As the 150th anniversary of the Civil War approaches, the fascination with all things Civil War continues ever more strongly. With I Used to Know That: Civil War, snippets of history class will come rushing back as you recall that:The mere election of Abraham Lincoln pushed seven Southern states to secede. Distinguished soldier and military strategist Robert E. Lee was offered command of the U.S. Army two days before he was chosen to lead the rebel army of Northern Virginia...

With wit and charm, Oh Say Did You Know serves up 300 intriguing events and ideas that helped shape the United States. Gain valuable insight into the intricacies of every period of American history, from colonial days to the historic election of the first African American president. Five chapters cover a variety of topics, including government, politics, economy, commerce, science, education, innovation, medicine, daily life, and arts and entertainment.Myth-debunking sideb...

**The New York Times bestsellerA New York Times Notable and Critics’ Top Book of 2016Longlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for NonfictionOne of NPR's 10 Best Books Of 2016 Faced Tough Topics Head OnNPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2016’s Great ReadsSan Francisco Chronicle's Best of 2016: 100 recommended booksA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2016Globe & Mail 100 Best of 2016“Formidable...

**The #1 New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2017“Eminently readable but thick with import . . . Grant hits like a Mack truck of knowledge.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates*, The Atlantic***Pulitzer Prize winner Ron Chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, Ulysses S. Grant.Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. Al...

To European explorers, it was Eden, a paradise of waist-high grasses, towering stands of walnut, maple, chestnut, and oak, and forests that teemed with bears, wolves, raccoons, beavers, otters, and foxes. Today, it is the site of Broadway and Wall Street, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, and the home of millions of people, who have come from every corner of the nation and the globe. In Gotham, Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace have produced a monumental work of...

THE NEW YORK TIMES**#1** BESTSELLERThe must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historical docudrama, Legends and Lies: The Patriots is an exciting and eye-opening look at the Revolutionary War through the lives of its leaders.The American Revolution was neither inevitable nor a unanimous cause. It pitted neighbors against each other, as loyalists and colonial rebels faced off for their lives and futures. Th...

In 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States. He has been called the father of our country for leading America through its early years. Washington also served in two major wars during his lifetime: the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. With over 100 black-and-white illustrations, Washington's fascinating story comes to life - revealing the real man, not just the face on the dollar bill!

In this major new history of the Civil War, Bruce Levine tells the riveting story of how that conflict upended the economic, political, and social life of the old South, utterly destroying the Confederacy and the society it represented and defended. Told through the words of the people who lived it, The Fall of the House of Dixie illuminates the way a war undertaken to preserve the status quo became a second American Revolution whose impact on the country was as strong and lasting...

This innovative blend of biography and history “lets readers browse through a Civil War’s worth of presidential decisions” (Booklist).In this book, journalist Stephen A. Wynalda has constructed a detailed breakdown of president Abraham Lincoln’s decisions in office, in day-by-day chronological order—including his signing of the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862; his signing of the legislation enacting the first federal income tax on August 5, 1861; and more pe...

A New York Times BestsellerA timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, one of America’s most honored historians—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—that reminds us of the enduring principles at the heart of the American experience.“Insightful and inspirational, The American Spirit summons a vexed and divided nation to remember—and cherish—our unifying idea...

From The New York Times #1 bestselling companion series to the Fox historical docudrama, Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies; The Civil War is a pulse-quickening account of the deadliest war in American history.From the birth of the Republican Party to the Confederacy’s first convention, the Underground Railroad to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bill O’Reilly’s Le...

When George Washington bade farewell to his officers, he did so in New York's Fraunces Tavern. When Andrew Jackson planned his defense of New Orleans against the British in 1815, he met Jean Lafitte in a grog shop. And when John Wilkes Booth plotted with his accomplices to carry out an assassination, they gathered in Surratt Tavern. In America Walks into a Bar, Christine Sismondo recounts the rich and fascinating history of an institution often reviled, yet always central to Ameri...