Download or read book How the West Won written by Rodney Stark and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-07-11 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finally the Truth about the Rise of the West Modernity developed only in the West—in Europe and North America. Nowhere else did science and democracy arise; nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, Why? Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But acclaimed author Rodney Stark provides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization. How the West Won demonstrates the primacy of uniquely Western ideas—among them the belief in free will, the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the notion that the universe functions according to rational rules that can be discovered, and the emphasis on human freedom and secure property rights. Taking readers on a thrilling journey from ancient Greece to the present, Stark challenges much of the received wisdom about Western history. Stark also debunks absurd fabrications that have flourished in the past few decades: that the Greeks stole their culture from Africa; that the West’s “discoveries” were copied from the Chinese and Muslims; that Europe became rich by plundering the non-Western world. At the same time, he reveals the woeful inadequacy of recent attempts to attribute the rise of the West to purely material causes—favorable climates, abundant natural resources, guns and steel. How the West Won displays Rodney Stark’s gifts for lively narrative history and making the latest scholarship accessible to all readers. This bold, insightful book will force you to rethink your understanding of the West and the birth of modernity—and to recognize that Western civilization really has set itself apart from other cultures.
Download or read book How the Irish Won the West written by Myles Dungan and published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is the full story of the Irish immigrants and their decedents whose hard work helped make the West what it is today. Learn about the Irish members of the Donner party, forced to consume human flesh to survive the winter; mountain men like Thomas Fitzpatrick, who discovered the South Pass through the Rockies; Ellen “Nellie” Cashman, who ran boarding houses and bought and sold claims in Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada; and Maggie Hall, who became known as the “whore with a heart of gold.” A fascinating and entertaining look at the history of the American West, this book will surprise many and make every Irish American proud.
Download or read book How the West was Won written by Louis L'Amour and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They came by river and by wagon train, braving the endless distances of the Great Plains and the icy passes of the Sierra Nevada. They were men like Linus Rawlings, a restless survivor of Indian country who?d headed east to see the ocean but left his heart -- and his home -- in the West. They were women like Lilith Prescott, a smart, spirited beauty who fled her family and fell for a gambling man in the midst of a frontier gold boom. These pioneering men and women sowed the seeds of a nation with their courage -- and with their blood. Here is the story of how their paths would meet amid the epic struggle against fierce enemies and nature?s cruelty, to win for all time the rich and untamed West.
Download or read book Winchester written by Harold Francis Williamson and published by . This book was released on 2012-06-01 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Guns That Won the West written by John Walter and published by Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal. This book was released on 2005-12 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering a wide range of firearms, from the smallest pistol to the rifles of the buffalo hunters used by plainsmen and settlers, gamblers and engineers, Native Americans and the soldiers of the United States Army. Meticulously researched by a foremost authority on firearms, this is an indispensable guide to the opening of the American West. John Walter examines pre-Civil War mass production and technical advances, and the effect of readily available post-war surplus weapons on life in the Midwest. He traces the swift expansion of the West, which led to a perpetual struggle against the Native Americans and brought the United States Army in its wake. John Walter also examines whether law was dispensed at the point of a gun and whether it was the Colt or the Winchester that reigned supreme at the OK Corral. Describing particular Western desperadoes and the most popular Wild West firearms, he goes on to investigate how gun design influenced use and use influenced design. With detailed descriptions and performance evaluations of all the leading firearms, this book is an essential reference guide which cuts away the myth and legend and reveals the truth behind the guns, and the men who used them, in the heyday of the West.
Download or read book How Cities Won the West written by Carl Abbott and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2010-07-16 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author traces the evolution of early frontier towns at the beginning of Western expansion to the thriving urban centers they have become today.
Download or read book Guns of the Wild West written by Bruce Wexler and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2013-04-24 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guns of the Wild West brings the nation’s westward expansion and growing need for weaponry to life in an illustrated guide to the history of American firearms. Through vibrant imagery, Bruce Wexler showcases weapons such as the classic Colt Single Action Army and the iconic pepper-box revolver, which made their way into both military and civilian hands during the settling of the frontier. Exclusive archive photographs link the guns to famous heroes and villains, places, and historical events—from Wyatt Earp’s Smith & Wesson Model 3 to John Wilkes Booth’s Philadelphia Derringer. Wexler profiles the notable gunsmiths that hold a place in Western history, including the great American manufacturers such as Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Winchester, as well as lesser-known ones such as Merwin Hulbert and Henry Deringer. Wexler’s thorough research shows how the widespread use of new firearms—fueled in part by advances made during the Civil War—played a definitive role in America’s growth and identity. The reader is presented with detailed depictions of the various weapons used by cowboys, lawmen, soldiers, gunslingers, and Native Americans. Guns of the Wild West is a treasure for gun collectors, history buffs, and fans of Western novels and movies.
Download or read book Wild West Movies Or How the West was Found Won Lost Lied About Filmed and Forgotten written by Kim Newman and published by Bloomsbury Pub Limited. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From his acclaimed study of horror films, Nightmare Movies, Kim Newman turns his attention to the western. Against the backdrop of American history, popular mythology and the development of the cinema, the book examines the main themes and tensions of the genre. With reference to thousands of films and hundreds of directors and actors Newman brings his entertaining, wide-ranging and authoritative approach to bear on one of the cinema's most popular genres - with illuminating results.
Download or read book Why the West Has Won written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2002 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Why The West Has Won' provides a history of the rise to dominance of the West, exploring the links between cultural values and military success.
Download or read book How the Wild West Was Won written by Bruce Wexler and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dusty road shoot outs, roaming buffalo, bar brawls, gold, tragedy, genocide, damsels in distress, and cowboys riding off into the sunset—the taming of the Western frontier is one of the most colorful and fascinating periods of American history. In this beautifully illustrated and comprehensive book, Bruce Wexler brings the ruggedness of the old American West to life, as he has in all ten of his books about the history of the Wild West. Here the figures of the cowboy, gunslinger, soldier, Pony Express rider, settler, and Native American are introduced and explored through their impact on the settling and assimilation of the region. The century between 1800 and 1900 proved to be the most explosive in terms of change as the West evolved from an untamed territory into an integral part of the country, connected by institutions such as the pioneer trail, the stagecoach, the Pony Express, the railroads, and the telegraph wire. Through its portrayal in movies, literature, television, fashion, and art, the West has become a familiar concept. Wexler sheds light on this much-romanticized period of history by acknowledging its gritty realities and providing an answer as to why, even now, such an allure persists in surrounding it. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book Masters and Commanders written by Andrew Roberts and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-04-24 with total page 722 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Masterly. . . . Roberts’s portrait of the relationship between the four men who made Allied strategy through the war years is a triumph of vivid description, telling anecdotes, and informed analysis." —Max Hastings, The New York Review of Books An epic joint biography, Masters and Commanders explores the degree to which the course of the Second World War turned on the relationships and temperaments of four of the strongest personalities of the twentieth century: political masters Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt and the commanders of their armed forces, General Sir Alan Brooke and General George C. Marshall. Each was exceptionally tough-willed and strong-minded, and each was certain that only he knew best how to win the war. Andrew Roberts, "Britain's finest contemporary military historian" (The Economist), traces the mutual suspicion and admiration, the rebuffs and the charm, the often-explosive disagreements and wary reconciliations, and he helps us to appreciate the motives and imperatives of these key leaders as they worked tirelessly in the monumental struggle to destroy Nazism.
Download or read book The Winchester written by Laura Trevelyan and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Details the extraordinary life of Oliver Winchester, the company, and its rapid rise and slow fall as told by a distant family descendant.”—American Gunsmith Arguably the world’s most famous firearm, the Winchester Repeating Rifle was sought after by a cast of characters ranging from the settlers of the American West to the Ottoman Empire’s Army. Laura Trevelyan, a descendant of the Winchester family, offers an engrossing personal history of the colorful New England clan responsible for the creation and manufacture of the “Gun that Won the West.” Trevelyan chronicles the rise and fortunes of a great American arms dynasty, from Oliver Winchester’s involvement with the Volcanic Arms Company in 1855 through the turbulent decades of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She explores the evolution of an iconic, paradigm-changing weapon that has become a part of American culture; a longtime favorite of collectors and gun enthusiasts that has been celebrated in fiction, glorified in Hollywood, and applauded in endorsements from the likes of Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, and Native American tribesmen who called it “the spirit gun.” “[A] detailed but accessible look at the life, times and commerce of Oliver Winchester—Trevelyan’s great great great grandfather—and his many descendants of both the human and firearms varieties . . . Whether you’re a fan of firearms or simply of American history, there is much to enjoy and learn in this easy-to-read and well-footnoted volume.”—American Shooting Journal “The book is beautifully illustrated, with fascinating photos of the Winchester family, and with well-known historical figures—including the Native American leader Geronimo and President Theodore Roosevelt—clutching their repeating rifles.”—Times Literary Supplement
Download or read book How the South Won the Civil War written by Heather Cox Richardson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the North prevailed in the Civil War, ending slavery and giving the country a "new birth of freedom," Heather Cox Richardson argues in this provocative work that democracy's blood-soaked victory was ephemeral. The system that had sustained the defeated South moved westward and there established a foothold. It was a natural fit. Settlers from the East had for decades been pushing into the West, where the seizure of Mexican lands at the end of the Mexican-American War and treatment of Native Americans cemented racial hierarchies. The South and West equally depended on extractive industries-cotton in the former and mining, cattle, and oil in the latter-giving rise a new birth of white male oligarchy, despite the guarantees provided by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and the economic opportunities afforded by expansion. To reveal why this happened, How the South Won the Civil War traces the story of the American paradox, the competing claims of equality and subordination woven into the nation's fabric and identity. At the nation's founding, it was the Eastern "yeoman farmer" who galvanized and symbolized the American Revolution. After the Civil War, that mantle was assumed by the Western cowboy, singlehandedly defending his land against barbarians and savages as well as from a rapacious government. New states entered the Union in the late nineteenth century and western and southern leaders found yet more common ground. As resources and people streamed into the West during the New Deal and World War II, the region's influence grew. "Movement Conservatives," led by westerners Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, claimed to embody cowboy individualism and worked with Dixiecrats to embrace the ideology of the Confederacy. Richardson's searing book seizes upon the soul of the country and its ongoing struggle to provide equal opportunity to all. Debunking the myth that the Civil War released the nation from the grip of oligarchy, expunging the sins of the Founding, it reveals how and why the Old South not only survived in the West, but thrived.
Download or read book Boss of the Plains written by Laurie M. Carlson and published by DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley). This book was released on 2000-05-17 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of John Stetson and how he came to create the most popular hat west of the Mississippi.
Download or read book David Yarrow Photography written by David Yarrow and published by Rizzoli Publications. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The must-have photography monograph of the year, this lavish oversized volume celebrates David Yarrow's unparalleled wildlife imagery. For more than two decades, legendary British photographer David Yarrow has been putting himself in harm's way to capture immersive and evocative photography of the world's most revered and endangered species. With his images heightening awareness of those species and also raising huge sums for charity and conservation, he is one of the most relevant photographers in the world today. Featuring Yarrow's 150 most iconic photographs, this book offers a truly unmatched view of some of the world's most compelling animals. The collection of stunning images, paired with Yarrow's first-person contextual narrative, offers insight into a man who will not accept second best in his relentless pursuit of excellence. David Yarrow Photography offers a balanced retrospective of his spectacular work in the wild and his staged storytelling work, which has earned him wide acclaim in the fine-art market. Yarrow rarely just takes pictures--he almost always makes them. This approach sets him apart from others in the field. Yarrow's work will awaken our collective conscience, and--true to form--he plans to donate all the royalties from this book to conservation
Download or read book How the Irish Won the West written by Myles Dungan and published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is the full story of the Irish immigrants and their decedents whose hard work helped make the West what it is today. Learn about the Irish members of the Donner party, forced to consume human flesh to survive the winter; mountain men like Thomas Fitzpatrick, who discovered the South Pass through the Rockies; Ellen “Nellie” Cashman, who ran boarding houses and bought and sold claims in Alaska, Arizona, and Nevada; and Maggie Hall, who became known as the “whore with a heart of gold.” A fascinating and entertaining look at the history of the American West, this book will surprise many and make every Irish American proud.
Download or read book How Cities Won the West written by Carl Abbott and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2011-03-03 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities rather than individual pioneers have been the driving force in the settlement and economic development of the western half of North America. Throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, western urban centers served as starting points for conquest and settlement. As these frontier cities matured into metropolitan centers, they grew from imitators of eastern culture and outposts of eastern capital into independent sources of economic, cultural, and intellectual change. From the Gulf of Alaska to the Mississippi River and from the binational metropolis of San Diego-Tijuana to the Prairie Province capitals of Canada, Carl Abbott explores the complex urban history of western Canada and the United States. The evolution of western cities from stations for exploration and military occupation to contemporary entry points for migration and components of a global economy reminds us that it is cities that "won the West." And today, as cultural change increasingly moves from west to east, Abbott argues that the urban West represents a new center from which emerging patterns of behavior and changing customs will help to shape North America in the twenty-first century.
