The American Heritage library

An illustrated history of the day-to-day lives and customs of the various Indian tribes inhabiting North America before the arrival of the Europeans.

Includes biographical essays on Petrarch, Machiavelli, the young Michelangelo, Lorenzo de Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Pope Pius II, Doge Francesco Foscari, Federigo da Montefeltro, Beatrice and Isabella D'Este.

This third munificent Horizon book which represents a great deal of work by a great many people is, quite frankly, an idea-project-production job with a mass market gift book designation. There are 330 pictures, 117 in full color, some double spreads, and the color is not subtle. Throughout there are insets on special features of the period, its intellectual cadre, its fashions, arts, society, Napoleon's family, his loves, his son, and ultimately extending to vistas of other parts of the world -- England, America, Russia, etc. The main narrative, the parabola of the rise of Le Petit Caporal to Emperor, to his expensive defeat and downfall, has been written by that master of this age-J. Christopher Herold. One follows the little ""Corsican savage"" from his early years to the tyrant's progress on the road to ""la gloire"". And his legacy, spread eagled across the centuries, is evaluated in terms of real contributions (Code Napoleon, etc.) and apocryphal associations.

Medieval art and writings are used to compplement a detailed commentary.

This book, first in a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy, describes the conditions (economic, socio-political, etc.) that led to the Great Depression & the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Schlesinger takes a multi-disciplinary approach to his topic, examining this period period via the major actors who played a part in shaping it, as well as the emerging trends that such persons represented. As the "old order" succumbed to the turbulence & change that characterized the 20th Century, Schlesinger does a masterful job describing its decline.

For contents, see Author Catalog.