There are events in history, some of them particularly serious, that remain in the shadow. Many times they are not satisfactorily connected to events that followed and may have caused them. The purpose of this book is for the reader to understand the broader currents that were in motion and to connect events with individuals and broader developments. In other cases, it was deemed worthwhile to bring to light largely unknown individuals or events that deserve wider recognition. History hides pale moments and marginalized initiatives and events. I judged that some of these deserved to come to the forefront and become the domain of people who are not experts and who may never have had the opportunity to know them.