History for busy people. Black History, or African-American History, looks at the story and culture of black Americans from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Encompassing everything from immigration to civil war, emancipation, slavery and migration, Black History in an Hour gives you a neat overview of this vast and fascinating subject.

This book is a superb introduction to the powerful varied history of African Americans. The study of Black History in the West has to be seen primarily in the context of American history. It was in the USA, where all men are created equal, that slavery and the fight for civil rights had its most profound effect.

Love your history? Find out about the world with History in an Hour…

Black History in an Hour

It was early on a Friday morning in the spring of 1861 that the American Civil War began.  At 4:30am that morning of April 12, Confederate forces in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, were ordered to open fire on Fort Sumter where Union forces were entrenched.  The next day, a Saturday, the Union commander, Major Robert Anderson, knew that he was outnumbered, out of food and out of options.  The first engagement of the American Civil War had been fought, and the Confederate States of America was the victor.  More than 40,000 shells had been dropped on the fort that sat on a spit of land in the harbor.  And yet, there were few wounded and no casualties.

The bombardment of Fort Sumter is considered the official beginning of the American Civil War.  However, the storm clouds of war had been gathering for years before those first shots were fired.  When the First Continental Congress presented their Declaration of Independence to the country, it included the promise of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”  They neglected to mention that the promise was limited to white males.  But it did not go unnoticed.  It was a consciousness that would grow and spread until it began to meet with resistance.

This, in an hour, is the American Civil War.

American Civil War in an Hour

History for busy people. The Cold War: History in an Hour gives a brilliant overview of the unusual and non-violent war between East and West that lasted nearly fifty years.

From the end of World War Two to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the world lived within the shadow of the Cold War. Russia and America eyed each other with suspicion and hostility. World War Two was too recent to be forgotten and a nuclear Third World War remained a distinct possibility. Post-war Europe was being rebuilt and Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt had to find a way to work together for peace.

The Cold War: History in an Hour will help you understand the dynamics of the politics of the time and how Europe and the rest of the world rebuilt themselves after World War Two.

Love your history? Find out about the world with History in an Hour…

Cold War in an Hour

Hitler: History in an Hour

What made a failed Austrian artist into the most reviled and destructive personality of the Twentieth Century? Where did the seeds of his rabid anti-Semitism lie? How did a marginalised loner become such a moving force in Germany? How could a nation have fallen for such a maverick? What made him so determined to bring about war?

Read about Hitler as a boy and his relationship with his overbearing father, and about Hitler as a daydreaming drop-out in Vienna and Munich. Read about his routines, obsessions, his ideas and idiosyncrasies, and about the women in his life. Learn about Hitler’s experiences as a soldier during the First World War, and about Hitler as an employee of a Soviet Republic.

Read about how Hitler entered politics and slowly manipulated politicians and civilians; and outmanoeuvred leaders and nations through bullying, diplomacy, charm and lies to achieve complete power leading ultimately to the bloodiest war in history.

Learn about his final days within the oppressive cauldron of his bunker as the Third Reich crumbled around him and, with his health deteriorating, his ultimate, dramatic demise.

This, in an hour, is the story of Adolf Hitler.

Hitler in an Hour

“And so it had all come to this. Did all this happen only so that a gang of wretched criminals could lay hands on the fatherland? Hatred grew in me, hatred for those responsible for this deed.”

The words are those of Adolf Hitler; the deed – Germany’s surrender in the First World War, and the wretched criminals – the politicians who had meekly accepted the surrender and the defeat of Germany.

Read about Hitler’s experience as a soldier during World War One, the Nazi Party’s climb to power, the elimination of opponents and the Weimar constitution.

Learn about life in Nazi Germany, for women, the family, the Jews, and the use of state control, propaganda and security. See how Hitler manipulated foreign policy to achieve his aims, and how he brought the world into war.

This, in an hour, is Nazi Germany…

Nazi Germany in an Hour

Lasting 2,174 days and costing over 50 million lives (50,000 for each day of the war), the Second World War remains the most devastating conflict in history. During the First World War of 1914-1918, 95% of casualties were soldiers, during 1939-1945, 95% were civilian. This was the war where the civilian was on the frontline of the conflict.
This, in an hour, is World War Two.

History In An Hour

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