personal narratives

Tells the story of the hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, who has been credited to saving lives in Rwanda but may have been exploiting the situation.

Tells the story of author Azad Cudi, a journalist from Kurdistan who volunteered as a sniper in the fight against ISIS.

Excerpts from the diary of Carrie Berry, describing her family's life in the Confederate south in 1864. Supplemented by sidebars, activities, and a timeline of the era.

Draws on interviews and focus groups with child soldiers to examine how they were initiated into the civil war in Sierra Leone and the challenges they faced after the war.

Describes the life of Mariatu Kamara, focusing on her experiences as a child during the civil war in Sierra Leone where she was raped, tortured, and had her hands cut off by juvenile rebel soldiers; and discusses her experiences after the war.

Chun Yu, born in a small city in China, describes her childhood growing up in the middle of Chairman Mao's cultural revolution.

Memoir of Ishmael Beah's life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone.

Focuses on the roles women played in the Civil War, drawing from their own words as recorded in journals and diaries.

A portrait of the outbreak of the 1917 Russian Revolution, told through eyewitness accounts left by foreign nationals who saw the drama unfold. Petrograd (the former St. Petersburg), was filled with foreign visitors who existed in hotels, clubs, offices, and embassies, and were acutely aware of the chaos in the city, the terrible shortage of edible food, and the fact that their lives were constantly in danger. The group included journalists, diplomats, businessmen, bankers, governesses, volunteer nurses, expatriate socialites, and some African Americans. Many kept diaries and wrote letters home. Much of the material in this book is previously unpublished and furnishes a unique and frightening picture of life in Petrograd during the revolution.