The United States in the Long Twentieth Century explores the nature of American politics and society in the period from 1900 to the present day, illuminating both the changes and the continuities. This was a period largely characterized by exceptional growth and international power, though one also assailed by the crises and divisions that Michael Heale carefully examines. A strength of the book is its integration of political with social history, and it thus explores a range of s...

In this stimulating and highly original study of the writing of American history, twenty-four scholars from eleven European countries explore the impact of writing history from abroad. Six distinguished scholars from around the world add their commentaries.Arguing that historical writing is conditioned, crucially, by the place from which it is written, this volume identifies the formative impact of a wide variety of institutional and cultural factors that are commonly over...

This compact study assesses the personality, political and economic policies in war and peace, of America's longest-serving president and one of the most important political figures of the twentieth century, Franklin. D. Roosevelt. Also providing an overview of the America over which Roosevelt presided, the book offers a concise survey of both domestic and foreign affairs.

When turmoil strikes world monetary and financial markets, leaders invariably call for 'a new Bretton Woods' to prevent catastrophic economic disorder and defuse political conflict. The name of the remote New Hampshire town where representatives of forty-four nations gathered in July 1944, in the midst of the century's second great war, has become shorthand for enlightened globalization. The actual story surrounding the historic Bretton Woods accords, however, is full of startling drama, i...

"Magisterial history...one of the most comprehensive histories of modern capitalism yet written." —Michael Hirsh, New York Times Book ReviewIn 1900 international trade reached unprecedented levels and the world's economies were more open to one another than ever before. Then as now, many people considered globalization to be inevitable and irreversible. Yet the entire edifice collapsed in a few months in 1914.Globalization is a choice, not a fact. ...

Shortly after arriving in the White House in early 1933, Franklin Roosevelt took the United States off the gold standard. His opponents thought his decision unwise at best, and ruinous at worst. But they could not have been more wrong.With The Money Makers, Eric Rauchway tells the absorbing story of how FDR and his advisors pulled the levers of monetary policy to save the domestic economy and propel the United States to unprecedented prosperity and superpower status. Drawi...

In this age of a globalism, understanding the governments and politics of other countries is important in understanding the world around us. In Comparing Liberal Democracies, author Arthur B. Gunlicks contributes to this understanding in a discussion of the institutional structures and backgrounds of four liberal or Western democracies: the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the most state-like international organization, the European Union.Gunlicks provid...

Now in a fully revised and updated edition, this book remains the standard for concise histories of the European Union. Mark Gilbert offers a clear and balanced narrative of European integration since its inception to the present, set in the wider history of the post-war period. Gilbert concludes by considering the Union’s future in light of the mood of crisis that has taken hold in the EU in the aftermath of the global recession, the refugee crisis, and Brexit.Listen to a New Book...

"No president since the founders has done more to shape the character of American government," notes Alan Brinkley in this magnificent biography of America's thirty-second president. "And no president since Lincoln has served through darker or more difficult times. Roosevelt thrived in crisis. It brought out his greatness, and his guile. It triggered his almost uncanny ability to communicate effectively with people of all kinds. And at times, it helped him excoriate his enemies, and to rev...

On 6 September 1966, Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was assassinated in Parliament by a deranged parliamentary messenger. The architect of apartheid was dead, sending shockwaves throughout South Africa and the world.Today, half a century later, the effects of Verwoerd's grand ambition linger on, and it is vitally important to reappraise the lasting impact – both physical and psychological – of the institutionalised racial inequality that he so industriously inculcated.In V...

The incredible unexplored connections between two of history’s greatest leadersRonald Reagan and Winston Churchill were true giants of the twentieth century, but somehow historians have failed to notice the many similarities between these extraordinary leaders. Until now.In Greatness, Steven F. Hayward—who has written acclaimed studies of both Reagan and Churchill—goes beneath the superficial differences to uncover the remarkable (and remarkably important) parallel...