness and comfort, the sofa ushered in an era known as the golden age of conversation; as the first piece of furniture designed for two, it was also considered an invitation to seduction. With the sofa came many other changes in interior space we now take for granted: private bedrooms, bathrooms, and the original living rooms.

In The Making of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr paints a fascinating portrait of life in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century as the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire. Between the death of Queen Victoria and the end of the Second World War, the nation was shaken by war and peace. The two wars were the worst we had ever known and the episodes of peace among the most turbulent and surprising.

The athletes competing in the 1960 Rome Olympics included some of the most honored in Olympic history: decathlete Rafer Johnson, sprinter Wilma Rudolph, Ethiopian marathoner Abebe Bikila, and Louisville boxer Cassius Clay, who at 18 seized the world stage for the first time, four years before he became Muhammad Ali.

Med udgangspunkt i en række radioforedrag Søren Mørch holdt i 2003, efter at have modtaget Rosenkjærprisen, beskriver forfatteren udviklingen fra den gamle verden til den moderne.

This addition to Oxford's Very Short Introductions series traces how Americans have addressed the issues and events of their time and place, whether it is the Civil War, the Great Depression, or the culture wars of today.

Frauen haben schon immer die Welt verändert: Sie haben geforscht, Weltliteratur geschrieben und neue Epochen in der Kunst eingeläutet. Doch die Namen dieser Frauen sucht man vergeblich in unseren Geschichtsbüchern. In Wahrheit hat nicht Walt Disney den Zeichentrickfilm erfunden, sondern eine Frau. Es waren auch Frauen, die die DNA, den ersten Algorithmus und die Kernspaltung beschrieben haben. Dank Vera Weidenbach erfahren wir nun endlich mehr über diese für die Weltgeschichte so wichtigen Frauen – wie Lilly Reich, Clara Immerwahr, Lucia Moholy, Nellie Bly und Margarete Steffin.

Rusland in de moderne tijd maakte een aantal rigoureuze transities door. Van een overwegend agrarisch Tsarenrijk naar een geïndustrialiseerde Socialistische heilstaat. Van Stalins totalitaire staat naar de meer open politiek van Chroetsjov. En uiteindelijk van de paranoïde Breshnev naar de Perestroika van Gorbatsjov. Henk Kern laat het college beginnen in de Tsarentijd in de 19e eeuw en toont hoe Rusland zich als Soviet-Unie ontwikkelt tot de tweede wereldmacht tijdens de Koude Oorlog.

Who can foretell India's future? Mr. Joshi is a fortune teller in a slum in south Delhi who uses a soothsaying green parrot to make predictions. When Adam Roberts visited him in 2012, Joshi's parrot declared that India was destined to become the most powerful nation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Through vivid storytelling and insight, Superfast Primetime Ultimate Nation examines the problems and promises of fast-growing India to reveal how it might reach its full potential and become, as Mr. Joshi's parrot predicted, a truly powerful nation.

De klassieke oudheid is nog steeds een bron van fascinatie en inspiratie. Wie zich bezighoudt met de grote teksten uit de Oudheid kan zich niet aan de indruk onttrekken dat die teksten over ons gaan, over de essentie van wat ons tot mens maakt en wat onze samenleving bezighoudt. Wij zijn individuen, verankerd in de afwisseling van de generaties tussen het verleden van onze ouders en de toekomst van onze kinderen, we leven in groepen met een gedeeld verleden en gemeenschappelijke doelen.

Ranging from the biggest international economic depression in modern history, through a world war to dramatic economic and social change, our series will provide you with detailed insight and address the key arguments across the core events and protagonists.

Transcending Capitalism explains why many influential mid-century American social theorists came to believe it was no longer meaningful to describe modern Western society as "capitalist", but instead preferred alternatives such as "postcapitalist" society, "postindustrial" society, or the "technological" society.

At first light on Tuesday, May 28th, 1918, waves of American riflemen from the US Army's First Division climbed from their trenches, charged across the shell-scarred French dirt of no-man's-land, and captured the hilltop village of Cantigny from the grip of the German Army. Those who survived the enemy machine-gun fire and hand-to-hand fighting held on for the next two days and nights in shallow foxholes under the sting of mustard gas and crushing steel of artillery fire.

La historia de la edad de oro de la piratería, la que ha dado forma a la concepción moderna de un pirata, es compleja y larga, con mucha información que abarcar. Hasta ahora, no había ningún tomo que cubriera los detalles clave de la edad de oro en un formato comprensible y fácil de escuchar.

Cambridge professor and renowned historian Anthony Pagden covers a vast subject in a compact package with Peoples and Empires. This wide-ranging and intellectually stimulating work examines the origins and history of the West with terse, efficient prose. With a captivating narration by Robert O'Keefe, listeners will find this work enjoyable and utterly absorbing.