In the mid-twentieth century, the struggle against colonial rule fundamentally reshaped the world and the lives of the majority of the world's population. Decolonization, Black and Brown freedom movements, the establishment of the United Nations and NATO, an exploding Cold War, a burgeoning world human rights movement, all became part of the dramatic events that swept through Africa at a furious pace, with fifty nations gaining independence in roughly fifty years. Meanwhile, the United States emerged as the most powerful and influential nation in the world, with the ability—politically, economically, militarily—and principles to help or hinder the transformation of the African continent. Tears, Fire, and Blood offers a sweeping history of how the United States responded to decolonization in Africa. James H. Meriwether explores how Washington, grappling with national security interests and racial prejudices, veered between strengthening African nationalist movements seeking majority rule and independence and bolstering anticommunist European allies seeking to maintain white rule. Events in Africa helped propel the Black freedom struggle around the world and ultimately forced the United States to confront its support for national ideals abroad as it fought over how to achieve equality at home.

In this transnational account of black protest, Nicholas Grant examines how African Americans engaged with, supported, and were inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement. Bringing black activism into conversation with the foreign policy of both the U.S. and South African governments, this study questions the dominant perception that U.S.-centered anticommunism decimated black international activism. Instead, by tracing the considerable amount of time, money, and effort the state invested into responding to black international criticism, Grant outlines the extent to which the U.S. and South African governments were forced to reshape and occasionally reconsider their racial policies in the Cold War world. This study shows how African Americans and black South Africans navigated transnationally organized state repression in ways that challenged white supremacy on both sides of the Atlantic. The political and cultural ties that they forged during the 1940s and 1950s are testament to the insistence of black activists in both countries that the struggle against apartheid and Jim Crow were intimately interconnected.

A striking narrative history of work and the individuals and events that have been responsible for its evolution. Work--a process familiar to almost everyone--has radically changed over the centuries. The author examines early societies, slavery, guilds, trade secrets, religion and unions.

In the mineral-rich, dirt-poor Congo, the promise of democratic elections now offers to ignite a glorious future for the country - or a final conflagration.

World-renowned psychic and bestselling author of End of Days Sylvia Browne turns her psychic wisdom to the puzzling, often contradictory predictions proposed by major historical and contemporary figures, ranging from Biblical prophets, to Nostradamus, to President George Washington, to NASA scientists. Sylvia Browne, the psychic who offered eerily accurate predictions of our current days, examines what the future holds for us in this guide to the most famous—and notorious—prophetic voices throughout the ages. Browne offers a clear and fascinating vision of the world as it will be from five years into the future to five hundred, with a startling and revealing look into the future of our nation and our world—and a beacon of hope and inspiration in these uncertain times. “I've personally witnessed Sylvia Browne bring closure to distraught families, help the police close cases, and open people’s hearts to help them see the good within themselves.”—Montel Williams