Historical History

In April of 1846, 21-year-old Sarah Graves, intent on a better future, set out west from Illinois with her new husband, her parents, and eight siblings. Seven months later, after joining a party of pioneers led by George Donner, they reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains as the first heavy snows of the season closed the pass ahead of them. In early December, starving and desperate, Sarah and 14 others set out for California on snowshoes and over the next 32 days endured almost unfathomable hardships and horrors.

Cyrus Teed was a charismatic and controversial guru who at the age of thirty had been "illuminated" by an angel in his electro-alchemical laboratory. At the turn of the 20th century, surrounded by the marvels of the Second Industrial Revolution, he proclaimed himself a prophet and led 200 people out of Chicago and into a new age. Or so he promised.

The best-selling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, "the little woman who made the big war”....

Born a Princess and widowed by age 19, Tye is now betrothed to the prince and soon to be king of a faraway land. She must now, once again, learn to love her new husband. And make him love her as well. Unbeknownst to her, she will also find she must untangle a plot of treason. If she can’t, it can cost her father, brother and new husband, their lives.

Let's start with two truths about our era: We are surrounded by more readily available information than ever before. And a huge percentage of it is inaccurate. Some of the bad info is well-meaning but ignorant. Some of it is deliberately deceptive. All of it is pernicious. With the internet always at our fingertips, what's a teacher of history to do? Sam Wineburg has answers, beginning with this: If we want to educate citizens who can sift through the mass of information around them and separate fact from fake, we have to work to give them the necessary critical thinking tools.

Josephus Flavius was a Roman-Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing the masterpiece "THE JEWISH WAR". Josephus was was born in Jerusalem which was at the time part of the Roman province of Judea. His father was of priestly descent, and his mother claimed royal ancestry. Learn more about this fascinating character who claimed Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the first Jewish-Roman war.

Some moments don't just change the world—they redefine it. History’s Greatest Turning Points explores ten decisive moments that redirected the course of humanity. From Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, to the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the first atomic bomb—each chapter dives into the drama, the decisions, and the ripple effects of history’s most consequential events. In this third installment of the History’s Greatest series, you'll discover: Why the storming of the Bastille still echoes in today’s revolutions How a single assassination triggered a world war What ...

From age 15 to 40, David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietnam. With About Face, he has written what many Vietnam veterans have called the most important book of their generation.

What if pro-slavery Democrats kept their party united and won the election of 1860? What if Jefferson Davis became President of a pro-slavery Union, while Abraham Lincoln must decide whether to fight for a new birth of freedom outside it? In this alternate history, there will be no secession of the South. But what about the anti-slavery men in the North? Will the United States, now styled “The Confederate Union,” still be their country? “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that ...

The Hidden Stories They Tried to Erase Volume Two of Two – Fresh for 2025 The book they don’t want you to read—back again before they try banning it once more. Secrets captivate us. Scandals intrigue us. And when it comes to celebrities, the rich, the powerful, and the famous, we can't resist uncovering the truth about their personal lives—especially the parts history conveniently left out. Now, get ready for a book that delivers it all: passion, controversy, and a thousand and one revealing short stories about iconic figures from ancient Egypt to the modern day. What do they have ...

Beneath the grandeur and innovation of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair lurked a sinister presence: H.H. Holmes, America’s first known serial killer. Armed with charm, intelligence, and a chilling lack of conscience, Holmes constructed his infamous "Murder Castle" — a labyrinth of secret passages, soundproof rooms, and deadly traps designed to ensnare his unsuspecting victims. This book delves into Holmes’s twisted life, from his manipulative rise to wealth and power to the gruesome crimes that shocked a nation. Discover how he exploited the chaos of a booming city, lured victims into ...

The darkness has found her again. Daria’s new position, as a language tutor to the wealthy and charming merchant Lucas, takes her to the dazzling city of Ephesus on the Aegean coast. As their connection deepens, Daria finds herself drawn to Lucas, despite the evil and violence that churn beneath the city's beauty. A collision is coming, between the high priests of Artemis, the sorcerers who pursue arcane knowledge, and a new movement called The Way, centered around the Jewish martyr, Jesus. Daria longs to remain apart, safe from the evil she barely escaped in the past, but her growing ...

Titan is the first full-length biography based on unrestricted access to Rockefeller’s exceptionally rich trove of papers. A landmark publication full of startling revelations, the book indelibly alters our image of this most enigmatic capitalist. Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world’s richest man by creating America’s most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.

Aliens in Our History? In the Middle Ages, almost all strange manifestations were associated with God and supernatural beings. Everything people couldn’t explain was deified. As society improved and new technologies emerged, critical thinking gradually began to develop and in the early modern period of the seventeenth century. people began to look at science and the stars as a source with answers to unanswered questions... My interest in the UFO and Alien phenomenon started when I was a little boy. One day I was walking with my brother and suddenly we saw a big orange triangular-shaped ...

There are many stories we can spin about previous ages, but which accounts get told? And by whom? Is there even such a thing as “objective” history? In this “witty, wise, and elegant” (The Spectator), book, Richard Cohen reveals how professional historians and other equally significant witnesses, such as the writers of the Bible, novelists, and political propagandists, influence what becomes the accepted record. Cohen argues, for example, that some historians are practitioners of “Bad History” and twist reality to glorify themselves or their country.

A tale of terrorism, espionage, and an epic struggle for justice in an America on the verge, sparked by a massive and mysterious explosion in New York Harbor in 1916.

That year, while the Allied and Central forces waged war in Europe, a group of German saboteurs blew up Black Tom Island, a spit of land in New York Harbor within earshot of downtown Manhattan. The subsequent hail of missiles and gunpowder devastated much of lower New York City.

Evil at Dead Woman Crossing Young Duke John Robinson might appear to be a greenhorn, but it is a fatal mistake to underestimate him. He has faced his share of gunplay and survived his enemies but when he arrives at Peace Valley hoping for a future as a rancher, he soon encounters the worst battles ever. With nothing left of his old life in Arkansas, Duke agrees to the plans of a mysterious stranger to build up a successful cattle operation and does not object when he is ordered to register for all the water rights in Peace Valley. Little does he know that he would enter a snake pit as soon ...

Are we truly destined to live in one happy relationship, till death do us part? Many believe that somewhere out there is our one and only soulmate, and that our love cannot be given to more than one person at a time. This is what we have been taught, but is it true? The Freedom to Choose is a brave book that broaches questions every person, and certainly every couple, should ask themselves. Masha Halevi (PhD), a couples' mediator, counselor and an expert on alternative relationships has decided to take a different path. Following 15 monogamous years with her husband, she is still happily ...

Few people are aware that John Moses Browning - a tall, humble, cerebral man born in 1855 and raised as a Mormon in the American West - was the mind behind many of the world-changing firearms that dominated more than a century of conflict. He invented the design used in virtually all modern pistols, created the most popular hunting rifles and shotguns, and conceived the machine guns that proved decisive not just in World Wars I and II but nearly every major military action since. Yet few in America knew his name until he was into his 60s.

The year 1921 is the year of the Irish Civil War and the year of the separation of Ireland into two nations, south and north. The central character is Henry Mooney, a journalist (based upon the author's grandfather), who struggles for truth in his reporting during the terrible conflict, and falls in love with an Englishwoman in Ireland in the midst of political and military horrors.