Through a collection of original source documents and the words of those who lived through it, The Vietnam War gives insight into the historic background and events leading to American involvement and escalation of the war. Professor Mitch Yamasaki examines the major interpretations of how and why the U.S. became involved, what it hoped to accomplish, and how a poorly armed guerilla army thwarted U.S. efforts. Carefully selected materials highlight the forces that led to President Johnson's dilemma, the country's deep divisions over the war, and the ongoing reexamination of...

Compelling firsthand accounts and primary source U.S. history documents underpin History Compass' popular Perspectives on History series. This volume introduces criminal justice in the American colonies to the days of westward expansion with discussion of the various punishments and philosophies and opinions on criminal behavior, from the Puritans to Thomas Jefferson, Dorothea Dix, Alexis de Tocqueville, and others.

New England Transcendalists gives readers insight into the idealism and romanticism running through 19th century Transcendentalist philosophy, thought, and spirituality and into the movement's critique of the materialist and rationalist culture of the time. This volume introduces the reader to Transcendentalism through excerpts from the writings of Transcendentalist movement members such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and Walt Whitman.