For Beginners

AFRICAN HISTORY FOR BEGINNERS explores the rich history of this continent of contrasts. Discover the glory of the Pharaohs and Towers of Zimbabwe, the cosmology of the Yoruba, the courage of the Masai and the golden wonders of Mali, the art treasures of the Bushongo and the sophistication of the Egyptians. It is a unique documentary portrait of the Africans' struggle to preserve their cultural her

Noam Chomsky has written over 30 books, he is the most-quoted author on earth, the New York Times calls him “arguably the most important intellectual alive” — yet most people have no idea who he is or what he’s about. Chomsky For Beginners tells you what he’s about: Chomsky is known for his work in two distinct areas — Linguistics and… “gadflying.” (“Gadfly,” the wor

EXISTENTIALISM FOR BEGINNERS is an entertaining romp through the history of a philosophical movement that has had a broad and enduring influence on Western culture. From the middle of the Nineteenth Century through the late Twentieth Century, existentialism informed our politics and art, and still exerts its influence today. Tracing the movement's beginnings with close-up views of seminal figures

There are over 519 million Black Women on the planet Earth, give or take a dozen. There's a Black Woman on each of the seven continents, in almost every country and in almost every context. There are even Black Women in the space program. So no matter where you go, she's already been there. She travels with forces greater than herself. Her presence is everywhere.BLACK WOMEN FOR BEGINNERS chronicle

Astronomy for Beginners is a friendly and accessible guide to our universe, our galaxy, our solar system and the planet we call home. Each year as Earth cruises through space a number of amazing and remarkable events occur. For example, like clockwork, we´ll run head-on into asteroid and cometary debris that spreads shooting stars across our skies. On occasion we´ll get to watch the di

Ayn Rand, author of the best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, is beloved by millions of readers, and equally despised by a significant number of detractors. Her novels and her revolutionary philosophy of Objectivism have acquired a world-wide following. They have also created legions of readers who are hungry for a deeper understanding of her writings.Despite her undeniably sig

As we humans have expanded our horizons to see things vastly smaller, faster, larger, and farther than ever before, we have been forced to confront preconceptions born of the human experience and create wholly new ways of looking at the world around us.  The theories of relativity and quantum physics were developed out of this need and have provided us with phenomenal, mind-twisting insights into

ZINN FOR BEGINNERS describes the life and work of the most vital historian of our time. Howard Zinn led a revolution in the writing of history by telling the story not from the standpoint of conquerors and rulers, but from the side of the ordinary people who always bear the brunt of the ambitions of tyrants.Zinn tells the story of Columbus' discovery of America from the standpoint of the native pe

Poetry is one of those subjects almost impossible to define as it can be so many things at once. It can be: kids whispering limericks on the playground; secret languages used by revolutionaries and spies; or the written strength of oppressed people. Poetry is how millions of people across time have used language to try to better understand love, hate, war, religion, oppression, joy, sorrow, sex, a

BARACK OBAMA FOR BEGINNERS: AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE is the most concise and reliable short biography available on the 44th President of the United States — from his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia, education at Columbia and Harvard, work as a community organizer, writer, teacher, lawyer, and politician in Illinois, to his historic campaign for President. BARACK OBAMA FOR BEGINNERS keeps the focus on

A profusely illustrated, popularly-written volume with original comic art, FDR AND THE NEW DEAL FOR BEGINNERS will shed new light upon a story now regaining visibility thanks to the recent economic crisis and prominent reformer, President Obama, in the White House. The history of the precedent-making FDR administration through the bitter economic depression, with expansive programs empowering arti

“If you would not be forgotten,as soon as you're dead and rotten,either write things worth reading,or do things worth the writing.”– Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 Benjamin Franklin would seem to be the teller – and quite arguably the protagonist – of the Great American Success Story. As America's prototypical polymath, he excelled – and even defined – a number of professions including printer, writ

Jane Austen's novels are classics.  They have never been out of print, and have continuously been turned into countless movies and TV series, yet her works still remain largely misunderstood.  On their surface, Austen's novels all involve characters from provincial communities in rural England, far removed geographically and thematically from greater social movements, war, industry, colonization,

In a combination of witty text and illustrations U.S. CONSTITUTION FOR BEGINNERS take a tongue-in-cheek look at America's most critical legal document. Author and lawyer Steve Bachmann has written a text that touches on the document's history beginning with the Magna Carta. He then traces the events that precipitated its writing, the personalities and motives of the people who create it, and its u

Paul Robeson, despite being one of the greatest Renaissance figures in American history, still remains in relative anonymity. An exceptional scholar, lawyer, athlete, stage and screen actor, linguist, singer, and civil rights and political activist, he performed brilliantly in every professional enterprise he undertook. Few humans have achieved his levels of excellence in one field, much less seve

THE HISTORY OF OPERA FOR BEGINNERS is an illuminating book that starts with the radical assumption that opera is simply music, rather than the highbrow, inaccessible art form that many assume it to be. Not fluent in German or Italian? No worries—author Ron David explains the differences between Italian and German Opera and why you don't have to study a new language to enjoy it.THE HISTORY OF OPERA

There is no greater symbol of the American presidency than Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln himself, his personality, the sources of his dedication and his idealism, remain very much a mystery. The sudden rise to world stature of a hard-travelling lawyer from the frontier, with no prominent family or social connections to back him, was a wonder of the age.Well over a thousand books about Lincoln have been

A large swath of literature on the civil rights movement exists in the United States. Much of that literature focuses on the dramatic events of the African American resistance to Jim Crow and oppression from the mid 1950s through the early 1970s. Frequently, this material is scholarly and, at best, only marginally accessible to the general public. Moreover, many of the books on the modern civil

Philosopher, psychoanalyst, politician, propagandist, prophet...although difficult to categorize, Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) is one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century and one of our most powerful writers on race and revolution. The book opens with a biography, following Fanon from his birthplace of Martinique through combat in World War II and education in France, to his heroic in

Allons enfants de la Patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé!“Arise children of the Fatherland, the day of glory has arrived!” These opening lines to La Marseillaise, France's famously stirring and evocative national anthem, capture perfectly the passion, fear and frenetic energy of Republicanism's sanguinary birth on French soil. Through the violence of the Revolutions the reign of the Bourbon monar