History Makers

Explains how teachers can use a questioning approach to teaching their students history, explaining how the biography can be used as an introduction to major historical issues.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a master composer, known equally for his secular and sacred works for choir, orchestra, and solo instrument. Among his numerous famous compositions, the Brandenburg concertos, Goldberg Variations, and Cello Suites remain popular the world-over. This concise but thorough look at the life of one of the world's greatest Germanic composers covers his travels, his many musical achievements, his happy and musical family, and the key role that his Lutheran beliefs played in his works and life.

In History Makers, Dutch Sheets and William Ford III reveal how God wants us to connect with the powerful and timeless things He has done in the past so that we can become empowered for the future. We must look to our Christian forefathers and pray for the renewal of the covenants God made with them, building on God's past work to move closer to His ultimate goals for us as a nation and a planet. Now is our chance to connect with the past, shaping the outcome of the future, and turning it back in God's direction!

By the time Spanish explorers reached the Americas, the Aztec Empire was one of the greatest in the world. The ancient priests would slaughter sacrifices, sometimes by the thousands, all under the claim that their gods needed blood to make the sun rise every day. What would have happened had this empire prevailed over the Spanish and survived to this day? How would its bloodthirsty theocracy fit in with our world? Myla is an upper-class teenager in modern-day Azteca, partying her days away with her friends and the man who has claimed her as his wife. On her seventeenth birthday, she is finally "enlightened" and told the truth: that the Priesthood is lying to everyone. Then, in an intriguing twist of fate, she finds herself in the hands of Azteca's rebels and their leader, Tezca. Myla must now sort through all the lies she has been told her whole life and confront old secrets buried deep. Can she trust these people? Are they terrorists or revolutionaries? And will she join them to dismantle the theocracy and its lies?

A “supremely entertaining” (The New Yorker) exploration of who gets to record the world’s history—from Julius Caesar to William Shakespeare to Ken Burns—and how their biases influence our understanding about the past. There are many stories we can spin about previous ages, but which accounts get told? And by whom? Is there even such a thing as “objective” history? In this “witty, wise, and elegant” (The Spectator), book, Richard Cohen reveals how professional historians and other equally significant witnesses, such as the writers of the Bible, novelists, and political propagandists, influence what becomes the accepted record. Cohen argues, for example, that some historians are practitioners of “Bad History” and twist reality to glorify themselves or their country. “Scholarly, lively, quotable, up-to-date, and fun” (Hilary Mantel, author of the bestselling Thomas Cromwell trilogy), Making History investigates the published works and private utterances of our greatest chroniclers to discover the agendas that informed their—and our—views of the world. From the origins of history writing, when such an activity itself seemed revolutionary, through to television and the digital age, Cohen brings captivating figures to vivid light, from Thucydides and Tacitus to Voltaire and Gibbon, Winston Churchill and Henry Louis Gates. Rich in complex truths and surprising anecdotes, the result is a revealing exploration of both the aims and art of history-making, one that will lead us to rethink how we learn about our past and about ourselves.

A well-researched collection of biographical sketches of notable African Americans from Mississippi

History Makers profiles the 100 people, including famous Canadians, whose legacies burn brightest in the history of the last century -- from the greatest scientists to the boldest political leaders and intellectuals—and ranks them in order of their influence.