Jules Archer

At twenty-six Douglas MacArthur was military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt, and his courageous leadership of the Rainbow Division in World War I made him a general. At the same time, his reluctance to heed any authority but his own gained him a reputation of arrogance and insubordination that was to shadow his entire career.
As MacArthur helped guide defeated Japan to democracy, it was remarked that he himself tolerated no democratic questioning...

"Extremism tends to flourish in times of crisis," writes Jules Archer. It comes in all shapes and sizes and attaches itself to various causes. You can find extremism at the beginning with the founding fathers, extremists in the eyes of the British government and you can most definitely find it today. Jules Archer chronicles a history of extremists such as: Puritans, Suffragettes, The Klu Klux Klan, and Prohibitionists. With vintage cartoons and...

With today's climate change, our environmental problems aren't going away any time soon. To Save the Earth looks at the lives of four extraordinary Americans who fought to save our earth. John Muir, a pioneer of conservationism, was the founder of our national park system. Rachel Carson, biologist and author, educated our country about the effects of pesticides and chemical waste. David McTaggart, the organizer of Greenpeace, introduced nonviolent...

Benito Mussolini was a man of many contradictions but with one driving ambition: to rule Italy and restore it to the power and splendor of the ancient Roman Empire, with himself as the new Caesar. He became the founder of the Fascist movement and dictator of all of Italy. The son of a poor blacksmith who was an ardent Socialist, Mussolini grew up in an atmosphere of political agitation. He taught school for a brief time and then became a fiery journalist,...

In order to advance their various causes and concerns, these groups hire individuals or firms called lobbyists to work on their behalf to influence the decisions of state and federal lawmakers. Lobbies have been a part of American history ever since Benjamin Franklin appealed to Britain's Parliament to remove a tax on stamps in 1757. The right of any person or group to "petition the government for a redress of grievances" was and is protected by...

Slavery is wrong. Women can be doctors. Women can wear pants. These are truths that most Americans today would agree are unambiguous. But there was a time in this country when each of those statements resulted in vicious criticism. When she wore pants, Amelia Bloomer was a "hussy," subjected to jeers and catcalls. As the only female doctor in the entire western United States, Bethenia Owens was so unpopular that she was threatened with tar and feathers...

Why do people riot? From the Boston Massacre in 1770 to the Los Angeles riots of 1992, mob violence in the United States is often sparked by unjust court decisions, unfair taxes, unpopular wars, the fear of unemployment, and racial and ethnic prejudice. But there are also seemingly senseless riots over wild concerts and sports championships. What causes a peacefully assembled crowd to turn into a mindless, violent mob? What causes a police force or...

The majority of the civil rights movement in the United States occurred in three stages. The first stage began with the slaves in America fighting for their freedom. Frederick Douglass was a key player from the very beginning. Born a slave, Douglass escaped and went on to become one of the most respected abolitionist leaders. After the Civil War, freed slaves fought to overcome the still-prevailing prejudice and persecution. During this phase, Marcus...

Today, feminism is as important as ever. Betty Friedan's musings, "to take the actions needed to bring women into the mainstream of American society, now; full equality for women, in fully equal partnership with men," still hold fervently true in current society. Young readers still fighting for equality today need to know how the movement began years ago, with such basics as the right to vote, the right to birth control, and the right to equal employment....

We often remember the 1960s as a time of peace and love, but it was also a time of assassinations, riots, and an unpopular war. Furthermore, more than three million people took to the streets in violent antiwar and civil rights demonstrations during this decade. In The Incredible '60s, renowned historian Jules Archer brings the glories and tragedies of the sixties to a new generation, with a comprehensive history of sixties counterculture, the Vietnam...