History of the Americas Books

Book SynopsisThe story of the Combahee River Raid, one of Harriet Tubman''s most extraordinary accomplishments, based on original documents and written by a descendant of one of the participants. Most Americans know of Harriet Tubman''s legendary life: escaping enslavement in 1849, she led more than 60 others out of bondage via the Underground Railroad, gave instructions on getting to freedom to scores more, and went on to live a lifetime fighting for change. Yet the many biographies, children''s books, and films about Tubman omit a crucial chapter: during the Civil War, hired by the Union Army, she ventured into the heart of slave territory--Beaufort, South Carolina--to live, work, and gather intelligence for a daring raid up the Combahee River to attack the major plantations of Rice Country, the breadbasket of the Confederacy.Edda L. Fields-Black--herself a descendent of one of the participants in the raid--shows how Tubman commanded a ring of spies, scouts, and pilots and participated in military expeditions behind Confederate lines. On June 2, 1863, Tubman and her crew piloted two regiments of Black US Army soldiers, the Second South Carolina Volunteers, and their white commanders up coastal South Carolina''s Combahee River in three gunboats. In a matter of hours, they torched eight rice plantations and liberated 730 people, people whose Lowcountry Creole language and culture Tubman could not even understand. Black men who had liberated themselves from bondage on South Carolina''s Sea Island cotton plantations after the Battle of Port Royal in November 1861 enlisted in the Second South Carolina Volunteers and risked their lives in the effort.Using previous unexamined documents, including Tubman''s US Civil War Pension File, bills of sale, wills, marriage settlements, and estate papers from planters'' families, Fields-Black brings to life intergenerational, extended enslaved families, neighbors, praise-house members, and sweethearts forced to work in South Carolina''s deadly tidal rice swamps, sold, and separated during the antebellum period. When Tubman and the gunboats arrived and blew their steam whistles, many of those people clambered aboard, sailed to freedom, and were eventually reunited with their families. The able-bodied Black men freed in the Combahee River Raid enlisted in the Second South Carolina Volunteers and fought behind Confederate lines for the freedom of others still enslaved not just in South Carolina but Georgia and Florida. After the war, many returned to the same rice plantations from which they had escaped, purchased land, married, and buried each other. These formerly enslaved peoples on the Sea Island indigo and cotton plantations, together with those in the semi-urban port cities of Charleston, Beaufort, and Savannah, and on rice plantations in the coastal plains, created the distinctly American Gullah Geechee dialect, culture, and identity--perhaps the most significant legacy of Harriet Tubman''s Combahee River Raid.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A harrowing portrait of America in 1917–21, rife with racist violence, xenophobia and political repression abetted by the federal government. The book serves as a cautionary tale and a provocative counterpoint to our own era.” — New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice “The post-WWI ‘red scare’ was the most vicious period of violent repression in U.S. history, apart from the two original sins [slavery and ‘Indian removal’]. The shocking story is recounted in vivid detail in Adam Hochschild’s penetrating study American Midnight.” — Noam Chomsky, Truthout “Hochschild’s masterful new book ... chronicles our nation’s horrific period from 1917–21, when Woodrow Wilson, his men, and a paranoid culture went to war against union activists, immigrants, resisters, and Black people, among others—on a level that should forever shatter any myth about American Exceptionalism. A cautionary tale of what happens when democracy goes off the rails.” — Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer "Adam Hochschild has written a fine book about a grim period a century ago that has largely disappeared from national memory but seems painfully relevant to America in the 2020s... [It] describes vividly a time when racism, white nationalism, and anti-foreign and anti-immigrant sentiment were rampant. Reading it is almost therapeutic. Realizing (thanks to this book) that American democracy survived that dark moment and a decade later began half a century of democratic renewal made this reader more hopeful than he has been in quite a while.” — Washington Post "The four years of American history from 1917 to 1921 are underexamined, but, in this account, they emerge as pivotal." — New Yorker “In American Midnight, the historian Adam Hochschild, celebrated for his King Leopold’s Ghost and other volumes, recounts it with verve and insight… one of several fresh looks at a period that had previously received little widespread attention...Hochschild narrates a time as unsettled, frightening, and (perhaps) transformative as our own.” — Boston Globe “Brilliant historian Adam Hochschild … takes on the echoing years — a century ago — when pandemic and fire-stoking politicians buckled society." — Chicago Tribune “A sweeping look at the years between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when conscientious objectors to the war were maltreated and conflicts over race and labor were at a high pitch. Hochschild draws direct lines between events of that time and the unrest of today.” — New York Times, 15 Works of Nonfiction to Read This Fall “Exceptionally well written, impeccably organized, and filled with colorful, fully developed historical characters. … A riveting, resonant account of the fragility of freedom in one of many shameful periods in U.S. history.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A chilling tale laid out with engaging storytelling and meticulous detail.” — Los Angeles Times "Expanding his history begun in To End All Wars (2011), Hochschild brings to light people and themes that are often mere footnotes in other records of the Great War.” — Booklist (starred review) “Meticulously researched, fluidly written, and frequently enraging, this is a timely reminder of the ‘vigilant respect for civil rights and Constitutional safeguards’ needed to protect democracy and forestall authoritarianism.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “During the United States’ current tumultuous times, it is important to remember and revisit the forgotten injustices of the previous century. Hochschild succinctly does so here.” — Library Journal (starred review) “Award-winning historian Adam Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost, To End All Wars and Bury the Chains) provides a timely, fast-paced, revelatory new account of a pivotal but neglected period in American history: World War I and its stormy aftermath, when bloodshed and repression on the home front nearly doomed American democracy. The period's toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law feel ominously familiar today.” — Shelf Awareness "The most useful books offer clarity on issues that have animated debate for years. For example, Adam Hochschild’s American Midnight, a broad account of the aftermath of the U.S. joining the First World War, highlights the nativist sentiment that radicalized some Americans against immigrants then, just as it does today." — Kate Cray, The Atlantic "An account of the U.S. after World War I, when hatred, violence, racism, and economic uncertainty threatened democracy. The parallels with today's world are terrifying." — Isabel Allende, Daily Mail (London), "Best Reads of the Year" “American Midnight is a potent reminder of what happens when open discourse is systemically punished. The story happens to be more than 100 years old, which doesn’t mean it can’t happen again." — San Francisco Chronicle "A terrific new account of America’s social and political turmoil during the 1910s and ’20s provides some much-needed perspective on the problems afflicting the country today. ... Like all the best history books, American Midnight reads like a novel with three-dimensional characters." — Quillette "This is undoubtedly one of the year’s best and most important histories." — AudioFile Magazine "A grim (but ultimately hopeful) account of how American democracy survived the dark period between 1917 and 1921 when racism, anti-immigrant sentiment and dangerous white nationalism swelled following the Great War." — Globe and Mail (Toronto), "Best Books to Give This Year" "Hochschild forces readers to confront the abuses and remember those who had the courage to fight against militarism and speak up for the powerless and dispossessed. ... Vivid." — Financial Times "If you often worry about the political polarization of the 2020s, you should pick up historian Adam Hochschild’s clear-eyed and elegantly written new book covering the years surrounding World War I. This period of U.S. history is often glanced over and yet, as Hochschild observes, it was a time with more than a few echoes of the current moment." — Fast Company "The latest of Adam Hochschild's remarkably good books. ... No one who reads Adam Hochschild's admirable but sombre book will feel quite the same about the land of the free." — Times Literary Supplement (London)

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Book SynopsisRecalls how much of the rebellious queer culture, cheap rents, and a vibrant downtown arts movement vanished almost overnight to be replaced by gay conservative spokespeople and mainstream consumerism.Trade Review"This bracing, powerful, and well-reasoned work reaffirms the author's stature as a distinctive American woman of letters... Highly recommended." -- Richard Drezen Library Journal "The book that's inspired me more than any other this year is Sarah Schulman's Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, a razor-sharp memoir of New York in the heyday of the AIDS crisis." -- Jason King Slate "Teeming with ideas, necessary commentary, refreshing connections and examination of the status quo." Lambda Literary "A brilliant critique of contemporary culture... This is the most important book of the year." -- Jeff Miller Cult MTL "Schulman's personal recollections... are sharp and vivid." Gay & Lesbian Review/Worldwide "This is a very good, very sad book about the aftershock of the AIDS crisis in New York. Schulman is a truly gifted thinker." -- Alex Frank Fader Magazine "The author, a true woman of letters, makes a persuasive case." -- Roberto Friedman Bay Area Reporter "This is why the book is so successful and demands our attention: through a focus on the pulse of the queer community (of the 80s), it touches upon the individual condition (of today)." -- Marcie Bianco Velvetpark "A polemic, a passionate, provocative ... account of disappearance, forgetfulness and untimely death." -- Olivia Laing New Statesman "No book has rocked my world in recent times more than Sarah Schulman's 'The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination' ... [it ranks] among the best alternative histories published in the last 50 years." -- Don Shewey Culturevulture.net "A galvanizing account of the transformation, both external and mental, in New York City life." -- Emily Douglas Los Angeles Review Of Books "The essence of what Schulman calls gentrification is to pretend that privilege and difference do not exist and that any attempt to remember that they do is mere 'political correctness' rather than facing up to the reality to who does what to whom. To forget these things, is to deceive ourselves-and Schulman's harsh, bitter prose is a useful way of waking ourselves up." -- Roz Kaveney Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "It's a beautifully written screed (not a bad word in my books)... Schulman shines when she taps her deep knowledge of the AIDS movement... She can be brilliant." -- Susan G. Cole NowTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Making Record from Memory Part I. Understanding the Past 1. The Dynamics of Death and Replacement 2. The Gentrification of AIDS 3. Realizing That They're Gone Part II. The Consequences Of Loss 4. The Gentrification of Creation 5. The Gentrification of Gay Politics 6. The Gentrification of Our Literature Conclusion: Degentrification--The Pleasure of Being Uncomfortable

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Book SynopsisThe fall of France in 1940 panicked US leaders, leading to their fateful decision to recognize the pro-Nazi Vichy government. Michael Neiberg takes readers back to the fraught early years of World War II, when America’s misguided policy on Vichy alienated its British ally and ensured tensions with Charles de Gaulle and the postwar French Republic.Trade ReviewDeeply researched and forcefully written…shed[s] light on an embarrassing period in American diplomacy…Neiberg offers a mesmerizing account of how the U.S., as it anticipated another European war, stumbled through attempts to neutralize Vichy France…Neiberg deftly explains the confused politics and diplomacy that bedeviled the war against the Nazis. -- Ronald C. Rosbottom * Wall Street Journal *Meticulously researched but extremely readable…[An] excellent book. -- Julian Jackson * Washington Post *Michael Neiberg is one of the very best historians on wartime France, and his approach to the fall of France and its consequences is truly original and perceptive as well as superbly written. -- Antony Beevor, author of The Second World WarIt is difficult to find WWII material that is both interesting and fresh, but this book qualifies. -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution *The fall of France shattered the illusion that the United States could stay on the sidelines while Nazi Germany carved up Europe. Writing with clarity and verve, deep knowledge of French sources, and a keen eye for human foibles, Neiberg explains how the defeat of June 1940 transformed America’s relationship with France and compelled a rethinking of America’s world role. A smart and fresh analysis of Franco–American relations in the darkest hour of our long friendship. -- William I. Hitchcock, author of The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950sNeiberg has rescued an important episode in the history of the Second World War from relative obscurity and done so in great style. His book, with its terrific cast of characters and fast-paced story, reads like a novel and is at the same time an outstanding piece of historical research and analysis. -- Margaret MacMillan, author of War: How Conflict Shaped UsAn utterly gripping account, the best to date, of relations within the turbulent triumvirate of France, Britain, and America in the Second World War. Neiberg vividly brings to life the extraordinary military, domestic, personal, and political pressures on giants such as Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Charles de Gaulle, while also showing the immediate practical effect their interactions had on ordinary people in the struggle against the Nazis. -- Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with DestinyAn excellent book, the product of deep research, clear thought, and gripping writing. Neiberg restores France and the French Empire to its rightful place in the history of the strategy of the Atlantic powers in the Second World War. In so doing, he allows us to understand anew how shocking the French defeat in 1940 was for American policymakers, and the profound consequences that reverberated from that shock for the subsequent course of the war. -- Daniel Todman, author of Britain’s War: A New World, 1942–1947Expertly researched and a pleasure to read, When France Fell fills an important gap in the history of World War II by analyzing American relations with Vichy and Free French forces, how the geopolitical position of France’s colonial holdings steered US policy, and how those decisions deeply strained Anglo–American relations. The story Neiberg tells is one of misguided calculations and ultimately tremendous luck that Americans’ ‘Vichy gamble’ did not cause more political and military turmoil. -- Brooke L. Blower, author of Becoming Americans in Paris: Transatlantic Politics and Culture between the World WarsNeiberg’s fascinating and compelling study places France back at the heart of the story of the Second World War. He crafts a vivid narrative of the extraordinary and radical transformations that accompanied the catastrophe in France. The consequences of defeat were profound for a divided Gallic nation, but they were also defining for Britain and America; the defeat of Europe’s premier land power put a nail in the coffin of one superpower and sparked the rise of another. Highly recommended! -- Jonathan Fennell, author of Fighting the People’s War: The British and Commonwealth Armies and the Second World WarAn important and fascinating book that examines U.S. policy towards Vichy—a policy which not only put the United States at odds with its wartime ally, Great Britain, but also was destined to fail…While numerous books have been written on the fall of France, U.S. policy toward Vichy has been curiously overlooked in recent years. Neiberg remedies this…Highly readable [and] filled with interesting, larger-than-life characters. -- Sean Durns * National Interest *This is an extremely well researched and readable book. And it is a reminder that in wartime, fighting the enemy can often be less complicated than dealing with your allies. -- Calum Henderson * Military History Matters *A superbly crafted synthesis of military, diplomatic, and political history…Neiberg concludes that America’s flirtation with Vichy did not go disastrously wrong, but cautions that this had little to do with wise decision-making in Washington…[An] excellent book. -- Carl Cavanagh Hodge * Michigan War Studies Review *Punctures the myths of the conventional American story of the Second World War…Important, well argued, deeply researched, and a pleasure to read, written by one of the most productive and accomplished American historians of both world wars. -- Richard Fogarty * H-Net Reviews *Neiberg’s important new book, When France Fell, chronicles the often-bungled attempts of the United States to redefine its strategy and navigate its relationship with Vichy France. It is one of the first, if not the first, work in English to address the strategic relationship between the United States and France during the Second World War…A timely reminder of the importance of statecraft in an age where international incivility runs rampant. -- Cameron Zinsou * H-Diplo *

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Book SynopsisThe Katrina disaster was not a weather event of summer 2005. It was a disaster a century in the making, a product of lessons learned from previous floods, corporate and government decision making, and the political economy of the United States at large. New Orleans’s history is America’s history, and Katrina represents America’s possible future.Trade ReviewThe main thrust of Horowitz’s account is to make us understand Katrina—the civic calamity, not the storm itself—as a consequence of decades of bad decisions by humans, not an unanticipated caprice of nature…He leaves readers with a strong sense that it’s only a matter of time before there is a similar disaster in New Orleans, and that, in whatever lull there is between now and then, things aren’t great. -- Nicholas Lemann * New Yorker *Brilliant…If you want to read only one book to better understand why people in positions of power in government and industry do so little to address climate change, even with wildfires burning and ice caps melting and extinctions becoming a daily occurrence, this is the one… Horowitz shows—patiently and damningly—how the decisions made by Louisiana’s political and business elite systematically rendered the region vulnerable to disaster. -- Scott W. Stern * Los Angeles Review of Books *Easily the best book on the subject since Douglas Brinkley’s 2006 The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast…The fact that Katrina’s impact fell disproportionately on poor Louisianans raises a host of issues that Horowitz addresses better than any previous narrative history of the catastrophe. -- Steve Donoghue * Christian Science Monitor *Horowitz does a masterful job of describing the public and private engineering projects that made possible real estate construction, oil exploration, and other forms of economic expansion in New Orleans during the twentieth century, building fortunes for a few while putting thousands in the path of the next big storm… Disasters have the power to reveal who we are, what we value, what we’re willing—and unwilling—to protect. -- Eric Klinenberg * New York Review of Books *Horowitz is engrossed by the stark imbalance that pandering to the powerful industries of shipping and oil and gas has produced between ‘private profits and public liabilities.’ His story is a feisty blend of urban environmental history and history of political economy, of land subsidence (drained land sinks) and subsidized loans that create a false sense of impermeability…From start to finish, Horowitz’s necessary book is passionately political. -- Peter Coates * Times Literary Supplement *This masterful history opens nearly a century before the storm and examines how so many people came to live in such a vulnerable place. * The Economist *Horowitz chronicles an endless hustle in which governments and wealthy developers seize landscapes and mold them without regard to long-term consequences, and in which white people and moneyed interests have fixed advantages…A sadly predictable, distinctly American story. -- John McQuaid * Washington Monthly *Politicians and corporations, among others, have made poor communities of color vulnerable to climate disasters. As Katrina: A History demonstrates, political and economic choices traded the present and future lives of Louisiana’s poor (and especially poor Black) people for unevenly distributed short-term gain…Attentive to history, Horowitz has harsh words for climate utopians who look for technological solutions to the city’s problems. -- Elias Rodriques * Bookforum *Calling upon a century of history to tell the story of what many Americans limit to a span of days or weeks, Horowitz’s Katrina is a devastating and important text for understanding the deep-seated inequality, infrastructure failure, and government carelessness that led to one of America’s worst disasters…Reading Horowitz in the age of COVID-19, as the powerful determine who and what are expendable, feels especially instructive. -- Andru Okun * Los Angeles Review of Books *The definitive portrait of the ‘causes and consequences’ of Hurricane Katrina. Horowitz brilliantly explores the disastrous links between warming temperatures, systemic racism, government mismanagement, and corporate greed. Few books better capture the monumental threat that climate change poses to America’s cities. * Publishers Weekly *For those who are interested in getting through this current disaster by reading about other disasters…The whole idea is that Katrina was not just a tragic singular event that happened in 2005, but the result of centuries of terrible—often intentional—political and business decisions that had been made over the course of the hundred years prior…A super lively and engaging writer. * The Strategist *[A] sweeping overview of the historic, social and economic factors that played into the disaster and its aftermath. * The Times-Picayune *A vivid and persuasive chronicle of the ‘causes and consequences’ of Hurricane Katrina…Horowitz argues that a combination of environmental challenges, structural racism, and governmental misjudgment resulted in a massive loss of life…Even readers who have never visited the Crescent City will be moved by this incisive account. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Incisive…Horowitz argues persuasively that the destruction incurred by Hurricane Katrina was not merely a meteorological event, but part of a long process of political, environmental, economic, and cultural decisions…An eye-opening environmental history. * Kirkus Reviews *Horowitz’s lucid, detailed, and balanced account of the long, crooked paths that led up to Katrina reinforces one of history’s most important lessons. * Daily Beast *Horowitz disrupts the narrative of disaster as exception…[Tells] the story of Katrina as a cycle of profit-driven and government-sanctioned growth and dispossession. -- Maia Silber * Public Books *Horowitz relentlessly pursues how the history of New Orleans, Louisiana, and the United States produced Katrina over the course of a century…Horowitz’s argument…has the potential to make a radical contribution to the history of technology…The writing is masterful, at times transcendent. -- Cornelis Disco * Technology and Culture *This thoroughly researched and clearly written book exposes the relationship between inequality and urban geography, offering a chilling glimpse of future disasters in the making. * Climate and Capitalism *Among the best histories of modern New Orleans. It is, moreover, a towering intervention in modern urban environmental and political history that shows not only how human actions shape disasters, but also how urban history is inseparable from metropolitan, regional, and national histories. Finally, it offers a warning that in an age of climate change and rising sea levels, no one may assume that future crises will visit themselves only on the disadvantaged in urban America. -- J. Mark Souther * The Metropole *Not only a definitive analysis of the storm as it affected New Orleans but also a peerless example of how historians should understand disasters—regardless of specialization—and why those events might matter even to scholars normally unconcerned with such seemingly extraordinary phenomena…As Horowitz goes on to illustrate in gripping detail, the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina is inextricable from decades of slow-moving, unexceptional events that are as much the province of social or political history as environmental history. -- Adam Mandelman * Environmental History *Horowitz is a gifted storyteller…This book is the best published history of Katrina. It is a major contribution to urban history, environmental history, and disaster studies, with relevance far beyond southern Louisiana. -- Josiah Rector * Journal of Southern History *Katrina: A History is a beautiful book about a long, ugly chapter in our nation’s history. Horowitz brilliantly demonstrates that the storm carried with it a century of poor decisions that both preceded and followed the disaster. Corporate greed, misguided policymaking, environmental blindness, corrupt politics, crippling racism, and class inequality: all these human failings were as significant as the broken levees and hurricane-force winds. This is not just a compelling history; it is a distressing warning about our future. -- Lizabeth Cohen, author of Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban AgeThis is by far the most important treatment of Hurricane Katrina—an extraordinarily valuable work of scholarship. Andy Horowitz offers a fresh perspective that serves both as a corrective and also an entirely different way of understanding one of the most critical chapters in the nation’s environmental and political history. -- Ari Kelman, author of A River and Its City: The Nature of Landscape in New OrleansIn 2005, in the eyes of many, the history of New Orleans and lower Louisiana shrank to a single moment of natural disaster. Andy Horowitz’s Katrina recovers the all-too-human policies, limited perspectives, and sheer greed that created the conditions for the events of 2005 over the course of the previous century—conditions that prevented an equitable recovery process, and continue to obscure the ways in which ‘Katrina’ was not just about one unfortunate group of people, but also heralds our collective future. This book is an important reinterpretation of the history of New Orleans, the history of disaster, and the history of our nation. -- Leslie M. Harris, author of In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626–1863This book sees not only the forest and the trees but the blades of grass between the trees. Horowitz properly places the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in the much larger context of regional history, national and local policy decisions, and societal mores which all added up to having tragic if—mostly—unintended consequences, while not losing sight of intimate details and the personal stories of those who experienced the storm and rebuilt the city. Well-written and at times gripping, this is the most important book about Katrina so far. -- John M. Barry, author of Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed AmericaAlthough it is difficult to imagine a fresh take, Andy Horowitz has provided one…Horowitz has made a superb contribution to the field. His long view of the conditions that created New Orleans’s particular vulnerability fundamentally shifts the paradigm for understanding both the impact of and recovery from the storm, and his extraordinary prose will make the reader stop and read twice just for the fun of it. -- Christopher Manning * Louisiana History *Meant to be read, and ought to be read, by anyone who wishes to be an engaged citizen in our current moment of climate change, racial reckoning, and vast economic inequality. -- Aaron Sachs * California History *Katrina is a masterful work that is multi-disciplinary in its approach to a very complex city situated in a hazardous environment…[and] a model for the evaluation of exposure and vulnerability in other cities and communities that experience geophysical events (such as earthquakes and tornadoes). It makes a strong case that ‘disasters’ are not natural. -- Gerald Mills * Society *

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Book SynopsisThe world’s leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the “riveting” (The New York Times) definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today.In The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden, Peter Bergan provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America’s long war with al-Qaeda and its decedents, capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man, as a zealot, as a battlefield commander, as a terrorist leader, and as a fugitive. The book sheds light on his many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire yet insisted his family live like paupers. He adored his wives and children, depending on his two wives, both of whom had PhDs, to make critical strategic decisions. Yet, he also brought ruin to his family. He was fanatically religious but willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam. He inspired deep loyalty, yet, in the end, his bodyguards turned against him. And while he inflicted the most lethal act of mass murder in United States history, he failed to achieve any of his strategic goals. In his final years, the lasting image we have of bin Laden is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself, just as another dad flipping through the channels with his remote. In the end, bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound, far from the front lines of his holy war. And yet, despite that unheroic denouement, his ideology lives on. Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates, and documents unearthed only recently, Bergen’s “comprehensive, authoritative, and compelling” (H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty and Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World) portrait of Osama bin Laden reveals for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists.Trade Review"Meticulously documented, fluidly written and replete with riveting detail... Equally revealing about the Americans and their pursuit of him." — The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) "Of the raft of books that are marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and its aftermath, few are likely to be as meticulously documented, as fluidly written or as replete with riveting detail as Peter Bergen’s The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden... A page-turner." — The New York Times Book Review "The portrait [Bergen] draws is intimate and detailed."— The Washington Post "The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden does much more than reveal a human side to a mass murderer, offering the general reader an authoritative and convincing portrait of a man whose misdeeds changed all our lives in many ways, none for the better." — The Guardian "Comprehensive, authoritative, and compelling." — H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty and Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World

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Book SynopsisMarcy Norton tells a new history of the European colonization of the Americas, one that places wildlife and livestock at the center of the story. She reveals that it was, above all, the encounters between European and Native American beliefs about animal life that transformed societies on both sides of the Atlantic.Trade ReviewRelationships—between animals and humans, and between humans and other humans—are at the heart of Marcy Norton’s original and ambitious The Tame and the Wild. -- Alexander Bevilacqua * London Review of Books *[Norton] argues that biology cannot be separated from culture — a stance that allows her to reconsider why animals were treated in a certain way in the past and how they could be treated in the future… A fascinating book. -- Henry Mance * Financial Times *The Tame and the Wild reads like a revelation. Norton’s groundbreaking work compellingly shows how the history of nonhuman animals in the Atlantic world, and their transformation from beings to things, is intrinsically entangled with the history of the early-modern European extractivist and genocidal colonial project in the Americas. At the same time, it luminously recovers and foregrounds early-modern American Indigenous ways of being in the world and knowing it that emphasize the shared nature of human and nonhuman flesh and subjectivity. Her book shows us new ways for writing both our histories and those of our ‘fellow creatures.’ -- Pablo F. Gómez, author of The Experiential Caribbean: Creating Knowledge and Healing in the Early Modern AtlanticMarcy Norton offers an erudite and innovative perspective on the relationships between humankind and animals in the context of the European colonization of Mexico and South America. By analyzing the history of the clash between Indigenous and Western conceptions of hunting, domestication, and coexistence with pets, this book reveals the origins of consumption practices and objectification of the animal world, as well as the struggles to recognize animal rights. -- Guilhem Olivier, National Autonomous University of MexicoNorton revolutionizes our understanding of the world after 1492. Until now theories of ecological imperialism have conceived of animals a lot like diseases: as biological forces undermining colonized societies. She refutes that determinist story by showing animals as subjects in relationships—sometimes tender, sometimes violent, sometimes extractivist—with Indigenous people and Europeans in the Americas. The Tame and the Wild puts animals and human relationships at the center of the history of contact. -- Nancy J. Jacobs, author of Birders of Africa

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsContents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 • Internationalizing Struggle, 1977–1979 2 • Triumph and Consolidation, 1979–1980 3 • The Revolution under Attack, 1981–1982 4 • Creative Defense, 1983–1984 5 • Fundraising for the Revolution, 1985–1986 6 • Peace and Elections, 1987–1990 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewExamine[s] how slavery laid the foundation of American capitalism, including the invention of financial instruments, such as bonds that used enslaved people as collateral. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *Slavery in the United States was a business. A morally reprehensible—and very profitable business. Much of the research around the business history of slavery focuses on the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the business interests that fueled it. The common narrative is that today’s modern management techniques were developed in the factories in England and the industrialized North of the United States, not the plantations of the Caribbean and the American South. According to a new book by historian Caitlin Rosenthal, that narrative is wrong… Rosenthal argues that slaveholders in the American South and Caribbean were using advanced management and accounting techniques long before their northern counterparts. Techniques that are still used by businesses today. * Marketplace *Absolutely compelling. -- Diane Coyle * Five Books *[This] history of the accounting and management of slave plantations in the Americas goes a long way towards puncturing common-sense narratives of free market economics. -- Martin Myers * Times Higher Education *Valuable…Rosenthal proves that precise calculation of labor productivity took root in the slave economy. The irony is that it was more aggressively calculated there than among many Northern manufacturers of the time. -- Jeremy Ray Jewell * Arts Fuse *Looks at how sugar and cotton plantations organised and tracked production. It is a fascinating yet horrifying history of how planters saw the slaves they profited from—and how they drove up production…Challenges many dominant ideas about capitalism, class and progress. -- Sadie Robinson * Socialist Worker *Full of insights into the history of Atlantic slavery, Accounting for Slavery will force its readers to look with fresh eyes at the many freedoms and unfreedoms of the modern American workplace. This is an original book, which uniquely draws from and speaks to many disciplines, while written compellingly for a wide audience. -- Jonathan Levy, University of ChicagoBy paying close attention to slaveholders’ methods of keeping accounts, Caitlin Rosenthal shows how and why they tried to reduce human beings to marks on a ledger. Anyone concerned with the sometimes dark history of management, data, and modern accounting practices needs to read this brilliant, carefully argued book. -- W. Caleb McDaniel, Rice University

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An excellent, well-researched, literate overview of 20th century warfare and the development of the fighter plane. Lords of the Sky will captivate history and aviation buffs alike." -- STEPHEN COONTS, New York Times bestselling author of Flight of the Intruder "Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this must-read chronological history of fighter pilots reads like a great literary novel. Dan Hampton has crafted an important work that is sure to become a classic within the historic lore of military aviation." -- CHRISTINA OLDS, co-author of Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds Praise for Viper Pilot: "Hampton's one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history... We may never see his like again." -- New York Post "Dramatic, fast-paced, and definitive -- a pleasure for everyone who loves reading about aviation, and the life-and-death drama of air combat." -- MICHAEL KORDA, author of With Wings Like Eagles and Ike "An epic history of the fighter pilot world by a gifted author and historian with the trained eye of a combat pilot. This will be an enduring work of aviation literature. Experience the thrill, hear the wind, encounter the danger: Read this book!" -- Major General DON SHEPPERD (USAF Ret.), co-author of Bury Us Upside Down; former Director of the Air National Guard. "Superbly written. Paints a vivid picture of the skills, scares, scars, and science of air combat brilliantly, weaving them into a fascinating historical fabric that embraces technology, history, and politics. Buffs and the general public will agree that this is a first in the field!" -- Colonel WALTER BOYNE (USAF, Ret.), Former Director of the National Air & Space Museum and author of Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the United States Air Force

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Book SynopsisA unique insiders' account of what CIA intelligence analysts do and why it mattersThe common perception of a CIA officer is someone who collects secret intelligence abroada spy. However, the critical link between secrets and policy is the intelligence analyst. The CIA Intelligence Analyst brings to light the vital, but often-unseen, work of these officers. Roger Z. George, Robert Levine, and the contributors to this book demystify the profession of intelligence analyst at the CIA and describe how the wide array of analytic specialtiesor disciplines in the language of the CIAfunction. The disciplines range from political, economic, leadership, and military matters to science and technology, cyber, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence. Each of the chapterswritten by former or current CIA analystsdiscusses how analysts interact with those who collect raw intelligence. Just as important, the chapters describe the relationships analysts develop with the diverse set of policymakers who use CIA analyses. The contributors reveal the key intelligence questions that analysts address, their methods, their products, and their challenges. This book will be an invaluable resource for scholars of national security and intelligence who want to develop a fuller picture of the internal workings of the CIA and for those who are considering a career as an analyst.

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Book SynopsisA new edition for HL Option 2, History of the Americas, Topic 13: The Second World War and the Americas 1933-1945.The renowned IB Diploma History series, combining compelling narratives with academic rigor.An authoritative and engaging narrative, with the widest variety of sources at this level, helping students to develop their knowledge and analytical skills. This second edition provides:- Reliable, clear and in-depth content from topic experts - Analysis of the historiography surrounding key debates- Dedicated exam practice with model answers and practice questions- TOK support and Historical Investigation questions to help with all aspects of the Diploma

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Book SynopsisA new edition for HL Option 2, History of the Americas, Topic 16: The Cold War and the Americas (1945-1981)The renowned IB Diploma History series, combining compelling narratives with academic rigor.An authoritative and engaging narrative, with the widest variety of sources at this level, helping students to develop their knowledge and analytical skills. This second edition provides:- Reliable, clear and in-depth narrative from topic experts - Analysis of the historiography surrounding key debates- Dedicated exam practice with model answers and practice questions- TOK support and Historical Investigation questions to help with all aspects of the Diploma

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Book SynopsisImmensely readable history by the author of Robinson Crusoe incorporates the author''s celebrated flair for journalistic detail, and represents the major source of information about piracy in the early 18th century. Defoe recounts the daring and bloody deeds of such outlaws as Edward Teach (alias Blackbeard), Captain Kidd, Mary Read, Anne Bonny, many others.

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Book SynopsisA set of wargaming rules for fighting large battles set during the American Civil War.From the First Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, enter one of the defining conflicts of American history. With shot, shell, and sabre, guide the armies of the Blue and the Grey through this first modern war to determine the fate of a nation.With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is a large-scale, mass-battle wargame for recreating the American Civil War. Designed to handle brigade and divisional level engagements while providing a balance between ease of play and period detail, With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is ideal for new gamers and wargaming veterans alike. It contains everything players need to raise armies and craft scenarios, whether based upon historical campaigns and orders of battle or those of their own devising.

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Book SynopsisIn the 1970s, new methods of social science research began to flower in Latin America, connecting academic researchers to grassroots social movements. One of these was participatory action research, a method now used by community organizers, educational activists, and social scientists around the world.Historieta Doble traces the roots of participatory action research to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and to the work of visionary sociologist Orlando Fals Borda with the Colombian Peasant Movement. Beautifully illustrated, this graphic novel shows how Fals Borda combined research and theory with political participation and activism, using comics to capture rural historical memory and allow peasants to see themselves as historical actors.This graphic history presents a fascinating journey through time, weaving Fals Borda’s original research with Joanne Rappaport’s contemporary reconstruction of his compelling story. The book features the artistic

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Book SynopsisThe US Constitution says nothing about a presidential cabinet, yet this institution has grown powerful. Lindsay M. Chervinsky tells the story of George Washington’s cabinet, an ad hoc panel that responded to emergencies of the day. It is supposed to be the Senate’s job to advise the president, but the first cabinet changed that expectation forever.Trade ReviewCogent, lucid, and concise, Lindsay Chervinsky’s book gives us an indispensable guide to the creation of the cabinet. With her groundbreaking study, we can now have a much greater appreciation of this essential American institution, one of the major legacies of George Washington’s enlightened statecraft. -- Ron Chernow, author of Washington: A LifeTracks the emergence of a body that the Constitution never mentions…Argues persuasively that focusing on its development helps us understand pivotal moments in the 1790s and the creation of an independent, effective executive. -- William Anthony Hay * Wall Street Journal *Fantastic…My admiration for America’s first and possibly finest president has grown further…Washington excelled more than many of his successors at harnessing the cabinet to exercise his political will…A compelling story. -- Clayton Trutor * New Criterion *A thorough and insightful account of how the federal government came to have a ‘cabinet’ resembling the British one. But it doubles as a poignant tale of how Washington’s unifying authority broke down over his time in office. -- Tom Cutterham * Early American Literature *Well-researched, thoughtful, and fascinating…Between 1789 and 1797, George Washington formulated the standards against which all subsequent presidents must be measured. -- Clay S. Jenkinson * Governing.com *A well written, deeply insightful examination of Washington’s presidency and his personal leadership style. -- Alec D. Rogers * Journal of the American Revolution *With smart analysis and lively writing, Chervinsky illuminates how Washington and his secretaries breathed life into an institution never directly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. -- Tyson Reeder * Parliaments, Estates, and Representation *Traces the evolution of the cabinet from British history through George Washington’s presidency, explaining how experimentation, personalities, internal and international crises, loyalty and betrayal, and political partisanship impacted not only the development of Washington’s advisory body, but foreign and domestic policies as well. * Library Journal *In this important and illuminating study, Lindsay Chervinsky has given us an original angle of vision on the foundations and development of something we all take for granted: the president’s Cabinet. -- Jon Meacham, author of The Soul of AmericaA clear, concise, and lively study of a topic that has long needed such coverage. Chervinsky skillfully shows the Revolutionary roots of the early cabinet and explores how it juggled precedent, public opinion, partisanship, and the balance of power. Anyone interested in American politics will want to read this informative and timely book. -- Joanne B. Freeman, author of The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil WarChervinsky offers a new perspective on a crucial and enduring institution in American politics, persuasively showing the centrality of the cabinet in the founding era and beyond. With clear, crisp prose and a compelling story, this book is a must-read not only for historians, political scientists, and legal scholars, but also for anyone interested in learning about a foundation of the American republic. -- Gautham Rao, author of National Duties: Custom Houses and the Making of the American StateA riveting, beautifully written story of George Washington’s efforts to figure out how to achieve his goals in a fast-changing environment. By placing Washington’s cabinet meetings within the broader narratives of the Revolutionary War and the politics of the early republic, Chervinsky brings all the tensions of the big stories into Washington’s efforts to administer America’s new government. She makes reading about the evolution of institutions fun! -- Johann N. Neem, author of Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in AmericaA well-written and much-needed addition to our understanding of the early American Republic. -- Kathryn Gehred * H-Net Reviews *Provides the reader with the first modern treatment of the Cabinet in decades. Chervinsky shows how the Cabinet came to be, and how it changed in the early days of the republic. -- Stephen Donnelly * Historical Journal of Massachusetts *

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Book SynopsisA fascinating true crime account of one of America's most notorious mass murderers.

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Book SynopsisReflecting on the experience, philosophy, and practice of Latin American indigenous and Afro-descendant activist-intellectuals who mobilize to defend their territories from large-scale extraction, Arturo Escobar shows how the key to addressing planetary crises is the creation of the pluriverse—a world of many epistemological and ontological worlds.Trade Review“Conveying a powerful message about the dire state of the world, Arturo Escobar offers a monumental critique: the crisis we face is civilizational; the tools that modernity has made available are inadequate to the tasks we face; and the only viable way forward entails a radical break from conventional practices. Escobar's vigorous call to decolonize our imaginaries in order to liberate our individual and collective sense of what is possible is compelling, deeply inspiring, and sure to spark urgently needed dialogue.” -- Charles R. Hale, coeditor of * Otros Saberes: Collaborative Research on Indigenous and Afro-Descendant Cultural Politics *“With optimism of the will and of the intellect, Arturo Escobar does not tell us what is or what could be; rather he contributes tools to imagine possibility differently—to dare think the unthinkable. The pluriverse he proposes is unknown practice, that, however, does not authorize us to think it is impossible practice.” -- Marisol de la Cadena, author of * Earth Beings: Ecologies of Practice across Andean Worlds *"Escobar begins with a fundamental question: “are we really the autonomous individuals we imagine ourselves to be?” (5). . . . Over the course of subsequent chapters, Escobar convincingly demonstrates how modern individualism, far from being an innate condition of contemporary reality, is rather one possibility among many that has prevailed only because it forecloses other worldviews." -- Pedro Ponce * SFRA Review *“Pluriversal Politics is an inspirational book that not only makes us believe in the possibilities of civilizational transitions, but also offers some theoretical tools and intuitive clues for academics. . . . The book is a great entry point to the work of one of the most influential social scientists from Latin America.” -- Paola Solís Huertas * KULT Online *“Escobar calls for us to think about the possibility of another world by asking if we can separate ourselves from the nonhuman things we have created. . . . Escobar presents a woven tapestry of revolutionism, social movements, social struggles, and bottom-up approaches to call for transformation.” -- Tavis D. Jules & Benjamin D. Scherrer * Comparative Education Review *"Pluriversal Politics is a valuable contribution to conversations around politics in theAnthropocene and potential transitions. Its regional focus makes it of particular interest to thoseengaged in Latin America, but should be stimulating to anyone interested in environmental orpolitical anthropology, more-than-human anthropology, or the ontological turn more widely." -- Gabriel Urlich Lennon * Anthropology Book Forum *“[Escobar] offers ways of philosophizing life that not only have a strong emphasis on but also rootedness in praxis and activism. . . . In addition, despite the volume’s regional focus on Abya Yala/Afro/Latino América, Escobar’s decolonial lens and focus on the (re)localization of action invite any reader to extrapolate his ideas to other contexts.” -- Lisa Ausic * Politics, Religion & Ideology *Table of ContentsPreface to the English Edition ix Prologue xxxv Acknowledgments xxxix Introduction: Another Possible Is Possible 1 1. Theory and the Un/Real: Tools for Rethinking "Reality" and the Possible 13 2. From Below, on the Left, and with the Earth: The Difference that Abya Yala/Afro/Latino América Makes 31 3. The Earth-Form of Life: Nasa Thought and the Limits to the Episteme of Modernity 46 4. Sentipensar with the Earth: Territorial Struggles and the Ontological Dimension of the Epistemologies of the South 67 5. Notes on Intellectual Colonialism and the Dilemmas of Latin American Social Theory 84 6. Postdevelopment @ 25: On "Being Stuck" and Moving Forward, Sideways, Backward, and Otherwise (a Conversation with Gustavo Esteva) 97 7. Cosmo/Visions of the Colombian Pacific Coast Region and Their Socioenvironmental Implications: Elements for a Dialogue of Cosmo/Visions 120 8. Beyond "Regional Development": A Design Model for Civilizational Transition in the Cauca River Valley, Colombia 136 Notes 159 References 175 Index 185

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Book SynopsisThe seminal writing of Carlos Cruz-Diez, best known for his experiential works exploring color and its properties

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Book Synopsis'Cozzens is a master storyteller' The Times'Extremely well researched' Times Literary SupplementFrom the devastating invasion by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to the relentless pressure from white settlers 150 years later, A Brutal Reckoning tells the story of encroachment on the vast Native American territory in the Deep South, which gave rise to the Creek War, the bloodiest in American Indian history, and propelled Andrew Jackson into national prominence, as he led the US Army in a ruthless campaign.It was a war that involved not only white Americans and Native Americans but also the British and the Spanish, and ultimately led to the Trail of Tears, in which the government forcibly removed the entire Creek people, as well as the neighbouring Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations, from their homelands, leaving the way open for the conquest of the West. No other single Indian conflict had such a significant impact on the fate of the country.Wonderfully told and brilliantly detailed, A Brutal Reckoning is a sweeping history of a crucial period in the destruction of America's native tribes.Trade ReviewCozzens recounts this tale with his customary equanimity, never attempting to embroider that which is already horrifying... Sadly, this is a book that many Americans won't want to read. It will probably be banned from some schools. Cozzens nevertheless deserves praise for having the courage, in today's climate, to write it. * The Times *A penetrating and fast-paced account...The story of the Creek War is a sorry one, but Cozzens recounts it both with fairness and with a richness of color and detail... Cozzens writes with sensitivity about the political and cultural vise in which the Creeks were crushed. * Wall Street Journal *As has come to be expected from Cozzens's work, A Brutal Reckoning masterfully blends important cultural and biographical details with expressive and engaging military history. * Washington Post *Cozzens' storytelling works well... An engaging, highly readable narrative. * New York Journal of Books *Cozzens vividly describes the Creek Indians' advanced society and clashes with other tribes, giving a grand sense of their civilization... Equally well brought to life, Cozzens' dramatic, often gory descriptions of armed conflicts among the Creeks and white settlers put flesh to myth-encased events. * Booklist (starred review) *A seasoned historical storyteller, Cozzens portrays both Jackson and his Creek adversaries without minimizing their flaws, though he is clearly appalled by Jackson's later treatment of the Indians during the Trail of Tears... An authoritative account of a disturbing chapter in the relations between the U.S. military and Indigenous peoples. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *An engrossing and important book that pays homage to the complex history and heritage of the Muscogee people. Highly recommended. * Library Journal (starred review) *A gut-wrenching account of a tragic chapter in American history. * Publishers Weekly *Extremely well researched... taking from an array of secondary material... and quoting extensively from contemporary letters, war reports, treaty negotiations, trading statistics and the like. * TLS *Table of Contents1: From the Ashes of the Entrada 2: A Rope of Sand 3: Between Three Fires 4: The Sweets of Civilization 5: The Hungry Years 6: Rise of the Red Sticks 7: Civil War 8: Stark Mad 9: Terror in the Tensaw 10: The Emergence of Old Hickory 11: Invasion of the Tennesseans 12: The Red Sticks Resilient 13: All We Lack Is Powder and Lead 14: Tennesseans to the Rear 15: Jackson Courts Disaster 16: A Slow, Laborious Slaughter 17: An Elusive Peace 18: Betrayal at Fort Jackson 19: A Scalp for a Scalp 20: Shades of Genocide

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Book SynopsisJonathan Raban was the author of over a dozen books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Passage to Juneau, Bad Land, Hunting Mister Heartbreak, Coasting, Old Glory, Arabia, Soft City, Waxwings and Surveillance. Over the span of six decades, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award, the Thomas Cook Award, the PEN West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Award, and the Governor's Award of the State of Washington. His work appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Harpers, The New York Review of Books, Outside, Atlantic Monthly, New Republic, The London Review of Books, and other magazines.In 1990 Raban, a British citizen, moved from London to Seattle, where he lived with his daughter until his death in 2023.Trade ReviewRaban’s journey, made through empty landscapes that once brimmed with optimism, reveals what happens when American innocence begins to curdle. The tale, borne along by its superlative writing, is a riveting one * Observer *A blazing classic * Sunday Telegraph *There is a temperateness, a patience, here that makes Bad Land quite unlike anything else that Mr Raban has written . . . an affectionate reasonableness about this perplexing nation that reminds the reader how much America ha always been nourished by the optimism of its immigrants * New York Times *Raban's journey, made through empty landscapes that once brimmed with optimism, reveals what happens when American innocence begins to curdle. The tale, borne along by its superlative writing, is a riveting one * Observer *The appearance of a new book by Jonathan Raban is a bit like the arrival of an unheralded comet. The heavens gently part and suddenly, here in orbit, shimmering with novelty, is a distinguished newcomer from an unimagined world . . . Bad Land is the finest sort of travel book: scrupulously well researched, sensitive, intelligent, compassionate, humoursome, and, always, stirringly well written . . . a triumph * Financial Times *A haunting inquisition into the fate of those immigrants who settled in eastern Montana at the beginning of [the twentieth] century. It is a classic tale of the American Dream turned, literally, to dust * Telegraph *It is a remarkable tale that Raban uncovers, one that encompasses the best and worst aspects of the American Dream * Sunday Times *Subtly ambitious, full of ironies and a tough sympathy * Telegraph *[Raban] turns Montana into a profound symbol for America's sense of displacement; for its tragic romance with rootlessness, its search for identity under that big blue sky. . . One of the great literary stylists at work today * New Statesman *[Bad Land] abounds with acute observation allied with ebullient wit. His exploration of the tragic episode of homesteaders is of exceptional historic value * The Times *Jonathan Raban [was] a writer of extraordinary gifts . . . and no one has evoked with greater power the marriage of land and sky that gives this country both its beauty and terror * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisExplore the fascinating history of America''s bloodiest ever conflict. Combining expert historical insight with the eyewitness accounts of soldiers and civilians, A Short History of the American Civil War offers a brilliant summary of the key events and wider context of the hostilities between North and South. Profiles of influential military and political leaders, and thought-provoking features on themes and experiences, from the evils of slavery to the treatment of wounded soldiers, bring the story dramatically to life. This book also features clear timelines that give an instant overview of the developments during the tumultuous war. Richly illustrated with a wealth of original artefacts, weaponry and equipment, photography, and maps, this unique combination of image provides the most accessible, episode-by-episode account ever.

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Book Synopsis"Quite impressive. I doubt if there has been or will be a more deeply researched and convincing account. " --Evan Connell, author Son of the Morning Star: Custer and the Little Bighorn "The book to end all Earp books--the most complete, and most meticulously researched.Trade Review"Forget what you saw at the movies-this biography of the legend of the Old West shows that the facts are more interesting than the legend."--The New York Times Book Review "The most thoughtful, well-researched, and comprehensive account that has been written about the development and career of an Old-West lawman."--The Tombstone Tumbleweed "The book to end all Earp books--the most complete, and most meticulously researched."--Jack Burrows, author of John Ringo: The Gunfighter Who Never Was "Quite impressive. I doubt if there has been or will be a more deeply researched and convincing account."--Evan Connell, author of The Sun of the Morning StarTable of ContentsCowtown Justice. A New Town, A New Badge. Murder and Madness. A March to Destiny. "I Think We Can Hang Them." Tombstone in Terror. Vendetta. Law versus Order. A Fight for Honor. The Last Frontiers. Long May His Story Be Told. Notes and Sources. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisEntertaining display of elegant dresses and everyday wear for women, charming hats trimmed with ribbon and feathers, attractive sailor suits for little boys, and more. Captions.

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Book SynopsisWeâre Number One!?: Americaâs Uncertain Standing in the World compares the respective status of the United States to other countries across a wide variety of social, political, and economic metrics.This book demonstrates conclusively that despite Americaâs wealth, its strong economy, its military might, and its soft power dominance, we have far to go in comparison with other democratic, industrialized nations. We may think weâre Number One, but in too many key areasâhealth care, education, combatting poverty, protecting the family, and so forthâwe fall embarrassingly short. The shock to most readers wonât be on one or more specific policy shortcomings, but on the cumulative rankings, chapter after chapter, showing where the U.S. has come up short. This book presents the facts and leaves to policymakers the challenge: how do we fix our broken health care system, how do we mitigate climate disasters, or how do we rein in gun violence. One answer is to look at successful policies created in other countries as case studies.A refreshingly frank and thorough analysis of the United Statesâs relative position in the world, this book will appeal to students, scholars, and practitioners of comparative politics, comparative sociology, public policy, social justice, and American government.

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Book SynopsisIn the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, at the high tide of imperial struggles in North America, an indigenous empire built by Comanche Indians rose to dominate the fiercely contested lands of the American Southwest, the southern Great Plains, and northern Mexico. This book uncovers the lost story of Comanches.Trade Review“An exhaustively researched and strikingly new interpretation of the nomadic group that dominated the Southwest from about 1750 to 1850.”—Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times“Hämäläinen succeeds in introducing a new perspective on Southwestern history, mastering Spanish and Mexican historic resources to tell of a horse- and bison-based Comanche empire, Comanchería. . . . Enthusiastically recommended for academic and public libraries.”—Library JournalWinner of the 2010 John C. Ewers Book Award given by the Western History AssociationWinner of the 2009 Award of Merit, sponsored by the Philosophical Society of TexasCo-Silver medal winner of the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Award in the category of HistoryReceived Honorable Mention for the 2008 PROSE Award in the U.S. History and Biography/Autobiography category, sponsored by the Association of American PublishersGold medal winner of the 2008 Book of the Year Award in the category of History, presented by ForeWord magazine“The Comanche Empire is a landmark study that will make readers see the history of southwestern America in an entirely new way.”—David J. Weber, author of Bárbaros: Spaniards and Their Savages in the Age of Enlightenment“This exhilarating book is not just a pleasure to read; important and challenging ideas circulate through it and compel attention. It is a nuanced account of the complex social, cultural, and biological interactions that the acquisition of the horse unleashed in North America, and a brilliant analysis of a Comanche social formation that dominated the Southern Plains. Parts of the book will be controversial, but the book as a whole is a tour de force.”—Richard White, author of The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815“The Comanche Empire is an impressive achievement. That a major Native power emerged and dominated the interior of the continent compels a rethinking of well-worn narratives about colonial America and westward expansion, about the relative power of European and Native societies, and about the directions of change. The book makes a major contribution to Native American history and challenges our understanding of the ways in which American history unfolded.”—Colin G. Calloway, author of One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and Clark“Hämäläinen not only puts Native Americans back into the story but also gives them—particularly the Comanche—recognition as major historical players who shaped events and outcomes.”—Sherry Smith, Southern Methodist University, author of Reimagining Indians: Native Americans Through Anglo Eyes, 1880–1940“Pekka Hämäläinen profoundly alters our understanding of the American Southwest, asserting that Comanche expansion and domination eclipsed European imperialism over the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Readers of this ambitious and discerning ethnohistory learn close-up how the Comanches made colonial as well as native communities the building blocks of their own ascendancy. In a counter-narrative to frontier history and a revision of borderlands study, Hämäläinen features the contingency of historical change and the agency of Indian people.”—Daniel H. Usner, Vanderbilt University

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Book SynopsisThe vibrant new novel from Isabel Allende takes her back to her homeland of Chile, and tells the story of the first Spanish woman to arrive on its shores with the Conquistadors in the 1500s.A real historical figure, Inés Suarez came to Chile with the Conquistadors in 1540, helping to claim the territory for Spain and to found the first Spanish settlement in Santiago. In this remarkable novel, Isabel Allende one of the world''s most spellbinding storytellers re-imagines Inés''s life and that of the two men who become her lover and husband respectively.Inés of My Soul' evokes the conflict and drama of the Conquistadors'' arrival in Chile, as well as helping restore the reputation of Inés, a powerful woman long neglected by history and a patriarchal society. It also finds Allende returning to territory beloved of her and her readers imaginative historical fiction, evocatively told and to the familiar landscape of her native country.The novel gives Inés the recognition and glory that aTrade Review‘In “The House of Spirits”, Allende constructed an allusional tale for the fate of modern Chile. Now she has repeated the trick for the foundation of the country. The result is perhaps her best book since that debut.' Independent 'Allende's version of events sees Ines Suarez as the puppeteer pulling the strings of the influential men she's involved with. She is quick-witted, militarily astute and has a deep understanding of "the enemy". Allende does not attempt to rewrite the past. Instead, she provides a colourful glimpse into the life of a daring Spanish woman whose vital role has been forgotten by history.' Daily Express 'Fresh and provocative looks at this fascinating period of history.' New Statesman 'Writing about her homeland and its history, she brings to her work a passion and commitment worthy of her vividly drawn characters.' Glasgow Herald

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Book Synopsis The Man in the High Castle is an Amazon TV show, based on the Philip K. Dick novel, about an alternate present (beginning in the 1960s) in which Germany and Japan won World War II, with the former Western US occupied by Japan, the former Eastern U.S. occupied by Nazi Germany, and a small neutral zone between them. A theme of the story is that in this alternative world there is eager speculation, fueled by the illicit newsreel, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, about how the world would have been different if America had won the war.In The Man in the High Castle and Philosophy, twenty-two professional thinkers look at philosophical issues raised by this ongoing enterprise in alternative history. One question is whether it really made a profound difference that the Allies won the war, and exactly what differences in everyday life we may expect to arise from an apparent historical turning point. Could it be that some dramatic historical events have only superfi

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Book SynopsisA New Statesman Book of the Year The wolf stands at the forefront of the debate about our impact on the natural world. In one of the most celebrated successes of modern conservation, it has been reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. What unfolds is a riveting multi-generational saga, at the centre of which is O-Six, a charismatic alpha female beloved by park rangers and amateur spotters alike. As elk numbers decline and the wolf population rises, those committed to restoring an iconic landscape clash with those fighting for a vanishing way of life; hunters stalk the park fringes and O-Six’s rivals seek to bring an end to her dominance of the stunningly beautiful Lamar Valley.Trade Review‘Deeply informed yet fast-paced and deftly structured…What ultimately makes this book so satisfying is that it is as much an account of the deep divisions within contemporary America as it is a tale about the world’s most enduring carnivore.' * New Statesman *‘Weaves together three narratives in one superb book…Blakeslee’s triumph is to tell all three stories with deep sympathy and insight.’ * New Statesman, Books of the Year *‘Blakeslee draws O-Six in novelistic…detail, using the conflicting insight and perspective of biologists, politicians, ranchers, environmentalists, lawyers, other animals, and hunters… Seeing a wolf is exceptionally rare, and this book is as close as most readers will come.’ * The New Yorker *‘Inspired by the most charismatic of animals, this is a story of dedication and determination, of conflict and passion and like all good stories it challenges your thoughts and fires up your emotions.’ -- Kate Humble‘Extraordinary…Blakeslee is a fine writer…Chilling and gripping by turns. The Wolf is a book that should be read, with care.’ * The National *‘The story of one wolf’s struggle to survive in the majestic Yellowstone National Park offers an ambitious look through the eyes of an endangered animal.’ * New York Times Book Review *‘The lives of the wolves in Yellowstone are often dramatic, but are full of touching, tender moments too, as Nate Blakeslee vividly writes in The Wolf.’ * Los Angeles Times *‘Gripping and fascinating! Wolf vs wolf, wolf vs man, man vs man.’ -- Margaret Atwood (via Twitter)‘Heartbreaking front-line coverage of our war on the wild… Blakeslee, hauntingly, gives the victims faces, families and stories. A quietly angry, aching, important book.’ -- Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast‘A compelling environmental drama of the reintroduction of wolves to the Rockies, as clear-sighted on human politics as it is on wolf politics. As wolf packs battle one another for control of precious territory, unknown to them another battle is taking place, between the wolves’ supporters and those who would eradicate them.’ -- Neil Ansell, author of Deep Country: Five Years in the Welsh Hills‘Wolves are neither gods nor demons. Real wolves are complex beings with personalities, ambitions, careers, and – thanks to us – more than their fair share of tragedy. The Wolf gives us true profiles of wolf lives lived in their actual families. And when humans get involved, the trajectory of their lives forever changes.’ -- Carl Safina, author of Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel‘Blakeslee…brings the feeling of a celebrity biography to the story of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park and its aftermath… [He] escorts readers up close to interpack conflict as well as human enemies of wolf preservation.’ * Kirkus, starred review *‘Blakeslee gives us a very different sort of biography – the saga of a single female wolf, “the most famous wolf in the world,” and her exploits in Yellowstone National Park. It’s a startlingly intimate portrait of the intricate, loving, human-like interrelationships that govern wolves in the wild, as observed in real time by a cadre of dedicated wolf-watchers – in the end, a drama of lupine love, care, and grief.’ -- Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake‘Wild, poignant, and compelling, The Wolf is an important, beautifully wrought book about animals, about values, and about living on this earth.’ -- Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin‘The Wolf is a transcendent tale of the American West. I loved the doggedness and depth of the reporting, the texture of the writing. There are echoes of Jack London everywhere. But above all I loved the wolf herself, a character like no other I have ever encountered.’ -- S. C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon and Rebel Yell‘An intimate and riveting book about America’s most iconic and embattled predator. Blakeslee moves effortlessly between the ancient drama of the wolf pack, and its modern human counterpart, the sometimes vicious, red state-blue state partisans whose battleground is the fate of the American wolf. A wonderful and welcome addition to the pantheon of nature literature.’ -- John Vaillant, author of The Tiger and The Golden Spruce

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Book SynopsisThe story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A white brother and sister build a monument to racial harmony in blighted south Memphis during the civil rights movement. Their success soon pits the siblings against each other, and the brother abandons his sister for a visionary African-American partner. Under integrated leadership, Stax explodes as a national player until, Icarus-like, the heights they achieve result in their tragic demise. They fall, losing everything, and the sanctuary they created is torn to the ground. A generation later, Stax is rebuilt brick by brick and is once again transforming disenfranchised youth into stellar young musicians. Set in the world of 1960s and 70s soul music, Respect Yourself is a character-driven story of racial integration, and then of black power and economic independence. It's about music and musicians--Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers, and Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Stax's interracial house band. It's about a small independent company's struggle to survive in an increasingly conglomerate-oriented world. And always at the center of the story is Memphis, Tennessee, an explosive city struggling through volatile years. Told by one of our leading music chroniclers, Respect Yourself is the book to own about one of our most treasured cultural institutions and the city that created it.

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Book SynopsisThe Dream Frontier is that rare book that makes available the cumulative wisdom of a century''s worth of clinical examination of dreams and then reconfigured that wisdom on the basis of research in cognitive neuroscience.  Drawing on psychodynamic theorists and neuroscientific researchers with equal fluency and grace, Mark Blechner introduces the reader to a conversation of the finest minds, from Freud to Jung, from Sullivan to Erikson, from Aserinksy and Kleitman to Hobson, as the work toward an understanding of dreams and dreaming that is both scientifically credible and personally meaningful. The dream, in Blechner''s elegantly conceived overview, offers itself to the dreamer as an answer to a question yet to be asked.  Approached in thi open-ended manner, dreams come to reveal the meaning-making systems of the unconscious in the total absence of waking considerations of reality testing and communicability.  Systems of dream interpretation arise Trade Review"Anyone who thinks, writes, or teaches about dreams, and anyone who works with them clinically, needs to be familiar with this remarkable and engaging book. Mark Blechner's clinically based ideas about dream theory and the use of dreams in treatment are thoughtful, lucid, illuminating, and often startlingly original as well. The Dream Frontier will be taught and read all the way from undergraduate classes to psychoanalytic institutes. It is a contribution that will endure."- Donnel Stern, Ph.D., Training and Supervising Analyst, William Alanson White Institute"The Dream Frontier offers an exciting excursion into the synthesis of various disciplines: cognitive neuroscience, neurology, clinical psychology and psychiatry, and philosophy in the context of their history during the past 100 years. Blechner addresses his concern with the isolation between scientists studying dreams and clinicians interpreting dreams by challenging both to consider the many frontiers of knowledge currentl involved with dream investigations...Blechner brings a broad intellectual scope to his various topics, using diverse, extensive sources and authors to compare and contrast approaches in developing evidence to support his themes."- Paula Anne Franklin, Ph.D., Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases"With psychoanalytic virtuosity and a good deal of originality, Mark Blechner has reformulated dream theory in its relation to the evolving framework of neurocognitive research, neurophysiology, linguistics, and evolutionary theory. In doing so he has provided the clinician with a wide-ranging and detailed approach to interpretive techniques. In 1953 Robert Fleiss wrote The Revival of Interest in Dreams to stimulate the flagging interest of psychoanalysts on dreams. Blechner's The Dream Frontier promises a second revival that now embeds the dream in the rich interdisciplinary matrix it deserves." - Montague Ullman, M.D., Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiarty, Albert Einstein College of MedicineTable of ContentsPart I: Introduction and Overview. The Dream Frontier. Part II: New Ways of Thinking About Dreams. The Analysis and Creation of Dream Meaning. Secondary Revision, Tertiary Revision, and Beyond. Who Creates, Has, Remembers, Tells, and Interprets the Dream? We Never Lie in Our Dreams. Condensation and Interobjects. Oneiric Darwinism. Dreams and the Language of Thought. Part III: Clinical Work With Dreams. Vectors of Dream Interpretation. How to Analyze Dreams: Fundamental Principles. How to Analyze Dreams: Special Topics. Homonyms and Other Wordplay in Dreams. Dream Acts: Dreams in Analysis as Actions. Dream Symbols. Kleinian Positions and Dreams. The Patient's Dreams and the Countertransference. Dreams as Supervision, Dreams in Supervision. The Clinical Use of Countertransference Dreams. The Reallocation of Madness. Part IV: Sleep, Dreams, and the Brain. Knowing What We Know in Waking and Dreaming . What Dreams Can Tell Us About the Brain. Endoneuropsychic Perception.

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Book SynopsisNathaniel Philbrick is an historian and broadcaster whose books include In the Heart of the Sea, which was a Sunday Times bestseller and won America's National Book Award (and is director Ron Howard's major new film), Sea of Glory (winner of the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize), Mayflower, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and the Sunday Times bestselling The Last Stand. He lives on Nantucket Island and is the founding director of the Egan Institute of Maritime Studies and a research fellow at the Nantucket Historical Association.Trade ReviewA mesmerising portrait of two extraordinary individuals and a thrilling blow-by-blow account of a landmark battle, it is a terrific achievement -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times *Philbrick recounts this story with the clarity, colour and pace of a first-rate movie, and Jeffrey Ward's superb maps make the twists and turns easy to follow. Custer's Last Stand was America's Isandhlwana, where the shock of defeat was redeemed by the thrill of the tale -- Raymond Seitz * Literary Review *Fine new history...Philbrick has made excellent use of archival resources... and the resulting narrative is unlikely to be bettered. There is much more to savour... it is as brilliant an example of combat reconstruction as one is likely to find in any history of this scope and ambition -- Trevor Royle * Sunday Herald *An absorbing retelling of the greatest Western of all. Philbrick is a stunningly evocative historian. It is a captivating story * The Times *Philbrick writes a lively narrative that brushes away the cobwebs of mythology to reveal the context and realities of Custer's unexpected 1876 defeat at the hands of his Indian enemies under Sitting Bull... compelling * Publishers' Weekly *

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Book SynopsisFrom a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, a fresh, authoritative history that recasts thinking about America’s founding period.Trade Review"Excellent . . . deserves high praise. Mr. Taylor conveys this sprawling continental history with economy, clarity, and vividness." -- The Wall Street Journal"Alan Taylor’s remarkable and magnificent ‘continental history’... is indeed the history of the American Revolution for our times... In short, it is a towering achievement." -- Family and Community History Journal

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Book Synopsis''It is the most singular of sounds, yet among the most ubiquitous. It is the sound of isolation that has sold itself to millions.''Miles Davis''s Kind of Blue is the best selling piece of music in the history of jazz, and for many listeners among the most haunting in all of twentieth-century music. It is also, notoriously, the only jazz album many people own. Recorded in 1959 (in nine miraculous hours), there has been nothing like it since. Its atmosphere - slow, dark, meditative, luminous - became all-pervasive for a generation, and has remained the epitome of melancholy coolness ever since.Richard Williams has written a history of the album which for once does not rip it out of its wider cultural context. He evokes the essence of the music - identifying the qualities that make it so uniquely appealing - while making effortless connections to painting, literature, philosophy and poetry. This makes for an elegant, graceful and beautifully-written narrative.

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Book SynopsisAs a young child, Herman Lehmann was captured by a band of plundering Apache Indians and remained with them for nine years. This is his dramatic and unique story.Trade ReviewLehmann's memoir is quite fantastic-sounding at times, but is regarded as one of the best of that rare breed of book, the first-person 'captivity story' . . . One of the values of Lehmann's book is its no-holds-barred, unapologetic tone." —Rocky Mountain News"A fascinating account of [Lehmann's] subsequent life among both the Apache and Comanche people. . . . this is an engaging read." —German Life"Lehmann's true-life story features suspense and excitement that surpass even the skill of the most imaginative fiction writer." —Books of the Southwest

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Book SynopsisIn the decades since the end of the Second World War, it has been widely assumed that the western model of liberal democracy and free trade is the way the world should be governed. However, events in the early years of the twenty-first century – first, the 2003 war with Iraq and its chaotic aftermath and, second, the financial crash of 2008 – have threatened the general acceptance that continued progress under the benign (or sometimes not so benign) gaze of the western powers is the only way forwards. And as America turns inwards and Europe is beset by austerity politics and populist nationalism, the post-war consensus looks less and less secure. But is this really the worst of times? In a forensic examination of the world we now live in, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh sets out to answer that question. Who could have imagined that China would champion globalization and lead the battle on climate change? Or that post-Soviet Russia might present a greater threat to the world’s stability than ISIS? And while we may be on the cusp of still more dramatic change, perhaps the risks will – in time – bring not only change but a wholly positive transformation.Incisive, robust and always insightful, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times by Michael Burleigh is both a dazzling tour d’horizon of the world as it is today and a surprisingly optimistic vision of the world as it might become.Trade ReviewA robust and unsentimental guide to global power politics * The Times *Burleigh has always had an eye for compelling hard detail * Sunday Times *Bracing … refreshingly pessimistic * Observer *In this wide-ranging book Michael Burleigh demonstrates a mastery of global affairs that would put most experts in any one of his chosen chapter headings to shame … quite brilliant. * Mail on Sunday *Brilliant, fact-packed, judicious and above all debunking … The Best of Times, the Worst of Times will not leave its readers cheered, but they will at least be superbly informed about the dramas to come. * Daily Telegraph *Swashbuckling … a breakneck geopolitical gallop across the globe in the hands of a historian and commentator at the peak of his powers. * Evening Standard *[A] trenchant and galloping account of the opening years of the century … ruthlessly impolite * Irish Examiner *A history of the modern world, set out clearly, with trenchant scholarship and wit * Daily Telegraph Books of the Year *Incisive and compelling. His style is always trenchant and sometimes blistering -- Piers Brendon * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisNow in a fully updated edition that goes through the Trump administration and the election and formative period of the Biden administration, this compact and accessible introduction offers a historical perspective on the evolution of U.S. foreign policy from the founding of the country to the present. Joyce P. Kaufman provides students and general readers with a clear and concise understanding of key foreign-policy decisions and why they were made. She identifies the major themes that have guided foreign policy and the reasons that the United States pursued certain policies in the context of specific periods in the nation’s history. Kaufman focuses on the major actors involved in the making of foreign policy and the changing relationships among them. She also explains the major theoretical perspectives within international relations and contextualizes key foreign policy decisions as they fit these frameworks. This edition puts a particular focus on the creation of Cold War foreign policy, and why the end of the Cold War has continued to be such a challenge to the United States. Kaufman concludes with a look at the threat that the United States is facing and will continue to face, including existential threats such as climate change and disease, and how Americans can be prepared to face them.

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