During the Mexican Revolution of 1866, two American adventurers sign up to escort a carriage from the palace of Emperor Maximilian I in Mexico City to the seaport of Vera Cruz. Aboard the carriage is a beautiful French countess and a treasure of three million dollars in gold coins.

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,...

A sampling of authentic recipes used in Europe from 1250-1650 are presented in the same form in which they first appeared and are accompanied by explanations of unfamiliar terms and basic guidelines for preparation.

The United Kingdom is in pieces, divided by a historic, once-in-a-generation summer. It is autumn: season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Daniel is 100 years-old; death is never far away. His granddaughter Elisabeth, born in 1984, has her eye on the future. Hope is hand-in-hand with hopelessness. The seasons roll round, as ever, while love is won, love is lost.

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...

Discusses how the 2008 financial crisis revealed the shortcomings of the euro and how it has caused Europe's economic stagnation, and outlines three possible plans for moving forward.

"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...

Recounts the triumphs and mishaps of Columbus and other explorers, following the naturalists--both famous and obscure--whose investigations of the world's fauna and flora fueled the rise of science and technology that propelled Western Europe towards modernity.