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First published in 1928, Edward Bernays’ Propaganda may be the single most important work on public relations ever to appear. Bernays (1891-1995), a nephew of Sigmund Freud, shaped the management of public opinion at a time when the modern media were beginning to take their present shape. Propaganda today has a negative connotation, but Bernays uses the term in a neutral sense. Writing in the 1920s, he redefined what he called the “new propaganda” as public relations—a name that has stuck ever since.

The early modern era in Europe set the mold for the Western world today. It was a complex, tragic, yet pivotal time. It marked the transition between the dominance of the Catholic church throughout Western Europe and the present age of science, reason, and skepticism. The path through this transition was an exciting yet bloody and sorrowful one. The wars between Catholics and Protestants in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries rivaled those of the present in cruelty and atrocity. Durant takes us through the religious wars between Catholics and Protestants in France.

First published in 1930, it remains unsurpassed for the range and depth of its coverage, extending from social, geographical, and economic factors to the events, personalities, and conflicts that shaped the history of this nation. The Growth of the American Republic also stands among historical writings as a paragon of readability, clarity, and accessibility.

The British Empire is unique in world history. How did this small island come to rule a full quarter of the globe? No other nation has matched this achievement.