"Based on a series of letters Mark Twain wrote from Europe for San Francisco and New York newspapers as a roving correspondent, The Innocents Abroad (1869) is a caricature of the sentimental travel books popular in the mid-nineteenth century. Mark Twain's fresh and humorous perspective on hallowed European landmarks lacked reverence for the past, and was as mocking about American manners (including his own) as it was about European attitudes. Twain...

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. Since Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1910-1912, controversy has raged about the correct interpretation of and explanation for the tragedy. Some writers have drawn a picture of Scott as a bumbling incompetent, whose lack of experience and preparation condemned his men to their deaths. Aspley Cherry-Garrard's account The Worst Journey in the World...

With "The Exploration of the Colorado River and its Canyons," readers can explore the one-thousand miles of the Colorado River in its natural state nearly one-hundred and fifty years ago. Legendary explorer John Wesley Powell, accompanied by a crew of close friends and associates, details his travels through the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon at a time when much of the area was unknown to contemporary readers. Starting in Wyoming, the crew travelled...

On War is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832, it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated generations of soldiers, statesmen, and intellectuals. The most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy, Carl von Clausewitz's book...

Sparking a flurry of heated debate, Hannah Arendt's authoritative and stunning report on the trial of German Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in the New Yorker in 1963. This revised edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt's postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence, Eichmann...

"Published shortly after his death in 1677, Ethics is undoubtedly Spinoza?s greatest work: a fully cohesive philosophical system that strives to provide a coherent picture of reality and to comprehend the meaning of an ethical life. Following a logical step-by-step format, it defines in turn the nature of God, the mind, human bondage to the emotions, and the power of understanding, moving from a consideration of the eternal to speculate upon humanity's...

Contains the "Communist Manifesto, " several essays discussing the historical background of the manifesto and its influence today, all of the prefaces to the manifesto used during Marx and Engels' lifetime, and Engels' "Principles of Communism."

"Originally published in 1971, Merle Miller On Being Different is a pioneering and thought-provoking book about being gay in America. Just two years after the Stonewall riots, Miller wrote an essay for the New York Times Magazine entitled 'What It Means To Be a Homosexual, ' in response to a homophobic article [published] in Harper Magazine. Miller's writing, described as 'the most widely read and discussed essay of the decade, ' along with an afterord...

In 1803, the great expanse of the Louisiana Purchase was an empty canvas. Keenly aware that the course of the nation's destiny lay westward?and that a ?Voyage of Discovery? would be necessary to determine the nature of the frontier?President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition from the Missouri River to the northern Pacific coast and back. From 1804 to 1806, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide...