social change

Explores the first crusades in Jerusalem, focusing on the influences of Melisende, the eldest daughter of the third Crusader king of Jerusalem, and her sisters, discussing her influence which reached as far as France and England.

"More than 140 years ago, Mark Twain observed that the Civil War had 'uprooted institutions that were centuries old, changed the politics of a people, transformed the social life of half the country, and wrought so profoundly upon the entire national character that the influence cannot be measured short of two or three generations.' In fact, five generations have passed, and Americans are still trying to measure the influence of the immense fratricidal conflict that nearly tore the nation apart. In The War that Forged a Nation, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian James M. McPherson considers why the Civil War remains so deeply embedded in our national psyche and identity. The drama and tragedy of the war, from its scope and size--an estimated death toll of 750,000, far more than the rest of the country's wars combined--to the nearly mythical individuals involved--Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson--help explain why the Civil War remains a topic of interest. But the legacy of the war extends far beyond historical interest or scholarly attention. Here, McPherson draws upon his work over the past fifty years to illuminate the war's continuing resonance across many dimensions of American life. Touching upon themes that include the war's causes and consequences; the naval war; slavery and its abolition; and Lincoln as commander in chief, McPherson ultimately proves the impossibility of understanding the issues of our own time unless we first understand their roots in the era of the Civil War. From racial inequality and conflict between the North and South to questions of state sovereignty or the role of government in social change--these issues, McPherson shows, are as salient and controversial today as they were in the 1860s. Thoughtful, provocative, and authoritative, The War that Forged a Nation looks anew at the reasons America's civil war has remained a subject of intense interest for the past century and a half, and affirms the enduring relevance of the conflict for America today"--.

Looks at some of the sociological ideas of nineteenth-century philosopher and nature writer Henry David Thoreau.

"When Billie hears about a group calling themselves the Freedom Riders passing through Anniston to protest segregation on buses, she thinks change could be coming. But instead of embracing change, Billie's town responds with violence, and she finds herself at Forsyth & Sons Grocery watching a bus burn. Shocked by the actions of people she thought she knew, she realizes that freedom has a cost. But is she brave enough to stand up and fight for it?"--Dust jacket.

"A revelatory inner history of China during a moment of transformation"--Provided by publisher.

Discusses the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transfomation of Russia into a modern, highly literate, urban society through the life stories of the country's baby boomer generation, using interviews from men and women who graduated from high school in 1967 from two magnet secondary schools that offered intensive instruction in English.

Twelve-year-old Emily Soper avoids her mother's efforts to make her more ladylike by watching her father and his workers build fine carriages in Washington, D.C., but 1908 is a turbulent time and her father's livelihood threatened by racist neighbors and the growing popularity of automobiles. Includes historical note and recipes.

Argues that human behavior is not determined by genes.