"a captivating exploration of how "Western Civilization"-the concept of a single cultural inheritance extending from ancient Greece to modern times-is a powerful figment of our collective imagination"--

Stone Barrington is no stranger to schemes and deceptions of all stripes; as an attorney for the premier white-shoe law firm Woodman & Weld, he has seen more than his share. But when he travels to Europe under highly unusual circumstances, Stone finds himself at the center of a mystery that is, even by his standards, most peculiar. While investigating a high-profile murder, he uncovers a puzzling conspiracy involving the European elite and the deadly...

Sixteenth-century Europe saw an explosion of female rule. From Isabella of Castile and her granddaughter Mary Tudor, to Catherine de Medici, Anne Boleyn, and Elizabeth Tudor, women wielded enormous power over their territories for more than a hundred years. In the sixteenth century, as in our own, the phenomenon of the powerful woman offered challenges and opportunities. Opportunities, as when in 1529 Margaret of Austria and Louise of Savoy negotiated...

Trace your Eastern European ancestors from American shores back to the old country. This in-depth guide will walk you step-by-step through the exciting-- and challenging-- journey of finding your Polish, Czech, or Slovak roots. You'll learn how to identify immigrant ancestors, find your family's town of origin, locate key genealogical resources, decipher foreign-language records, and untangle the region's complicated history. The book also includes...

Olga and Paul. Both are looking for work, a new beginning, an existence, life: Olga, who comes from the Eastern part of Europe, where unremitting poverty is the order of the day. Paul, who comes from the Western part, where unemployment means not hunger, but a crisis of meaning and sense of uselessness. Both are struggling to believe in themselves, to find a meaning in life. In both the West and East. Both travel to a new country, and thus into its...

Presents, in text and illustrations, a range of people whose way of life reveals various aspects of the society developing in Europe and America from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries.