The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is a sweeping historical novel of Mexico during the short, tragic, at times surreal, reign of Emperor Maximilian and his court. Even as the American Civil War raged north of the border, a clique of Mexican conservative exiles and clergy convinced Louis Napoleon to invade Mexico and install the Archduke of Austria, Maximilian von Habsburg, as Emperor. A year later, the childless Maximilian took custody of the two...

The European Union could soon be a thing of the past. Spurred by anti-EU sentiments due to the euro crisis, national interests conflict with a shared vision for the future of Europe. Is it too late to preserve the union that generated unprecedented peace for more than half a century? This is no mere academic question. In the past decade, the EU has declined from a unified global power to a fractious confederation of states with staggering unemployment,...

"From one of the most perceptive observers of the English today comes a brilliantly insightful, mordantly funny account of their seemingly irrational embrace of nationalism. England's recent lurch to the right appears to be but one example of the nationalist wave sweeping across the world, yet as acclaimed Irish critic Fintan O'Toole suggests in The Politics of Pain, it is, in reality, a phenomenon rooted in World War II. We must look not to the vagaries...

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known popularly by his stage name Molière, is regarded as one of the masters of French comedic drama. When Molière began acting in Paris there were two well-established theatrical companies, those of the Hôtel de Bourgogne and the Marais. Joining these theatrical companies would have been impossible for a new member of the acting profession like Molière and thus he performed with traveling troupes of actors in the French...

"Spring Awakening" is German playwright's Frank Wedekind's controversial and shocking drama of sexuality and repression. First performed in 1906 in Berlin, though written by Wedekind several years earlier, the play focuses on the lives on several adolescents coming of age in late nineteenth century Germany. Three teenage boys, Melchior, Moritz, and Wendl, and girls Wendla and Martha, struggle with abuse, a lack of information and acceptance, and their...

Presents the history, culture, economy, and government of France, and describes major cities, landscape, people, holidays and festivals, and its place in the European Union.

Presents the history, culture, economy, and government of Spain, and describes major cities, landscape, people, holidays and festivals, and its place in the European Union.

In December 1970, amid a harsh winter and an even harsher economic situation, the ruling communist regime in Poland chose to drastically raise prices on basic foodstuffs. Just before the Christmas holidays, for example, the price of fish, a staple of the traditional Christmas Eve meal, rose nearly 20%. Frustrated citizens took to the streets to protest, demanding the repeal of the price-hikes. Things took an especially dramatic turn in the northern...