In 1933, Margaret Sullavan made her film debut and was an overnight sensation. For the next three decades, she enchanted audiences and critics in any medium she chose—film, theater, television—and was
Chariot races. Gladiatorial combat. Fishing. Hunting. Swimming. The ancient Romans enjoyed these sports—sometimes with fanatical enthusiasm. This reference book contains more than 100 entries covering
The Great Basin is a hydrographic region that includes most of Nevada and parts of five other Western states. The histories of four of the Western rivers of the Great Basin—the Walker, the Truckee, th
Steam locomotives dominated the railways from the 1820s through the 1960s. Today almost all of them have been replaced with electric and diesel engines, yet the fascination surrounding steam-powered t
Magic, both benevolent (white) and malign (black), has been practiced in the British Isles since at least the Iron Age (800 BCE–CE 43). “Curse tablets”—metal plates inscribed with curses intended to h
The early chroniclers of Britain presented the island as the promised land of the Roman goddess Diana. Later, when the story of Arthur was transformed by Christian mythology, a new literary concept of
Few families have influenced America like the Roosevelts—two presidents from different parties, including our longest-serving chief executive, and the “First Lady of the World.” Born into aristocratic
Assassination--in Japanese, ansatsu or "dark murder"--was instrumental in the samurai-led revolution known as the Meiji Restoration, by which the shogun's military government was overthrown and the Im
The borders and boundaries of citizenship as a national concern have been blurred by global information systems. At the same time, the public and private spheres have been reshaped through globalizati
Western movies are full of images of swaggering outlaws brought to justice by valiant lawmen shooting them down in daring gunfights before riding off into the sunset. In reality these mostly invented
A couple of generations ago, the movie industry ran more or less on gut instinct—film schools, audience research departments and seminars on screenwriting were not yet de rigueur. Today the standard i
With book sales at 25 million and counting and the popularity of the current television show, there is no question that it has wide appeal, but why is Outlander so popular? Twelve contributors respond
Academic librarians describe how they are exploring the meaning of electronic learning and providing new and interesting ways of creating and delivering it. Their goal is to inspire colleagues to be c
"In 1929, Hollywood mogul William Fox (1879-1952) came close to controlling the entire motion picture industry. The 25-year lifespan of the Fox Film Corporation, home of such personalities as Theda Ba
Most baseball fans know what links Fred Merkle, Fred Snodgrass, Mickey Owen and Bill Buckner. It's a pantheon of public failure. They would be harder put to say what links Eric Byrnes, Tony Fernandez,
Towns and communities across America once revolved around their downtowns. Here people shopped, worked, relaxed, and worshipped. Changing needs and developments, however, resulted in their abandonment
Despite the controversial nature of globalization, there is no doubt that the pace and intensity of global interactions has been multiplied exponentially over the last few decades. Criticism of global
Just as a growing interest in millennialism at the turn of this century has rejuvenated religious debate and questions concerning the fate of the world, so did Mormonism develop from millennial enthus
The newspapers called him “Overshadowing Monarch Mastodon,” “Behemoth of Holy Writ” and “Prodigious Mountain.” He was the main event at the greatest show on earth: Jumbo, at around 6-1/2 tons and almo
All along the mid–1800s Western frontier, the path of fugitive slaves in the Underground Railroad was filled with danger. An escapee who managed to avoid violence still was hard-pressed to survive in
