A Russian Paints America presents the first complete English translation of Svin'in's fascinating memoir. Thirty-one original watercolours complement his provocative views on topics such as slavery, religion, politics, and the fine arts. Introductory essays by Marina Swoboda and William Whisenhunt examine Russian-American relations, consider Svin'in's life and particular role in Russian history, and set his work in the context of the genre of picturesque travel - Svin'in clearly did not se...

A Russian Paints America presents the first complete English translation of Svin'in's fascinating memoir. Thirty-one original watercolours complement his provocative views on topics such as slavery, religion, politics, and the fine arts. Introductory essays by Marina Swoboda and William Whisenhunt examine Russian-American relations, consider Svin'in's life and particular role in Russian history, and set his work in the context of the genre of picturesque travel - Svin'in clearly did not se...

Exploring Toronto’s history through the stories of its most fascinating and shadowy deaths.If these streets could talk…With morbid tales of war and plague, duels and executions, suicides and séances, Toronto’s past is filled with stories whose endings were anything but peaceful. The Toronto Book of the Dead delves into these: from ancient First Nations burial mounds to the grisly murder of Toronto’s first lighthouse keeper; from the rise and fall o...

A New York Times bestseller: “This terrific new book . . . [explores] the ‘notion of whiteness,’ an idea as dangerous as it is seductive.”—Boston GlobeTelling perhaps the most important forgotten story in American history, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter guides us through more than two thousand years of Western civilization, illuminating not only the invention of race but also the frequent praise of “whiteness” for economic, scientific, and political ends. A ...

Winner of the George Washington Book PrizeWinner of the Ambassador Award in American StudiesWinner of the Gilbert Chinard PrizeNamed a Notable Book of the Year by The New York TimesMichael Douglas stars in Franklin, streaming on Apple TV+In this dazzling work of history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author follows Benjamin Franklin...

A "brief but potent" appreciation of one of the most influential and revolutionary works of political thought "mixing biography, criticism and philosophy" ( Los Angeles Times).Christopher Hitchens, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of God Is Not Great, has been called a Tom Paine for our times. In this addition to the Books that Changed the World Series, Hitchens vividly introduces Paine and his Declaration of the Rights of Man...

Unearth the fascinating history of how the Freemasons and Founding Fathers sowed the seeds of a new nation amid the collapse of the British colonies.Step back in time to the birth of a revolutionary new republic and discover how the utopian ideals of a visionary secret society laid the foundation for the most powerful nation on earth. Follow George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Fathers as they transform the democratic principles of their Masonic l...

**A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICEA magisterial new work that rewrites the story of America's founding**The American Revolution is often portrayed as an orderly, restrained rebellion, with brave patriots defending their noble ideals against an oppressive empire. It’s a stirring narrative, and one the founders did their best to encourage after the war. But as historian Holger Hoock shows in this deeply researched and elegantly written account of America’...

Using the tools of the "new" art history (feminism, Marxism, social context, etc.) An Introduction to Nineteenth-Century Art offers a richly textured, yet clear and logical, introduction to nineteenth-century art and culture. This textbook will provide readers with a basic historical framework of the period and the critical tools for interpreting and situating new and unfamiliar works of art.Michelle Facos goes beyond existing histories of nineteenth-century art, which oft...

A classic study of fifteen crucial years in the formation of the modern worldThe Birth of the Modern has established itself as a new kind of historical work - an examination of the way the matrix of the modern world was formed. Paul Johnson, one of today's most popular historians, takes fifteen critical years and subjects them to a fascinatingly detailed analysis: their geopolitics and politics, their cultural and intellectual life, their technology and science. He...

“An engaging piece of historical detective work and narrative craft.” —Chicago TribuneAt a time when America’s founding principles are being debated as never before, Russell Shorto looks back to the era in which those principles were forged. In Revolution Song, Shorto weaves the lives of six people into a seamless narrative that casts fresh light on the range of experience in colonial America on the cusp of revolution. The result is a brilliant de...

When Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address in 1863, he had broader aims than simply rallying a war-weary nation. Lincoln realized that the Civil War had taken on a wider significance -- that all of Europe and Latin America was watching to see whether the United States, a beleaguered model of democracy, would indeed "perish from the earth."In The Cause of All Nations, distinguished historian Don H. Doyle explains that the Civil War was viewed abroad as part of a ...