Showing titles in 18th Century

Olaudah Equiano challenged the image of the unconscious African beast with such intellect, philosophical refinement, public presence, and elegant writing that standard British perceptions began to unravel. It is rational to assume that with his emergence as a respected world traveler, abolition of the slave trade was pushed forward by an incalculable number of years. Within his life, Equiano was to become the first Black British politician.

From its beginnings as a loosely definable group of philosophical ideas to the culmination of its revolutionary effect on public life in Europe, the Age of Enlightenment is the defining intellectual and cultural movement of the modern world. Using reason as its core value, the Enlightenment believed that progress and the betterment of the human condition was inevitable.

This book will also take you on a whirlwind tour of the Napoleon Era, where you'll get up close and personal with the little general who almost conquered the world—if only the Russians hadn't been so darn cold. You'll learn about his rise and fall, his brilliant strategies, and his complicated love life, all told in a way that'll make you feel like you're right there in the thick of things.

From one of our most acclaimed and original colonial historians, a groundbreaking book - the first to look at the critical "long year" of 1774 and the revolutionary change that took place from December 1773 to mid-April 1775, from the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord.

As often as we use our senses, we rarely stop to think about their place in history. But perception is not dependent on the body alone. Carolyn Purnell persuasively shows that, while our bodies may not change dramatically, the way we think about the senses and put them to use has been rather different over the ages. Journeying through the past 300 years, Purnell explores how people used their senses in ways that might shock us now.

From New York Times best-selling author and Founding Fathers' biographer Harlow Giles Unger comes the astonishing biography of the man whose pen set America ablaze, inspiring its revolution, and whose ideas about reason and religion continue to try men's souls.

George Washington, the first president of the United States, is much more than a monument on Mount Rushmore. Who was Washington, the general, president, and husband? He was first and foremost a man of impeccable honor which, despite military adversity and political wrangling, never abandoned him. The Founding Fathers who squabbled and competed among themselves did agree on one thing: Only Washington could lead the country, first in the country’s military fight for freedom and then as the man charged with transforming 13 individual states into a united country.

The Mutiny on the Bounty is one of those great stories in history that most people have heard of but few people know much about. In fact, those who think they know what happened are likely to have formed their opinions from what they saw on a movie screen than what they read in a book. Fortunately, the true story itself is every bit as exciting as anything Hollywood could dream up.

This panoramic account of 1776 chronicles the other revolutions unfolding that year across North America, far beyond the British colonies. In 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, the Continental Congress declared independence, and Washington crossed the Delaware. We are familiar with these famous moments in American history, but we know little about the extraordinary events occurring that same year far beyond the British colonies.

Alongside the Renaissance, the Enlightenment is credited with the transition to an adherence to reason, secularism, and promotion of values such as the value of the individual, collective freedom, and liberty. At the heart of the movement in France was François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, whose writings advocated for greater liberalism, including freedom of religion and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a biting polemic whose satirical attacks on the Catholic Church were among the fiercest of his day.

On November 4, 1791, a coalition of warriors determined to set the Ohio River as a permanent boundary between tribal lands and White settlements faced an army led by Arthur St. Clair—the resulting horrific struggle ended in the greatest defeat of an American army at the hands of Native Americans. The road to the battle of the Wabash began when Arthur St. Clair was appointed to lead an army into the heart of the Ohio Indian Confederacy while building a string of fortifications along the way. He would face difficulties in recruiting, training, feeding, and arming volunteer soldiers.

Formidable fresque relatant tous les grands épisodes de la Révolution Française ! Entendez Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre, la déclaration des Droits de l'homme. Vivez la fantastique aventure d'un peuple secouant le joug pour apporter la liberté à l'ensemble des hommes !

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin came from humble beginnings to take his place in the annals of history as one of the most celebrated Americans ever to stand on the world stage. The Boston apprentice who ran away because of his brother's ill-treatment found his destiny in Philadelphia, where he became a printer, a scientist, an author, an inventor, a politician, and a citizen of the world. His inventions and his philosophies had the same ultimate goal - to make the world a better place - and Franklin achieved that goal.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr lived very similar lives. They were both orphaned at an early age. Both were excellent students who attended college and studied law. Both were young staff officers under General George Washington, and both became war heroes. They were both drawn to politics, and each served in the newly formed government of the United States. How was it then that these two men ended up in the most famous duel in American history?

The Catacombs of Rome and Paris: The History and Legacy of Europe’s Most Famous Ossuaries examines the origins of these necropolises, their development throughout the years, and the period of rediscovery that put these subterranean cemeteries on the map. You will learn about the Roman and Parisian catacombs like never before.

Toussaint L'Ouverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines: The History and Legacy of the Haitian Revolution’s Most Famous Leaders chronicles how the only successful slave uprising came about and examines the backgrounds of the men who led it.

Between the 18th and early 19th centuries, Britain experienced massive leaps in technological, scientific, and economical advancement. This powerful period has since been immortalized as the great Industrial Revolution, during which Britain became a formidable force that boasted unmatched economical growth, drastic changes in living conditions, and even the emergence of a neglected social class. Vast portions of rural lands were transformed into interconnected, complex, and multitasking cities.

Kensington Palace is now most famous as the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, but the palace's glory days came between 1714 and 1760, during the reigns of George I and II. In the eighteenth century, this palace was a world of skulduggery, intrigue, politicking, etiquette, wigs, and beauty spots, where fans whistled open like switchblades and unusual people were kept as curiosities.

Untamed Waters: The Golden Age of Piracy is a captivating and thoroughly researched exploration of history's most notorious era, delving into the thrilling world of pirates and their daring exploits on the high seas. From the sun-kissed shores of the Caribbean to the treacherous waters of the Indian Ocean, this book unravels the motivations behind piracy and its impact on global trade and politics. With meticulous citations, it serves as both an engaging listen for history enthusiasts and a valuable academic resource.

In this remarkable book, historian Jack Rakove shows how the private lives of these men were suddenly transformed into public careers - how Washington became a strategist, Franklin a pioneering cultural diplomat, Madison a sophisticated constitutional thinker, and Hamilton a brilliant policymaker. Rakove shakes off accepted notions of these men as godlike visionaries, focusing instead on the evolution of their ideas and the crystallizing of their purpose.