While Europe was in the Dark Ages, classical learning from ancient Greece, Rome, and Persia was being preserved and advanced in Islamic libraries and universities. From 632 to 1258, the Islamic Empire was the most powerful and cultured domain in the world. Less than a century after its founding, the empire had grown from a loose confederation of desert tribes into the largest empire in the history of the world, larger than the mighty Roman Empire at its peak. "Empire of the Islamic World, Revised Edition" opens with a brief summary of the Islamic Empire, and gives a sense of the world and geographic area in the years leading up to the empire. The book continues by exploring the empire's society, culture, and daily life including architecture and art; astronomy and mathematics; customs, holidays, sports, and foods; government systems; industry and trade; language and literature; military structure and strategy; and, mythology and religious beliefs....

The late 19th-century imperial surge of the United States greatly affected Latino Americans. The fourth volume of "Latino-American History", "Struggling to Become American: 1899-1940", covers Puerto Rican and Cuban immigration, along with Mexican migration, and spotlights Latinos who fought for the United States during World War I. Students will also find discussion about conditions on the U.S. homefront, where a great number of Latino laborers were recruited to work in the railway, steel, meatpacking, construction, and agriculture industries. The author also describes early Latino-American struggles for acceptance, equality, and fair treatment in the United States, particularly during the Great Depression....

Following World War II, Latinos, like other Americans, sought the American Dream. The fifth installment in this important new series tracks the struggles and progress of Latino Americans through the mid-1980s. As the U.S. economy grew, so did the need for cheap labor. In many parts of the United States, Latino Americans and Latino immigrants provided the solution to this need. Latinos also joined other groups in the fight for civil rights, seeking both political and economic equality with their Anglo counterparts. The result of these struggles was a new sense of Latino-American identity....

First-person accounts, archival illustrations, and historic maps reveal Maryland's rich history. Discover how the colony was founded by Catholics yet largely settled by Protestants; how it was uniquely ruled by a single proprietor; why a ton of tea was burned in Annapolis; how tobacco and wheat were often used as money; and why the American Revolution ended here....

Did you know that the treasure of the infamous pirate Blackbeard is probably buried on one of the islands off Georgia? And did you know of the dastardly deed of Spanish privateers that provoked the War of Jenkins's Ear?


James Oglethorpe's "noble experiment" to make Georgia a place where debtors got a second chance and slavery and alcohol were banned was destroyed by "malcontents." Plantations producing rice and indigo increased the demand for slave labor, and the rift between the coastal planters and poorer upcountry farmers quickly divided the colony. This division would also complicate Georgia's decision to join the other colonies in the fight for independence....