Books in Signature Lives: Modern America series

Madame Chiang Kai-shek was a powerful figure in Chinese politics. As wife of the Nationalist leader, she helped modernize China through the New Life Movement of the 1930s. She was educated in the United States and developed a unique understanding of American culture. She used this background to win U.S. support for the Nationalists in their struggles against Japan and the communists. Her diplomatic skills won her many admirers, but others criticized her obvious wealth at a time when most Chinese suffered from great poverty.

From the late 19th century into the 21st century, technological and cultural advancements transformed the world into a new and modern place. These advancements changed the way people lived, worked, and thought about themselves and the world. The combination of all these changes continues to produce what we know as the modern world. Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American named to the Supreme Court. He opposed segregation and fought for racial equality in a world of prejudice. Marshall held firmly to his beliefs of an equal America and worked hard to bring freedom, justice, equality, and respect to all people, including blacks, women, the homeless, and the mentally ill.