ABSOLUTE SHAKESPEARE - http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/
The essential resource for William Shakespeare's works plus the legendary Globe Theatre. Thanks to the U3A Signpost, issue 36 for this information.

AMERICAN NOTES: TRAVELS IN AMERICA, 1750-1920 - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/lhtnhtml/
This site features hundreds of "published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States and their observations and opinions about American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920," as well as a 32-volume set of sources entitled "Early Western Travels, 1748-1846." Some writings are from well-known authors; others are "undiscovered gems."

BLOOMSBURY - http://www.tate.org.uk/archivejourneys/bloomsburyhtml/
Tate's archive provides a fascinating insight into the art, ideas, lifestyle and relationships of Vanessa Bell and her artist friends Duncan Grant and Roger Fry, the three main artists associated with the Bloomsbury Group" of writers, artists, and intellectuals in London. This well-illustrated site includes a timeline (1900s-1940s), biographies, and information about members, lifestyle and beliefs, and influence. From the archive of the Tate galleries in England.

CAPTAIN COOK SOCIETY - http://www.captaincooksociety.com/
This site is "a Society for everyone interested in [British explorer] James Cook (1728-1779)." The site features chronologies of Cook's life, information about his ships and family history, images of engravings and stamps featuring Cook, the wills of Cook and his crew (including William Bligh), brief extracts from Cook's journals from 1773-1774, and more. .

COLD WAR
Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: Raising the Iron Curtain, by Yale Richmond
On the Battlefields of the Cold War: A Soviet Ambassador’s Confession, by Victor Israelyan
Cold War Endgame: Oral History, Analysis, Debates, edited by William C. Wohlforth

DNA INTERACTIVE - http://www.dnai.org/
This site is dedicated to the moment on February 28, 1953 when Jim Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA — and to the scientists who breathed life into that structure. The site features a chronology that includes scientist biographies and video clips of interviews, and information about the discovery of DNA structure, the human manipulation of genes, genetic mapping, and current applications in healthcare and forensic analysis. Also includes a glossary.

FRANCOPHILIA
Paris in the Age of Absolutism: An Essay, by Orest Ranum
The Night the Old Regime Ended: August 4, 1789 and the French Revolution, by Michael P. Fitzsimmons
The Jacobin Republic Under Fire: The Federalist Revolt in the French Revolution, by Paul R. Hanson
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, by Jack Censer and Lynn Hunt

FREUD
“The Wolfman” and Other Cases, translated by Louise Adey Huish
The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, translated by Anthea Bell
The Schreber Case, translated by Andrew Webber
The Joke and its Relation to the Unconscious, translated by Joyce Crick

GERSHWIN BIOGRAPHY
George Gershwin: A New Biography, by William G. Hyland examines how Gershwin became the first composer to apply popular music to classical forms yet never achieved the personal happiness his stature deserved.

HISTORY COURSES
Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society and Politics in Colonial America, by Patricia U. Bonomi
Forging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000, by Geoff Eley
Irish Immigrants in the Land of Canaan: Letters and Memoirs from Colonial and Revolutionary America, 1675-1815, by Kerby A. Miller, Arnold Schrier, Bruce D. Boling and David N. Doyle
A Diplomatic Revolution: Algeria’s Fight for Independence and the Origins of the Post-Cold War Era, by Matthew Connelly
Marriage Wars in Late Renaissance Venice, by Joanne M. Ferraro
Gustav Stresemann: Welmar’s Greatest Statesman, by Jonathan Wright

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Longitudes and Attitudes: The World in the Age of Terrorism, by Thomas L. Friedman
The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism, by Stephen Schwartz
The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History, by Phillip Bobbitt
The Storyteller’s Daughter, by Saira Shah

ITALIAN AMERICAN CULTURE & HISTORY: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
This study at http://www.osia.org/public/culture/columbus.asp presents a series of documented facts on the life of Columbus, his explorations and their significance, as well as the history of Columbus Day in the United States. It also examines the controversial charges about the explorer that have been levied in recent years. Includes "Why We Should Celebrate Columbus Day," what Columbus accomplished, and who is in Columbus' Tomb.

KOREA: THE UNFINISHED WAR - http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/korea/
To fully grasp the ongoing tensions between the United States and North Korea, it is important to understand the war that ended fifty years ago. This site is a companion to an American RadioWorks program from July 2003 includes audio clips and transcripts, oral histories, maps, related links, and commentary from reporters, historians, and scholars. Also features illustrated essays about the effect of the Korean War on the Cold War and on integration in the armed forces.

LITERARY TRAVELER - http://www.literarytraveler.com/
This site is dedicated to the exploration of the literary imagination and features articles about writers, creative artists, and the places that they lived and traveled. Read about the homes and travels of Beethoven, Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allan Poe, Beatrix Potter, Thomas Wolfe and many others. Browse articles by author or location. Also includes essay contests and information about literary tours and events.

LITERATURE
A Victorian Wanderer: the Life of Thomas Arnold the Younger, by Bernard Bergonzi
Charles Dickens in Cyberspace: The Afterlife of the Nineteenth Century in Postmodern Culture, by Jay Clayton
The Great War and the Language of Modernism, by Vincent Sherry
D.H. Lawrence and ‘Difference’: Postcolonialtiy and the Poetry of the Present, by Amit Chaudhuri
Victorian Soundscapes, by John M. Picker
Nothing to Admire: The Politics of Poetic Satire from Dryden to Merrill, by Christopher Yu

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN: THE MAGNIFICENT MASTER - http://www.raptusassociation.org/
This site presents information about the life and works of classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. It features a lengthy biography, a list of his works organized by genre, an image gallery, creation histories, and commentary from musicians and music critics. Also includes sections on Beethoven's relationship to other composers, artists, and thinkers and to other opera composers.

MARK TWAIN PAPERS & PROJECT - http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/MTP/
The Mark Twain Papers contain the private papers of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) that he himself segregated and made available to his official biographer, Albert Bigelow Paine." The site includes a brief description of holdings, a bibliography of works published by the Mark Twain Project, searchable databases listing all known letters to and from Mark Twain, and links to online exhibits.

MEXICO
DICTIONARY OF WRITERS IN MEXICO - http://www.arts-history.mx/literat/li2.html
Brief biographies of Mexican authors and lists of their literary works.

FIVE DECADES OF THE MEXICAN SHORT STORY - http://www.arts-history.mx/cinco2.html
An introduction to and analysis of the Mexican short story in the latter half of the 20th century. Includes the texts of 24 short stories (not dated) and several essays discussing the topic.

MILITARY WOMEN VETERANS: YESTERDAY-TODAY-TOMORROW http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/
This site presents the history of women in the American military "from the American Revolution to Panama, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq." It provides information about combat issues, current women veterans' issues, the National Guard, military academies, women spies, prisoners of war, and more. Also includes links to related material. Authored by a woman veteran, who reminds the nation how "amazing women, do amazing things."

PHILIP S. HENCH WALTER REED YELLOW FEVER COLLECTION - http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/healthsci/reed/
This collection is an extensive compilation of correspondence, notes, reports, printed materials, photographs, negatives, and artifacts (spanning the mid-19th through mid-20th centuries) related to the conquest of yellow fever. Includes essays about major themes and personalities, a guide to the collection, and links to related sites.

PREHISPANIC LITERATURE OF MEXICO –
http://www.arts-history.mx/indigena/menu2.html
A brief introduction to literature in Mexico before the Spanish conquest, including the Náhuatl literature of the Aztecs. Includes brief biographies of known authors of songs and poems and a background of the literature and authors of Tenochtitlan, the location of current-day Mexico City.

POLITICS
Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America, by Eric Rauchway
Woodrow Wilson, by H.W. Brands

RACE AND POVERTY
Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society, by Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott Currie, Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer, Marjorie M. Shultz and David Wellman
Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race and Family Life, by Annette Lareau

RELIGION
Aesthetics and Analysis in Writing on Religion: Modern Fascinations, by Daniel Gold
All in Sync: How Music and Art are Revitalizing American Religion, by Robert Wuthnow
Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, by Robert Wuthnow
God’s Man for the Gilded Age: D.L. Moody and the Rise of Modern Mass Evangelism, by Bruce J. Evensen
Buddhism in the Modern World: Adaptations of an Ancient Tradition, edited by Steven Heine and Charles S. Prebish
When the Great Abyss Opened: Classic and Contemporary Readings of Noah’s Flood, by J. David Pleins
After the Evil: Christianity and Judaism in the Shadow of the Holocaust, by Richard Harries
Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture, by Christian Smith
The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age, by Norman Wirzba

SECRETS, LIES, AND ATOMIC SPIES - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venona/
Companion site to a PBS NOVA program it "chronicles the lives and covert activities of the so-called 'atom spies' in the 1940's." Features information about "translations of Soviet cables decrypted back in the 1940s by the Venona Project," the U.S. government's effort to intercept messages from Soviet military intelligence. Also includes transcripts of "interviews with the closest relatives of some of America's most notorious atomic spies," biographical information about 20th century spies, and a teacher's guide.

THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/
This site is a companion to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) NOVA program about string theory (the idea "that the fundamental ingredients of nature are inconceivably tiny strings of energy, whose different modes of vibration underlie everything that happens in the universe") as explained by author-physicist Brian Greene. Includes interviews and articles, information about the film's special effects, interactive features on multidimensional math and supersymmetry, a teacher's guide, and related resources.

THEOLOGY
Greek Gods, Human Lives: What We Can Learn from Myths, by Mary Lefkowitz
Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition, by Jaroslav Pelikan.

THE PERILOUS FIGHT: AMERICA'S WORLD WAR II IN COLOR
Companion to a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) series that brings America's wartime experience, on the battlefield and at home, vividly and intimately to life by combining
original color film footage with compelling passages from diaries and letters written by people who were part of an unforgettable period of history. This site located at http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/ includes photos, letters, videos, a World War II timeline, an episode guide, and a teacher's guide.

VIDEO/DVD COURSES
If your LLI is looking for courses on video or DVD we have two excellent resources thanks to the Osher Lifelong Learning Program (OLLI) at Southern Maine University in Portland. Be sure to check out these two web sites - http://www.learner.org/resources/browse.html and http://www.ambrosevideo.com/ Both offer high quality educational videos and DVDs that would be perfect for LLI courses.

WOMEN ARTISTS IN NORTH AMERICA - http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Perspectives/
This exhibit site "celebrates the important contributions of women in the arts from Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America. The Web exhibit features historical, modern, and contemporary art." Searchable, or browse by major topics (private worlds, land and place, modernity, beyond modernity).

WOMENS STUDIES
Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote, by Janet Theophano
Becoming Cleopatra: The Shifting Image of an Icon, by Francesca Royster
Queen Victoria, by Walter L. Arnstein
She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World, by Carol P. Christ

100 BEST
In 1998 the Modern Library, publisher of the world’s best books, originated a project called the “100 Best” to get people talking about great books. The project was a huge success and from it emerged two lists, the 100 Best Fiction and the 100 Best Non Fiction books published in the English language since 1900. The two lists will certainly provoke much discussion and can provide the basis for many stimulating LLI courses. You will find both lists, along with helpful “talking points,” by visiting www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100best.html.