USA

John Hartsock details the rise and fall of noble tolerance of religious freedom in 17th-century Maryland.

Brian Dooley assesses the incident which brought the world perilously close to nuclear war.

Two new works combining essays on America

Highbrow or lowbrow? James Gilbert looks at the competing visions of American civilisation on offer at Chicago's fin de siécle Exposition of 1893.

Nicholas James audits the societies and civilisations decimated by the arrival of Europeans - and tells how, against the odds, elements from them have survived.

Money makes the world go round - in Lyndon Johnson's case the Yankee dollar was seen as a means of buttressing Britain's new mid-60s Labour government as an ally of the US east of Suez and relieving pressure on its other commitments. Diane Kunz looks at how the connections were made.

The Russians are coming... not the fantasy of a Cold War movie, but the 19th-century attempt at incorporating the West Coast of America peacefully into the bear's domain. Jeffrey Miller tells the story of how it happened and why it failed.

Judy Litoff and David C. Smith sift through the hopes and fears of America's home front in this selection and commentary of letters they have assembled from wives, mothers and sweethearts during the Second World War.

Damien Gregory reports on protests surrounding the explorer's quincentenary celebrations.

Milton Goldin compares American philanthropy past and present.