Author: John Paul Fay
Publisher: Wildblue Press
ISBN: 9781947290396
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
What happens when one of the most evil men in the history of America meets a man he trusts to share his darkest secrets with? Partly told through the letters of Arthur Shawcross, The Shawcross Letters is the tale of one of America's most notorious serial killers and his relationship with his would-be biographer, John Paul Fay.
The Shawcross Letters
Author: John Paul Fay
Publisher: Wildblue Press
ISBN: 9781947290396
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
What happens when one of the most evil men in the history of America meets a man he trusts to share his darkest secrets with? Partly told through the letters of Arthur Shawcross, The Shawcross Letters is the tale of one of America's most notorious serial killers and his relationship with his would-be biographer, John Paul Fay.
Publisher: Wildblue Press
ISBN: 9781947290396
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 256
Book Description
What happens when one of the most evil men in the history of America meets a man he trusts to share his darkest secrets with? Partly told through the letters of Arthur Shawcross, The Shawcross Letters is the tale of one of America's most notorious serial killers and his relationship with his would-be biographer, John Paul Fay.
Arthur Shawcross, the Genesee River Killer
Author: Joel Norris
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781558175785
Category : Crime and criminals
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
From February 1988 until his capture nearly two years later, convicted child killer Shawcross terrorized the city of Rochester, New York, with his spree of savage slaughter. The gruesome details of his crimes shocked the court, but paled before the facts about his abused early childhood and his tour of duty in Vietnam where he first tasted human flesh. Photographs.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781558175785
Category : Crime and criminals
Languages : en
Pages : 324
Book Description
From February 1988 until his capture nearly two years later, convicted child killer Shawcross terrorized the city of Rochester, New York, with his spree of savage slaughter. The gruesome details of his crimes shocked the court, but paled before the facts about his abused early childhood and his tour of duty in Vietnam where he first tasted human flesh. Photographs.
The Serial Killer Whisperer
Author: Pete Earley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439199043
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Pete Earley—the strange but true story of how a young man’s devastating brain injury gave him the unique ability to connect with the world’s most terrifying criminals. Fifteen-year-old Tony Ciaglia had everything a teenager could want until he suffered a horrific head injury at summer camp. When he emerged from a coma, his right side was paralyzed, he had to relearn how to walk and talk, and he needed countless pills to control his emotions. Abandoned and shunned by his friends, he began writing to serial killers on a whim and discovered that the same traumatic brain injury that made him an outcast to his peers now enabled him to connect emotionally with notorious murderers. Soon many of America’s most dangerous psychopaths were revealing to him heinous details about their crimes—even those they’d never been convicted of. Tony despaired as he found himself inescapably drawn into their violent worlds of murder, rape, and torture—until he found a way to use his gift. Asked by investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to aid in solving a murder, Tony launched his own searches for forgotten victims with clues provided by the killers themselves. The Serial Killer Whisperer takes readers into the minds of murderers like never before, but it also tells the inspiring tale of a struggling American family and a tormented young man who found healing and closure in the most unlikely way—by connecting with monsters.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439199043
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Pete Earley—the strange but true story of how a young man’s devastating brain injury gave him the unique ability to connect with the world’s most terrifying criminals. Fifteen-year-old Tony Ciaglia had everything a teenager could want until he suffered a horrific head injury at summer camp. When he emerged from a coma, his right side was paralyzed, he had to relearn how to walk and talk, and he needed countless pills to control his emotions. Abandoned and shunned by his friends, he began writing to serial killers on a whim and discovered that the same traumatic brain injury that made him an outcast to his peers now enabled him to connect emotionally with notorious murderers. Soon many of America’s most dangerous psychopaths were revealing to him heinous details about their crimes—even those they’d never been convicted of. Tony despaired as he found himself inescapably drawn into their violent worlds of murder, rape, and torture—until he found a way to use his gift. Asked by investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to aid in solving a murder, Tony launched his own searches for forgotten victims with clues provided by the killers themselves. The Serial Killer Whisperer takes readers into the minds of murderers like never before, but it also tells the inspiring tale of a struggling American family and a tormented young man who found healing and closure in the most unlikely way—by connecting with monsters.
The Misbegotten Son
Author: Jack Olsen
Publisher: Crime Rant Books
ISBN:
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 660
Book Description
Little Artie Shawcross bullied classmates, insulted teachers, started fires, tortured animals, and roved the woods of New York's hardscrabble North Country with imaginary friends, talking in a high squawk. He also scored top grades, excelled in sports and shared his money and toys with the children who ridiculed him. From the second grade on, he was subjected to psychiatric examination, regularly confounding the experts. Years later, while serving in Vietnam, Arthur John Shawcross wrote bloodcurdling letters about his battlefield ordeals, then returned to Watertown to commit a string of arsons and burglaries. He served two years in prison, was paroled to his respectable parents - and murdered a boy and a girl. Back in the penitentiary, he proved as enigmatic as ever. Some counselors saw him as a Frankenstein monster, beyond hope, irredeemable. To others he was a troubled young man who could be saved. No two psychiatrists seemed to agree. Shawcross served fifteen years, then conned a parole board into an early release. He settled in Binghamton, but angry citizens learned of his bloody history and ran him out of town. After two smaller communities turned him away, desperate parole authorities finally smuggled the child-killer into Rochester in the dead of night - neglecting to alert the local police. Soon the corpses started turning up, locked in winter ice, covered by reeds in swamps, floating in streams. The homicidal pedophile had changed his M.O., this time murdering diminutive women. As the body count grew, Rochester streets swarmed with police, and still the serial killer managed to snare his tenth victim, then his eleventh. Amazon.com Accounts of more famous serial killers like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer may have ghoulish entertainment value, but I agree with writer Darcy O'Brien that this meticulously factual study of child sex-murderer Arthur Shawcross "comes closer to capturing the psychology of a serial killer than anything else I've ever read." The strength of this book (semi-finalist for a 1994 Edgar Award) comes first from the quality of the materials--including first-person interviews with the killer's wives, girlfriends, co-workers, police officers, therapists, and even a prostitute who "played dead" for Shawcross--and second, from Olsen's ability to weave the information into a highly readable story that reveals, above all, the ineffectiveness of our system of rehabilitation and parole. From Publishers Weekly An experienced and skilled writer, Olsen ( Predator ) proves himself equal to the formidable task of studying serial killer Arthur Shawcross. Born in 1945 in upstate New York, Shawcross was perceived as different even in childhood (his classmates dubbed him "Oddie," and elementary school officials called for mental health evaluations). In the early '70s he murdered two children and was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison; he served less than 15 years before he was paroled in 1987. He was difficult to place--townspeople drove him out as soon as his past became known. After three such episodes, parole officials sent him surreptitiously to Rochester, N.Y., where he killed at least 11 prostitutes. He was arrested in 1990 and eventually sentenced to 250 years in prison. During the trial, he claimed that he had been physically and sexually abused by his mother (untrue, the authorities concluded) and that he had committed horrible atrocities in Vietnam (probably untrue). He did not fit the classic pattern of the sociopath, nor did he seem either schizophrenic or paranoid. It remained for psychiatrist Richard Kraus to hypothesize that physiology was the basis for Shawcross's behavior--he diagnosed Shawcross as suffering from a metabolic ailment known as pyroluria and an abnormal genetic constitution. Told by Olsen with contributions from others affected by Shawcross's crimes, the story is a triumph of true-crime writing.
Publisher: Crime Rant Books
ISBN:
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 660
Book Description
Little Artie Shawcross bullied classmates, insulted teachers, started fires, tortured animals, and roved the woods of New York's hardscrabble North Country with imaginary friends, talking in a high squawk. He also scored top grades, excelled in sports and shared his money and toys with the children who ridiculed him. From the second grade on, he was subjected to psychiatric examination, regularly confounding the experts. Years later, while serving in Vietnam, Arthur John Shawcross wrote bloodcurdling letters about his battlefield ordeals, then returned to Watertown to commit a string of arsons and burglaries. He served two years in prison, was paroled to his respectable parents - and murdered a boy and a girl. Back in the penitentiary, he proved as enigmatic as ever. Some counselors saw him as a Frankenstein monster, beyond hope, irredeemable. To others he was a troubled young man who could be saved. No two psychiatrists seemed to agree. Shawcross served fifteen years, then conned a parole board into an early release. He settled in Binghamton, but angry citizens learned of his bloody history and ran him out of town. After two smaller communities turned him away, desperate parole authorities finally smuggled the child-killer into Rochester in the dead of night - neglecting to alert the local police. Soon the corpses started turning up, locked in winter ice, covered by reeds in swamps, floating in streams. The homicidal pedophile had changed his M.O., this time murdering diminutive women. As the body count grew, Rochester streets swarmed with police, and still the serial killer managed to snare his tenth victim, then his eleventh. Amazon.com Accounts of more famous serial killers like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer may have ghoulish entertainment value, but I agree with writer Darcy O'Brien that this meticulously factual study of child sex-murderer Arthur Shawcross "comes closer to capturing the psychology of a serial killer than anything else I've ever read." The strength of this book (semi-finalist for a 1994 Edgar Award) comes first from the quality of the materials--including first-person interviews with the killer's wives, girlfriends, co-workers, police officers, therapists, and even a prostitute who "played dead" for Shawcross--and second, from Olsen's ability to weave the information into a highly readable story that reveals, above all, the ineffectiveness of our system of rehabilitation and parole. From Publishers Weekly An experienced and skilled writer, Olsen ( Predator ) proves himself equal to the formidable task of studying serial killer Arthur Shawcross. Born in 1945 in upstate New York, Shawcross was perceived as different even in childhood (his classmates dubbed him "Oddie," and elementary school officials called for mental health evaluations). In the early '70s he murdered two children and was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison; he served less than 15 years before he was paroled in 1987. He was difficult to place--townspeople drove him out as soon as his past became known. After three such episodes, parole officials sent him surreptitiously to Rochester, N.Y., where he killed at least 11 prostitutes. He was arrested in 1990 and eventually sentenced to 250 years in prison. During the trial, he claimed that he had been physically and sexually abused by his mother (untrue, the authorities concluded) and that he had committed horrible atrocities in Vietnam (probably untrue). He did not fit the classic pattern of the sociopath, nor did he seem either schizophrenic or paranoid. It remained for psychiatrist Richard Kraus to hypothesize that physiology was the basis for Shawcross's behavior--he diagnosed Shawcross as suffering from a metabolic ailment known as pyroluria and an abnormal genetic constitution. Told by Olsen with contributions from others affected by Shawcross's crimes, the story is a triumph of true-crime writing.
Exit Plan: The Writings of Mass Shooters
Author: Adam Lanza
Publisher: Strawberry Books
ISBN:
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
"A chilling and detailed look into the mindset of mass murderers..." - Gil Valle, author of Raw Deal, The Untold Story of NYPD's "Cannibal Cop." Ruined day trader Mark O. Barton describes to police where they can find the bodies of his wife and children. Supreme Gentleman (and incel “saint”) Elliot Rodger muses about becoming the ruler of the world. Adam Lanza, perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Massacre, imagines a horde of mewling babies has him trapped in a remote cabin. Columbine killer Eric Harris keeps an extensive diary, detailing his rage against his schoolmates and the human race, his plans for the upcoming massacre, and his joy at acquiring new weapons. Binghamton, New York mass murderer Jiverly Wong in broken English shares his delusions of persecution as a “targeted individual” stalked and harassed by the police. Short stories. Blog and diary entries. Bizarre fantasies. Suicide notes. Lists of favorite movies and music. Threatening letters. Complaints. A one act play. These are the writings of men and boys (they are all males) who have committed some of the worst peacetime massacres in the world. Some of the writings are short, raising more questions than they answer. Some are long and compulsively detailed. Some are introspective and insightful. Some are strange and clearly the products of disturbed minds. One or two make little sense at all. These writers are isolated, broken, lonely. Many of them are angry. Very, very angry. And they want to seek revenge on the people and society who wronged them. You will be amazed, horrified, and fascinated. You may find the thoughts expressed uncomfortably similar to your own. You may dip into this book each day, entranced by nightmarish acts and deranged flights of fancy. You may stay up late at night, and read the whole thing in one sitting. All of the writers committed, or attempted to commit, mass murder. All were either gunned down, captured, or killed themselves at the scene of their crimes. In addition to the ones described above, the writers include: Dylan Klebold, one half of the team that executed the Columbine Massacre, an event that has inspired other mass killers for over two decades; Seung Cho, lone perpetrator of the Virginia Tech Massacre; Richard Farley, who carried his obsession with a young female co-worker much too far; And more than 20 others. Check out these brief excerpts: “Women should not have the right to choose who to mate and breed with. That decision should be made for them by rational men of intelligence. If women continue to have rights, they will only hinder the advancement of the human race...” - Elliot Rodger “Films hold enormous power. I believe that costume dramas in particular are a good way to make white people proud of their history and physical beauty. I believe only the most beautiful people should be allowed to act. A beautiful person can make a mediocre film wonderful.” - Dylann Roof “There is nothing that any of you could have done to prevent this from happening; it was my destiny, and sometimes destiny is a bitch.” - Randy Stair “My interests include listening to music, watching movies, internet piracy. I mostly have uploaded porno, ebooks, things like that. That has been my only joy in life. I will leave a sign on my profile there for any who wish to see it. Check out what I’ve uploaded. You may find our tastes are more similar than you realize.” - Christopher Harper Mercer “Greetings from the dead. You have received this letter after a rather horrendous event.” - Robert Flores If you are a person who enjoys true crime, and gaining insight into the minds of the people who did it, Exit Plan is for you.
Publisher: Strawberry Books
ISBN:
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
"A chilling and detailed look into the mindset of mass murderers..." - Gil Valle, author of Raw Deal, The Untold Story of NYPD's "Cannibal Cop." Ruined day trader Mark O. Barton describes to police where they can find the bodies of his wife and children. Supreme Gentleman (and incel “saint”) Elliot Rodger muses about becoming the ruler of the world. Adam Lanza, perpetrator of the Sandy Hook Massacre, imagines a horde of mewling babies has him trapped in a remote cabin. Columbine killer Eric Harris keeps an extensive diary, detailing his rage against his schoolmates and the human race, his plans for the upcoming massacre, and his joy at acquiring new weapons. Binghamton, New York mass murderer Jiverly Wong in broken English shares his delusions of persecution as a “targeted individual” stalked and harassed by the police. Short stories. Blog and diary entries. Bizarre fantasies. Suicide notes. Lists of favorite movies and music. Threatening letters. Complaints. A one act play. These are the writings of men and boys (they are all males) who have committed some of the worst peacetime massacres in the world. Some of the writings are short, raising more questions than they answer. Some are long and compulsively detailed. Some are introspective and insightful. Some are strange and clearly the products of disturbed minds. One or two make little sense at all. These writers are isolated, broken, lonely. Many of them are angry. Very, very angry. And they want to seek revenge on the people and society who wronged them. You will be amazed, horrified, and fascinated. You may find the thoughts expressed uncomfortably similar to your own. You may dip into this book each day, entranced by nightmarish acts and deranged flights of fancy. You may stay up late at night, and read the whole thing in one sitting. All of the writers committed, or attempted to commit, mass murder. All were either gunned down, captured, or killed themselves at the scene of their crimes. In addition to the ones described above, the writers include: Dylan Klebold, one half of the team that executed the Columbine Massacre, an event that has inspired other mass killers for over two decades; Seung Cho, lone perpetrator of the Virginia Tech Massacre; Richard Farley, who carried his obsession with a young female co-worker much too far; And more than 20 others. Check out these brief excerpts: “Women should not have the right to choose who to mate and breed with. That decision should be made for them by rational men of intelligence. If women continue to have rights, they will only hinder the advancement of the human race...” - Elliot Rodger “Films hold enormous power. I believe that costume dramas in particular are a good way to make white people proud of their history and physical beauty. I believe only the most beautiful people should be allowed to act. A beautiful person can make a mediocre film wonderful.” - Dylann Roof “There is nothing that any of you could have done to prevent this from happening; it was my destiny, and sometimes destiny is a bitch.” - Randy Stair “My interests include listening to music, watching movies, internet piracy. I mostly have uploaded porno, ebooks, things like that. That has been my only joy in life. I will leave a sign on my profile there for any who wish to see it. Check out what I’ve uploaded. You may find our tastes are more similar than you realize.” - Christopher Harper Mercer “Greetings from the dead. You have received this letter after a rather horrendous event.” - Robert Flores If you are a person who enjoys true crime, and gaining insight into the minds of the people who did it, Exit Plan is for you.
Queen and Country
Author: William Shawcross
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743226763
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
This magnificently illustrated volume, produced in cooperation with BBC Books in London, combines an insightful text by noted historian Shawcross with personal recollections and over 100 remarkable images chronicling the half-century reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Full color and b&w.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743226763
Category : Great Britain
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
This magnificently illustrated volume, produced in cooperation with BBC Books in London, combines an insightful text by noted historian Shawcross with personal recollections and over 100 remarkable images chronicling the half-century reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Full color and b&w.
Unspeakable
Author: Harriet Shawcross
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1786890062
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
'Compassionate' Guardian 'Extremely affecting' Scotsman As a teenager, Harriet Shawcross stopped speaking at school for almost a year. As an adult, she became fascinated by the limits of language. From the inexpressible trauma of trench warfare and the aftermath of natural disaster to the taboo of coming out, Harriet examines all the ways in which words scare us. She studies wartime poet George Oppen, interviews the author of The Vagina Monologues, meets Nepalese earthquake-survivors and the founders of the Samaritans and asks what makes us silent?
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1786890062
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265
Book Description
'Compassionate' Guardian 'Extremely affecting' Scotsman As a teenager, Harriet Shawcross stopped speaking at school for almost a year. As an adult, she became fascinated by the limits of language. From the inexpressible trauma of trench warfare and the aftermath of natural disaster to the taboo of coming out, Harriet examines all the ways in which words scare us. She studies wartime poet George Oppen, interviews the author of The Vagina Monologues, meets Nepalese earthquake-survivors and the founders of the Samaritans and asks what makes us silent?
Serial Killers: Butchers & Cannibals
Author: Nigel Blundell
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1848847378
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
The body snatcher who inspired Psycho, the noblewoman known as Countess Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and other killers for whom murder was just the beginning. From Gilles de Rais’ castle in fifteenth-century France to “the Bloody Benders’” eighteenth-century Kansas farm to Jeffrey Dahmer’s quiet apartment in twentieth-century Milwaukee, history is littered with serial murderers whose first impulse was to take a life. For some, it was never enough. The real thrill came after their victims were dead. In this shocking anthology, true crime journalist Nigel Blundell brings together more than two dozen chilling profiles of the world’s most unforgettable fiends, including: Ed Gein, the Plainfield necrophile and inspiration for The Silence of the Lambs; Andrei Chikatilo, the “Rostov Ripper”, whose uncontrollable hunger was satiated by more that fifty victims; Dennis Nilsen, whose London house of horrors so overflowed with body parts that they blocked the drains; Germany’s Fritz Haarmann who killed and consumed more than two dozen men, then peddled the left-over meat on the black market; Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory whose lust for the blood of virgins—a body count estimated to be in the hundreds—has branded her the most prolific female serial killer in world history; and many more human monsters whose appetites are still the stuff of nightmares.
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1848847378
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 233
Book Description
The body snatcher who inspired Psycho, the noblewoman known as Countess Dracula, Jack the Ripper, and other killers for whom murder was just the beginning. From Gilles de Rais’ castle in fifteenth-century France to “the Bloody Benders’” eighteenth-century Kansas farm to Jeffrey Dahmer’s quiet apartment in twentieth-century Milwaukee, history is littered with serial murderers whose first impulse was to take a life. For some, it was never enough. The real thrill came after their victims were dead. In this shocking anthology, true crime journalist Nigel Blundell brings together more than two dozen chilling profiles of the world’s most unforgettable fiends, including: Ed Gein, the Plainfield necrophile and inspiration for The Silence of the Lambs; Andrei Chikatilo, the “Rostov Ripper”, whose uncontrollable hunger was satiated by more that fifty victims; Dennis Nilsen, whose London house of horrors so overflowed with body parts that they blocked the drains; Germany’s Fritz Haarmann who killed and consumed more than two dozen men, then peddled the left-over meat on the black market; Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory whose lust for the blood of virgins—a body count estimated to be in the hundreds—has branded her the most prolific female serial killer in world history; and many more human monsters whose appetites are still the stuff of nightmares.
Queen Elizabeth
Author: William Shawcross
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781405048590
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1168
Book Description
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August, 1900. Few could have imagined the profound effect she would have on Britain and its people. This official biography tells not only her story but, through it, that of the country she loved so devotedly.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9781405048590
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1168
Book Description
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl of Strathmore, was born on 4 August, 1900. Few could have imagined the profound effect she would have on Britain and its people. This official biography tells not only her story but, through it, that of the country she loved so devotedly.
The Last Emperor of Mexico
Author: Edward Shawcross
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781541674202
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The "superbly entertaining and well‑researched" (Financial Times) history of Maximilian and Carlota, the European aristocrats who stumbled into power in Mexico--and faced bloody consequences. In the 1860s, Napoleon III, intent on curbing the rise of American imperialism, persuaded a young Austrian archduke and a Belgian princess to leave Europe and become the emperor and empress of Mexico. They and their entourage arrived in a Mexico ruled by terror, where revolutionary fervor was barely suppressed by French troops. When the United States, now clear of its own Civil War, aided the rebels in pushing back Maximilian's imperial soldiers, the French army withdrew, abandoning the young couple. The regime fell apart. Maximilian was executed by a firing squad and Carlota, secluded in a Belgian castle, descended into madness. Assiduously researched and vividly told, The Last Emperor of Mexico is a dramatic story of European hubris, imperialist aspirations clashing with revolutionary fervor, and the Old World breaking from the New.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781541674202
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The "superbly entertaining and well‑researched" (Financial Times) history of Maximilian and Carlota, the European aristocrats who stumbled into power in Mexico--and faced bloody consequences. In the 1860s, Napoleon III, intent on curbing the rise of American imperialism, persuaded a young Austrian archduke and a Belgian princess to leave Europe and become the emperor and empress of Mexico. They and their entourage arrived in a Mexico ruled by terror, where revolutionary fervor was barely suppressed by French troops. When the United States, now clear of its own Civil War, aided the rebels in pushing back Maximilian's imperial soldiers, the French army withdrew, abandoning the young couple. The regime fell apart. Maximilian was executed by a firing squad and Carlota, secluded in a Belgian castle, descended into madness. Assiduously researched and vividly told, The Last Emperor of Mexico is a dramatic story of European hubris, imperialist aspirations clashing with revolutionary fervor, and the Old World breaking from the New.