Books in American War series

Spanning from the 1950s to the 1970s, the United States was involved in two wars that were fought far from homeone in aid of South Korea against the neighboring Communist North Korea, and a second waged through the jungles of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Both of these engagements were a reaction to what American leaders feared as being Communist takeovers, and both created storms of political controversy and upheaval that still echo today. This book explores both wars in detail to help readers understand why the conflicts occurred and what their lasting effects have been.

In this groundbreaking work of cultural history, Alice Fahs explores a little-known and fascinating side of the Civil War--the outpouring of popular literature inspired by the conflict. From 1861 to 1865, authors and publishers in both the North and the South produced a remarkable variety of war-related compositions, including poems, songs, children's stories, romances, novels, histories, and even humorous pieces. Fahs mines these rich but long-neglected resources to recover the diversity of the war's political and social meanings.Instead of narrowly portraying the Civil War as a clash between two great, white armies, popular literature offered a wide range of representations of the conflict and helped shape new modes of imagining the relationships of diverse individuals to the nation. Works that explored the war's devastating impact on white women's lives, for example, proclaimed the importance of their experiences on the home front, while popular writings that celebrated black manhood and heroism in the wake of emancipation helped readers begin to envision new roles for blacks in American life. Recovering a lost world of popular literature, The Imagined Civil War adds immeasurably to our understanding of American life and letters at a pivotal point in our history.

Beginning with the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, World War I spiraled into a struggle lasting four years, leaving ten million dead, and affecting the lives of millions more. This investigation begins in the shaky political climate that helped foment a massive conflict that swept up the world. Students will learn about important battles and their outcomes, and be intrigued by sidebars that introduce concepts such as trench warfare and the Schlieffen Plan. Incredible, eye-catching images support this unforgettable survey.