Bloody Histories

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.' — Abraham Lincoln Is the story of the United States that of George Washington, John Adams and Barack Obama? Or of slave rebel Nat Turner, of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King? Or Sitting Bull and Al Capone? Or Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and OJ Simpson? Of course, it is the story of all these, of both civil war and world war, of gold rush and dust bowl, of the Pilgrim Fathers and religious cults, of Prohibition and the Mafia, of the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy-era witch-hunts. From the Iroquois and early European settlers to the Revolutionary War and Civil War, from slavery to segregation, from the frontier to the Reservations, Bloody History of America is a chronological examination of the United States through politics, labour, big business, crime and culture. Featuring such varied characters as Thomas Jefferson and John Brown, Bugsy Siegel and J P Morgan, Calamity Jane, Chuck Berry and Bonnie and Clyde, it tells the story of the first 'new nation', the first major colony to revolt successfully against colonial rule, and how it became the world's most powerful country. Extensively researched and illustrated with 180 colour and black-and-white artworks and illustrations, Bloody History of America is a lively and fascinating account of the darker side of the story of the United States.

From plagues and poverty to financial scandals, serial killers to public executions, mad monarchs to barbaric mental asylums, Bloody History of London reaches deeply into the city's long history and ranges widely across the social, political and cultural life of the metropolis. Founded by the Romans and attacked by the Vikings, London grew to become an immense trading city. Included here are tales of medieval torture in the Tower, burnings at the stake during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, the merry debauchery of the Restoration and the market crash of the South Sea Bubble. From political skullduggery among the Tudors to the Cold War Profumo scandal and assassination of Georgy Markov, the book is a lively account across almost 2,000 years of London history. Immensely entertaining and illustrated with 180 color and black-&-white artworks, Bloody History of London is an engaging and highly informative exploration of the highlights of London lowlife and the depravities of London's high life.