In 1624 Simon Stock, a missionary priest of the Discalced Carmelite order in England, began correspondence with the recently founded Congregation of the Propaganda Fide in Rome in an attempt to interest it in the establishment of a novitiate for English priests of his order. Luca Codignola draws on the letters of Simon Stock and material in the archives of the Propaganda Fide and the Carmelite order to present a fascinating picture of seventeenth-century Catholic colonization.

Gordon Rhea's gripping fourth volume on the spring 1864 campaign-which pitted Ulysses S. Grant against Robert E. Lee for the first time in the Civil War-vividly re-creates the battles and maneuvers from the stalemate on the North Anna River through the Cold Harbor offensive. Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864 showcases Rhea's tenacious research which elicits stunning new facts from the records of a phase oddly ignored or mythologized by historians. In clear and profuse tactical detail, Rhea tracks the remarkable events of those nine days, giving a surprising new interpretation of.

This book investigates the operations of memory over time through three case studies: the famous anthology by Richard Hakluyt memorializing the feats of Elizabethan voyagers, the eccentric autobiography of Captain John Smith, and the little known history of early modern Newfoundland.

Within a generation of Columbuss first landfall in the Caribbean, Spain ruled an empire in central and south America many times the size of the home country. In stark contrast, after a century of struggle, and numerous disasters, English colonising efforts further north had succeeded in settling the banks of one waterway and the littoral of several bays. How and why progress was so slow and laborious is the central theme of this thought-provoking new book. It argues that this is best understood if the development of the English colonies is seen as a protracted amphibious operation, governed by all the factors that traditionally make for success or failure in such endeavours – aspects such as proper reconnaissance, establishing a secure bridgehead and timely reinforcement. Invading America examines the vessels and the voyages, the unrealistic ambitions of their promoters, the nature of the conflict with the native Indians, and the lack of leadership and cooperation that was so essential for success. Using documentary evidence and vivid first-hand accounts, it describes from a new perspective the often tragic, sometimes heroic, attempts to settle on the American coast and suggests why these so often ended in failure. As this book shows, the emergence of a powerful United States was neither inevitable nor easily achieved.