The texts discussed here illustrate a process of development both in the novel and in the conditions of women's lives. Tensions between romance and realism enabled women writers to question official versions of reality and to measure life against a romance... [More...]

Had there been no Civil War, the eminent American author known as Mark Twain would likely have spent his life as Sam Clemens, the Mississippi River steamboat pilot. When the war came and the steamboats stopped running, Clemens served two weeks in the... [More...]

The temperance movement first appeared in America in the 1820s as an outgrowth of the same evangelical fervor that fostered a wide range of reform campaigns and benevolence societies. Like many of these movements, temperance was confined primarily to the... [More...]

As an orphan under the care of her selfish aunt who pressures her to convert to Catholicism and enter a loveless marriage, Henrietta learns to live by her wits. Henrietta's story draws attention to the difficulty for women of earning a living in... [More...]

During the Vietnam War, Vietnamese Buddhist peace activists made extraordinary sacrifices — including self-immolation — to try to end the fighting. They hoped to fashion a neutralist government to broker peace with the Communists and expel the... [More...]

Super Tuesday 1988 was the first successful attempt to get several states in one region to hold their presidential primaries on the same day. Its success—or lack thereof—will affect the way presidents are elected for many years to come. Reaching... [More...]

This book makes a powerful case that film can be as valuable a tool as primary documents for improving our understanding of the causes and consequences of war. "Why We Fought: America's Wars in Film and History "is a comprehensive look at war films, from... [More...]