Résultats Éditeur "Charles River Editors" dans Politique et militantisme

Throughout history, a countless number of historical figures have had their lives overshadowed by the myths and legends that surround them to the extent that their legacy comes to define them. In French history, this is truer of Marie Antoinette than just about everyone else. Nearly 220 years after she was put to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette is more famous than ever, fairly or unfairly coming to epitomize royalty and everything that was wrong with it.

From the early 1970s through the following two decades, the cult star of worldwide terrorism was Ilich Ramirez Sanchez of Venezuela, better known to the world as Carlos the Jackal. Sanchez, the most notorious of terrorists in the late 20th century before Osama bin Laden's destructive 9/11 attacks, was born on October 12, 1949, in the years following the most global example of state terrorism in the form of Nazi Germany. Sanchez was known to virtually every European and American who read the news between 1970 and 1990.

American Legends: The Life of Martin Luther King Jr. humanizes the leader who constantly sought to better himself and desperately wanted to follow in the footsteps of the man he was named after. It celebrates his incredible accomplishments and analyzes his perceived shortcomings. Along the way, you'll learn things about Dr. King you never knew, including a bitterly contested court case over some of his papers and the off-the-cuff origins of his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Queen Elizabeth I was one of England's most influential rulers. Hers was an age when the arts, commerce, and trade flourished. It was the epoch of gallantry and great, enduring literature. It was also an age of wars and military conflicts. In the end, Queen Elizabeth I helped change the entire structure of female leadership and would go on to improve upon Henry VIII's successes.

Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton may have been the most politically active first ladies in American history, but Abigail Adams was the first to act as political advisor for her husband and the first to be dubbed "Mrs. President". Indeed, Abigail was politically inclined to a degree that was highly unusual among women of the 18th and 19th century.

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) holds a unique place in American history, as the man best remembered for being the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War. While other famous Confederates like Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are still celebrated across the reunited country, Davis continues to be the object of scorn, derided over his attempt to flee after the Civil War and criticized as ineffective by historians. Among the Confederates still lauded among some Southerners, Davis is well down the list.

Clergymen rarely make good politicians. There is perhaps no better example of this than Father Charles Coughlin, a Depression-era priest-turned-demagogue who was seen as an angel by some and a devil by others. The same man who cruelly castigated the Jews also spoke eloquently on the needs and rights of the most downtrodden in society. The same orator who said, "Roosevelt or ruin", later cried, "Roosevelt and ruin." In the 1930s, his effective use of the radio revolutionized mass communications, and millions of people listened to his every word.

During the middle of the 20th century, the United States completed its transformation into one of the world's superpowers. Few were as instrumental in this development as Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), renowned for being the nation's principal commanding general during World War II and the president who served during the early, tumultuous Cold War years.

If Dolley Madison was instrumental in molding the role of first lady in the 19th century, credit can be given to Eleanor Roosevelt for revolutionizing the political nature of the role in the 20th and 21st centuries and making it possible for presidents like Bill Clinton to enlist their wives to handle political duties.

Over 450 years after his reign, Henry VIII is still the most famous and recognizable king of England, but it's for all the wrong reasons. He is best remembered today for his gluttony and multiple marriages, particularly for beheading some of his wives. It is somewhat fitting that his most decisive act came as a result of a marital mishap. Sharply at odds with the Catholic Church, Henry VIII ultimately broke with the Church and established the Church of England, which forever altered the religious history of England, the social hierarchy of the nation, and its empire.

The United States of America has had many presidents that Americans agree were either great or awful while some fall into a mediocre category of irrelevance. In many cases a national consensus has been reached on men like Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan. But the president with the most controversial legacy might be "Old Hickory", Andrew Jackson.

In the case of some historical figures, a single event or small span of years is sufficient for understanding the timeliness and extent of their impact upon the world. But others have taken lengthier, more convoluted journeys with broadly-evolved circumstances, intentions and roles to be played, reinventing themselves and playing different roles as times change.

William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820-February 14, 1891) holds a unique position in American history. Synonymous with barbarity in the South, Sherman is lauded as a war hero in the North, and modern historians consider him the harbinger of total war. As a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-65), Sherman was recognized for his outstanding command of military strategy but criticized for the harshness of his "scorched earth" policies.

The butcher of the Alamo and Goliad. The traitor who sold half of Mexico. The Napoleon of the West. Mr. Fifteen Nails. The Mother Country's seducer. Almost 150 years after his death, a lot of name-calling is still being directed towards Antonio López de Santa Anna, president of Mexico 11 times in the 19th century, and today, the vast majority of his compatriots consider him the greatest traitor in history.

Sixteenth-century Russia remains, for most Western audiences, a dark and terrifying space, wrapped in mystery and myth and isolated from states such as England or France, whose heroes are well-known throughout Europe. The traditional dichotomy between East and West is most apparent in the discussion of the remarkable political figures that defined this century.

From his earliest years, Prince William has been a photographer's dream come true in the same way his mother had been. While he is not necessarily known for his mother's media savvy, he is well liked by the media, and he is able, consciously or incidentally, to capitalize on this advantage. At the same time, from polo to charities, William is thoroughly his father Charles' son as a Windsor prince.

The Wild West and the frontier have long held a special place in the narrative of American history, and of all the legends and folk heroes who lived in the 19th century, none became as famous as Davy Crockett, "The King of the Wild Frontier". Crockett had the distinction of being a living legend in his own life. Known as a hardscrabble frontiersman who could spin a good yarn but who also took a no-nonsense approach that brought him from the backwoods of Tennessee to the halls of Congress.

Leading Athens for upwards of 40 years between the Second Persian War and the Peloponnesian War, Pericles has become an idealized figure over the last millennia, but he was a polarizing figure among his contemporaries. According to some, he was an honest and upstanding politician, while for others he was the lowest kind of demagogue. They thought he was a political opportunist whose ability to wriggle free of criticism was best summed up by the typically pithy comment of his rival Thucydides.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act eliminated the Missouri Compromise line of 1820, which the Compromise of 1850 had maintained. Settlers could now vote whether they wanted their state to be slave-free. The primary result was that thousands of zealous pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates moved to Kansas to influence the vote, creating a dangerous and ultimately deadly mix. The most famous and infamous of them all was John Brown, one of the most controversial men in American history.

Among the leaders of the 20th century, arguably none shaped the course of history as much as Vladimir Lenin. If Adolf Hitler had not inflicted the devastation of World War II upon Europe, it's quite likely that the West would consider Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) the 20th century's greatest tyrant. Along with Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky led the October Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and held crucial posts in the early Soviet governments.