History > Previous Features

Film: an international history of the medium

By Robert Sklar

"The domination of the world's film industry for decades by the U.S. and Europe undercut the notion of cinema as a universal language. But that hegemony, asserts Sklar, is changing with the rising respect and recognition accorded to filmmakers... His broad coverage encompasses the early history of cinema, the rise of the Hollywood monolith, art films, documentaries, animation and experimental filmmaking. Both richly entertaining and intellectually stimulating." (Library Catalogue)

Film history: an introduction

By Kristin Thompson

"Written by two leading film scholars, "Film History: An Introduction" is a comprehensive survey of film-from the backlots of Hollywood, across the United States, and around the world. As in the authors' bestselling "Film Art," concepts and events are illustrated with actual frame enlargements, giving students more realistic points of reference than competing books that use publicity stills." Summary, Syndetics

Underground film: a critical history

By Tyler Parker

"One of the few great American film critics, was intimate with and enormously respected by many of the underground and experimental filmmakers of his time. In this book, Tyler evaluated the Underground in general and the seminal films in particular, covering the history and scope of the genre with insight and verve. Like Tylers Screening of the Sexes: Homosexuality in the Movies is one of the masterpieces of cinema literature." (Amazon UK)

Underground warfare 1914-1918

By Simon Jones

"Simon Jones's graphic history of underground warfare during the Great War uses personal reminiscences to convey the danger and suspense of this unconventional form of conflict. He describes how the underground soldiers of the opposing armies engaged in a ruthless fight for supremacy, covers the tunnelling methods they employed, and shows the increasingly lethal tactics they developed during the war in which military mining reached its apotheosis. He concentrates on the struggle for ascendancy by the British tunnelling companies on the Western Front. But his wide-ranging study also tells the story of the little known but fascinating subterranean battles fought in the French sectors of the Western Front and between the Austrians and the Italians in the Alps which have never been described before in English..." (Amazon UK)

The devil's own war : the First World War diary of Brigadier-General Herbert Hart

edited by John Crawford

The war to end war, 1914-1918 [DVD]

"Some damn fool thing in the Balkans will likely trigger the next great war in Europe." - Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor That damn fool thing was the assassination of the Austrian Arch Duke, Francis Ferdinand, and his wife. The bullets that took their lives mobilized 60 million soldiers, launching the largest, bloodiest conflict the world had ever seen. War to End War is a remarkable 7 hour comprehensive look at the war that shaped the 20th century. Through rare actual battle footage and shocking veteran interviews War to End War takes you through four years of the most costly war in human history. Unique and stunning; you will go over the top and witness the carnage on the battlefields of Europe and Russia. Take to the skies in the worlds first air war and ride with the legendary Lawrence of Arabia." (Amazon UK)

The dawn of astrology

"This is the first comprehensive examination of astrology's origins and it examines the foundations of a major feature of popular culture in the contemporary west, one which has its origins in the ancient world. Campion explores the relationship between astrology and religion, magic and science, and explores its use in politics and the arts." (Amazon UK)

Battle: a visual journey through 5,000 years of combatI

By by R.G. Grant

The inheritance of Rome: a history of Europe from 400 to 1000

by Chris Wickham

The world of the Bible

by John Drane

"The Bible is often best understood when it is properly placed in the cultural and social context in which it was written. To this end, this extensive reference explores the culture of the Israelites and the ancient nations that surrounded and influenced them. The time periods covered include the Bronze Age of Palestine; the Age of Empires; the Dawn of the Modern World; and the history, cultures, and beliefs of such civilizations as the Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, ancient Greeks and ancient Romans. Comprehensive and enlightening, this is a thorough history that is ideal for both Biblical studies and general historians." (Amazon)

Ancient Rome [videorecording]: the rise and fall of an empire

by the BBC

"The true story of Rome told through six crucial moments that shaped the destiny of the Empire... The series begins in 146BC with Rome's destruction of its ancient enemy Carthage; leading to the celebrated victory of Julius Caesar and the overthrow of the Republic; Emporer Nero's dramatric descent into madness; the Jewish revolt - the biggest rebellion in Imperial history; Constantine's delivery of Christianity to the Empire; and finally the downfall of Rome, told through the tale of Alaric the Goth." (Container slick)

More on Ancient Rome

From North Africa to the Arakan : the engrossing memoir of a WWII Spitfire ace

By Alan McGregor Peart.

"Peart was a New Zealand flying ace who joined the RNZAF in 1941, and this autobiography covers his missions over Europe, Tunisia, Malta, Sicily, Burma and Italy. Written for military aviation buffs, this volume documents many of Peart's legendary air battles, including one battle over Japanese territory where he was able to fend off 20 enemy aircraft by himself for 45 minutes until they retreated due to dwindling fuel supplies. The author includes many photographs from his military career that document his fellow soldiers, commands and aircraft." (Amazon UK)

Flying navy: the story of New Zealanders who flew in the Fleet Air Arm in World War I and World War II

By David Allison with Ray Richards

From Timaru to Stalag VIII B: a New Zealand pilot's wartime story

By Jack Hardie

Beckoning skies: a pilot's story

By Bryan E. Young

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Edge of empire: Rome's Scottish frontier

By David J. Breeze.

"Two thousand years ago, southern Scotland was part of a great empire, the Roman Empire. About AD 140, a Roman army marched north from Hadrian's Wall and built a new frontier across the Forth-Clyde isthmus, from modern Bo'ness to Old Kilpatrick. In this fascinating new book, David Breeze tells the story of the invasion, the building of the Antonine Wall, its occupation and abandonment. The material used to tell this story includes contemporary coins and literary sources together with the inscriptions and sculpture from the Antonine Wall, as well as the archaeological remains of the monument.The unique distance slabs not only record the process of building, but provide a series of snapshots depicting the preparations, invasion and victory achieved by the Roman army over 1800 years ago and stunning new photography by David Henrie of Historic Scotland illustrates all aspects of this most northerly Roman frontier. These photographs help us to appreciate the Antonine Wall in its landscape and understand the reasons for its construction. Both scholarly and beautifully illustrated, this new book underlines the reasons why the Antonine Wall has been proposed as a World Heritage Site." (Amazon UK)

Macbeth : a true story

By Fiona Watson

"Thanks to William Shakespeare, the name Macbeth has become byword for political ambition realised by bloody violence. The character of Macbeth in the celebrated Shakespearean tragedy is based on an actual Scottish king who lived and died five hundred years before he was immortalised. However, the Macbeth thus conjured up bears almost no resemblance whatsoever to the king who ruled Scotland between 1040 and 1057. In fact, it is difficult to exaggerate how great an injustice history and Shakespeare have inflicted on Mac Bethad mac Findlaich. Fiona Watson has uncovered, buried beneath the layers of myth, a history that is entirely different from, but just as extraordinary as, that recounted by Shakespeare." (Amazon UK)

A history of Scotland

By Neil Oliver

"Scotland's history has been badly served over the years. Defined by its relationship to England, Scotland's popular history is full of near-mythical figures and tragic events, her past littered with defeat, failure and thwarted ambition. The martyrdom of William Wallace, the tragedy of Mary Queen of Scots and the forlorn cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie all give the impression of 'poor' Scotland; a victim of misfortune, leading to the country's inevitable submission to the Auld Enemy. After the Union in 1707, Scotland's increasing reliance on England culminated in a crisis of confidence and identity that tortures the country to this day. But how accurate is this version of events? Using the very latest in historical research and by placing Scotland's story in the wider context of British, European and global history, some of the myths that pervade the past will be exploded to reveal a Scotland which forged its own destiny, often with success." (Amazon UK)

The rises and falls of the Royal Stewarts

By Oliver Thomson

"This is the 1,000-year saga of the remarkable Scottish family, who began as stewards, then became Stewarts, then Royal Stewarts, and finally Stuarts. They were remarkable not only for the continuity of the male line, which went for 26 generations without a break, but also for the 340 years that they held on to sovereign power. Yet, despite the longevity of the dynasty, the lives of many individuals were violent and short. Of the fourteen Stewart monarchs, eight failed to reach the age of fifty. Six of the fourteen died violent deaths, two were murdered, two executed and two killed in battle. Because of the tendency towards early death, the average age of accession was only twenty-three, and six came to the throne before they were ten. Of the non-royals, over 100 were murdered and over 200 executed. It is a remarkable tale of tenacity and adaptability that has seen the family survive for 1,000 years. The Rises and the Falls of the Royal Stewarts tells their fascinating tale with verve and drama." (Amazon UK)

The Picts : a history

By Tim Clarkson.

"The Picts were an ancient nation who ruled most of northern and eastern Scotland during the Dark Ages. Despite their importance in Scottish history they remain shrouded in an aura of myth and misconception. In the ninth century they were absorbed by the kingdom of the Scots and lost their unique identity, their language and their vibrant artistic culture. The Pictish nation seemingly vanished, leaving few traces but many unanswered questions." (Amazon UK)

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Concise history of Australia

By Stuart Macintyre.

"Australia is the last continent to be settled by Europeans, but it also sustains a people and a culture tens of thousands of years old. The third edition of this acclaimed book recounts the key factors - social, economic and political - that have shaped modern-day Australia. It covers the rise and fall of the Howard government, the 2007 election and the apology to the Stolen Generations. More than ever before, Australians draw on the past to understand their future" (Book Jacket)

Turning points in Australian history

Edited by Martin Crotty and David Roberts

"Following on from the successful Great Mistakes in Australian History, Turning Points shows us key moments, serious decisions, random coincidences that really did change the course of history. Seventeen of Australia's leading historians prompt us to see history differently, in a challenging and engaging way." (Library Catalogue)

Australian tragic

By Jack Marx

""Australian Tragic" is about a nation that began its life as a stage for misfortune - and ever since has struggled to outgrow its birthright. These are gripping tales that take us into the heart of this country: tales of genuine catastrophe, of grand chances gone astray, of fools and their plans pathetically undone, of heartbreaking sadness and violent loss, and of both goodness and human evil." (Description, Amazon.com)

Aboriginal Australians: a history since 1788

By Richard Broome.

"...Richard Broome tells the history of Australia from the standpoint of the original Australians - those who lost most in the early colonial era. Surveying two centuries of Aboriginal/European encounters, he shows how white settlers steadily supplanted the original inhabitants, from the shining coasts to inland deserts, by sheer force of numbers, disease, technology and, of course, violence. He also tells the story of Aboriginal survival and traces the continuing struggle to move from the margins of a settler society to a more central place in modern Australia..." (Description, Amazon.com)

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The Kennedy legacy: Jack, Bobby and Ted and a family dream fulfilled

By Vincent Bzdek.

"John, Robert, and Ted Kennedy's individual stories can be seen as essentially one, each successive brother striving to fulfil the interrupted promise of the brother before. The closing of Ted Kennedy's chapter in America's political and cultural life means that, for the first time perhaps, the real measure of the Kennedy legacy can finally be taken....How did the brothers pass the torch to each other? What have the three brothers left us collectively? And who carries the torch forward now?" (Library Catalogue)

True compass: a memoir

By Edward M. Kennedy

"Edward M. Kennedy [was] widely regarded as one of the great Senators in the [United States'] history. He is also the patriarch of America's most heralded family. In this landmark autobiography, five years in the making, Senator Kennedy speaks with unprecedented candour about his extraordinary life. He writes movingly of his brothers and their influence on him; his marriage to the woman who changed his life, Victoria Reggie Kennedy; his role in the major events of our time (from the civil rights movement to the election of Barack Obama); and how his diagnosis of a malignant brain tumour has given even greater urgency to his long crusade for improved health care for all Americans. Written with warmth, wit, and grace, TRUE COMPASS is Edward M. Kennedy's inspiring legacy to readers and to history." (Amazon UK)

Bobby and Jackie

By C. David Heymann

"...in-depth look at the much talked about - but never fully revealed - relationship between Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Robert F. Kennedy." (Library Catalogue)

Legacy of secrecy: the long shadow of the JFK assassination

By Lamar Waldron, Thom Hartmann

"This work reveals the attempts by Robert Kennedy to expose John F. Kennedy's killers - attempts that led to RFK's own murder. Interviews and newly declassified files document how three mob bosses and a few CIA operatives were able to prevent the truth from coming to light - until now." (Library catalogue)

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The irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British spy ring in wartime Washington

By Jennet Conant.

"Following her bestselling accounts of the most guarded secrets of the Second World War, Conant offers a rollicking true story of spies, politicians, journalists, and intrigue in the highest circles of Washington during the tumultuous days of World War II." (Library Catalogue)

My life as a spy: one of America's most notorious spies finally tells his story

By John A. Walker, Jr.

"What motivated a career naval officer to become a spy during the height of the Cold War? Over the years, statements by Walker have been reported in various publications, but Walker has never told his own story... until now." (Library Catalogue)

Shot in the Tower: the story of the spies executed in the Tower of London during the First World War

By Leonard Sellers

"The first reaction to Leonard Sellers fascinating account of the spies who were executed in the Tower of London during the First World War is likely to be one of amazement at their ineptitude. Not one of them seems to have had any proper training or any idea of how to set about the job. This, of course raises the intriguing question: how many others were there who did know what they were up to and managed to escape detection? However, thanks to the more liberal attitude now prevalent regarding access to hitherto 'sensitive' material and to years of dogged research by Len Sellers, the remarkable, but somehow pathetic, stories of the eleven foreign agents who were caught and subsequently shot in the Tower for espionage can now be told. In these days when a mind-boggling array of equipment is available for the assimilation and transmission of supposedly secret information their antics strike one as little short of farcical, but for their efforts, inspired, it seems, more often by greed than patriotism, these men paid the ultimate price and paid it in the most historic site in Britain. Whether they deserved their fate, or indeed the niche in history which this book gives them, is for the reader to decide. What cannot be denied is that their collected histories make remarkable reading." (Amazon)

Claude and Madeleine: a true story

By Edward Marriott

"When Claude Peri and Madeleine Bayard meet in Indochina in the 1930s, they fall immediately and passionately in love. They are soulmates, and not only lovers: each works as a spy for the French government. Claude travels alone through Hitler's Germany (where he is invited to dinner with Hermann Goering), the Middle East, India and Thailand. Then, travelling together to Paris in 1939, Claude and Madeleine are appalled as they watch their countrymen flee the capital in terror as the German army advances. Claude and Madeleine tells how, aboard their beloved ship Le Rhin, they abandon their allegiance to France and throw in their lot with the British. After mutiny, mistrust and seemingly impossible hardship, SS Le Rhin eventually becomes HMS Fidelity, running secret missions for the British navy. Full of extraordinary stories and compelling characters, taking the reader from Hanoi to Calcutta, Europe and beyond, Claude and Madeleine combines social history, politics, travel and biography in an epic and tumultuous story which is by turns thrilling, revealing and deeply moving." (Amazon)

Abraham Lincoln

By George McGovern.

"...His presidency is the hinge on which American history pivots, the time when the young republic collapsed of its own contradictions but emerged after a bloody conflict in a new birth of freedom that created the United States we know today. ..The Abraham Lincoln he describes is a complex and admirable figure - and, above all, deeply human". (Book Jacket)

Brady's Civil War journal: photographing the war, 1861-65.

By Theodore P. Savas.

"This photographic collection chronicles the events of the Civil War by showcasing a selection of Mathew Brady's moving, one-of-a-kind images." (Library Catalogue)

Race and reunion.

By David W. Blight.

"No historical event has left as deep an imprint on America's collective memory as the Civil War. In the war's aftermath, Americans had to embrace and cast off a traumatic past. David Blight explores the perilous path of remembering and forgetting, and reveals its tragic costs to race relations and America's national reunion." (Library Catalogue)

DVD's:

General Custer.

"George Armstrong Custer is one of military history's most colourful characters, a flamboyant and dashing commander... The dashing and ambitious Custer often flouted military convention, lacing his trust instead in his famous 'luck' which, unfortunately for him, ran out during the Battle of the Little Big Horn." (Case slick)

The Civil War. Volumes 1-3.

"Featuring over 16,000 startling archival photographs, innumerable period paintings, battlefield tours, newsreel footage of veterans and music from the period, Ken Burns' The Civil War captures all the major events of the bloodiest conflict in US history. Highly recommended." (Library Catalogue).

Online:

• The Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863
• Confederate States of America
• Civil War, U.S

The age of the dictators

By David G. Williamson.

"In his new book, David Williamson examines the regimes that characterized this age. Nazism, Stalinist Russia, and Italian Fascism are dealt with alongside the authoritarian regimes of Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Examined both individually and in comparison with each other, Williamson leads us to some striking revelations and uncomfortable truths regarding the roots, reality and impact of these dictatorial states and the men who ran them." (Book Jacket)

Freedom from fear: the American people in depression and war, 1929-1945

By David M. Kennedy

"Between 1929 and 1945, two great travails were visited upon the American people: the Great Depression and World War II. Freedom From Fear tells the story of how Americans endured, and eventually prevailed, in the face of those unprecedented calamities. The Depression was both a disaster and an opportunity. As David Kennedy vividly demonstrates, the economic crisis of the 1930s was far more than a simple reaction to the alleged excesses of the 1920s. ... The same generation of Americans who battled the Depression eventually had to shoulder arms in another conflict that wreaked world wide destruction, ushered in the nuclear age, and forever changed their own way of life and their country's relationship to the rest of the world. Freedom From Fear explains how the nation agonized over its role in World War II, how it fought the war, why the United States won, and why the consequences of victory were sometimes sweet, sometimes ironic. ...Freedom From Fear is a comprehensive and colourful account of the most convulsive period in American history, excepting only the Civil War." (Annotation Library Catalogue)

The forsaken: from the Great Depression to the Gulags: hope and betrayal in Stalin's Russia

By Tim Tzouliadis.

"Of all the great movements of population to and from the United States, the least heralded is the migration, in the depths of the Depression of the 1930s, of thousands of men, women and children to Stalin's Russia. Through official records, memoirs, newspaper reports and interviews, Tzouliadis searches the most closely guarded archive in modern history to reconstruct the emigrants' story - one of honesty, vitality and idealism brought up against the brutal machinery of repression." (Book Jacket)

The moral consequences of economic growth

By Benjamin M. Friedman.

"Are we right," Benjamin M. Friedman asks, "to care so much about economic growth as we clearly do?" To answer, Friedman reaches beyond economics. He examines the political and social histories of the large Western democracies - particularly of the United States since the Civil War - distinguishing times of generally rising living standards from those of pervasive stagnation to illustrate how rising incomes render a society more open and democratic. ...Friedman also delineates the role of economic growth in determining which developing nations extend the broadest freedoms to their citizenry. He makes clear that growth, rather than just the level of living standards, is key to effecting political and social liberalization in the third world. But he also warns that the democratic values of countries even as wealthy as our own are at risk whenever incomes stagnate for extended periods. Merely being rich is no protection against a society's retreat into rigidity and intolerance once enough of its citizens lose the sense that they are getting ahead. Finally, Friedman shows us why, if America is to strengthen democratic institutions around the world as a bulwark against terrorism and social unrest, we must aggressively pursue growth at home and promote worldwide economic expansion beyond what purely market-driven forces would create. And for the United States, he offers concrete suggestions for policy steps to achieve those objectives." (Book Jacket)

Origins of the crash

By Roger Lowenstein.

"Drawing on his sense of history, Lowenstein inquires how a financial system that arose out of the wreckage of the Depression and that was intended to avert the miscues of that era could ultimately repeat the very same scenario of massive speculation and corruption leading to collapse. He discovers the roots of the recent crisis in the financial culture that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s as America encouraged companies to hand out ever-greater packages of stock options to their executives. In an enthralling narrative, Lowenstein ties together all of the characters of the great boom and bust: Alan Greenspan, Jack Grubman, Jack Welch, Abby Cohen, Henry Blodget, and a host of dot-com pioneers. But it is the collective rendering of such figures -- the unique portrayal of the culture of the era -- that truly distinguishes Origins of the Crash as the book that will frame our appreciation of the period. Just as John Kenneth Galbraith's The Great Crash was the canonical text of 1929, Lowenstein's Origins of the Crash is destined to be the definitive account of the 1990s." (Book Jacket)

The Great Depression, 1929-1939

DISCovering World History. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale.

This is a reference article from our History Resource Center database that briefly discusses the effect of the Great Depression on the United States, Herbert Hoover as the "do-nothing" President, and FDR's New Deal.

Causes of the Great Depression

History in Dispute, Vol. 3: American Social and Political Movements, 1900-1945. Robert J. Allison, ed. St. James Press, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale

This is a reference article from our History Resource Center database that describes two different viewpoints about what caused the Great Depression.

Viewpoint 1: The Great Depression was caused by a global economic crisis as well as poor investment practices in the United States.

Viewpoint 2: The Great Depression was caused by a decline in spending and consumption in the United States, not simply by the stock-market crash or the mistakes of the Federal Reserve.