Charles River

*Includes pictures*Includes accounts of Nazis' escapes*Discusses the question of whether ODESSA actually existed*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Cloak and dagger espionage, assassination, dangerous adventure, and strange deceptions such as the Operation Mincemeat plan wherein the corpse of a Welsh pauper fitted with a uniform and false papers deceived the Nazi hierarchy about the location of the Western Allies' first landing in Europe, all constitute as real a part of World War II's kaleidoscopically varied history as battles and clear-cut policies. With such a complex and dramatic struggle, human nature dictates a crop of conspiracy theories also arise. The ODESSA, or Organisation der Ehemaligen SS-Angeh rigen (Organization for Former SS Members), appears quite plausible compared to some World War II legends. Next to tales of Hitler attempting to draw power from the Spear of Longinus or the Holy Grail, or the Japanese burying gold in foreign countries which thousands of treasure seekers cannot locate in the years since, the idea of an organization enabling the escape of SS and other Nazi individuals stands as modest and believable. The escape of hundreds of Nazis to South America and the Middle East represents a factual matter of history, not legend. Some of the Nazi hierarchy's vilest members, such as Dr. Josef Mengele and the mass murderer Adolf Eichmann, slipped out of Europe and spent years or decades safe from retribution. There, some evidence strongly suggests, they worked to bring the overthrow of Western democracy, frequently with the wholehearted support of Islamic extremists and the aid of money in Swiss bank accounts. Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter, asserted the ODESSA existed. Some historians propose that Wiesenthal may in fact be the original source positing the network's reality. The reality of the ODESSA, and its successor organizations such as "Die Spinne" ("The Spider") remains a subject of historical debate and contention. Some notable and extremely qualified historians maintain firmly that the ODESSA represents a phantasm, while other authors speak just as confidently of its existence. Regardless of whether the ODESSA existed in the formal sense Wiesenthal and the American CIA posited, an organized program of Nazi rescue certainly developed in the immediate postwar period. While the Catholic Church and even U. S. intelligence had some hand in enabling some escapes to Argentina, the preponderance of fleeing Nazis sought refuge in the Middle East. Using Italy or Franco's right-wing Spain as stopping off points, financed by two former Third Reich bankers, and masterminded by a man who likely qualified as Hitler's direct successor, the extremist Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husaini, the real ODESSA - whether an officially constructed organization or a simple shorthand for an informal but powerful network animated by a common purpose - represented a new alliance between the defeated Nazis and a number of Islamic extremist groups and governments. Among Simon Wiesenthal's other insights, the tireless and perceptive Nazi hunter shared one with his friend and colleague Alan Levy: "Then we talked of 'leftist fascism' and how the Russians and their Stalinist puppets in Eastern Europe issued decrees with the same wording used by the Nazi occupiers. As Simon put it: 'The world is round. If you go right, right, right, you come out on the left.'" (Levy, 2002, 14). In other words, the real ODESSA transformed the Nazis from a primarily European racist phenomenon into a Middle Eastern and quasi-Islamic racist phenomenon. In the process, they came to view all European culture with the same lethal hostility as they held towards Jews, and they even contemplated assisting a Soviet conquest of Europe, proving Wiesenthal's axiom functionally true in more than one sense.

*Includes pictures. *Includes quotes about both men's lives and careers. *Includes bibliographies of both men. Virtually all famous actors are regaled by the public, but even still, Fred Astaire occupies a privileged position in American pop culture. The specific films in which Astaire acted may not be especially famous in their own right - most people likely cannot recall the title of Top Hat (1935), his most decorated film - but Astaire's dancing prowess invariably creates a lasting impact on viewers. Instead of tying his fame to a single film, Astaire's genius lay in constructing his star persona around a specific set of iconographic imagery that has become embedded within American culture. Across his films, the recurring iconic images of the top hat, cane, and coat tails, as well as the image of Astaire dancing with Ginger Rogers, all constitute a timeless symbol for elegance that continues to captivate viewers who are unfamiliar with the plots of his films. There have been other film musical actors who were proficient dancers, Gene Kelly chief among them, but none were able to perform with the seamless elegance of Astaire, and none have been remembered nearly as well. Astaire's popularity can in large part be tied to the escapism that his films offered to impoverished Depression-era American audiences, and yet Astaire was a working man, albeit one who labored in the studios of Hollywood rather than the factories of America. Considering the quiet life that he led off the movie set, it can be difficult to disassociate Astaire from his films, and while he may have attempted to project the same image off the screen, the era and his personal background were extremely important. As someone who was born just before the start of the 20th century, Astaire's life sheds light on the developments that occurred in American entertainment, from the stage (where he first performed during his youth) to cinema (the site of his greatest triumphs) and finally to television (a medium Astaire entered at the end of his career.) Astaire's career tends to obscure his all-American success story, one in which hard work transformed a Nebraska boy from a working-class family into America's most prominent symbol of grace. Although they did collaborate on two occasions, in many ways Gene Kelly's rise to popularity in the 1940s amounted to a changing of the guard, because Astaire's career had begun to wane by the mid-1940s. For film historians and fans of the musical, however, even if they weren't contemporaries, Astaire and Kelly will forever be viewed as rivals, with each having left an indelible stamp on the genre that defined their careers. Regardless of which dancer viewers film, there is no denying the cultural significance of some of Kelly's most famous films, including An American in Paris (1949) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), movies that occupy a central position within the pantheon of Hollywood musicals. While it is true that a comparison between Astaire and Kelly is indispensible to any study of Kelly's life, much can also be gained simply by focusing mostly on his life and career. What made Kelly unusual for actors of that era is that he did not actually arrive in Hollywood until he was nearly 30 years old, so his early life and work before film had a crucial influence on his star image. Furthermore, given that he came to prominence after Astaire, Kelly's career offers a valuable lens through which to chart the evolution of the musical genre, as well as a look at the prevailing standards of masculinity within Hollywood at the time. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly examines the lives and careers of two of Hollywood's most iconic dancers, tracing their rise to stardom and the forces within Hollywood and American popular culture that would ultimately lead to the end of their careers.

*Includes pictures. *Includes descriptions of the crisis written by important officials. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. "For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." - President John F. Kennedy, June 1963 When young president John F. Kennedy came to power in 1961, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was eager to test his mettle from the start, and Khrushchev's belief that he could push the inexperienced American leader around grew in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the inconclusive Vienna summit in June 1961 that left Kennedy complaining to his brother Bobby that Khrushchev was "like dealing with Dad. All give and no take." Given the events of the previous year, 1962 saw Khrushchev made his most decisive decision. Still questioning Kennedy's resolve, and attempting to placate the concerns of Cuban leader Fidel Castro following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Khrushchev attempted to place medium range nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. Though Castro warned him that the act would seem like an act of aggression to the Americans, Khrushchev insisted on moving the missiles in quietly, under the cover of darkness. These missiles could serve not only as a deterrent against any invasion of Cuba but also as the ultimate first-strike capability in the event of a nuclear war. However, in October 1962, American spy planes discovered the Soviets were building nuclear missile sites in Cuba, and intelligence officials informed Kennedy of this on October 16th. It went without saying that nuclear missile sites located just miles off the coast of the American mainland posed a grave threat to the country, especially because missiles launched from Cuba would reach their targets in mere minutes. That would throw off important military balances in nuclear arms and locations that had previously ensured the Cold War stayed cold. Almost all senior American political figures agreed that the sites were offensive and needed to be removed, but how? Ultimately, some of the biggest arguments during the crisis took place among members of the Kennedy administration and the military. Members of the U. S. Air Force wanted to take out the sites with bombing missions and launch a full-scale invasion of Cuba, but Kennedy and his brother feared that military action could ignite a full-scale escalation leading to nuclear war. Though he had previously taken aggressive stances on Cuba, Bobby was one of the voices who opposed outright war and helped craft the eventual plan: a blockade of Cuba. That was the decision President Kennedy ultimately reached as well, but it remained to be seen whether Khrushchev would test Kennedy's resolve yet again. The Cuban Missile Crisis: 13 Days That Brought the Cold War to the Brink comprehensively covers the fateful days that brought the two superpowers closer to nuclear war than they had ever been before or would ever get again. The origins of the conflict, and the confidential manner in which the crisis was defused are also discussed. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures*Includes quotes by the defendants, prosecutors, judges, and more*Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading"There were, I suppose, three possible courses: to let the atrocities which had been committed go unpunished; to put the perpetrators to death or punish them by executive action; or to try them. Which was it to be? Was it possible to let such atrocities go unpunished? Could France, could Russia, could Holland, Belgium, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Poland or Yugoslavia be expected to consent to such a course? ... It will be remembered that after the first world war alleged criminals were handed over to be tried by Germany, and what a farce that was The majority got off and such sentences as were inflicted were derisory and were soon remitted." - Baron Geoffrey Lawrence, December 1946At the end of World War II, the world was faced with some sobering statistics. With over 50,000,000 deaths when both military and civilian losses had been accounted for, the death toll was devastating, and for many of those who lived in countries that had been ravaged by war, hunger and financial strain had become parts of daily life. Furthermore, beyond the physical damage was the growing knowledge of the atrocities that had been committed both before and during the war. In fact, the Allies were discussing how to dole out justice for Axis war crimes as early as 1943, and once the war was over, it was time for the nations to turn their attention on the judgment of the German leadership and its role in the death, destruction, and demoralization they had brought to the world. This judgment took place at the most famous trials of the 20th century: the Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of 13 proceedings held under the authority of the International Military Tribunal between November 1945 and June 1948, but the trial most associated with Nuremberg is the first trial, in which eight judges appointed by Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and France deliberated over the guilt or innocence of 22 men identified as significant leaders of the Nazi cause. This trial took place between November 20, 1945 and August 31, 1946. Later trials included other Germans who held what were considered to be position of power- doctors, businessman, or lower-level functionaries whose positions of influence gave them, in the eyes of the Allies, increased responsibility for their actions. Though almost every person convicted in the 13 Nuremberg Trials was male, there was also a female physician convicted at the doctors' trial. In all, the Nuremberg trials numbered 489 separate hearings, and despite taking place nearly 70 years ago, the impact of the trials can still be felt today. As Harold Marcuse, author and associate professor of history at the University of California, notes, the trials were held for "the most heinous perpetrators of the most despicable crimes, as evidenced by the high proportion of guilty verdicts and the severity of the sentences....a total over all 13 trials] of 1,672 people were tried and 1,416 found guilty as charged." While some were tried in absentia and never brought to justice, the Nuremberg trials were largely viewed as bringing a sense of closure to the war, and they have been dramatized in numerous movies and documentaries ever since. The Nuremberg Trials: The History and Legacy of World War II's Famous War Crimes Trials chronicles the history of the trials from their conception to their completion. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Nuremberg trials like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures. *Profiles the important participants in the Watergate scandal and their recollections of what happened. *Includes footnotes and quotes about Watergate, as well as quotes from some of the Nixon tapes. *Includes Nixon's resignation address. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. Increasingly and mistakenly viewed as a single scandal within the United States government, what is commonly referred to as the Watergate scandal serves as an overarching term for a series of scandals beginning in 1971 and extending through 1974. But more than any other, it refers to the specific break-in at the Watergate Hotel and office complex in Washington, D. C. The crisis, originating in a secretive battle between the two major political parties, the Nixon White House's paranoia, and the ensuing conflict concerning the release of confidential information to the public, induced senior government officials into committing crimes (most notoriously petty burglary) and coverups for the purposes of character assassination and inter-political espionage, and it ultimately resulted in the first and only resignation of a sitting American president, Richard Milhous Nixon. Watergate has since become so synonymous with scandal that "gate" is typically added to the end of words associated with scandals even today, and the Watergate complex still remains well known ( "Even today, it is home to former Senator Bob Dole, and was the place where Monica Lewinsky laid low.") In the wake of the seemingly peculiar burglary, gradual media and judicial pursuits of the thread of scandals led from one thing to another over the following years until it began to culminate with Congressional impeachment proceedings and a momentous showdown between the President and the Supreme Court over the release of presidential tapes, a moment in which Nixon seriously considered defying the Court and initiating a constitutional crisis. When he at last surrendered them, excerpts were blatantly missing, most famously an 18 minute stretch. Given the flurry of activities, it has only been in recent years that historians have gained a full measure of the nation's perilous status during the intense battle between the various branches of the federal government, and the American public's view of government in general took a decidedly negative turn, resulting in social and political disillusionment and distrust of the government that still resonates today. If anything good came out of the Watergate scandal, it was that "in its wake, Watergate spawned a reform-minded Congress." For the last 40 years, President Nixon has been mostly reviled, and understandably, he's ranked among the country's worst presidents, but this view of the President and the Watergate scandal was not and still is not necessarily unanimous. A growing number of Republicans, led by conservatives such as former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan, describe the bringing down of the president as a quasi-coup generated by the press and liberal social forces from within the anti-war movement, which gravitated to the release of information on Vietnam, an increasingly unpopular war, and tapping the widespread campus unrest throughout the country. Paul Johnson, in his book, Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000, referred to the whole affair as nothing more than "this Watergate witch hunt." Watergate: The Scandal That Brought Down a President chronicles the controversial events that led to Nixon's resignation and the impact the scandal has had on American politics ever since. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Watergate like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Profiles the seminal events that helped Hitler rise to power and consolidate his position, including the end of World War I, the Beer Hall Putsch, the Burning of the Reichstag, and the Night of the Long Knives *Includes online resources for further reading *Includes a table of contents "I cannot remember in my entire life such a change in the attitude of a crowd in a few minutes, almost a few seconds ... Hitler had turned them inside out, as one turns a glove inside out, with a few sentences. It had almost something of hocus-pocus, or magic about it." - Dr. Karl Alexander von Mueller It is often claimed that Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany through democratic means, and while that is a stretch, it is true that he managed to become an absolute dictator as Chancellor of Germany in the 1930s through a mixture of politics and intimidation. Ironically, he had set such a course only because of the failure of an outright coup attempt known as the Beer Hall Putsch about a decade earlier. At the close of World War I, Hitler was an impoverished young artist who scrapped by through selling souvenir paintings, but within a few years, his powerful oratory brought him to the forefront of the Nazi party in Munich and helped make the party much more popular. A smattering of followers in the hundreds quickly became a party of thousands, with paramilitary forces like the SA backing them, and at the head of it all was a man whose fiery orations denounced Jews, communists and other "traitors" for bringing upon the German nation the Treaty of Versailles, which had led to hyperinflation and a wrecked economy. The early 1930s were a tumultuous period for German politics, even in comparison to the ongoing transition to the modern era that caused various forms of chaos throughout the rest of the world. In the United States, reliance on the outdated gold standard and an absurdly parsimonious monetary policy helped bring about the Great Depression. Meanwhile, the Empire of Japan began its ultimately fatal adventurism with the invasion of Manchuria, alienating the rest of the world with the atrocities it committed. Around the same time, Gandhi began his drive for the peaceful independence of India through nonviolent protests against the British. It was in Germany, however, that the strongest seeds of future tragedy were sown. The struggling Weimar Republic had become a breeding ground for extremist politics, including two opposed and powerful authoritarian entities: the right-wing National Socialists and the left-wing KPD Communist Party. As the 1930s dawned, these two totalitarian groups held one another in a temporary stalemate, enabling the fragile ghost of democracy to continue a largely illusory survival for a few more years. That stalemate was broken in dramatic fashion on a bitterly cold night in late February 1933, and it was the Nazis who emerged decisively as the victors. A single act of arson against the famous Reichstag building proved to be the catalyst that propelled Adolf Hitler to victory in the elections of March 1933, which set the German nation irrevocably on the path towards World War II. Like other totalitarian regimes, the leader of the Nazis kept an iron grip on power in part by making sure nobody else could attain too much of it, leading to purges of high-ranking officials in the Nazi party. Of these purges, the most notorious was the Night of the Long Knives, a purge in the summer of 1934 that came about when Hitler ordered the surprise executions of several dozen leaders of the SA. This fanatically National Socialist paramilitary organization had been a key instrument in overthrowing democratic government in Germany and raising Hitler to dictatorial power in the first place. However, the SA was an arm of the Nazi phenomenon which had socialist leanings and which was the private army of Ernst R hm, which was enough for Hitler to consider the organization dangerous.

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts describing the Etruscans and their wars with Rome *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "These people of Greek descent were called Etruscans, and it has been discovered that they had advanced so far in civilization, that they afterwards gave many of their customs to the city of Rome when it came to power. A confederacy known as the 'Twelve Cities of Etruria' became famous afterwards, though no one knows exactly which the twelve were." - Arthur Gilman, The Story of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic When people think of ancient Italy, the Romans are usually the first and last people that come to mind, but long before Rome was built by Latin speaking people, the culture of Italy was dominated by the Etruscans. Although the Etruscans may not comprise the core of most histories of the ancient Mediterranean, they exerted a profound influence on the region from the 8th-5th centuries BCE that continued to resonate for centuries after as the Romans carried on many of their traditions. Today, much of what is known about the Etruscans comes from the ancient Roman and Greek writers who had a deep respect for them but saw them as exotic and foreign. As the famous Roman philosopher Seneca wrote about the Etruscans, "Whereas we believe lightning to be released as a result of the collision of clouds, they believe that the clouds collide so as to release lightning: for as they attribute all to deity, they are led to believe not that things have a meaning insofar as they occur, but rather that they occur because they must have a meaning." The Etruscans referred to themselves as "Rasenna" in their own language, but the Greeks called them "Tyrrhenians" and the Romans referred to them as "Etrusci", which is where the modern term "Etruscan" is derived (Cornell 1995, 45). As this suggests, reconstructing Etruscan history is based primarily on the Greco-Roman accounts, but other sources are utilized by modern scholars to create a more accurate picture. Unfortunately, despite the fact the Etruscans were a literate people, their own histories have disappeared without a trace. Nevertheless, even with this lack of primary sources, the abundance of classical writings about the Etruscans and modern historical, archaeological, and art historical studies can establish an image of Etruscan history and culture that, although not complete, is enough for scholars to arrive at some important conclusions. An in-depth examination of Etruscan history and culture reveals that the Etruscans developed a culture that was as advanced as that of their Greek contemporaries and was also one that the later Romans were indebted to on many levels. The Etruscans: The History and Culture of the Ancient Italian Civilization that Preceded the Romans looks at the influential civilization that helped give rise to the Roman Empire. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Etruscans like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures*Includes Bronson's own quotes about his life and career*Includes footnotes, online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"Maybe I'm too masculine. Casting directors cast in their own, or an idealized image. Maybe I don't look like anybody's ideal." - Charles Bronson"I look like the kind of guy who has a bottle of beer in my hand." - Charles Bronson The leading men of the 1940s and '50s ably represented the visual and cultural expectations of those decades in their iconic films. Some were handsome and glib with quasi-classical dialogue, some could sing, and a few could dance, while others brought an imposing athletic presence to thrillers, westerns, and urban crime dramas. However, with the advent of the early 1960s, popular culture entered a heightened age of verismo, a more frank and severe view of societal reality. Motion picture studios on both sides of the Atlantic, aware of the changing times, were quick to reflect it. The harsher light of violent new genres required a different sort of male protagonist, a character type who could put his humanity and uncertainty aside to act as a more ruthless hero than his predecessors. Paralleling real concerns over crime and an increasing disrespect for life and property, the public fell in love with the new "avenging angel" image, and with Charles Bronson, the actor born at the perfect time in which to symbolize it in the grittier new films. By the time Bronson emerged from a series of miniscule, uncredited roles in the mid-1950s, the singing cowboy was two generations gone, save vestiges in television serials, such as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. The dancing romantic lead of the Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire variety would soon exhaust itself as a genre in an age increasingly bent on realism and a more severe form of escape. Bronson possessed none of the gifts common to the heroes of the previous era. Light-heartedness did not become him, and by all accounts, he was neither a singer nor dancer. He could not offer the heft of Gary Cooper or John Wayne, although he shared a reserved quality with the former. He did not possess the pristine good looks of Gregory Peck. In fact, one good-natured description making the rounds in Bronson's heyday likened him to "A Clark Gable who has been left out in the sun too long." To accompany the rough-hewn appearance of Bronson's new class of hero, the typical script gave his remarkably enduring persona, little to say in terms of dialogue that would reveal his inner thoughts. With minimal text, even those he attempts to help are unsure of his intentions, and few clues are offered by which the viewer can come to know his mind. As the grotesqueness of his characters' violent acts increased, so did the heinous deeds of the criminals he fought, upping the ante to an eager public in search of a simple cure for its social ills. In a career of almost eighty films and a total body of work totaling 160 appearances including television, Bronson pushed the envelope of what graphic action the studios were willing to offer, what the censors would accept, and what the sensibilities of movie-goers were able to endure more than anyone in his era. Critics almost uniformly eviscerated most of these films as dramatic eyesores, and invariably equated Bronson's level of talent to their distasteful contents and ill fortunes at the box office. Only in recent years, as the genre has grown even more extreme, has Bronson's work been reviewed in a more kindly light. Critics aside, however, once established in the U. S. after a series of triumphs in Europe, Bronson never lost the adoration of either the international or domestic movie-going public who, he noted, are the ones buying the tickets, and are therefore the only people of importance. American Legends: The Life of Charles Bronson examines the life and career of the iconic actor.