A journey across America revealing "the history of how seven of these monuments came to be . . . and what they mean to us today" ( The Washington Times).Across the country, in the middle of busy city squares and hidden on quiet streets, there are nearly two hundred statues erected in memory of Abraham Lincoln. No other American has ever been so widely commemorated.A few years ago, Jim Percoco, a history teacher with a passion for both Lincoln and p...

From the author of The Class of 1846: "A swift-paced narrative of Lincoln's pre-presidential life." — The Washington Post Book WorldHow did Abraham Lincoln, long held as a paragon of presidential bravery and principled politics, find his way to the White House? How did he become the one man great enough to risk the fate of the nation on the well-worn but cast-off notion that all men are created equal?Here, award-winning historian John C. Waugh takes...

"From the death of John Quincy Adams through the Civil War to the tragedy of Reconstruction, Wineapple tells the American story brilliantly." —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning authorA New York Times Notable Book of 2013A Kirkus Best Book of 2013A Bookpage Best Book of 2013Dazzling in scope, Ecstatic Nation illuminates one of the most dramatic and momentous ...

George Robert Twelves Hewes, a Boston shoemaker who participated in such key events of the American Revolution as the Boston Massacre and the Tea Party, might have been lost to history if not for his longevity and the historical mood of the 1830's. When the Tea Party became a leading symbol of the Revolutionary ear fifty years after the actual event, this 'common man' in his nineties was 'discovered' and celebrated in Boston as a national hero. Young pieces together this extraordinary tale...

From the author of the forthcoming Building the Great Society (February 2018), an intimate look into Lincoln’s White House and the aftermath of his death, via the lives of his two closest aidesIn this timely look into Abraham Lincoln’s White House, and the aftermath of his death, noted historian and political advisor Joshua Zeitz presents a fresh perspective on the sixteenth U.S. president—as seen through the eyes of Lincoln’s two closest aides and confida...

An in-depth exploration of a momentous year in American history from the #1 New York Times –bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee .In 1876, America was eager to celebrate its centenary but questioned what might lie ahead. The American Republic had grown to four times its original population, and was in the midst of enormous changes. Industrialization was booming, a...

Winner of the Bancroft PrizeWinner of the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln PrizeWinner of the Merle Curti awardWinner of the Frederick Douglass PrizeNo historical event has left as deep an imprint on America's collective memory as the Civil War. In the war's aftermath, Americans had to embrace and cast off a traumatic past. David Blight explores the perilous path of remembering and forgetting, and reveals its tragic costs to race relations and America's ...

"[A] solidly researched, briskly presented popular history that helps sharpen our picture of a surprisingly pivotal era." — Los Angeles Times1776, 1861, 1929. Any high-school student should know what these years meant to American history. But wars and economic disasters are not our only pivotal events, and other years have, in a quieter way, swayed the course of our nation. 1831 was one of them, and in this striking new work, hist...

**A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist 'Biography'A groundbreaking biography of the most pioneering and accomplished African-American writer of the nineteenth century.**Born into slavery in Kentucky, raised on the Western frontier on the farm adjacent to Daniel Boone’s, “rented” out in adolescence to a succession of steamboat captains on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the young man known as “Sandy” reinvented himself as “William Wells” Brown after escaping to...

"Brilliant . . . Ferguson's guided tour of the often amusing, sometimes bizarre ways we remember Lincoln today . . . is heartening and even inspiring." —Bill Kristol, TimeAbraham Lincoln was our greatest president and perhaps the most influential American who ever lived. But what is his place in our country today? In Land of Lincoln, Andrew Ferguson packs his bags and embarks on a journey to the heart of contemporary Lincoln Nation, where he encou...

**Winner of the Barondess/Lincoln Award from The Civil War Round Table of New York“Fascinating reading. . .this book eerily reflects some of today’s key issues.” – The New York Times Book Review**From an award-winning historian, an engrossing look at how Abraham Lincoln grappled with the challenges of leadership in an unruly democracyAn awkward first meeting with U.S. Army officers, on the eve of the Civil War. A conversation on the White H...

Though Abraham Lincoln has been the subject of numerous biographies, his personality remains an enigma. During his lifetime, Lincoln prepared two sketches of his life for the 1860 presidential race. These brief campaign portraits serve as the core around which Paul Zall weaves extracts from correspondence, speeches, and interviews to produce an in-depth biography. Lincoln's writing about himself offers a window into the soul and mind of one of America's greatest president. His words reveal...