In Napoleon, National Book Award winner J. Christopher Herold tells the fascinating story of a legendary leader who changed the world in every aspect - political, cultural, military, and commercial. Napoleon Bonaparte's rise from common origins to the pinnacle of power, as well as his defeat at Waterloo, still influences our daily lives, from the map of Europe to the metric system. Here's the fascinating story of the great soldier-statesman.
National Book Award winner Richard Winston explores life in the Middle Ages - from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, beginning with the fall of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. In both countryside and towns, from peasants to the bourgeoisie to nobility, no aspect of life in this era is left unexplored.
Award-winning historian Lionel Casson paints a vivid portrait of life in ancient Rome - for slaves and emperors, soldiers and commanders alike - during the empire's greatest period, the first and second centuries A.D.
Editor’s Note: Eric P. Liu is the CEO and co-founder of Citizen University, a non-profit organization promoting civic empowerment, and the author of numerous books on civic engagement. This essay was adapted from a talk Mr. Liu gave at the National Summit on Civic Education sponsored by the Jack Miller Center.

I bring you greetings from the 54th-freest nation on earth.
Editor's Note: Eleanor Clift
Excerpted from Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (Turner Publishing, 2003[JS1][JS2])
When Woodrow Wilson arrived in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913, the afternoon before his inauguration, he was surprised to see the streets practically empty.
“Where are all the people?” he asked.
“Oh, everybody’s over on the avenue looking at the suffragettes,” he was told.
This was Alice Paul’s moment. On the eve of the inauguration, the radical young suffrage leader watched with pride as her handiwork unfolded. Eight thousand women took part in a procession that started at the Capitol, marched up Pennsylvania Avenue past the White House, and ended in a mass rally at the Hall of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Leading the phalanx was a dashingly beautiful young woman on a white horse, Inez Milholland . [JS4]She carried a banner of purple, white, and gold — purple for the royal glory of women, white for purity at home and in politics, gold for the crown of the victor.