The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. It shares borders with seven Arab nations: Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait to the north, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to the east, and Yemen and Oman to the south. Much of the country has a desert climate, averaging less than a few inches of percipitation per year, and temperatures often reach well above 100[degrees]F. Despite its parched landscape, Saudi Arabia is a key provider of one of the world's most important commodities.Just four years after Ibn Saud unified Saudi Arabia in 1932, the country's first productive oil well was established. Since that time, Saudi Arabia has become the world's leading petroleum producer and exporter. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has been thrust into the limelight by allowing Western and Arab nations to use the country to deploy their forces during the First Gulf War in 1991 and by being a place where the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda established a base for its operations....

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he was a member of a political party that had been founded only six years earlier: the Republican Party. In March 1854, a group of men gathered to form a political party that reflected their concerns about life in America. They were opposed to the spread of slavery, supported high taxes on imported goods, and were in favor of homesteading to help settle the rapidly expanding Western territories. Since then, the Republican Party - like the American political system - has undergone many profound changes. Offering detailed, full-color photographs; an in-depth narrative; and features such as sidebars and a glossary, "The History of the Republican Party" fully examines the development of this party, including its prominent figures, key events, and ideological trends....

In September 1960, representatives from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela gathered in Baghdad, Iraq. By the time the meeting concluded, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had formed. Its goal was to defend the price of oil and eliminate price fluctuations, with 'due regard being given at all times to the interests of oil-producing nations and to the necessity of securing a steady income for them.' The history of OPEC reflects the growing importance of oil in the global economy. "The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries" explores how oil moves from the ground to the gas pump, how the price of that oil is determined, and oil's role in international politics and in the countries where it is discovered. OPEC's history, structure, successes and failures in fulfilling its mission, and the ways in which it has used oil as a tool of foreign policy are also discussed....

This is the exciting biography of the new President of the United States. In July 2004, Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention transformed him into a political star. Three years later, the young state senator from Illinois started his campaign to become president of the United States. Obama's life story captures the hope that defines the American dream. Born to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas who divorced when he was only two, Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. As an adult, he served his community, first as an organizer working to register new voters and to provide opportunities for the poor, and later as a politician. His 2008 campaign to become president of the United States inspired many to believe in what he called "the audacity of hope." This new biography explores the remarkable life of Barack Obama with full-colour photographs and an index. "Did You Know?" fact boxes throughout highlight interesting facts about Obama's life and career, and a list of Web sites provide readers with further reading....

On February 10, 1519, Hernan Cortes set sail for the Yucatan, seeking gold and a new world to conquer. Within nine months, he had reached the capital of the Aztec kingdom and taken its ruler, Montezuma, prisoner. The arrival of Cortes, though, marked a clash of civilizations that would forever alter the region and its people. The Aztecs possessed a populous kingdom filled with riches, art, and architecture, but the explorer's arrival destroyed that kingdom and its population through fighting and disease. "Hernan Cortes" is the story of an ambitious man who was heralded as a heroic conqueror, a ruthless explorer who presented his king with a territory nine times larger than Spain itself, and a skilled military commander whose actions forever altered the land that we know today as Mexico....

World-renowned writer, teacher, activist, and Chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. According to the Nobel Committee, "Elie Wiesel, with his message and through his practical work in the cause of peace, is a convincing spokesman for the view of mankind and for the unlimited humanitarianism which are at all times necessary for a lasting and just peace." This compelling "Modern Peacemakers" profile will help students learn why Wiesel "swore never to be silent whenever, human beings endure suffering and humiliation." Born in Romania in 1928, Wiesel and his family were deported to Nazi death camps when he was 15 years old. His mother and younger sister were soon killed; his father died in his arms. Wiesel was liberated by Allied troops and sent to a French orphanage, where he was reunited with two surviving older sisters. He resumed his studies and became a journalist and author. He is now an American citizen. Wiesel's haunting memoir, "Night", is a September 2006 Oprah Book Club selection....

Home to one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, Iran's historical and urban settlements date back to 4000 BCE. Once known for its modern ways influenced by Western culture, the Iran of today is officially an Islamic republic. It occupies a strategic position in international energy security and world economy due to its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. The country has been in the forefront of the media, due to its nuclear program, accusations that it supports terrorism, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial comments about Israel, describing the Holocaust as a myth. Students and general readers who want to know more about this country that continues to have a major impact on world affairs will find coverage of recent current events, along with new photographs, updated chronology, bibliography, and index....

This is the exciting biography of the new President-elect of the United States. In July 2004, Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention transformed him into a political star. Three years later, the young state senator from Illinois started his campaign to become president of the United States. Obama's life story captures the hope that defines the American dream. Born to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas who divorced when he was only two, Obama grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia. As an adult, he served his community, first as an organizer working to register new voters and to provide opportunities for the poor, and later as a politician. His 2008 campaign to become president of the United States inspired many to believe in what he called "the audacity of hope." This new biography explores the remarkable life of Barack Obama with full-colour photographs and an index. "Did You Know?" fact boxes throughout highlight interesting facts about Obama's life and career, and a list of Web sites provide readers with further reading....

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. Under Kemal's leadership and a governing principle called Kemalism, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. Its strategic location on the border of the Asian and European continents lends the country a unique blend of Eastern and Western traditions. While Turkey prides itself on being a democratic, secular society, ethnic conflict between the Turks and the Kurds, Turkey's largest ethnic minority, has plagued the country. Recent calls to increasingly govern by Islamic law have also created new conflict in this country, which has been pursuing membership in the European Union....

From the dawn of Western Civilization to the present day, events in Iraq have been at the center of world change. Iraq lies in the heart of the Middle East and is central to this important region in countless ways. The domestication of many plants and animals first began here. The world's first urban settlements and civilization were established along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what was then known as Mesopotamia. The hanging gardens of Babylon - one of the original Seven Wonders of the World - added to the fame of this historic center of Arab and Islamic art, architecture, science, and power. Modern Iraq remains an important Arab heartland, but it is also a troubled land. Religious and ethnic strife threaten the country's stability. Today, as a very fragile democracy is beginning to take root in Iraq, much of the future of the Middle East depends upon this country's success....

On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina. With that, the Civil War had begun. For nearly four years, the conflict that divided the United States into North and South would engulf more than 3 million Americans and claim 620,000 lives. The war marked a defining point in American history, and its effects are still felt today. "The Outbreak of the Civil War" examines the factors that led the nation to war. At the heart of these were differing positions on slavery, states' rights, and the future shape of the United States. The battles first waged in Missouri, in Kansas, in political parties, in the Supreme Court, and in the U.S. Senate set the stage for the violence that divided Americans and led the United States into civil war....