"Spanning a variety of disciplines, from religion, philosophy, and political thought, to cultural criticism, social theory, and the arts, Ideas That Made America: A Brief History shows how ideas have been major forces in American history, driving movements such as transcendentalism, Social Darwinism, conservatism, and postmodernism"--

A wise and witty compendium of the greatest thoughts, greatest minds, and greatest books of all time—listed in accessible and succinct form—by one of the world's greatest scholars.

From the "Hundred Best Books" to the "Ten Greatest Thinkers" to the "Ten Greatest Poets," here is a concise collection of the world's most significant knowledge. For the better part of a century, Will Durant dwelled upon—and wrote about—the

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A seminal work as melodious and haunting as the era it chronicles. First published in 1968, Weimar Culture is one of the masterworks of Peter Gay's distinguished career. A study of German culture between the two wars, the book brilliantly traces the rise of the artistic, literary, and musical culture that bloomed ever so briefly in the 1920s amid the chaos of Germany's tenuous post-World War I democracy, and crashed violently in the wake of Hitler's...

"In Buenos Aires, Art and culture critic James Gardner offers a colorful biography of the "Paris of the South," from its origins and time as a colonial city, through its Golden age, the rise of Peron, and the Falklands War, to the present day. With entertaining asides about art, architecture, literature, food and dance, as well as local customs and colorful personalities, this is a rich and unique historical narrative of Buenos Aires,"--Amazon.com....

A Dominican-born academic tells the story of how the Great Books transformed his life--and why they have the power to speak to people of all backgrounds. What is the value of a liberal education? Traditionally characterized by a rigorous engagement with the classics of Western thought and literature, this approach to education is all but extinct in American universities, replaced by flexible distribution requirements and ever-narrower academic specialization....

In 1962, Jackie Hart moves from Boston to Florida, with her family. Wanting something fulfilling to do, she starts a reading club and hosts a local late-night radio show as "Miss Dreamsville." The conservative, segregated town loves Miss Dreamsville, but doesn't know what to make of Jackie. Her book club welcomes everyone - even a black woman, a gay man, and a convict - who found there what had so far eluded them: a place in the world.

The Devil Knows Latin is a provocative and illuminating examination of contemporary American culture. Its range is broad and fascinating. Whether discussing the importance of Greek and Latin syntax to our society, examining current trends in literary theory, education, and politics, or applying a classical perspective to contemporary films, Christian Kopff (Professor of Classics at the University of Colorado) is at home and on the mark. He outlines...

They were the most famous men in America.  They came from separate countries, followed different philosophies, and led dissimilar lives. But they were fast friends. No two people did more to shape America in the mid-1700s. Benjamin Franklin was the American prototype: hard-working, inventive, practical, funny, with humble manners and lofty dreams. George Whitefield was the most popular preacher in an era of great piety, whose outdoor preaching across...

A revelatory history of Antwerp-from its rise to a world city to its fall in the Spanish Fury-by the New York Times Notable author of The Edge of the World. As Europe emerged from decades of religious warfare, the Age of Exploration began to flower in the middle of the 16th century. It was then that Antwerp grew from a modest port town into a city where the trade of the whole world would converge. As the city entered its "Golden Age," Antwerp became...

An insider's perspective on Appalachia, and a frank, ferocious assessment of America's recent fascination with the people and the problems of the region