Normans History

Many kids say the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school. But what does it mean and where did it come from? Francis Bellamy wrote it more than 100 years ago. Join Bellamy in The Pledge of Allegiance for more of the story.

If you love your country, sing! Since 1931, "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been the national anthem of the United States. Journey back to 1814, and join Francis Scott Key, the man who wrote the words to the anthem, for a close look at this song of freedom.

How do Americans know that government papers are real? If you see an eagle holding a shield, and a pyramid with an eye above it, the papers are no fakes. Listen to Benjamin Franklin as he talks about the birth of the Great Seal in 1782 and why it's still so important to our country today.

Which freedoms do Americans hold most dear? The Bill of Rights is a list of important freedoms shared by everyone in the United States. Join President James Madison to find out how the Bill of Rights came to be. Also, discover what it means to people today.

How did Iran get to where it is today, at the forefront of global affairs? The history of Iran and the theme of Persian conflict with the West stretches back thousands of years, and it is a unique history of empire, culture, art, pride, and religious nationalism. The History of Iran from Ancient Persia to the Ayatollahs comprehensively and descriptively covers this history, progressing through a timeline dating back to antiquity and examining all of the different religious, political, foreign, and military issues that affect Iran and are affected by Iran today.

One of the most inspirational and influential spiritual leaders of the 20th century, minister and best-selling author Norman Vincent Peale transformed the lives of millions worldwide with his groundbreaking book, The Power of Positive Thinking. In The Positive Power of Jesus Christ, the revered pastor of the world-famous Marble Collegiate Church proclaims his unshakable faith in Christ the Savior with inspiring stories of healing and hope, of the ways in which his life and the lives of others were profoundly touched by the holy hand of God's Son.

In this essay, Emma Goldman refers to the negative image of anarchism in the public mind. She explains why anarchists on principle oppose the organization called the state, and argues that once free from the restrictions of extraneous authority, men will enter into free relations and bring about a free society.

In 1832, 17-year-old Otto von Bismarck had just entered university and was already rejecting the republican indoctrination of his grade school years. Unlike so many of his day who had championed representative government, Bismarck longed for the glory of a nation he believed would only be found under a single, strong leader. Though his early university days showed him he would be isolated by this thinking, he strongly believed not only in the ideal of a national German state, but in its possibility.

Mention the 18th century Royal Navy and visions come to mind of swashbuckling sailors swinging from rope to rope while a red-faced captain in an even redder coat and a powdered wig shouts order and pitches fits. Such visions naturally fail to do full justice to a group of men who functioned, with little direction and even less support, on the seas for years at a time. Disney may enjoy portraying them sitting down to sumptuous feasts or cavorting with scantily clad native girls, but the opposite was true.

Between them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.

Chaucer wrote about everyday people outside the walls of the English court-men and women who spent days at the pedal of a loom, or maintaining the ledgers of an estate, or on the high seas. In Chaucer's People, Liza Picard transforms The Canterbury Tales into a masterful guide for a gloriously detailed tour of medieval England, from the mills and farms of a manor house to the lending houses and Inns of Court in London. In Chaucer's People, we meet, again, the motley crew of pilgrims on the road to Canterbury.

The image of the Baron de Steuben training Washington's ragged, demoralized troops in the snow at Valley Forge is part of the iconography of our Revolutionary heritage, but most history fans know little more about this fascinating figure.

On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon. That night, across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find and kicked it into a gallop. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a single, thrilling narrative, this audiobook tells the story of those revolutions and shows just how deeply intertwined they actually were.

A riveting new account of Theodore Roosevelt's impassioned crusade for military preparedness as America fitfully stumbles into World War I, spectacularly punctuated by his unique tongue-lashings of the vacillating Woodrow Wilson, his rousing advocacy of a masculine, pro-Allied "Americanism", a death-defying compulsion for personal front-line combat, a gingerly rapprochement with GOP power brokers - and, yes, perhaps, even another presidential campaign.

From the best-selling author of Day of Infamy: In the bloodiest island combat of WWII, one group of men kept watch from behind Japanese lines. The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands' highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort, sometimes exposed to the elements, these coastwatchers kept lookout for squadrons of Japanese bombers headed for Allied positions.

Britain was the first country to ever suffer a ballistic missile attack from beyond its borders. This book tells the story of that attack. During 1942 and 1943, confusing rumours circulated about the German development of a 'giant rocket'. Most experts, including Winston Churchill's own scientific adviser Lord Cherwell, declared that such a weapon was impossible. It was only after the patient sifting of European intelligence that the most influential doubters were convinced such a weapon was being built. Then on 8 September 1944, the first V-2 landed in Chiswick. Between then and the final rocket impact on 27 March 1945, more than a thousand landed on British soil, killing nearly three thousand people and seriously injuring more than six thousand.

The period following the Civil War was one of the most controversial eras in American history. This comprehensive account of the period captures the drama of those turbulent years that played such an important role in shaping modern America.

This is the story of how a handful of geeks and mavericks dragged the computer out of corporate back rooms and laboratories and into our living rooms and offices. It is a tale not only of extraordinary innovation and vision but also of cunning business deals, boardroom tantrums and acrimonious lawsuits.

Today, "the Anarchy" is used to describe the period in English history from the death of Henry I in 1135 to the Treaty of Winchester signed by King Stephen and his successor Henry II in 1153. Despite the name, it was an episode of civil war rather than of lawlessness and is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it was the first time in English history that a woman claimed the throne of England in her own right.

It is hard to find an island on the map more central than Sicily. Located at the crossroads between Europe and Africa, and between the eastern and western Mediterranean, Sicily has rarely been governed as an independent, unified state. Nonetheless, the island has always occupied a front-row seat to some of the most important events in history.