Auteur: Janin Hunt Janin

This is a survey of the major historic trails of New Mexico and other parts of the American Southwest. These trails were used by Indians, prospectors, soldiers, buffalo hunters, immigrants, and cattl …

Jerusalem has long been one of the most sought-after destinations for the followers of three world faiths and for secularists alike. For Jews, it has the Western (Wailing) Wall; for Christians, it is …

In medieval and Renaissance Europe, mercenaries–professional soldiers who fought for money or other rewards–played violent, colorful, international roles in warfare, but they have received relative …

For the Mexican government to go to war with its more powerful northern neighbor in 1846 was folly. Mexico surrendered to the United States more than half a million square miles of territory, contrib …

In the early sixteenth century, as voyages across the Atlantic became more feasible and consequently more frequent, international competition for possession of the New World intensified. Occupied by …

Before the Gold Rush of 1848-1858, Alta (Upper) California was an isolated cattle frontier–and home to a colorful group of Spanish-speaking, non-indigenous people known as Californios. Profiting fro …

The Great Basin is a hydrographic region that includes most of Nevada and parts of five other Western states. The histories of four of the Western rivers of the Great Basin–the Walker, the Truckee, …

In 1528, the Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions were shipwrecked and, looking for help, began an eight-year trek through the deserts of the American West. Over three …

The university is indigenous to Western Europe and is probably the greatest and most enduring achievement of the Middle Ages. Much more than stodgy institutions of learning, medieval universities wer …

The sharia is a set of traditional laws that define a Muslim’s obligations to God and his fellow human beings. Westerners often misunderstand the nature of the sharia, born as it is of a complicated …

The fundamental point of this book is that, in the past, the world’s political, economic, military and social development took place during a time of relatively stable sea level. That time, however, …

Yellowstone National Park is the focal point of the 22-million-acre, multifaceted Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, located in northwestern Wyoming and in parts of eastern Idaho and Montana. Yellowstone …

The Middle Ages in Western Europe extended from roughly 500 to 1500 c.e. During these thousand years, hundreds of monastic communities were founded and played important roles in religious, economic, …

The intertwined histories of Paris and of the River Seine are interesting but complicated. It is the Seine, however with all its ports, bridges, boats, commerce, monuments, and vistas, that has alway …