Empire of Magic: medieval romance and the politics of cultural fantasy
Empire of Magic: medieval romance and the politics of cultural fantasy Empire of Magic presents a beginning and genealogy for medieval romance and the King Arthur legend through the history of Europe's encounters with the East in crusades, travel, missionizing, and empire formation. It also produces definitions of "race" and "nation" for the medieval period and argues that the Middle Ages and medieval fantasies of race and religion have recently returned.
The Incas (Peoples of America) (Audiobook, MP3+PDF)
The Incas were a small ethic group from the southern Peruvian highlands who created the greatest empire ever seen in the independent Americas—an empire of 10 to 12 million people.Inca history, largely presented to us by the conquering Spanish, reveals a rich culture of stunning achievement.In many ways, Inca life was defined by its unique geographical setting in the Andes, whose climate influenced everything from the crops the Incas grew to the altitudes in which they lived. This course focuses on Inca life at the height of empire, the society’s origins, its military, religion, ruling structure, and finally, the Incas’ legacy today.
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815
Wood's superb book brings together much of what historians now know about the first quarter-century of the nation's history under the Constitution. Acknowledged as the leading historian of the period, Wood brings authority and easy style to a tough task—wrestling into order a period of unusual anxiety, confusion, crisis and unbridled growth in the nation's affairs. The emergence of democracy and individualism is his overarching theme.
The medieval duchy of Brabant was one of the most powerful principalities of the Low Countries. During the second half of the fourteenth century, it underwent a particularly dramatic period in its history: the House of Leuven was on the point of disappearance, the duchy was coveted by Philip the Bold of Burgundy, who was already dreaming of extending the 'Burgundian Empire' and, by a network of alliances, Brabant was drawn into the Hundred Years' War. The author reviews the successive conflicts which troubled the duchy between 1356 and 1406; ...
Storming the Heavens - Soldiers, Emperors and Civilians in the Roman Empire
In the closing years of the second century B.C., the ancient world watched as the Roman armies maintained clear superiority over all they surveyed. But, social turmoil prevailed at the heart of her territories, led by an increasing number of dispossessed farmers, too little manpower for the army, and an inevitable conflict with the allies who had fought side by side with the Romans to establish Roman dominion.
