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Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America
By Ivan Doig. 1982
A blend of modern-day travel memoir and nineteenth-century history, &“infused with the fresh air and spirit of the Northwest&” (The…
New York Times Book Review). The author of the acclaimed This House of Sky and Mountain Time provides a magnificent evocation of the Pacific Northwest through his exploration of the unpublished diaries of James Gilchrist Swan, an early settler of the region who was drawn there from Boston in the 1850s. Winter Brothers fuses excerpts from these diaries with author Ivan Doig&’s own journal entries, as he travels in Swan&’s footsteps one winter along the once-wild coastline of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What emerges is a remarkable interaction of two minds, a dialogue across time that links the present with the reality of the American frontier. &“Absorbing . . . A double portrait of striking clarity, yet with wonderfully subtle hues.&” —San Francisco ChronicleMustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse in the American West
By Deanne Stillman. 2009
“A fascinating narrative with all the grace and power embodied in the wild horses that once populated the Western range . . .…
[A] magnificently told saga.” —Albuquerque JournalA Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the YearMustang is the sweeping story of the wild horse in the culture, history, and popular imagination of the American West. It follows the wild horse across time, from its evolutionary origins on this continent to its return with the conquistadors, its bloody battles on the old frontier, its iconic status in Buffalo Bill shows and early westerns, and its plight today as it makes its last stand on the vanishing range. With the Bureau of Land Management proposing to euthanize thousands of horses and ever-encroaching development threatening the land, the mustang’s position has never been more perilous. But as Stillman reveals, the horses are still running wild despite all the obstacles, with spirit unbroken.Hailed by critics nationwide, Mustang is “brisk, smart, thorough, and surprising” (Atlantic Monthly).“Like the best nonfiction writers of our time (Jon Krakauer and Bruce Chatwin come to mind), Stillman’s prose is inviting, her voice authoritative and her vision imaginative and impressively broad.” —Los Angeles Times“Powerful . . . Stillman’s talent as a writer makes this impossible [to stop reading], to the mustang’s benefit.” —Orion“A circumspect writer passionate about her purpose can produce a significant gift for readers. Stillman’s wonderful chronicle of America’s mustangs is an excellent example.” —The Seattle TimesThe acclaimed combat historian and author of The Unknowns details the history of the Marbleheaders and their critical role in…
the Revolutionary War. On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington&’s army against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. One of the country&’s first diverse units, they pulled off an &“American Dunkirk&” and saved the army by navigating the treacherous river to Manhattan. At the right time in the right place, the Marbleheaders, a group of white, black, Hispanic, and Native American soldiers, repeatedly altered the course of events, and their story shines new light on our understanding of the American Revolution. As historian Patrick K. O&’Donnell recounts, beginning nearly a decade before the war started, Marbleheaders such as Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne spearheaded the break with Britain and helped shape the United States through governing, building alliances, seizing British ships, forging critical supply lines, and establishing the origins of the US Navy. The Marblehead Regiment, led by John Glover, became truly indispensable. Marbleheaders battled at Lexington and on Bunker Hill and formed the elite Guard that protected George Washington, foreshadowing today&’s Secret Service. Then the special operations–like regiment, against all odds, conveyed 2,400 of Washington&’s men across the ice-filled Delaware River on Christmas night of 1776, delivering the surprise attack on Trenton that changed the course of history . . . The Marbleheaders&’ story, never fully told before now, makes The Indispensables a vital addition to the literature of the American Revolution.Praise for The Indispensables&“Perfectly paced and powerfully wrought, this is the story of common men who gave everything for an ideal—America. The product of meticulous research, The Indispensables is the perfect reminder of who we are, when we need it most.&” —Adam Makos, author of the New York Times bestseller A Higher Call&“O&’Donnell&’s gift for storytelling brings the once famous regiment back to life, as he takes readers from the highest war councils to the grime and grit of battle.&” —Dr. James Lacey, author of The Washington War&“Comprehensive . . . Revolutionary War buffs will delight in the copious details and vivid battle scenes.&” —Publishers Weekly&“A vivid account of an impressive Revolutionary War unit and a can&’t-miss choice for fans of O&’Donnell&’s previous books.&” —Kirkus ReviewOne Man's Meat
By E. B. White. 1944
The Pulitzer Prize–winning writer and author of Charlotte&’s Web documents his move from Manhattan to a saltwater farm in New…
England: &“Superb reading.&” —The New Yorker Called &“a mid-20th–century Thoreau&” by Notre Dame Magazine, E. B. White&’s desire to live a simple life caused him to sell half his worldly goods, give up his job writing the New Yorker&’s &“Notes and Comment&” editorial page, and move with his family to a saltwater farm in North Brooklin, Maine. There, White got into the nuts-and-bolts of rural life—not without a lot of self-reflection—and surrounded himself with barnyard characters, some of whom would later appear in Charlotte&’s Web.One Man&’s Meat is White&’s collection of pithy and unpretentious essays on such topics as living with hay fever (&“I understand so well the incomparable itch of eye and nose for which the only relief is to write to the President of the United States&”), World War II (&“I stayed on the barn, steadily laying shingles, all during the days when Mr. Chamberlain, M. Daladier, the Duce, and the Führer were arranging their horse trade&”), and even dog training (&“Being the owner of dachshunds, to me a book on dog discipline becomes a volume of inspired humor&”). Though first published in 1942, this book delivers timeless lessons on the value of living close to nature in our quest for self-discovery. With each subject broached and reflected upon, it &“becomes an ardent and sobering guidebook for those of us trying to live our day-to-day lives now&” (Pif magazine). &“The most succinct, graceful and witty of essayists.&” —San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle &“A lively record of an active inquiring mind.&” —Kirkus ReviewsWe Can Overcome: An American Black Conservative Manifesto
By Lt. Col. Allen B. West. 2020
A retired US Army lieutenant colonel and former congressman shows how black America can improve itself through conservative values. Something…
has happened to the black community. Over the past decades, black America stopped believing that &“we shall overcome.&” Instead, they began accepting handouts from the government, turning away from the values of family, selfless military service, and business ownership that have been pillars of black America from the beginning. Progressive socialism has bound them in what amounts to economic enslavement. In his third book, Lt. Col. Allen B. West (Ret.) takes readers back through the political history of the black community, highlighting the history of public service, self-reliance, ingenuity, strong families, and religious involvement that pulled black Americans through the horrors of slavery, Reconstruction, and decades of Jim Crow laws. These are the values that enabled them to improve their lives—to overcome.We Can Overcome: An American Black Conservative Manifesto urges black America to return to the conservative principles that once had entire neighborhoods building wealth and thriving on Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It&’s time black Americans remember the strength they possess. In this age of escalating black-on-black violence and increasing government dependency, the sons and daughters of Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr. must stand up. We are not victims. We are victors. We can overcome.Storm Over the Land: A Profile of the Civil War (Civil War Library)
By Carl Sandburg. 2015
Writings on the American Civil War selected from the Pulitzer Prize–winning presidential biography Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, with illustrations…
and maps. Drawn from Carl Sandburg&’s magisterial biography of the sixteenth US president, this volume focuses in on the War Between the States, bringing the author&’s trademark clarity and vivid style to this dark and dramatic period in the nation&’s history. Moving from Sumter to Shiloh, Antietam to Gettysburg, Storm Over the Land is a classic chronicle of this bloody conflict, richly illustrated with halftones and drawings.Names of New York: Discovering the City's Past, Present, and Future Through Its Place-Names
By Joshua Jelly-Schapiro. 2021
"A casually wondrous experience; it made me feel like the city was unfolding beneath my feet.&” —Jia Tolentino, author of Trick MirrorIn…
place-names lie stories. That&’s the truth that animates this fascinating journey through the names of New York City&’s streets and parks, boroughs and bridges, playgrounds and neighborhoods.Exploring the power of naming to shape experience and our sense of place, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro traces the ways in which native Lenape, Dutch settlers, British invaders, and successive waves of immigrants have left their marks on the city&’s map. He excavates the roots of many names, from Brooklyn to Harlem, that have gained iconic meaning worldwide. He interviews the last living speakers of Lenape, visits the harbor&’s forgotten islands, lingers on street corners named for ballplayers and saints, and meets linguists who study the estimated eight hundred languages now spoken in New York.As recent arrivals continue to find new ways to make New York&’s neighborhoods their own, the names that stick to the city&’s streets function not only as portals to explore the past but also as a means to reimagine what is possible now.The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber Age
By David E. Sanger. 2018
NOW AN HBO® DOCUMENTARY FROM AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR JOHN MAGGIO • &“An important—and deeply sobering—new book about cyberwarfare&” (Nicholas Kristof, New York…
Times), now updated with a new chapter.The Perfect Weapon is the startling inside story of how the rise of cyberweapons transformed geopolitics like nothing since the invention of the atomic bomb. Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes, cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists. Two presidents—Bush and Obama—drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious code to blow up Iran&’s nuclear centrifuges, and yet America proved remarkably unprepared when its own weapons were stolen from its arsenal and, during President Trump&’s first year, turned back on the United States and its allies. And if Obama would begin his presidency by helping to launch the new era of cyberwar, he would end it struggling unsuccessfully to defend the 2016 U.S. election from interference by Russia, with Vladimir Putin drawing on the same playbook he used to destabilize Ukraine. Moving from the White House Situation Room to the dens of Chinese government hackers to the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger reveals a world coming face-to-face with the perils of technological revolution, where everyone is a target.&“Timely and bracing . . . With the deep knowledge and bright clarity that have long characterized his work, Sanger recounts the cunning and dangerous development of cyberspace into the global battlefield of the twenty-first century.&”—Washington PostThe Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power
By David E. Sanger. 2009
Readers of The New York Times know David Sanger as one of the most trusted correspondents in Washington, one to…
whom presidents, secretaries of state, and foreign leaders talk with unusual candor. Now, with a historian’s sweep and an insider’s eye for telling detail, Sanger delivers an urgent intelligence briefing on the world America faces. In a riveting narrative, The Inheritance describes the huge costs of distraction and lost opportunities at home and abroad as Iraq soaked up manpower, money, and intelligence capabilities. The 2008 market collapse further undermined American leadership, leaving the new president with a set of challenges unparalleled since Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the Oval Office.Sanger takes readers into the White House Situation Room to reveal how Washington penetrated Tehran’s nuclear secrets, leading President Bush, in his last year, to secretly step up covert actions in a desperate effort to delay an Iranian bomb. Meanwhile, his intelligence chiefs made repeated secret missions to Pakistan as they tried to stem a growing insurgency and cope with an ally who was also aiding the enemy–while receiving billions in American military aid. Now the new president faces critical choices: Is it better to learn to live with a nuclear Iran or risk overt or covert confrontation? Is it worth sending U.S. forces deep into Pakistani territory at the risk of undermining an unstable Pakistani government sitting on a nuclear arsenal? It is a race against time and against a new effort by Islamic extremists–never before disclosed–to quietly infiltrate Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. “Bush wrote a lot of checks,” one senior intelligence official told Sanger, “that the next president is going to have to cash.”The Inheritance takes readers to Afghanistan, where Bush never delivered on his promises for a Marshall Plan to rebuild the country, paving the way for the Taliban’s return. It examines the chilling calculus of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il, who built actual weapons of mass destruction in the same months that the Bush administration pursued phantoms in Iraq, then sold his nuclear technology in the Middle East in an operation the American intelligence apparatus missed. And it explores how China became one of the real winners of the Iraq war, using the past eight years to expand its influence in Asia, and lock up oil supplies in Africa while Washington was bogged down in the Middle East. Yet Sanger, a former foreign correspondent in Asia, sees enormous potential for the next administration to forge a partnership with Beijing on energy and the environment. At once a secret history of our foreign policy misadventures and a lucid explanation of the opportunities they create, The Inheritance is vital reading for anyone trying to understand the extraordinary challenges that lie ahead.The Holocaust In American Life
By Peter Novick. 2000
This “courageous and thought-provoking book” examines how the Holocaust came to hold its unique place in American memory (Foreign Affairs).Prize–winning…
historian Peter Novick explores in absorbing detail the decisions that moved the Holocaust to the center of American life. He illuminates how Jewish leaders invoked its memory to muster support for Israel, and how politicians in turn used it to score points with Jewish voters. With insight and sensitivity, Novick raises searching questions about these developments, their meaning, and their consequences. Does the Holocaust really teach useful lessons and sensitize us to atrocities, or, by making the Holocaust the measure, does it make lesser crimes seem “not so bad”? Have American Jews, by making the Holocaust the emblematic Jewish experience, given Hitler a posthumous victory, tacitly endorsing his definition of Jews as despised pariahs? What are we to make of the fact that while Americans spend hundreds of millions of dollars for museums recording a European crime, while comparatively little is done to memorialize American slavery?A New York Times Notable BookThe Last Negroes At Harvard: The Class of 1963 and the 18 Young Men Who Changed Harvard Forever
By Kent Garrett, Jeanne Ellsworth. 2019
The untold story of Harvard’s class of ’63, whose Black students fought to craft their own identities on the cusp…
between integration & affirmative action.In the fall of 1959, Harvard recruited an unprecedented eighteen “Negro” boys as an early form of affirmative action. Four years later they would graduate as African Americans. Some fifty years later, one of these trailblazing Harvard grads, Kent Garrett, would begin to reconnect with his classmates and explore their vastly different backgrounds, lives, and what their time at Harvard meant.Garrett and his partner Jeanne Ellsworth recount how these eighteen youths broke new ground, with ramifications that extended far past the iconic Yard. By the time they were seniors, they would have demonstrated against national injustice and grappled with the racism of academia, had dinner with Malcolm X and fought alongside their African national classmates for the right to form a Black students’ organization.Part memoir, part group portrait, and part narrative history of the intersection between the civil rights movement and higher education, this is the remarkable story of brilliant, singular boys whose identities were changed at and by Harvard, and who, in turn, changed Harvard.An “illuminating” account of the largest act of civil disobedience in US history “that resonates today, when our democracy is again…
being challenged” (Larry Tye, New York Times–bestselling author of Demagogue).They surged into Washington by the tens of thousands in the spring of 1971. Fiery radicals, flower children, and militant vets gathered for the most audacious act in a years-long movement to end America’s war in Vietnam: a blockade of the nation’s capital. And the White House, headed by an increasingly paranoid Richard Nixon, was determined to stop it.Washington journalist Lawrence Roberts, drawing on dozens of interviews, unexplored archives, and newfound White House transcripts, recreates these largely forgotten events through the eyes of dueling characters. Woven into the story too are now-familiar names including John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers. It began with a bombing inside the US Capitol—a still-unsolved case to which Roberts brings new information. To prevent the Mayday Tribe’s guerrilla-style traffic blockade, the government mustered the military. Riot squads swept through the city, arresting more than 12,000 people. As a young female public defender led a thrilling legal battle to free the detainees, Nixon and his men took their first steps down the road to the Watergate scandal and the implosion of the presidency. Mayday 1971 is the ultimately inspiring story of a season when our democracy faced grave danger, and survived.“Award–winning investigative reporter Lawrence Roberts tells the story superbly from start to finish . . . presents a lot of new and overlooked material.” —The Wall Street Journal“Fast-moving, and fascinating.” —Christian Science MonitorWaco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage
By Jeff Guinn. 2023
&“Impressively researched and written with storytelling verve&” (The Wall Street Journal), this is the definitive account of the disastrous siege…
at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, featuring never-before-seen documents, photographs, and interviews, from former investigative reporter Jeff Guinn, bestselling author of Manson and The Road to Jonestown.For the first time in thirty years, more than a dozen former ATF agents who participated in the initial February 28, 1993, Waco raid speak on the record about the poor decisions of their commanders that led to this deadly confrontation. The revelations in this book include why the FBI chose to end the siege with the use of CS gas; how both ATF and FBI officials tried and failed to cover up their agencies&’ mistakes; where David Koresh plagiarized his infamous prophecies; and direct links between the Branch Davidian tragedy and the modern militia movement in America. Notorious conspiracist Alex Jones is a part of the Waco story. So much is new and stunning. Guinn puts you alongside the ATF agents as they embarked on the disastrous initial assault, unaware that the Davidians knew they were coming and were armed and prepared to resist. His you-are-there narrative continues to the final assault and its momentous consequences. Drawing on this new information, including several eyewitness accounts, Guinn again does what he did with his bestselling books about Charles Manson and Jim Jones, revealing &“gripping&” (Houston Chronicle) new details about a story that we thought we knew.The Address was delivered at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday,…
November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.Four Years in the Cauldron: The Gripping Story of an Irishman Making Sense of America
By Brian O’Donovan. 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2021The riveting story of a nation at a crucial crossroadsFrom the start of his…
stint as RTÉ's Washington Correspondent Brian O'Donovan's lively and authoritative reporting of a tumultuous period in American life has been must-watch TV.Four Years in the Cauldron is his account of four busy years working in the US. He draws a compelling picture, full of telling colour and detail, of covering its fractured politics, particularly the extraordinary presidency of Donald Trump and the knife-edge election of Joe Biden. And he gives his unique perspective on big stories such as the Covid emergency, the Capitol riot, the murder of George Floyd and trial and conviction of his police killer.He also provides a visceral sense of what it's like living in a country shaped by guns, God, far-fetched conspiracy theories and the running sore of racism. Yet, drawing on his network of contacts, neighbours, friends and family connections outside the white-hot heat of Washington politics, he writes about the lives of ordinary American people with nuance and understanding.Four Years in the Cauldron is a must-read for getting to grips with the US at a moment of profound reckoning.______'[O'Donovan] captures well both the frenetic life of a reporter . . . and the Punch and Judy period in American politics that was the Trump presidency' Irish Times'An intriguing look at an extraordinary time . . . the book brings us to some fascinating places' Ryan Tubridy'A great read' The Last Word With Matt CooperThe Federalist Papers: The Eighty-five Federalist Articles And Essays, Complete
By Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay. 1987
Written at a time when furious arguments were raging about the best way to govern America, The Federalist Papers had…
the immediate pratical aim of persuading New Yorkers to accept the newly drafted Constitution in 1787. In this they were supremely successful, but their influence also transcended contemporary debate to win them a lasting place in discussions of American political theory. Acclaimed by Thomas Jefferson as 'the best commentary on the principles of government which ever was written', The Federalist Papers make a powerful case for power-sharing between State and Federal authorities and for a Constitution that has endured largely unchanged for two hundred years.Domestic Manners of the Americans
By Fanny Trollope. 1997
When Fanny Trollope set sail for America in 1827 with hopes of joining a Utopian community of emancipated slaves, she…
took with her three of her children and a young French artist, leaving behind her son Anthony, growing debts and a husband going slowly mad from mercury poisoning. But what followed was a tragicomedy of illness, scandal and failed business ventures. Nevertheless, on her return to England Fanny turned her misfortunes into a remarkable book. A masterpiece of nineteenth-century travel-writing, Domestic Manners of the Americans is a vivid and hugely witty satirical account of a nation and was a sensation on both sides of the Atlantic.Democracy in America: And Two Essays on America
By Alexis Tocqueville. 2003
One of the most influential political texts ever written on America, and an indispensable authority on the nature of democracy…
In 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat and civil servant, made a nine-month journey through eastern America. The result was Democracy in America, a monumental study of the strengths and weaknesses of the nation's evolving politics. Tocqueville looked to the flourishing democratic system in America as a possible model for post-revolutionary France, believing its egalitarian ideals reflected the spirit of the age. This edition, the only one that contains all Tocqueville's writings on America, includes the rarely translated 'Two Weeks in the Wilderness', an evocative account of Tocqueville's travels among the Iroquois and Chippeway, and 'Excursion to Lake Oneida'. Translated by Gerald Bevan with an Introduction and Notes by Isaac KramnickMeet extraordinary black heroes throughout history—biographies for kids ages 8 to 12 You're invited to meet ancient Egyptian rulers, brilliant…
scientists, legendary musicians, and civil rights activists—all in the same book! Black Heroes introduces you to 51 black leaders and role models from both history and modern times. This black history book for kids features inspirational biographies of trailblazers from the United States, Egypt, Britain, and more. Discover where in the world they lived and what their lives were like growing up. Learn about the obstacles they faced on the way to making groundbreaking accomplishments. You'll find out how these inspirational figures created lasting change—and paved the way for future generations. Black Heroes: A Black History Book for Kids features: Fascinating biographies—Read about famous icons like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Harriet Tubman, as well as lesser-known pioneers like aviator Bessie Coleman and astronomer Benjamin Banneker. Ways to learn more—Every biography includes an idea for a new way to explore the person and their work, like a book to read, website to visit, or a video to watch. Colorful portraits—Bring the historical heroes to life in your imagination with the help of full-color illustrations. Black Heroes goes beyond other black history biographies for kids to highlight people from around the world and across time. Who will your new hero be?Sex Money Murder: A Story Of Crack, Blood, And Betrayal
By Jonathan Green. 2018
Nominated for an Edgar Award “Exceptionally authentic.”—Jill Leovy, The New York Times Book Review In the late 1980s and early…
1990s, the Bronx had one of the country’s highest per capita homicide rates. As crack cocaine use surged, dealers claimed territory through intimidation and murder, while families were fractured by crime and incarceration. Chronicling the rise and fall of Sex Money Murder, one of the era’s most notorious gangs, reporter Jonathan Green creates a visceral and devastating portrait of a New York City borough and the dedicated detectives and prosecutors struggling to stem the tide of violence. Drawing on years of research and extraordinary access to gang leaders, law enforcement, and federal prosecutors, Green delivers an engrossing work of gritty urban reportage. Magisterial in its scope, Sex Money Murder offers a unique perspective on the violence raging in modern-day America and the battle to end it.