Charles River Editors

In 1494, there were five sovereign regional powers in Italy: Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples. In 1536, only one remained: Venice.

The US Naval Station Argentia, located in Placentia Bay, was the unlikely setting for one of the most pivotal summit meetings of the 20th century....

In 1977, two spacecraft were launched from Earth to explore the outer Solar System, and incredibly, the now-ancient technology from the 1970s is still working, sending daily reports back to the planet that sent the two robotic envoys on their way, over 40 years ago....

Howard Hughes was barely in his 20s during America's Roaring Twenties, but he had already begun to command the nation's headlines as a multitalented millionaire....

In the summer of 1969, Apollo 11 successfully landed men on the Moon for the first time in history, and Apollo 12 successfully landed astronauts on the Moon just a few months after....

Before the Second World War, military conflicts were fought under orthodox conditions, usually termed “conventional warfare”, but several innovations had significantly changed combat, leading inextricably to the race for a nuclear weapon in the 1930s and 1940s....

Although it ended over 550 years ago, the Hundred Years' War still looms large in the historical consciousness of England and France....

Clara Barton: The Life and Legacy of the Civil War Nurse Who Founded the American Red Cross chronicles her remarkable life, and the manner in which she changed nursing in America forever....

It would be nearly impossible to overstate the impact Mother Teresa had on the Catholic Church and the world during her life....

In the opening pages of his seminal book-length study of Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock's Films (1965), Robin Wood famously asked, "Why Should We Take Hitchcock Seriously?"....

They come in droves, busloads of tourists shepherded down through modern streets, shops, and stalls, past souvenir stands and hordes of local guides....

The Samurai: The History and Legacy of Japan’s Military Elite looks at who the samurai were, how they fought, and the historical wars in which they played a leading part. You will learn about the samurai like never before....

The Space Race is widely viewed poignantly and fondly as a race to the Moon that culminated with Apollo 11 “winning” the Race for the United States. In fact, it encompassed a much broader range of competition between the Soviet Union and the United States that affected everything....

Though scarcely mentioned in the world of early 21st century politics, Manchuria represented a key region of Asia during the first half of the 20th century....

The Third Reich's Luftwaffe began World War II with significant advantages over other European air forces, playing a critical role in the German war machine's swift, powerful advance....

After World War II ended and the process of rebuilding Germany and Europe began, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union each tried to obtain the services of the Third Reich's leading scientists, especially those involved in rocketry, missile technology, and aerospace research....

For the ancient Greeks, there were few divine beings more important, and more generous, to humanity than the goddess Athena....

A few of these fighters were young enough to fight in both wars, and Eddie Rickenbacker was one of them, one of the "best of the best."....

It would be hard if not outright impossible to overstate the impact Roman Emperor Constantine I had on the history of Christianity, Ancient Rome, and Europe as a whole.

The man known to most of the world as Emperor Hirohito ruled during some of the most tumultuous years in Japanese history. When he came to the throne in 1926, he inherited control of a country which had only recently emerged as a major industrial and world power....