Pamela Nagami
Pitt
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, liberal prime minister (1894-1895), wrote this short biography of William Pitt, the Younger (1759-…
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin
"Few women have worked so faithfully for the cause of humanity as Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin [1759-1797], and few have been the objects…
A Short History of France: From Caesar's Invasion to the Battle of Waterloo
After the Roman conquest, the Celtic Gauls adopted Roman culture and speech. The Germanic invasions ultimately transformed France into a Cat…
Europe in Renaissance and Reformation 1453-1660
In a small space the Oxford-educated historian, Mary Hollings, provides a panoramic view of a tumultuous age. We meet Cesare Borgia and Savo…
Early Greek Philosophy
"Man is the measure of all things," said the early Greek philosopher, Protagoras of Abdera. It was in this spirit of humanistic se…
Mazarin
Guilio Raimondo (Cardinal Mazarin, 1602-1661), Richelieu's designated successor as chief minister of France, was a master of diplomacy. Thou…
Selected Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne was a contemporary of Shakespeare who, after having played his part in France's terrible wars of religion, retired to hi…
Stupor Mundi: The Life and Times of Frederick II Emperor of the Romans King of Sicily and Jerusalem 1194-1250
Frederick II (1194-1250), under whose reign the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent, was called by his contemporaries …
Life of Sir Walter Ralegh
Sir Walter Ralegh (c. 1552-1618), English soldier, explorer, courtier, writer, and poet was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabeth…
Locke
John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and physician who, after Sir Francis Bacon, was one of the first of the British empiricist…
The Normans in Europe
This short history of the Normans in Europe opens with the invasions of the Vikings, who came from Scandinavian villages among rugged rocks …
The Early Tudors: Henry VII and Henry VIII
Following the chaos of the Wars of the Roses, the reigns of Henry VII and VIII were autocratic and centralized to an unprecedented degree. T…
Life of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), was the oldest surviving son of Sir Winston Churchill, an impoverished country gentlema…
Half a Century
In the spring of 1850, while the United States was polarized over the slavery debate and Daniel Webster was negotiating the compromise of th…
Henry II
Born in 1133, King Henry II of England reigned from 1154 until his death in 1189. Before he was forty, he controlled England, large parts of…
Life of Viscount Palmerston
This is a short life of Henry John Temple (1784-1865), Third Viscount Palmerston, Great Britain's affable, able, and always available Foreig…
Rome and Carthage: The Punic Wars
The Punic Wars (264-146 B.C.) were a series of conflicts between the rapidly expanding Roman Republic and the Phoenician Sea empire, Carthag…
The Political History of France, 1789-1910
This little book opens on the eve of the French Revolution. The government is crippled by financial mismanagement, ruled by a King who, in t…
History of Henry the Fourth King of France and Navarre
Henry IV, King of France and Navarre (1553-1610) was the first monarch of France from the House of Bourbon. He was raised in the Protestant …
A History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome, Volume I
Volume I of the "History of the Papacy" by the Anglican Lord Bishop of London, Mandell Creighton, deals with the popes, princes, a…