The Normans who originally came to Italy and Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries were looking for adventure or a livelihood, but only saw and took chances to gain fame and fortune. The story of the Norman conquest in Italy and Sicily is indeed one of knights and adventurers, great battles and lowly pillage, opportunism and statesmanship, and crusade and coexistence. This rich and often dramatic study focuses on the eight sons of Tancred of Hauteville, especially Robert Guiscard, who has been called the most dazzling military ruler between Julius Caesar and Napoleon, and his youngest brother...

While the majority of scholarship on early Washington focuses on its political and physical development, in "Incidental Architect "Gordon S. Brown describes the intellectual and social scene of the late 1700s through the lives of a prominent couple whose cultural aspirations served as both model and mirror for the city s own.
When William and Anna Maria Thornton arrived in Washington, D.C., in 1794, the new nation s capital was little more than a raw village. The Edinburgh educated Thornton and his accomplished wife brought with them the values of the Scottish Enlightenment, an enthusiasm...

While the majority of scholarship on early Washington focuses on its political and physical development, in "Incidental Architect "Gordon S. Brown describes the intellectual and social scene of the late 1700s through the lives of a prominent couple whose cultural aspirations served as both model and mirror for the city s own.
When William and Anna Maria Thornton arrived in Washington, D.C., in 1794, the new nation s capital was little more than a raw village. The Edinburgh educated Thornton and his accomplished wife brought with them the values of the Scottish Enlightenment, an enthusiasm...

When anti-colonial revolts broke out in Spain's American colonies in the early 1800's, the United States were divided as to what position to take. Proximity and America's own anti-colonial ethos favored sympathy with the rebel cause, yet U.S. strategic interests during the tumultuous Napoleonic Wars dictated a policy of neutrality. When rebel provinces appealed to the U.S. seeking support, arms, or recognition and launched armed assaults on Spanish territory and shipping from U.S. soil, the situation became critical. American political and public opinion split sharply. Could the untested...