What happens when the peasants are fed up? After years of taxes, military failure, and arbitrary justice, the English peasants finally rise up against their superiors. What follows is no mere riot, but a coordinated assault on those in charge. In the first narrative in our Hundred Years’ War saga, we see just how similar we are to our medieval ancestors.

Sources:

Dunn, Alastair (2002). The Great Rising of 1381: the Peasants' Revolt and England's Failed Revolution. Stroud, UK: Tempus. ISBN 978-0-7524-2323-4

Dyer, Christopher (2009). Making a Living in the Middle Ages: the People of Britain 850–1520. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10191-1

Jones, Dan (2010). Summer of Blood: the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-721393-1. 

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The ever-enigmatic John Brown has stirred controversy for over a century and a half. His raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia has become a minor event before the onset of the Civil War. Yet, few know the intricacies of this bold, if unsuccessful, plan to spark a slave insurrection in the South. In the final part of our series on grandeur, we descend into the chaos of those fateful October days in 1859.

Sources:

Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War

https://amzn.to/32nESt1

John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry: A Brief History with Documents

https://amzn.to/30AliYT

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In steps the man of action. After a failed scheme on Wall Street promises to cause an economic calamity, J.P. Morgan must save the day. With the banking world panicking around him, Morgan has the fortitude to remain calm. In part two of three, a drama unfolds between some of the most powerful men in the country.

Sources:

The Panic of 1907: Lessons Learned from the Market's Perfect Storm

https://amzn.to/2XLPfTU

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May 1881, a disgruntled man stalks the president from the shadows down Pennsylvania Avenue. Disheveled and unpopular, Charles Guiteau allows his delusions of grandeur to lead him into committing the terrible murder of President James Garfield. This first episode of a three part series gives us a peek into the psychology of a madman and the forgotten legacy of a president.

Sources: 

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

https://amzn.to/30zdYga

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The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is the ultimate footnote: an event mentioned in every textbook. Yet few know the heroic exploits of Pliny the Elder to save his fellow Romans from a fiery death. We catch a glimpse of humanity and its eternal struggle with nature from two thousand years ago.

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In an unlikely showdown of wills, William Walker finds himself fighting against the indomitable Cornelius Vanderbilt. In the final installment of this saga, Walker faces the realities of a foreign invading force. The events that follow reveal a portrait of a complex and controversial, yet somehow neglected, figure in history.

Sources:

Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer

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The Americans are invading. Once an insignificant part of a larger war, William Walker has schemed and fought his way into power. What follows is the fascinating continuation of a bizarre struggle between mercenaries, peasants, and wealthy bankers.

Sources:

Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer

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In the mid-1850s, Civil War engulfed the nation of Nicaragua. Desperate for victory, one side hires a small group of mercenaries led by a young newspaper editor named William Walker. Diminutive in size, but with piercing gray eyes, Walker unleashes chaos on the unsuspecting Nicaraguans in this forgotten tale of history.

Sources:

Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer

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