Books with author Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr.

In ancient history, Darius I stands alone as an administrator with unparalleled insight into the workings of an empire. Under his leadership, the Persian Empire grew to be the largest and most powerful diplomatic and economic force in the world. After he cleverly seized the throne and quelled a series of revolts, Darius undertook a radical reorganization of the different peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau, instituting the practices of religious tolerance, widespread economic reform, and a fair system of law that would later be adopted by the generations that followed him in the Middle East and Europe. At the time of his death in 486 BCE, he had transformed the entire Middle East into a dominion of progressive government. In Darius the Great, read the story of his surprising ascendance to the throne, his clever diplomacy, and the military blunders that marked his ultimate place not as a conqueror, but as a governor of the people.

In ancient history, Darius I stands alone as an administrator with unparalleled insight into the workings of an empire. Under his leadership, the Persian Empire grew to be the largest and most powerful diplomatic and economic force in the world. After he cleverly seized the throne and quelled a series of revolts, Darius undertook a radical reorganization of the different peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau, instituting the practices of religious tolerance, widespread economic reform, and a fair system of law that would later be adopted by the generations that followed him in the Middle East and Europe. At the time of his death in 486 BCE, he had transformed the entire Middle East into a dominion of progressive government. In Darius the Great, read the story of his surprising ascendance to the throne, his clever diplomacy, and the military blunders that marked his ultimate place not as a conqueror, but as a governor of the people.

From his entrance into Democratic leadership circles in the 1950s through his years in the Kennedy administration and up until his last days, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., was always at the vital center of American politics. For more than half a century, the master historian recorded his experiences and opinions in journals that together form an intimate chronicle of life at the highest levels of American politics and culture in postwar America. This extraordinary volume contains his candid thoughts about the signal events of our time, from the Bay of Pigs to the devastating assassinations of the 1960s, from Vietnam to Watergate, and from the fall of the Soviet Union to Bush v. Gore. Filled with Schlesinger’s trademark acerbic wit and tremendous insight, Journals is a fitting tribute to a most remarkable American life.