Habits of Empire

Habits of Empire
Author: Walter Nugent
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2009-06-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 1400078180

Since its founding, the United States' declared principles of liberty and democracy have often clashed with aggressive policies of imperial expansion. In this sweeping narrative history, acclaimed scholar Walter Nugent explores this fundamental American contradiction by recounting the story of American land acquisition since 1782 and shows how this steady addition of territory instilled in the American people a habit of empire-building. From America's early expansions into Transappalachia and the Louisiana Purchase through later additions of Alaska and island protectorates in the Caribbean and Pacific, Nugent demonstrates that the history of American empire is a tale of shifting motives, as the early desire to annex land for a growing population gave way to securing strategic outposts for America's global economic and military interests. Thorough, enlightening, and well-sourced, this book explains the deep roots of American imperialism as no other has done.

Empire of Cotton

Empire of Cotton
Author: Sven Beckert
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 642
Release: 2015-11-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0375713964

WINNER OF THE BANCROFT PRIZE • A Pulitzer Prize finalist that's as unsettling as it is enlightening: a book that brilliantly weaves together the story of cotton with how the present global world came to exist. “Masterly … An astonishing achievement.” —The New York Times The empire of cotton was, from the beginning, a fulcrum of constant global struggle between slaves and planters, merchants and statesmen, workers and factory owners. Sven Beckert makes clear how these forces ushered in the world of modern capitalism, including the vast wealth and disturbing inequalities that are with us today. In a remarkably brief period, European entrepreneurs and powerful politicians recast the world’s most significant manufacturing industry, combining imperial expansion and slave labor with new machines and wage workers to make and remake global capitalism.

To Save an Empire

To Save an Empire
Author: Allan R Gall
Publisher: eBook Partnership
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2018-04-06
Genre: Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878
ISBN: 1912643081

In 1877, when Russia attacks the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abduelhamit II must fight a devastating war to preserve his ethnically diverse territories that stretch across three continents. At home, he feels threatened from within by Mithat Pasha, a respected reformer, who has popular support for a constitution that would curb the sultan's authority and give the people a voice in their government. Aware of these challenges, Abduelhamit's Belgian wife, Flora Cordier, hopes to remain his confidante and helpmate as he decides how to govern: the iron-fisted rule of his ancestors, the democracy proposed by Mithat, or the diplomacy that exposes his weakened military power. No matter his choice, he is responsible for the suffering of his people.To Save an Empire explores the impact of religious and ethnic conflict in the Ottoman Empire of the late 19th century on the lives of ordinary people-Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Refugees flee atrocities that incite revenge, but also arouse charity and love. A story of love found and lost, of war and its consequences. Today's Balkans and Middle East emerge from the era's political forces of terrorism, imperialism, nationalism, and religion. It is a modern story.______________________________________________________________________________"e;[Gall]...artfully brings to life the political intrigues of an empire sliding into irrelevance. The Ottoman Empire emerges as a kind of protagonist all its own, eager to become strengthened by its embrace of modernity and the West, but also anxious about surrendering its cultural and religious identity. ... A magnificently researched tale of a troubled empire that's also dramatically captivating."e; - Kirkus reviews "e;Fiction as only history can tell it, all the more moving because we know it is not fiction. ...a compelling story."e; - Bulent Atalay, physicist and author of Math and the Mona Lisa and Leonardo's Universe

Empire of Tea

Empire of Tea
Author: Markman Ellis
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2015-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1780234643

Although tea had been known and consumed in China and Japan for centuries, it was only in the seventeenth century that Londoners first began drinking it. Over the next two hundred years, its stimulating properties seduced all of British society, as tea found its way into cottages and castles alike. One of the first truly global commodities and now the world’s most popular drink, tea has also, today, come to epitomize British culture and identity. This impressively detailed book offers a rich cultural history of tea, from its ancient origins in China to its spread around the world. The authors recount tea’s arrival in London and follow its increasing salability and import via the East India Company throughout the eighteenth century, inaugurating the first regular exchange—both commercial and cultural—between China and Britain. They look at European scientists’ struggles to understand tea’s history and medicinal properties, and they recount the ways its delicate flavor and exotic preparation have enchanted poets and artists. Exploring everything from its everyday use in social settings to the political and economic controversies it has stirred—such as the Boston Tea Party and the First Opium War—they offer a multilayered look at what was ultimately an imperial industry, a collusion—and often clash—between the world’s greatest powers over control of a simple beverage that has become an enduring pastime.

The Empire of the Senses

The Empire of the Senses
Author: Alexis Landau
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2016-02-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 080417346X

A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year The Empire of the Senses is an enthralling tale of love and war, duty and self-discovery. It begins in 1914 when Lev Perlmutter, an assimilated German Jew fighting in World War I, finds unexpected companionship on the Eastern Front; back at home, his wife Josephine embarks on a clandestine affair of her own. A decade later, during the heady, politically charged interwar years in Berlin, their children—one, a nascent Fascist struggling with his sexuality, the other a young woman entranced by the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age—experience their own romantic awakenings. With a painter’s sensibility for the layered images that comprise our lives, this exquisite novel by Alexis Landau marks the emergence of a writer uniquely talented in bringing the past to the present.

Building the Empire State

Building the Empire State
Author: Brian Phillips Murphy
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2015-06-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0812247167

Focusing on the state of New York, home to the first American banks, utilities, canals, and transportation infrastructure projects, Building the Empire State examines the origins of American capitalism by tracing how and why business corporations were first introduced into the economy of the early republic.

Atomic Habits Summary (by James Clear)

Atomic Habits Summary (by James Clear)
Author: James Clear
Publisher: James Clear
Total Pages: 39
Release:
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN:

SUMMARY: ATOMIC HABITS: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones. This book is not meant to replace the original book but to serve as a companion to it. ABOUT ORIGINAL BOOK: Atomic Habits can help you improve every day, no matter what your goals are. As one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, James Clear reveals practical strategies that will help you form good habits, break bad ones, and master tiny behaviors that lead to big changes. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. Instead, the issue is with your system. There is a reason bad habits repeat themselves over and over again, it's not that you are not willing to change, but that you have the wrong system for changing. “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems” - James Clear I’m a huge fan of this book, and as soon as I read it I knew it was going to make a big difference in my life, so I couldn’t wait to make a video on this book and share my ideas. Here is a link to James Clear’s website, where I found he uploads a tonne of useful posts on motivation, habit formation and human psychology. DISCLAIMER: This is an UNOFFICIAL summary and not the original book. It designed to record all the key points of the original book.

Napoleon's Imperial Guard Uniforms and Equipment. Volume 1

Napoleon's Imperial Guard Uniforms and Equipment. Volume 1
Author: Paul L. Dawson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 653
Release: 2019-08-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526701936

The author of Battle for Paris 1815 examines the uniforms and equipment of the infantry of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard. From its origins as the Consular Guard of the French Republic, and as Napoleon’s personal bodyguard, the Imperial Guard developed into a force of all arms numbering almost 100,000 men. Used by Napoleon as his principal tactical reserve, the Guard was engaged only sparingly, being deployed at the crucial moment of battle to turn the tide of victory in favor of the Emperor of the French. Naturally, the Imperial Guard has been the subject of numerous books over many decades, yet there has never been a publication that has investigated the uniforms and equipment of the infantry of the Imperial Guard with such detail and precision. The author has collected copies of almost all the surviving documents relating to the Guard, which includes a vast amount of material regarding the issuing of dress items, in some instances down to company level. This information is supported by an unrivaled collection of illustrations, many of which have never been published before, as well as images of original items of equipment held in museums and private collections across the globe. In addition, the renowned military artist, Keith Rocco, has produced a series of unique paintings commissioned exclusively for this book. This glorious book is, and will remain, unsurpassed as the standard work on the clothing and equipment of the Imperial Guard, and will not only be invaluable to historians, but also reenactors, wargamers and modelers. It is one of the most important publications ever produced on this most famous of military formations.

Sugar and Civilization

Sugar and Civilization
Author: April Merleaux
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2015-07-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1469622521

In the weeks and months after the end of the Spanish-American War, Americans celebrated their nation's triumph by eating sugar. Each of the nation's new imperial possessions, from Puerto Rico to the Philippines, had the potential for vastly expanding sugar production. As victory parties and commemorations prominently featured candy and other sweets, Americans saw sugar as the reward for their global ambitions. April Merleaux demonstrates that trade policies and consumer cultures are as crucial to understanding U.S. empire as military or diplomatic interventions. As the nation's sweet tooth grew, people debated tariffs, immigration, and empire, all of which hastened the nation's rise as an international power. These dynamics played out in the bureaucracies of Washington, D.C., in the pages of local newspapers, and at local candy counters. Merleaux argues that ideas about race and civilization shaped sugar markets since government policies and business practices hinged on the racial characteristics of the people who worked the land and consumed its products. Connecting the history of sugar to its producers, consumers, and policy makers, Merleaux shows that the modern American sugar habit took shape in the shadow of a growing empire.

Servant of the Empire

Servant of the Empire
Author: Raymond E. Feist
Publisher: Spectra
Total Pages: 706
Release: 2017-08-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0525480242

"A sweeping drama unveiling a tale of love, hate and sacrifice against the panorama of an alien yet familiar society."--Publishers Weekly. "Uncommonly satisfying."--Locus