influence

Examines the lives and careers of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin, both born on February 12, 1809, and discusses the influence their accomplishments had on humanity and history.

Examines how, in the two hundred years following his death in 1616, the works of William Shakespeare became the most influential writings of English literature.

A biography of Thomas Jefferson, focusing on his engagement with books as a reader and writer, identifying texts that influenced his spiritual and intellectual development, and discussing his lifelong quest for knowledge.

When thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley discovers a rare deep-sea creature stranded in the mud of the tidal flats of Puget Sound, he finds himself thrown into the limelight, but when he continues discovering rare ocean creatures, some begin to wonder if he is an unlikely prophet.

Explores how the works of John Milton interacted with the revolutionary work of his contemporaries in science to contribute to the advancement of learning that took place during Milton's life.

Explores the roles of Phillis Wheatley and Thomas Jefferson in shaping African-American literary tradition, discussing how Phillis gained acceptance and freedom by being the first person of African descent to publish a book of poems in the English language in 1773. Discusses the effects of Jefferson's harsh criticism of the poet and her race.

Discusses painter Paul Gauguin's movement from Impressionism to Symbolism in four essays and presents 186 works by Gauguin and his masters and pupils.

Discusses the influence of nineteenth-century American-born artist James McNeill Whistler--who left for Europe as a young man and never returned--on American art, and presents and compares fourteen of Whistler's paintings with works by thirty-eight American painters.

Traces the interlocking stories of the creation of the gardens and Versailles and the frienship between King Louis XIV and the low-born gardener Andr? Le N?tre.