Other books that might interest you

• 

  Famous Men of the Middle Ages

  A. B. Poland, John Henry Haaren

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  “Famous Men of the Middle Ages” features attractive biographical sketches of thirty-five of the most prominent characters in the history of the Middle Ages, from the barbarian invasions to the invention of the printing press. Each story in this book by John Haaren is told in a clear, simple manner, and is well calculated to awaken and stimulate the youthful imagination. Notable characters featured in “Famous Men of the Middle Ages” include Attila the Hun, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, Frederick Barbarossa, Marco Polo, and William Tell. This book also includes a chapter about one woman: Joan of Arc. This book provides a great introduction to the Middle Ages, not only for children, but for adults who missed out on studying some of the more fascinating figures during this time period. John Haaren, who also wrote Famous Men of Greece, Famous Men of Rome, and Famous Men of the Middle Ages, was an American educator and historian. Haaren's father was German and his mother Irish. He studied under Professor N. M. Butler at Columbia University, 1889-91, before becoming a teacher in New York. In 1907 he became Associate Superintendent of Schools in New York, increasing the number and efficiency of kindergartens and starting classes to teach English to foreigners. He was president of the department of pedagogy in the Brooklyn Institute. Haaren High School which was located in Manhattan named in his honor. The Charles B. J. Snyder-designed school, which was initially De Witt Clinton High School, is now Haaren Hall on the campus of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

  Show book

• 

  Ransom War - How Cyber Crime...

  Max Smeets

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  This timely book explores the alarming rise of ransomware: malicious software blocking users from their systems or data until they've paid money to regain access or to prevent the release of sensitive information. High-profile British examples of the twenty-first century have targeted national libraries and healthcare organizations; in the US, hackers of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Health Network held patient data hostage—when their demands went unmet, they published topless photographs of women with breast cancer. 
   
   
   
  The issue presents formidable challenges and costs for businesses, national security and, as the Pennsylvania case showed, individuals—often society's most vulnerable. But we can watch and learn from cyber extortionists, leaving us better prepared for next time. In 2022, a series of devastating ransomware attacks prompted Costa Rica's president to declare a national emergency, describing a "state of war." This episode had much to tell us about how these networks arise, operate, organize—and collapse. 
   
   
   
  Max Smeets's landmark study demystifies the ransomware playbook, from funding to networking. Through one of the largest ransomware operations on record, he reveals how this challenge has evolved, how it differs in substance and style from traditional cyber/hacking threats, and how to combat it.

  Show book

• 

  The Anglo-Saxons at War - 800-1066

  Paul Hill

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In this compelling new study, Paull Hill reveals what documentary records and the growing body of archaeological evidence can tell us about war and combat in the age of the great Anglo-Saxon kings. The violent centuries before the Norman Conquest come to life in this detailed account of how and why the Anglo-Saxons fought, how their warriors were armed and trained, how their armies were organized, and much more. 
   
   
   
  The role of combat in Anglo-Saxon society is explored, from the parts played by the king and the noblemen to the means by which the men of the fyrd were summoned to fight in times of danger. Land and naval warfare are both explored in depth. Hill also covers the politics and diplomacy of warfare, the conduct of negotiations, the taking of hostages, the use of treachery, and the controversial subject of the use of cavalry. 
   
   
   
  The weapons and armor of the Anglo-Saxons are described, including the spears, scramsaxes, axes, bows, swords, helmets, shields, and mail that were employed in the close-quarter fighting of the day. Drawing on this wealth of information, Hill presents a vivid recreation of the actual experience of fighting in the campaigns against the Danes; the battles of Ashdown, Maldon and Stamford Bridge; and the sieges at Reading and Rochester.

  Show book

• 

  Philippines Campaigns of World...

  Editors Charles River

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  I came through and I shall return." - General Douglas MacArthur 
  Those who had decoded and seen the Japanese communications in early December 1941 would not be surprised when they heard about an attack on December 7, 1941. They would, however, be astonished when they heard where that attack took place. Posted on the other side of the world, it was early on the morning of December 8 in the Philippines when American general Douglas MacArthur received news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor hours earlier. With that, it could only be a matter of time before the Japanese attacked the Philippines. 
  Although MacArthur and Allied forces tried to hold out, they could only fight a delaying action, and the Japanese managed to subdue all resistance by the spring of 1942. In the wake of the 1941-1942 campaign, Japan occupied the country and went on to expand their territory in the Pacific, while at the same time destroying the American presence in that region, but by the spring of 1943, American military planners had begun to create a plan to dislodge Japan from east and southeast Asia. To do so, parts of the Philippines were considered main strategic points in the potential Allied attack in the Pacific. The end goal of the Allied plan was an invasion of the Japanese home islands, in which heavy aerial bombardment would precede a ground assault. In order for this to occur, Allied forces would have to occupy areas surrounding Japan. 
  By the time the campaign started, Japan was on the defensive, but as they would prove in other places like Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Japanese soldiers would act fanatically before admitting defeat or surrendering. During this second major Philippines campaign, an estimated 330,000 Japanese died, and only a bit more than 10,000 were willing to be taken prisoner. 

  Show book

• 

  Easy Money - American Puritans...

  Dror Goldberg

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A sweeping history of the American invention of modern money. 
  Economists endlessly debate the nature of legal tender monetary systems—coins and bills issued by a government or other authority. Yet the origins of these currencies have received little attention. 
  Dror Goldberg tells the story of modern money in North America through the Massachusetts colony during the seventeenth century. As the young settlement transitioned to self-governance and its economy grew, the need to formalize a smooth exchange emerged. Printing local money followed. 
  Easy Money illustrates how colonists invented contemporary currency by shifting its foundation from intrinsically valuable goods—such as silver—to the taxation of the state. Goldberg traces how this structure grew into a worldwide system in which, monetarily, we are all Massachusetts. Weaving economics, law, and American history, Easy Money is a new touchstone in the story of monetary systems.

  Show book

• 

  Grand Old Unraveling - The...

  John Kenneth White

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  It didn't begin with Donald Trump. Since the time of FDR, the Republican Party has been home to conspiracy thinking, including a belief that lost elections were rigged. And when Republicans later won the White House, the party elevated their presidents to heroic status—a predisposition that eventually posed a threat to democracy. John Kenneth White proposes to explain why this happened—not just the election of Trump but the authoritarian shift in the party as a whole that led to the insurrection of January 6, 2021, and its aftermath. 
   
   
   
  White presents a clear and concise analysis of how the modern Republican Party came to be by tracing historical patterns that reach back to the 1930s. He argues that the rise of Republican authoritarianism has been decades in the making, going back to the desperation that took hold among party elites in the wake of twenty years of Democratic dominance between 1932 and 1952. The fear of losing that overtook the party during the Roosevelt period eventually led to an escalation of intrigue that included the rise of the John Birch Society in the 1950s and QAnon today. White traces the development of this culture of conspiracy theories within the GOP and explains how the emphasis on winning at any cost created a cult of personality and a willingness to seize power by any means necessary.

  Show book