Virtual History

A modern American expeditionary strike group vanishes from a routine exercise — and reappears in the Mediterranean at the edge of the Second Punic War. No satellites. No resupply. No modern nation behind them. Only finite fuel, limited ammunition, fragile medical stores, and ships powerful enough to terrify the ancient world — but not powerful enough to survive carelessness. Commodore Daniel Mercer commands a fleet that should not exist in 218 BCE. Around him are modern warships, Marines, aircraft, drones, engineers, doctors, and enough firepower to shatter any ancient navy. But every ...

African American History 3-in-1: An Unforgettable Journey of Resilience, Resistance, and Triumph From the inhuman horrors of the Atlantic Slave Trade to the secret heroism of the Underground Railroad, and through the inspiring triumphs of African American pioneers, this book delivers a sweeping, full-scope narrative that will move, challenge, and uplift you. Across three enthralling volumes, you’ll witness the heartbreak, the courage, and the legacy of a people who changed the course of history. Three manuscripts in one book: African American History: An Enthralling Overview of Major ...

They were poor enough to share horses. They became rich enough to bankroll kings. The Knights Templar began in 1119 as nine knights guarding a dangerous stretch of pilgrim road outside Jerusalem. By the height of their power, they controlled a private army, a fleet of ships, hundreds of castles and commanderies across Europe and the Holy Land, and one of the most sophisticated financial networks of the medieval world — an institution with nearly every attribute of a sovereign state except a crown. Then, on a single morning in October 1307, King Philip IV of France had every Templar in his...

A Brief History of the World offers a sweeping yet accessible journey through the grand story of humanity—from the origins of life on Earth to the rise of civilizations, empires, revolutions, and global connections. Written for curious minds and lifelong learners, this book distills the most significant moments in human history into a clear, engaging narrative that reveals how our world came to be. Rather than an exhaustive chronicle, this concise guide highlights the pivotal ideas, cultures, achievements, and conflicts that have shaped the human experience. It begins with the emergence ...

What if almost everything you think you know about Halloween is wrong? Halloween: A History of the World's Most Haunted Holiday traces the night from its origins as Samhain, an Iron Age Irish festival marking the turn from summer to winter, through two thousand years of accident, adaptation, and reinvention, to the trillion-dollar American holiday it has become today. This is not the tidy, secondhand version of Halloween's history repeated every October in listicles and classroom handouts. This book goes back to primary sources and archaeological evidence to separate what actually happened ...

A Concise History of Israel and Palestine. Borders, Beliefs, and Battles in a Divided Land. Understand the past. Make sense of the present. A concise guide, that explains the history of this divided land in a simple and easy to understand way, including what has led to the current conflict. For anyone trying to understand one of the world’s most enduring and emotional conflicts, A Concise History of Israel and Palestine offers clear answers, compelling storytelling, and historical balance. Spanning thousands of years — from the biblical kingdoms and empires of antiquity to the modern ...

Why do civilizations rise, flourish, weaken, and fall? Centuries before sociology had a name, before modern economics became a discipline, and before historians spoke of systems theory, one fourteenth-century Muslim thinker looked at the rise and fall of nations and saw a hidden pattern. His name was Ibn Khaldun. In his masterpiece, the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun transformed history from a record of kings and battles into a science of civilization itself. He asked questions that still haunt the modern world: What holds a society together? Why do ruling classes decay? How does wealth weaken the...

In 2044, Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Voss's battalion is retreating under artillery fire when it walks into a stand of pine trees. It comes out the other side in October 1918. Three hundred and eighty modern soldiers. Rifles with ammunition that will run out in days. A GPS that insists, calmly and without error, that they are standing on a coordinate system retired before any of them were born. And in Voss's breast pocket, a sealed second set of orders he already suspects he isn't ready to open. They are not lost. They are expected. Within days, Sergeant Noah Bell finds a private in the next ...

A third of Europe. Five years. One disease that changed everything. In 1347, twelve ships limped into the harbor at Messina carrying cargo no customs official could inspect. Within days, the port city was dying. Within five years, the Black Death had killed somewhere between a third and half of everyone alive in Europe, an event with no equal in the entire span of recorded human history. THE PLAGUE takes readers inside that catastrophe and, crucially, behind it. This is not simply a chronicle of suffering. It is a full investigation into how a fourteenth-century world of crowded wooden ...

Looking for the perfect gift for a history buff - or your next reading obsession? The Weirdest Tales in History delivers 25 full-length, immersive true stories that most textbooks skip, soften, or bury in a footnote - from ancient Rome to Cold War experiments, from medieval courts to modern disasters. Not trivia. Not listicles. Real stories - told the way they deserve. Every chapter starts with a quick snapshot: Absurdity/Evidence/Grimness ratings - how wild, how dark, and how well-documented it is A Truth Meter - rock-solid fact vs debated detail vs likely legend A “Tell-at-a-Party” ...

This annotated edition includes: The complete Histories in nine books, unabridged, in the 1890 translation of G. C. Macaulay Macaulay's own scholarly apparatus — more than 1,400 notes on the Greek text, the manuscripts and the disputed readings A critical study of some 15,000 words, in eight parts, on the invention of inquiry and the ancient quarrel over Herodotus' honesty A biographical essay separating the little that is known about Herodotus from the much that is merely reported A note on the text recording the copy-text and the corrections made to it A live table of contents; the nine...

Step into the extraordinary with Weird History Stories. Dive into the captivating world of history's quirks and curiosities as this book unveils a collection of intriguing tales. From peculiar incidents to astonishing discoveries, this volume presents an array of interesting stories in history, guaranteed to pique the curiosity of readers young and old. Explore the lesser-known corners of the past, where fact is indeed stranger than fiction.Here are just a few of the many stories you'll read about: Hear about Sam Patch and his propensity to jump off of waterfalls Learn about some of the ...

Ever wondered how a single lie can reshape the world? From a forged letter that toppled a British government to a dead prince who came back to claim his throne — three times — this is a collection of history's most audacious deceptions. But it's also something rarer: a book about why we fall for them. Because almost none of these hoaxes worked by being clever. They worked because entire nations, grieving families, and frightened crowds wanted them to be true. Six unforgettable sections take you from the newsroom to the throne room, from the altar to the archive: HEADLINE HIJACKERS — ...

Since 1945, the United States Armed Forces have fielded 70 different nuclear and thermonuclear devices on approximately 120 weapon systems. During this period, the manufacturing operations of the Manhattan Project, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Department of Energy produced about 70,500 nuclear bombs and warheads. The Air Force and the Navy currently deploy eight types of thermonuclear device on six weapon systems and the Department of Defense maintains about 2,500 nuclear bombs and warheads (tactical and strategic) on active duty. It keeps approximately the same number in reserve. ...

Into Africa: The Extraordinary Journeys of Frederick Courteney Selous – Volumes 1 & 2 Two volumes. One extraordinary life. The complete story of one of Africa's greatest explorers. Before he became a legend, Frederick Courteney Selous was simply a young man determined to explore Africa. In an age when vast regions of the continent remained unknown to Europeans, Selous ventured deep into the African interior with little more than a rifle, a few supplies and an extraordinary appetite for adventure. He crossed raging rivers, travelled through country inhabited by lions, elephants, buffalo, ...

The war between Athens and Sparta remade the Greek world. In History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides records the long conflict that drew the great city-states of Greece—and their allies—into a struggle for power, security, honor, and survival. From the outbreak of hostilities to plague in Athens, civil unrest, failed diplomacy, brutal sieges, and the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, this is not merely a chronicle of battles. It is an inquiry into how nations reason, how leaders persuade, and how fear and ambition can turn political rivalry into catastrophe. Written by an Athenian ...

Unlock the story of Rome like never before Step into the heart of the ancient world and experience the rise, reign, and remarkable transformation of one of history’s most powerful civilizations. Three manuscripts in one book: Roman Empire: An Enthralling Overview of Imperial Rome Roman Republic: An Enthralling Overview of the Rise and Fall The Byzantine Empire: An Enthralling Overview of the Byzantium Here’s just a tiny fraction of what you’ll discover inside: The dramatic rise of Augustus — and how he turned chaos into empire. Scandals, betrayals, and bloodshed in Rome’s ...

9/11: What Really Happened? — The Attacks, the Heroes, and the Day That Changed America places young readers inside one of the most important and devastating events in modern history. Told through fictional characters living alongside documented events, this I Witness History (Short) volume brings readers into classrooms, offices, stairwells, firehouses, the Pentagon, rural Pennsylvania, and the streets of New York as the attacks unfold. Sixteen-year-old Daniel Bennett begins the morning worrying about a history test. Firefighter Thomas Callahan climbs into the North Tower carrying heavy ...

250 years. 250 stories. One country. On July 4, 2026, the United States turns two hundred and fifty. To mark the occasion, Henry Ashford has done something no popular history of America has attempted before: he has told the entire story year by year, with a single defining moment for each of the 250 years from the Declaration of Independence to the eve of the anniversary. One year. One story. One page or two. 1776 is the Declaration. 1865 is Appomattox and Lincoln's death. 1929 is the Crash. 1969 is Apollo 11. 2001 is September. But what about 1832? 1879? 1924? 1957? Some of America's most ...

Could you have survived a single Tuesday in 1850? No toothpaste. No tampons. No antibiotics. No hot showers. No birth control, no aspirin, no anesthesia, no ice in July. Your neighbor is coughing blood, your baby has a fever, and the only thing in the medicine cabinet is a jar of leeches and a bottle of whiskey. Welcome to the good old days. "You Wouldn't Have Lasted a Week" is a laugh-out-loud, wince-out-loud, occasionally jaw-dropping tour of everything your great-great-grandparents lived through — and the astonishingly clever (and sometimes revolting) ways they got by. It's the history...