Internship - Collection Development: Collection Development

HIS 111 (World History 1)   - Books for Consideration

1. The Kingdom of Kush: A Captivating Guide to an Ancient African Kingdom in Nubia That Once Ruled Egypt (African History)
   • The Kingdom of Kush was completely forgotten once it met its end. The stories of its might didn’t survive in the cultures of its successor kingdoms, possibly because Christianization soon followed, which required the people of the Nubian region to turn toward the east and the myths of the Christian messiah. There was no more room for the divine rulers, Amun and Re, or a place for their sons, the kings of Kush. The kingdom continued to exist in the stories of some classical writers, but it was often considered as nothing more than a distant, probably even imaginary, kingdom, where the uncivilized savages lived. With the renewed interest in the classical arts of Greece and Rome, the Renaissance rediscovered the existence of Kush. Still, it was not explored until Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798. Even then, it was seen as a part of Egyptian culture. The discoveries made by the 18th- and 19th-century explorers proved there were, in fact, two separate cultures. However, this explanation was greatly influenced by Darwinism. Scholars presented the entirety of Africa as a place where civilized white men ruled over the “uncivilized negroes.” Kush was no exception to them, and the general opinion was that Egypt ruled over the uncivilized Kushites.
2. The Castles And The Crown
   • This book, subtitled “a biography of the monarchs who shaped Spain’s destiny,” proposes to trace the careers of the Catholic Kings and their ill-starred heirs, Juana la Loca and Phillip the Handsome. In passing, it has a good deal to say about Charles V. The author traces with great evocative skill the dramatic highlights of the familiar story of Isabella’s birth and youth and the disordered court of Enrique the Impotent, the delicate and crucial matrimonial negotiations with Ferdinand, and their final fruition. Then, Isabelline government, Columbus, the Jews, church reform, and matrimonial politics receive due attention.
3. East Africa and the Orient
   • It is now apparent that East Africa cannot be viewed in isolation if its early history is to be adequately understood. Arabic, Indian, and Chinese influences have been discovered in the East African cultures, and evidence has shown that from about 100 B.C. the coastal fringe of eastern Africa was economically and culturally an integral part of the Indian Ocean basin. The available evidence relating to these early con-tacts is so scattered, however, that historians and archaeologists must rely on the findings of numerous related disciplines. The contributors to this volume make ingenious use of anthropological, geographical, ethnographical, zoological, linguistic, numismatic, and musicol-ogical evidence as they develop new historio-graphical techniques to open this challenging area of inquiry. 
4. The History of Apartheid: The Story of the Colour War in South Africa.*
5. Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
   • From the era of slavery to the present day, starting with the earliest encounters between Black Americans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, Medical Apartheid details the ways both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without their knowledge—a tradition that continues today within some black populations.
6. Apartheid: A History from Beginning to End

   • Apartheid, a state-sponsored policy of discrimination and segregation, was introduced and brutally enforced in South Africa for more than forty years. It led to thousands of deaths, mass arrests, torture of prisoners, and to the suspension of the most basic human rights for the majority of black South Africans. How did this come to be, and how did a modern state come to enact and enforce a series of laws deliberately designed to ensure poverty and lack of opportunity for the majority of its population? This is the story of how apartheid came to exist and how it blighted the lives of millions of people. It is also the story of how internal and international revulsion at this policy gradually forced the government of South Africa to change. Apartheid came to be seen as fundamentally evil, and grassroots movements against it also helped to raise awareness of racism. It is now more than 25 years since the end of apartheid, but this policy still casts a long shadow over every multi-racial society.

7. Apartheid: The History of Apartheid: Race vs. Reason - South Africa from 1948 - 1994
   • Apartheid, An Illustrated History is a portrait of the defining experience of modern South Africa's transition from colonial state to democracy. What began in May 1948 as a vague, grimly ambitious project to interrupt history and engineer white supremacy at the expense of the country's black majority spawned forty-six years of repressive authoritarianism and bitter resistance which claimed the lives of thousands and pushed the country to the brink of civil conflict.
8. Apartheid: Racial Segregation in South Africa (History)
   • For over 40 years, South Africa maintained a white supremacist regime which denied black citizens the same rights and opportunities as their white counterparts. The regime, which was established and maintained by a series of laws codifying racial segregation, attracted international condemnation and determined opposition from activists, including Nelson Mandela. Apartheid was finally dismantled in 1991, but had lasting effects on South African politics and society. 
9. The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation-state
   • An African historian argues that the decision of Africa's leaders to form nation states based on fundamentally flawed European models reproduced the sectarian strife of Europe in Africa.
10. Lunda Under Belgian Rule 
    • Bustin performs an ambitious task of social analysis in this inquiry into the workings and effects of alien rule upon an African state. He takes the historically important African kingdom of Lunda through the phase of state formation, its incapsulation within the colonial system, and incorporation into the politics of independence. 
11. A history of Rhodesia 
    • Blake starts the history with the African tribes and their only partially understood movements prior to white contact and then he moves into the Pioneer Column and the empire building Cecil Rhodes. He describes the romantic pioneer days with an excellent flair, but his focus isn't on the covered wagons and rifle holding settlers. Instead it is the halls of power, in London, Cape Colony, and eventually Salisbury. An absorbing look at the history and sordid politics of the late, great Rhodesia. The book ends in 1978, at the brink of Zimbabwe, but the author posits what an historian in the year 2000 will look back upon. Very prophetic.
12. Algiers in the Age of the Corsairs
    • The story of Algiers is one of the great paradoxes in the annals of western Mediterranean civilization. The city's origins were obscure, its history much like that of other towns in the region. But a thousand years of anonymity ended abruptly in the 1500's, when the city emerged as the dominant maritime power of the Barbary Coast. It was one of the ports conquered by Spain after the Spaniards had freed themselves from Moorish rule in 1492. Among the Muslim sea captains who helped dislodge the Spaniards from North Africa were the two Barbarossa brothers-corsairs, pirates whose business was preying on shipping from Christian countries plying the Mediterranean. In this book William Spencer tells how the Barbarossas gained control of Algiers, with permission to rule it as a dependency of the Ottoman Empire, and built it into a highly efficient city-state that prospered from its main business-piracy-and endured for more than three centuries.

HIS 112 (World History 2)   - Books for Consideration

1. The Spanish Civil War: A Captivating Guide to Its Causes, Battles, and Lasting Impact (Exploring Europe’s Past) 
   • The Spanish Civil War is more relevant than ever, yet it is not that well known. However, the lessons that we can learn from the war can help us today in our divided world. The Spanish Civil War is seen as a dress rehearsal for WWII. However, few understand its origins, causes, and main battles. Few historians have presented an exciting and easy-to-understand account of the battles and the major campaigns by land and sea. Too many historians are concerned about certain aspects of the war and treat the war as only a prequel to the Second World War. That is going to change with this work. This comprehensive guide will present the key battles in chronological order. Get ready for an exciting trip into history to learn the real truth about the Spanish Civil War.
2. The Corporate State In Action Italy Under Fascism
3. Mussolini's Italy: Twenty Years of the Fascist Era.
   • Originally published in 1964, this book holds the story of Italian Fascism and its leader up to the light. Gallo explains how Fascism triumphed in Italy, what it did to and for that country, and what its heritage is for present-day Italy. The character of Mussolini is explored as it is interwoven with the history of the dictatorship he founded, and Gallo demonstrates beyond doubt the enthusiasm with which Italian industry, finance, and business supported Mussolini's self-styled, anti-capitalist movement.
4. Italian Intervention in the Spanish Civil War (Princeton Legacy Library, 1285)
   • Using hitherto unavailable material from the Italian foreign ministry, Franco's headquarters, and Mussolini's secretariat, John F. Coverdale traces the development of Italo-Spanish relations from the beginning of the Fascist regime. His analysis reveals that traditional foreign policy outweighed ideological and internal political considerations in Mussolini's decision making. John F. Coverdale finds that while Italy's support was essential to Franco's victory, Rome exercised very little influence on his decisions. The author concludes that participation in the Spanish Civil War was less important than is generally believed in determining Italy's entrance into World War II on Hitler's side, and that it did not significantly weaken her armed forces.
5. Homage to Catalonia
   • In "Homage to Catalonia," Orwell provides a detailed and honest portrayal of the conditions and experiences of soldiers and civilians during the conflict. He describes the chaos and confusion of the war, the political and ideological divisions among different factions, and the brutal repression of the anarchists and socialists by the Soviet-backed communist government. The book also explores Orwell's own political and philosophical beliefs, and his disillusionment with the communist movement as a result of his experiences in Spain. "Homage to Catalonia" is considered one of Orwell's most important works, both as a firsthand account of a pivotal moment in 20th century history, and as a reflection on the nature of political ideology and the dangers of totalitarianism. The book is notable for its vivid and evocative writing style, which has made it a classic of both literary and historical non-fiction. It remains a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the human cost of war and the struggle for political freedom.
6. Spoiling The Egyptians: A Tale Of Shame Told From The British Blue Books
7. We Two Alone: Attack and Rescue in the Congo
   • The crash of breaking glass woke me. I knew instantly that the terrorists had broken into our mission. Thus Miss Hege was suddenly catapulted into the world spotlight through her harrowing four-day pursuit and her companion's murder by Congo terrorists. Her vivid personal account of playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with communist-trained terrorists provides us with the first book-length narrative of terrorist raids on Congolese missionary compounds.

HIS 112 (World History 2)   - Books for Consideration 

1. Black Man's Burden Revisited *
2. Fez in the Age of the Marinides *
3. The History of Apartheid: The Story of the Colour War in South Africa. 
4. The Splendor that was Africa
   • A look at the African empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai., and also of the 'highways' provided by the Niger River and the Sahara Desert.
5. The Quest for Africa: Two Thousand Years of Exploration* 
6. The Malagasy and the Europeans, Madagascar's Foreign Relations 1861-1865* 
7. My Vanished Africa 
8. The Portuguese Conquest of Angola*
9. Angola under the Portuguese : The Myth and the Reality*
10. Botha, Smuts and South Africa
11. The Strong Brown God: The Story of the Niger River
    • An account of the European discovery and exploration of the great West African river, the peoples who lived along its course, and the European march of conquest against those peoples
12. The Swazi: A South African Kingdom (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)
    • A case study based upon information collected during half a century of field research in Swaziland, presenting insight into the dynamics of the country's independence, problems facing traditional leaders, and conflicts of interest and personalities.
13. Return to the Fairy Hill
    • This is the story of how Naomi Mitchison became a member of the Bakgatla tribe. There is also some comparative anthropological content.
14. Tell El Amarna and the Bible
    • Tell el Amarna and the Bible, a classical and rare book that has been considered essential throughout human history, so that this work is never forgotten, we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.
15. The Dying Lion: Feudalism & Modernization In Ethiopia
    • In September 1974, after forty-four years as ruler of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie, The Lion of Judah, was deposed. This book examines in depth the causes of the unrest which finally led to the army taking power. During the early 1970s there were extensive changes in the complex of relationships between the government, the army and the peoples of Ethiopia. To explain these developments Patrick Gilkes, who lived in Ethiopia for many years, uses detailed and often confidential sources in his examination of government corruption, local government administration, land tenure and the tragic famine, the revolutionary student movement which played a major part in the build-up of criticism of the Emperor, and other forms of opposition, both violent and non-violent. The book is a valuable analysis of political and economic power in a developing country. It puts into perspective the causes and symptoms of the failure of modernization, looking in particular at the feudal system used to control power which finally led to the tension and conflict of 1974.
16. The Ewe-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa: Their Religion, Manners, Customs, Laws, Languages, &c Paperback
17. Racism and apartheid in southern Africa: South Africa and Namibia : a book of data based on material *
18. Torment to Triumph in southern Africa *
19. France and Algeria: A History of Decolonization and Transformation
    • Phillip Naylor describes the extraordinary bilateral relationship between France and Algeria, countries which--after 132 years of colonialism and a brutal war of independence--have attempted to fashion a new relationship based on "mutual respect." Beginning with a review of the colonial period up to 1958, Naylor examines the various dramas that have distinguished bilateral relations since independence: the Evian Accords of March 1962, the substitution of cooperation for colonialism, the nationalization of the hydrocarbons sector in 1971, and the Fitna, Algeria’s violent "trial" of itself as a nation during the '90s. Recognizing many contradictions and complexities in the period of "postcolonial decolonization," Naylor melds philosophy, economics, sociology, political science, and literary criticism into his historical narrative. Readers will find an impressive range of subject matter and methodologies brought to bear on the evolving relations of power, perception, and identity between the two states.
20. Prelude to Protectorate in Morocco: Pre-Colonial Protest and Resistance, 1860-1912 (Studies in Imperialism) * 
    • Is maybe in English?
21. Africa and Africans
    • Africa and Africans keeps a watchful eye on what has happened in Africa and on what has happened in the rest of the world that shapes how people look at Africa. The world's perception of Africa is an entanglement of myth and reality--both reflecting and changing with the times. This highly informative yet concise volume, written by two authors intimately familiar with Africa, presents the facts about African society--past and present. Readers wishing to explore Africa's historical events and rich traditions will discover that Africans want to keep what they value in their old way of life as they find themselves in an emerging global culture.

HIS 335 (Greco-Roman History)  - Books for Consideration

1. Julius Caesar: A Great Life in Brief *
2. Alfonso de Valdes and the sack of Rome : Dialogue of Lactancio and an archdeacon; tr by John E. Longhurst with Raymond MacCurdy *
3. The Eternal City: A History of Rome

   • Why does Rome continue to exert a hold on our imagination? How did the "Caput mundi" come to play such a critical role in the development of Western civilization? Ferdinand Addis addresses these questions by tracing the history of the "Eternal City" told through the dramatic key moments in its history: from the mythic founding of Rome in 753 BC, via such landmarks as the murder of Caesar in 44 BC, the coronation of Charlemagne in AD 800 and the reinvention of the imperial ideal, the painting of the Sistine chapel, the trial of Galileo, Mussolini's March on Rome of 1922, the release of Fellini's La Dolce Vita in 1960, and the Occupy riots of 2011. City of the Seven Hills, spiritual home of Catholic Christianity, city of the artistic imagination, enduring symbol of our common European heritage—Rome has inspired, charmed, and tempted empire-builders, dreamers, writers, and travelers across the twenty-seven centuries of its existence. Ferdinand Addis tells this rich story in a grand narrative style for a new generation of readers.

4. A Day in Old Athens; a Picture of Athenian Life

   • This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

5. The Greek Way

   • Edith Hamilton buoyantly captures the spirit and achievements of the Greek civilization for our modern world. In The Greek Way, Edith Hamilton captures with "Homeric power and simplicity" (New York Times) the spirit of the golden age of Greece in the fifth century BC, the time of its highest achievements. She explores the Greek aesthetics of sculpture and writing and the lack of ornamentation in both. She examines the works of Homer, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Euripides, among others; the philosophy of Socrates and Plato’s role in preserving it; the historical accounts by Herodotus and Thucydides on the Greek wars with Persia and Sparta and by Xenophon on civilized living.

6. The life of Themistocles: A critical survey of the literary and archaeological evidence *

7. The Greek Dilemma War And Aftermath *

8. The Glory of Hera: Greek Mythology and the Greek Family (Mythos: The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology, 102)

   • The ancient Athenians were "quarrelsome as friends, treacherous as neighbors, brutal as masters, faithless as servants, shallow as lovers--all of which was in part redeemed by their intelligence and creativity." Thus writes Philip Slater in this classic work on narcissism and family relationships in fifth-century Athenian society. Exploring a rich corpus of Greek mythology and drama, he argues that the personalities and social behavior of the gods were neurotic, and that their neurotic conditions must have mirrored the family life of the people who perpetuated their myths. The author traces the issue of narcissism to mother-son relationships, focusing primarily on the literary representation of Hera and the male gods and showing how it related to devalued women raising boys in an ambitious society dominated by men. "The role of homosexuality in society, fatherless families, working mothers, women's status, and violence, male pride, and male bonding--all these find their place in Slater's analysis, so honestly and carefully addressed that we see our own societal dilemmas reflected in archaic mythic narratives all the more clearly."--Richard P. Martin, Princeton University

9. The Mycenaean World
   • In 1952 the decipherment of the Linear B script suddenly revealed the Greekness of Mycenaean Greece. Now, after new discoveries and more than 20 years of intensive work, scholars are able to interpret the written documents and reconstruct from them a vivid picture of life in this remote period, in a way which is impossible from archaeology alone. John Chadwick, who assisted Ventris in the original decipherment, has played a major part in these advances. He now summarizes the results of research and in so doing opens the door to a new world, Mycenaean Greece seen through the eyes of its inhabitants. The tablets may be only, as he describes them, 'the account books of anonymous clerks', but from these prosaic documents he shows how we can infer a bronze industry, foreign slave-women, or even human sacrifice. Not least important is the comparison of the newly available data with the Homeric account, much to the detriment of Homer's credibility as a witness.
10. Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment
    • Until quite recently, it has been the accepted view that the Archaic period of Greek history was by definition merely a prelude to the Oassical period, an era regarded as unsurpassed in its literary, intellectual, artistic, and political achievements. Lately, however, ancient historians and Classical archaeologists have undertaken a major reappraisal of their subject, one result of which has been a broadening view of the Archaic period and its importance to the history of Greece. In this first major book on Archaic Greece to be written by an archaeologist, Professor Snodgrass shows how the supremacy of Classical Greece would have been impossible without the preceding centuries of the Archaic period. The intellectual revolution which divided the Archaic period from the Oassical transformed something remarkable into something unique.
11. Hellenic History (Classic Reprint)
    • Botsford's Hellenic History is a comprehensive look at everything about Ancient Greece from the beginning of Greek history until the rise of Alexander the Great. In the process, Botsford covers everything from the geography and environment to the political and social order of the Ancient Greeks, and everything they accomplished.
12. Byzantine Legacy *

HIS 341 (British History 1)   - Books for Consideration

1. King James VI and I and the Reunion of Christendom (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)
   • This is a historical study of the career of King James VI and I, as king of Scotland (1567-1625) and England (1603-1625), who achieved a union of the crowns as the first king of Great Britain, and who undertook to end the recurring religious wars. His peacemaking by diplomatic means was complemented by his efforts to foster closer relations among the churches. The peace that he helped to maintain by these initiatives, though cut short by the coming of the Thirty Years' War, was immensely beneficial both to Britain and to the other countries of Europe.
2. Hanover to Windsor
   • This engrossing history of the British monarchy takes readers on a journey from the Hanoverian dynasty to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Roger Fulford's expertly crafted narrative is filled with fascinating anecdotes and insights into the lives of the kings and queens who have shaped the course of British history.
3. The Letters of Queen Victoria : A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 : Volume 1, 1837-1843 
   • Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she had the additional title of Empress of India. According to one of her biographers, Giles St Aubyn, Victoria wrote an average of 2,500 words a day during her adult life. From July 1832 until just before her death, she kept a detailed journal, which eventually encompassed 122 volumes.
4. Victoria RI
   • Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in British history. In this concise biography, Lady Longford, long recognised as an authority on the subject, gives a full account of Queen Victoria?s life and provides her unique assessment of the monarch. Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 on the death of her uncle William IV. In 1840 she married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and for the next twenty years they were inseparable. Their descendants were to succeed to most of the thrones of Europe. When Albert died in 1861 Victoria?s overwhelming grief caused her to almost withdraw from public life for several years. This perceived dereliction of public duty, coupled with rumours about her relationship with her Scottish ghillie, John Brown, led to increasing criticism. Coaxed back into the public eye by Disraeli, she resumed her political and constitutional interest with vigour until her death in 1901. This classic and concise biography of Britain?s longest-reigning monarch was written by Lady Elizabeth Longford who was a renowned biographer (she died in 2002). Her other titles include Wellington, Byron and the Queen Mother. Elizabeth Longford's first work on Queen Victoria, Victoria RI, won the James Tait Black memorial prize.
5. Flora: A Biography
   • During the Rebellion, Flora MacDonald rose to fame after leading Bonnie Prince Charlie, son of James Stuart, through the Highlands of the Hebrides at the age of 24 in 1746, and slipped past the Hanoverians in a costume dressed as an Irish girl named Betty Burke, as Flora's maid. To Ms. Vining, she was "the Highland lass who helped the prince to escape as he was being hunted through the island with a price of thirty thousand pounds on his head." 

HIS 351 (Military History to 1800)   - Books for Consideration

1. When Egypt Ruled the East (Phoenix Books)
   • Here, adequately presented for the first time in English, is the fascinating story of a splendid culture that flourished thirty-five hundred years ago in the empire on the Nile: kings and conquests, gods and heroes, beautiful art, sculpture, poetry, architecture.

HIS 353 (History of Barbarians)   - Books for Consideration 

1. THE SOUTH SEAS IN THE MODERN WORLD. Foreword by J.B.Condliffe.  *
2. History of the Barbarians: A Captivating Guide to the Celts, Vandals, Gallic Wars, Sarmatians and Scythians, Goths, Attila the Hun, and Anglo-Saxons (Barbarian Tribes)
   • Seven captivating manuscripts in one book: Celts: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Celtic History and Mythology, Including Their Battles Against the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars; The Vandals: A Captivating Guide to the Barbarians That Conquered the Roman Empire During the Transitional Period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages; The Gallic Wars: A Captivating Guide to the Military Campaigns that Expanded the Roman Republic and Helped Julius Caesar Transform Rome into the Greatest Empire of the Ancient World; Sarmatians and Scythians: A Captivating Guide to the Barbarians of Iranian Origins and How These Ancient Tribes Fought Against the Roman Empire, Goths, Huns, and Persians; The Goths: A Captivating Guide to the Visigoths and Ostrogoths Who Sacked Rome and Played an Essential Role in the Fall of the Western Roman Empire; Attila the Hun: A Captivating Guide to the Ruler of the Huns and His Invasions of the Roman Empire; Anglo-Saxons: A Captivating Guide to the People Who Inhabited Great Britain from the Early Middle Ages to the Norman Conquest of England

HIS 360 (History Travel)  - Books for Consideration

1. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia 
   • Part travelogue, part history, part love letter on a 1000-page scale, Rebecca West's Black Lamb & Grey Falcon is a genre-bending masterwork written in elegant prose. But what makes it so unlikely to be confused with any other book of history, politics or culture--with, in fact, any other book--is its unashamed depth of feeling: think The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire crossed with Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. West visited Yugoslavia for the 1st time in 1936. What she saw there affected her so much that she had to return--partly, she writes, "because it most resembled the country I have always seen between sleeping & waking, & partly because it was like picking up a strand of wool that would lead me out of a labyrinth in which, to my surprise, I had found myself immured." Black Lamb is the chronicle of her travels, but above all it's West following that strand of wool: thru countless historical digressions; thru winding narratives of battles, slavery & assassinations; thru Shakespeare & Augustine & into the very heart of human frailty.
2. South African Explorers 

3. The African Adventure : Four Hundred Years of Exploration in the Dangerous Continent

HIS 376 (History of Islam)  - Books for Consideration

1. The Spanish Kingdoms, 1250-1516, Vol. 1: 1250-1410, Precarious Balance & The Spanish Kingdoms, 1250-1516: Vol. 2, 1410-1516, Castilian Hegemony
   • Until quite recently (circa 1976), historians interested in an integrated treatment in English of the Spanish states during the middle ages were required to read the badly dated first volume of Merriman’s Spanish Empire. Matters have been substantially improved with the publication of two excellent surveys of medieval Iberia, Joseph O’Callaghan’s History of Medieval Spain and J. N. Hillgarth’s The Spanish Kingdoms. O’Callaghan’s emphasis is Castile, centerism and institutional history. Hillgarth takes a dramatically different approach for the period 1250-1516, to be covered in two volumes. The first of these volumes, entitled Precarious Balance, covers 1250-1410. It follows a separatist path with a particularly rich cultural orientation. [Duke University Press Reviews]
2. A History of Medieval Spain (Cornell Paperbacks)
   • Medieval Spain is brilliantly recreated, in all its variety and richness, in this comprehensive survey. Likely to become the standard work in English, the book treats the entire Iberian Peninsula and all the people who inhabited it, from the coming of the Visigoths in the fifth century to the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Integrating a wealth of information about the diverse peoples, institutions, religions, and customs that flourished in the states that are now Spain and Portugal, Joseph F. O'Callaghan focuses on the continuing attempts to impose political unity on the peninsula.
3. Muslim Spain, Its History and Culture
   • This comprehensive history of Muslim Spain in the centuries from 711 to 1492 provides a panoramic view of the whole field of Hispano-Arabic culture, including science, philosophy, and the arts. As the account makes clear, Muslim Spain was always an integral part of the main literary and intellectual stream of the East and as such was as Islamic as Syria or Egypt. Thus the history is important for an understanding of Islamic culture as a whole and of the interaction of people and ideas. The author shows that the interdependence and continuity of Muslim culture through its long history was nurtured by the unhampered travel of students and scholars and the circulation of publications throughout the width and breadth of the Islamic Empire, notwithstanding the political division that separated Muslim Spain from the center of Islam. 

HIS 398 (Historiography) - Books for Consideration

1. The Columbian Exchange: A Captivating Guide to the Transatlantic Transfer of People, Plants, Animals, Ideas, Resources, and More Between the Americas and Europe (European Exploration and Settlement)
   • "How two worlds became one." In this book, you will understand how Christopher Columbus proposed something new: reaching the riches of the East Indies by sailing west from Europe. The rulers of Spain agreed to support his risky venture, and he sailed off in 1492. He unexpectedly ran into two continents nobody in Europe knew about. He didn’t discover the continents; that had been done centuries before. Discover how the Old World of Eurasia and Africa began a monumentally important exchange of people, ideas, crops, animals, and diseases that changed history and humanity forever. This extended stitching together of the two hemispheres is called the Columbian Exchange.
2. The political history of Finland 1809-1966 *
3. Denmark: Success of a Developing Nation
   • "This book is about individuals in their daily lives." So writes Robert Anderson, a distinguished anthropologist whose study of Denmark offers the reader a unique opportunity to analyze a culture before development, during development, and as a modern nation. His purpose is to give the reader a feeling of what it means to live in a developing nation and the quality of life afforded by each historical period."Danish social scientists and historians nurture a long tradition of research matched by those of only a few nations in the thoroughness and skill with which they have retrieved knowledge of their own past." Thus, while the readable content of the book is geared to the student or layman, the original analysis and data behind it will be of special interest to the professional scholar.
4. The Ait Ndhir of Morocco: A Study of the Social Transformation of a Berber Tribe (Volume 55) (Anthropological Papers Series)

   • This work is an enquiry into the nature of tribalism in Morocco and its historical relationship to the central government. Employing the Air Ndhir as an example, this study attempts to establish a model for the traditional sociopolitical organization of a semi-nomadic Berber tribe of the Middle Atlas and examine the dynamics of the makhzan-tribal symbiosis during the latter half of the 19th century.

Of Note: Any title denoted with a ( * ) following it might be difficult to track down in print, or have a cost-barrier.