A powerful, timely novel that moves seamlessly between the euphoria of revolution and intimate dramas of love and loyalty. Once a senior diplomat in Kiev, Simon Davey lost everything after a lurid scandal. Back in London, still struggling with the aftermath of his disgrace, he is traveling on the Tube when he sees her. . . . This woman, Olesya, is the person Simon holds responsible for his downfall. He first met her on an icy night during the protests on Independence Square. Full of hope and idealism, Olesya could not know what a crucial role she would play in the dangerous times ahead—and in Simon’s fate. Or what compromises she would have to make to protect her family. When Simon decides to follow Olesya, he finds himself plunged back into the dramatic days which changed his life forever. And he begins to see that her past has not been what he thought it was, and neither has his own. Independence Square is a story of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times. It is a story about corruption and betrayals, and a story about where, in the twenty-first century, power really lies.

The United States was creeping ever closer to independence. The shot heard round the world still echoed in the ears of Parliament as impassioned revolutionaries took up arms for and against King and country. In this captivating blend of careful research and rich narrative, Derek W. Beck continues his exploration into the period preceding the Declaration of Independence, just days into the new Revolutionary War. The War Before Independence transports readers into the violent years of 1775 and 1776, with the infamous Battle of Bunker Hill a turning point in the Revolution and the snowy, wind-swept march to the frozen ground at the Battle of Quebec, ending with the exciting conclusion of the Boston Campaign. Meticulous research and new material drawn from letters, diaries, and investigative research throws open the doors not only to familiar figures and faces, but also little-known triumphs and tribulations of America's greatest military leaders, including George Washington. Wonderfully detailed and stunningly layered, The War Before Independence brings America's early upheaval to a ferocious boil on both sides of the battlefield, and vividly captures the spirit of a fight that continues to inspire brave hearts today.

Independence Hall is a place Americans think they know well. Within its walls the Continental Congress declared independence in 1776, and in 1787 the Founding Fathers drafted the U.S. Constitution there. Painstakingly restored to evoke these momentous events, the building appears to have passed through time unscathed, from the heady days of the American Revolution to today. But Independence Hall is more than a symbol of the young nation. Beyond this, according to Charlene Mires, it has a long and varied history of changing uses in an urban environment, almost all of which have been forgotten. In Independence Hall, Mires rediscovers and chronicles the lost history of Independence Hall, in the process exploring the shifting perceptions of this most important building in America's popular imagination. According to Mires, the significance of Independence Hall cannot be fully appreciated without assessing the full range of political, cultural, and social history that has swirled about it for nearly three centuries. During its existence, it has functioned as a civic and cultural center, a political arena and courtroom, and a magnet for public celebrations and demonstrations. Artists such as Thomas Sully frequented Independence Square when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital during the 1790s, and portraitist Charles Willson Peale merged the arts, sciences, and public interest when he transformed a portion of the hall into a center for natural science in 1802. In the 1850s, hearings for accused fugitive slaves who faced the loss of freedom were held, ironically, in this famous birthplace of American independence. Over the years Philadelphians have used the old state house and its public square in a multitude of ways that have transformed it into an arena of conflict: labor grievances have echoed regularly in Independence Square since the 1830s, while civil rights protesters exercised their right to free speech in the turbulent 1960s. As much as the Founding Fathers, these people and events illuminate the building's significance as a cultural symbol.

This title by Anastasia Taylor-Lind is a series of portraits of anti-government protestors and mourners made in a makeshift photographic studio in Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), Kiev.