The Historic Documents series makes primary source research easy by presenting in one volume key excerpts from documents about the important events of each year for the United States and the world. Each volume includes sixty to seventy documents from a particular year, from official or other influential reports and surveys, to speeches from leaders and other opinion makers, to court cases, legislation, and testimony, and much more. Historic Documents is renowned for the well-written and informative background, history, and context it provides for each document. Each volume begins with an insightful essay that sets the year’s events in context. Full source citations are provided, and links to Web addresses containing complete documents are given, if available. Readers have easy access to material through a detailed, thematic table of contents and a cumulative five-year index that directs them to related material in earlier volumes. Featured documents in Historic Documents of 2008 cover topics including: The devastation resulting from Cyclone Nargis in Burma The Beijing Olympic Games – from sports to political turmoil and protest Political instability in Zimbabwe and efforts to resolve disputed presidential elections Supreme Court cases on gun control, the legal rights of enemy combatants, lethal injection, Exxon Valdez damages claims, and the legality of voter ID requirements