Mercia The Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Central England

Caroline Winterer

The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910

Winner of the New Scholars Book Award from the American Educational Research Association Debates continue to rage over whether American university students should be required to master a common core of knowledge. In The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910 , Caroline Winterer traces the emergence of the classical model that became standard in the American curriculum in the nineteenth century and now lies at the core of contemporary controversies. By closely examining university curricula and the writings of classical scholars, Winterer demonstrates how classics was transformed from a narrow, language-based subject to a broader study of civilization, persuasively arguing that we cannot understand both the rise of the American university and modern notions of selfhood and knowledge without an appreciation for the role of classicism in their creation.

Nicholas Schmidle

To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan

A fascinating account of [Schmidle's] years in Pakistan . . . The story of two Pakistans the author discovered: one beautiful and friendly, the other frightening and deadly.-- Booklist Nicholas Schmidle beat the Pakistani army into Taliban country. In October 2007, just weeks before thousands of troops, backed by helicopters and artillery fire, marched into the Swat valley to battle the gang of Talibs who had taken over the region, Schmidle rode into the town of Mingora on a public bus. He drove through Taliban-manned checkpoints and took a zipline into a militant camp. Schmidle had spent the previous two years traveling throughout Pakistan, living off a small fellowship which required only that he stay in the country, learn Urdu, and write about what he witnessed. Schmidle's telling of his gripping adventures, aided by his own deep knowledge of Pakistan's history, explains to readers the many reasons why Pakistan has grabbed the world's headlines. To Live or to Perish Forever is an eye-opening and exciting read about this essential place.

Eric J. Hobsbawm, E. J. Hobsbawm

Interesting Times: A Twentieth-Century Life

Eric Hobsbawm has been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest living historians. Called "a lyrical, pungent, and provocative memoir" by Publishers Weekly , Interesting Times offers a personal tour through what Hobsbawm terms "the most extraordinary and terrible century in human history." The book takes us from his birth in Alexandria, Egypt, and early schooling in Weimar Berlin to his student days as a Cambridge Red and Apostle at King's College. Hobsbawm took E.M. Forster to hear Lenny Bruce, demonstrated with Bertrand Russell against nuclear arms, translated for Che Guevara in Havana, and inaugurated the modern history of banditry. With Interesting Times , we see the making of one of the Left's most important intellectuals, and the history of the twentieth century through the unforgiving eye of one of its most intensely engaged participants.