Jan Gross describes the terrors of the Soviet occupation of the lands that made up eastern Poland between the two world wars: the Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia. His lucid analysis of the revolution that came to Poland from abroad is based on hundreds of first-hand accounts of the hardship, suffering, and social chaos that accompanied the Sovietization of this poorest section of a poverty-stricken country. Woven into the author's exploration of events from the Soviet's German-supported aggression against Poland in September of 1939 to Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, these testimonies not only illuminate his conclusions about the nature of totalitarianism but also make a powerful statement of their own. Those who endured the imposition of Soviet rule and mass deportations to forced resettlement, labor camps, and prisons of the Soviet Union are here allowed to speak for themselves, and they do so with grim effectiveness.

"God grant that not only the love of liberty, but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man, may prevail in all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say, This is my country." With this quotation from Benjamin Franklin, historian Richard Morris, Columbia University, opened the fourth Library of Congress Symposium on the American Revolution, held May 8 and 9, 1975, in the Librarys Coolidge Auditorium. For Americans, the Revolution brought independence, nationhood, a constitution clearly defining the relations of the state to the people, and reforms in social and economic equality. But what did it mean to the rest of the late 18th century world? Some answers to this question are found in the papers published in this volume. Following a comprehensive survey of the impact of the American Revolution abroad, by R. R. Palmer of Yale University, leading historians consider its effect on specific countries. France is discussed by Charles Fohlen of the University of Paris-Sorbonne; the Dutch Republic by J. W. Schulte Nordholt of the State University of Leiden; Great Britain by J. H. Plumb of Christs College, Cambridge; the Russian Empire by N. N. Bolkhoitinov of the Instittue of General History, Academy of Sciences of the USSR; the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world by Mario Rodriguez of the University of Southern California; and Ireland by Owen Dudley Edwards of the University of Edinburgh. Concluding the volume are commentaries on the American Revolution in relation to Germany, Japan, and Spain by Erich Angermann of the University of Cologne, Nagayo Homina of the University of Tokyo, and Ignacio Rubio Mañe, Archivist of Mexico.

In November of 2003, a stolen election in the former Soviet republic of Georgia led to protests and the eventual resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze. Shevardnadze was replaced by a democratically elected government led by President Mikheil Saakashvili, who pledged to rebuild Georgia, orient it toward the West, and develop a European-style democracy. Known as the Rose Revolution, this early twenty-first-century democratic movement was only one of the so-called color revolutions (Orange in Ukraine, Tulip in Kyrgyzstan, and Cedar in Lebanon). What made democratic revolution in Georgia thrive when so many similar movements in the early part of the decade dissolved? Lincoln A. Mitchell witnessed the Rose Revolution firsthand, even playing a role in its manifestation by working closely with key Georgian actors who brought about change. In Uncertain Democracy, Mitchell recounts the events that led to the overthrow of Shevardnadze and analyzes the factors that contributed to the staying power of the new regime. The book also explores the modest but indispensable role of the United States in contributing to the Rose Revolution and Georgia's failure to live up to its democratic promise. Uncertain Democracy is the first scholarly examination of Georgia's recent political past. Drawing upon primary sources, secondary documents, and his own NGO experience, Mitchell presents a compelling case study of the effect of U.S. policy of promoting democracy abroad.

Freedom fighters. Guerrilla warriors. Soldiers of fortune. The many civil wars and rebellions against communist governments drew heavily from this cast of characters. Yet from Nicaragua to Afghanistan, Vietnam to Angola, Cuba to the Congo, the connections between these anticommunist groups have remained hazy and their coordination obscure. Yet as Kyle Burke reveals, these conflicts were the product of a rising movement that sought paramilitary action against communism worldwide. Tacking between the United States and many other countries, Burke offers an international history not only of the paramilitaries who started and waged small wars in the second half of the twentieth century but of conservatism in the Cold War era. From the start of the Cold War, Burke shows, leading U.S. conservatives and their allies abroad dreamed of an international anticommunist revolution. They pinned their hopes to armed men, freedom fighters who could unravel communist states from within. And so they fashioned a global network of activists and state officials, guerrillas and mercenaries, ex-spies and ex-soldiers to sponsor paramilitary campaigns in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Blurring the line between state-sanctioned and vigilante violence, this armed crusade helped radicalize right-wing groups in the United States while also generating new forms of privatized warfare abroad.

In The Third Revolution, Elizabeth Economy, one of America's leading China scholars, provides an authoritative overview of contemporary China that makes sense of all of the seeming inconsistencies and ambiguities in its policies and actions.

There always seemed to be an adventure to be had and a story to be told, written or remembered! Pursuing a dream to travel, see amazing places, meet wonderful people from all walks of life, and sharing thoughts and experiences in my journals was the best way to memorialize it! Starting in my early youth, fantasizing about travel and adventure from books, movies to re-enacting them with make shift forts, rafts, and friends, a little "Walter Mitty-esque"! It was amazing to read our old encyclopedias, looking at world history and maps, learning about legendary figures! I wanted to be a writer, an artist, a singer, an athlete...lead a cavalry charge, swing from tree to tree, climb the highest peaks, cross the great divide, etc...endless dreams. At the age of 17, I was fully grown and asserting my young adulthood, with a say in my life decisions about my future education, activities, and travel! One of my best friends and I took off for NYC, Boston, and Walden Pond the summer before our senior year in high school for a TRULY awakening experience!!! A year later in college at Alfred State together with some other friends, 2 years later off to Arizona State with another friend, back east to SUNY Oswego, Outward Bound program in North Carolina and ultimately off to Bruges, Belgium to end my senior year of college and beyond... Did I say MIND-BLOWING, 5 years later and 22... on roads less traveled! Come join the ride and or continue on your own journey!!!

A must-read financial history for investors navigating today's volatile global markets Following an unprecedented economic boom fed by foreign investment, the Russian Revolution triggered the largest sovereign default in history. In Bankers and Bolsheviks, Hassan Malik tells the story of this boom and bust, chronicling the experiences of leading financiers of the day as they navigated one of the most lucrative yet challenging markets of the first modern age of globalization. He reveals how a complex web of factors—from government interventions to competitive dynamics and cultural influences—drove a large inflow of capital during this tumultuous period. This gripping book demonstrates how the realms of finance and politics—of bankers and Bolsheviks—grew increasingly intertwined, and how investing in Russia became a political act with unforeseen repercussions.