History of the Americas Books
Yale University Press Supremacy at Sea
Book Synopsis
£18.00
Taylor & Francis Ltd American Civilization
Book SynopsisThe eighth edition of the hugely successful American Civilization offers students the perfect background and introductory information on contemporary American life, examining the central dimensions of American society from geography and the environment to government and politics, religion, education, sports, media and the arts.Fully and comprehensively updated throughout with regard to events, processes, attitudes and major figures in society, culture and politics in the United States, this new edition brings the book up to date through: coverage of recent events including the 2020 US election and 2021 presidential inauguration; revised chapters on geography, women and minorities, and the media that incorporate more information on such themes as environmental legislation, the LGBTQ+ community, social media and people, all key themes in the study of American culture and society; the introduction of topical studies that connect small case studies to apposite illustrations to highlight key subjects within the field; and the inclusion of more discussion questions that require analysis and the use of evidence to substantiate argumentation to enable students to develop their own essay responses to typical questions that they may be asked. Supported by exercises and suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter, a substantial chronology that covers key events in the history of the United States and a fully integrated companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/mauk), the textbook remains an essential introduction to American civilization, culture and society for American Studies students.Table of Contents1. The American Context 2. The Country 3. The People: Settlement and Immigration 4. The People: Women and Minorities 5. Religious Culture 6. Political Institutions: The Federal Government 7. Political Institutions: State and Local Government 8. Foreign Policy 9. The Legal System 10. The Economy 11. Social Services 12. Education 13. The Media 14. Arts, Sports and Leisure Cultures
£39.99
WW Norton & Co The Culture of Narcissism
Book SynopsisThe classic The New York Times bestseller, with a new introduction from much-lauded The Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr.Trade Review"Lasch took in a remarkable range of contemporary experience, making many observations that, if anything, ring more true today." -- Lee Siegel - The New York Times"Morbidly clever, brilliantly on target, idiosyncratically compelling." -- Alan Wolfe - The New Republic"A bestseller in 1979, this outstanding analysis is enjoying a resurgence, being reissued with a new introduction by EJ Dionne Jr, who praises Lasch’s “intellectually rebellious spirit”." -- The Herald
£13.29
Yale University Press Simon Bolivar A Life
Book SynopsisSimon Bolivar was a revolutionary who freed six countries, an intellectual who argued the principles of national liberation, and a general who fought a cruel colonial war. This book illuminates the inner world of Bolivar, the dynamics of his leadership, his power to command, and his modes of ruling the diverse peoples of Spanish America.Trade Review"'A readable and up-to-date life, which will be the first resort of the curious for some time to come.' Economist 'Given the difficulty of separating man from myth, this soberly objective, well-researched biography is welcome. Professor Lynch has devoted much of his career as a Latin Americanist historian to the study of the independence war... It is fortunate that he has now chosen to bring it to bear on a biography which is both professional and readable. In all its complexity John Lynch's impressive, objective scholarship is an invaluable antidote to previous historians' and politicians' attempts to mould Bolivar to their particular ends.' David Gallagher, Times Literary Supplement 'expertly researched and elegantly written.' The Oldie"
£25.21
Cornerstone 102 Minutes
Book SynopsisJim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, native New Yorkers, veteran newspaper reporters, and winners of many awards together and separately, now work at the New York Times. Dwyer is the co-author of Two Seconds Under The World, an account of the 1993 effort to knock down the World Trade Centre, and of Actual Innocence: Five Days to Execution and Other Dispatches from the Wrongly Convicted. He is also the author of Subway Lives: 24 Hours in the Life of the New York City Subway. Flynn, a special projects officer at the Times, was the newspaper's police bureau chief on September 11th 2001. He previously worked as a reporter for the New York Daily News, New York Newsday and the Stamford Advocate.Trade ReviewA heart-stopping, meticulous account ... a fitting tribute to the people caught up in one of the great dramas of our time ... a cathartic release * New York Times *Heartbreaking and inspiring * Boston Herald *With its tragic and preordained conclusion, the book becomes a tearjerker in the most essential way * Entertainment Weekly *Writing in a way that confers dignity on each subject ... This is one book that will stay with readers for a long time * People *Insightful, compassionate and unrelievedley tense * Baltimore Sun *
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd American Colonies
Book SynopsisAMERICAN COLONIES starts with the earliest years of human colonization of the American continent and environs with the Siberian migrations across the Bering Strait 15,000 years ago. It ends in around 1800 when the rough outline of the contemporary North America could be perceived.Dropping the usual Anglocentric description of North America''s fate, Taylor brilliantly conveys the far more vivid and startling story of the competing interests--Spanish, French, English, Native, Russian--that over the centuries shaped and reshaped both the continent and its ''suburbs'' in the Caribbean and the Pacific. It is one of the greatest of all human stories.Trade Review"Formidable...provokes us to contemplate the ways in which residents of North America have dealt with diversity." -The New York Times Book Review"A superb overview of colonial America." -Christian Science Monitor"Compelling, readable, and fresh, American Colonies is perhaps the most brilliant piece of synthesis in recent American historical writing." —Phillip J. Deloria, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor of American Culture and History at the University of Michigan“Even the serious student of history will find a great deal of previously obscure information. The book offers a balanced understanding of the diverse peoples and forces that converged on this continent and influenced the course of American history.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Crammed full of fascinating material uncovered by historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists in the past half-century.” —NewsdayTable of ContentsIntroductionPart I. Encounters1. Natives, 13,000 B.C.-A.D. 14922. Colonizers, 1400-18003. New Spain, 1500-16004. The Spanish Frontier, 1530-17005. Canada and Iroquoia, 1500-1660Part II. Encounters6. Virginia, 1570-16507. Chesapeake Colonies, 1650-17508. New England, 1600-17009. Puritans and Indians, 1600-170010. The West Indies, 1600-170011. Carolina, 1670-176012. Middle Colonies, 1600-1700Part III. Empires13. Revolutions, 1685-173014. The Atlantic, 1700-8015. Awakenings, 1700-7516. French America, 1650-175017. The Great Plains, 1680-180018. Imperial Wars and Crisis, 1739-7519. The Pacific, 1760-1820AcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex
£15.29
Vintage Publishing The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Book SynopsisHailed as 'the greatest biography of our era' (The Times) this is the fourth part of Robert Caro's multi-award-winning best-selling work on American President Lyndon Johnson.The Passage of Power, 'the series' crowning volume' (Economist), spans the years 1958 to 1964, arguably the most crucial years in the life of Johnson and pivotal years for American history. This era saw some of the most frustrating moments of Johnson's career, but also some of his most triumphant. His battle with the Kennedy brothers over the 1960 Democratic nomination for president was a bitter one, and the ensuing years of Johnson's vice-presidency were marked with humiliation. But, thrust into power following the assassination of J. F. Kennedy, Johnson grasped the presidential role with unprecedented skill. Caro also provides a fresh perspective on Kennedy’s assassination from Johnson's viewpoint, and penetrates deep into what it was like for him to assume a position of such power at a time of national crisis. The Passage of Power documents Johnson's extraordinary early presidency, forcing previously abandoned bills on the budget and civil rights through an uncooperative Congress and striving to achieve what he saw to be the highest standard of office.In The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Caro shows a delicacy of touch and a profoundness of insight into the state of a nation under the hand of a political master. Collectively these volumes constitute a major history of America in the first three-quarters of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewMonumental… For many politicians it is the finest book on politics… Magnificent…the tension between the fraud and ruthlessness that repulsed political liberals and the reaction of voters to whom he delivered, make Caro’s book the ultimate political story -- Daniel Finklestein * The Times *This extraordinary work will remain essential reading for decades to come -- Richard Lambert * Financial Times *A true story of huge personalities, bloody assassinations, loves, hatreds and betrayals (and the Kennedy family) that renders it by turns gripping, sensational and immensely depressing… A white-knuckle rollercoaster ride… Magisterial -- Andrew Roberts * Telegraph *A work of pure genius -- Steve Akehurst * Huffington Post UK *A work of greatness, of such acute observation of politics that its insights are applicable far beyond [its] time and place * Independent *Caro’s strength as a biographer is his ability to probe Johnson’s mind and motivations… Riveting… A rollercoaster tale * The Economist *Brilliant... Important... Remarkable... With this fascinating and meticulous account of Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro has once again done America a great service -- Bill Clinton * New York Times Book Review *As riveting as a thriller… The next book will crown an achievement in presidential biography unmatched among presidential histories -- David Hendricks * Houston Chronicle *Caro sets the gold standard for modern political biography ... we can only hope we are fortunate enough to see this monumental work reach its long-awaited conclusion -- Tim Soutphommasane * New Statesman *One of the most ambitious single-handed literary enterprises in our time -- James M. Murphy * TLS *Long live Robert Caro… Truly epic political history and character study… Riveting…it elevates Caro’s tale to Shakespearean drama, as the coldhearted, Machiavellian maneuvering and hot-blooded rivalries of supremely ambitious men play out the fate of the free world at stake -- Dan DeLuca * Philadelphia Inquirer *A tremendous story, bursting with colour and character…the sheer wealth of political details keeps you turning the pages…gargantuan but brilliant -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *It is not often that I have muttered, “Astonishing”, to myself as I close a book. But I see what people were on about now. Caro is a brilliant narrator of recent history… It is a work of greatness, of such acute observation of politics that its insights are applicable far beyond the time and place of the United States, 1960-64 -- John Rentoul * Independent *Riveting reading from beginning to end... The real tour de force in this stunning mix of political and psychological analysis comes in the account of the transition between administrations... An utterly fascinating character study, brimming with delicious insider stories... Unquestionably, one of the truly big books of the year * Booklist (starred review) *An addictive read, written in glorious prose that suggests the world’s most diligent beat reporter channeling William Faulkner. Passage is an essential document of a turning point in American history. It’s also an incisive portrait of one great, terrible fascinating man suddenly given the chance to reinvent the country in his image -- Darren Franich * Entertainment Weekly *My book of the year, by a landslide majority... Caro marries profound psychological insight with a brilliant eye for the drama of the times -- Robert Harris * Guardian *A breathtakingly dramatic story [told] with consummate artistry and ardor... It showcases Mr Caro's masterly gifts as a writer: his propulsive sense of narrative, his talent for enabling readers to see and feel history in the making and his ability to situate his subjects’ actions within the context of their times… Taken together the installments of Mr Caro’s monumental life of Johnson so far not only create a minutely detailed picture of an immensely complicated and conflicted individual, but they also form a revealing prism by which to view the better part of a century in description of Johnson – and those of John and Robert Kennedy – have novelistic depth and amplitude… Mr Caro uses his storytelling gifts to turn seemingly arcane legislative maneuvers into action-movie suspense, and he gives us unparalleled understanding…of how Johnson used a crisis and his own political acumen to implement his agenda with stunning speed… Engrossing -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *It is the mismatch between Johnson’s fate prior to the assassination and his fate in its aftermath that gives this book, the fourth volume of Caro’s monumental biography, its compelling but also unfathomable flavor… Caro’s account of the day of the assassination… is a magnificent piece of writing. What might have seemed familiar becomes startlingly fresh, because it is seen from the perspective of the man whose destiny suddenly came back into focus as the world of those around him was falling apart. -- David Runciman * London Review of Books *Riveting... Shakespearean... It’s a rollercoaster narrative as Johnson plummets from the powerful Senate majority leader post to vice-presidential irrelevance, hated and humiliated by the Kennedy brothers, then surges to presidential authority with the crack of Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle and forces a revolutionary civil rights act through a recalcitrant Congress... Caro’s tormented, heroic Johnson makes an apt embodiment of an America struggling toward epochal change, one with a fascinating resonance in our era of gridlocked government * Publisher's Weekly (starred review) *Caro has once again shown that he might well be the greatest presidential historian we’ve ever had… Although the amount of research Caro has done for these books is staggering, it’s his immense talent as a writer that has made his biography of Johnson one of America’s most amazing literary achievements… Caro’s portrayal of the president is as scrupulously fair as it is passionate and deeply felt… The series is a masterpiece, unlike any other work of American history published in the past. It’s true that there will never be another Lyndon B. Johnson, but there will never be another Robert A. Caro, either. By writing the best presidential biography the country has ever seen, he’s forever changed the way we think, and read, American history -- Michael Schaub * NPR *The years of Lyndon Johnson, when completed, will rank as America’s most ambitiously conceived, assiduously researched and compulsively readable political biography… When Caro’s fifth volume arrives, reader’s gratitude will be exceeded only by their regret that there will not be a sixth -- George F. WillA great work of history… A great biography… Caro has summoned Lyndon Johnson to vivid, intimate life * Newsweek *The fourth volume of one of the most anticipated English-language biographies of the past 30 years... A compelling narrative...that will thrill those who care about American politics, the foundations of power, or both * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *Political biography of the highest quality… An unmatched psychological portrait of Johnson as John F. Kennedy’s assassination catapults him into the presidency -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *Robert Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson is said to be on William Hague, George Osborne and Jeremy Hunt’s summer reading list * Guardian *This book shows the mastery of Johnson in politics, and also the mastery of Caro in biography -- David M. Shribman * Bloomberg/BusinessWeek *A great and occasionally astonishing biography -- John R MacArthur * Spectator *One of the greatest biographies in the history of American letters -- Bob Hoover * Cleveland Plain Dealer *The latest in what is almost without question the greatest political biography in modern times… Nobody goes deeper, works harder or produces more penetrating insights than [Caro] -- Patrick Beach * Austin American-Statesman *A major event in biography, history, even publishing itself… Caro has once more combined prodigious research and a literary gift to mount a stage for his Shakespearean figures: LBJ, JFK, LBJ’s nemesis Robert F. Kennedy * Library Journal (Starred) *A masterly how-to manual, showing Johnson’s knowledge of governing, his peerless congressional maneuvering and effective deal-making. The Years of Lyndon Johnson is a compact library: brilliant biography, gripping history, searing political drama and an incomparable study of power. It’s also a great read… And, after thousands of pages spent with Lyndon Johnson, one of Caro’s singular achievements is that you want more -- Peter Gianotti * Newsday *Brilliant… Riveting reading from beginning to end… The real tour de force in this stunning mix of political and psychological analysis comes in the account of the transition between administrations, from November 23 1963 to January 8, 1964… An utterly fascinating character study, brimming with delicious insider stories… Political wonks, of course, will dive into this book with unbridled passion, but its focus on a larger-than-life, flawed but fascinating individual – the kind of character who drives epic fiction – should extend its reach much, much further. Unquestionably, one of the truly big books of the year * Booklist (Starred) *The series’ crowning volume * The Economist *This pile-driving book has all the ingredients of a great drama, the humiliating childhood breeding a lifelong desire (to be president), the failure (to gain the Democratic nomination), the humiliation (almost constant, by JF Kennedy) the sudden change of fate (the assassination), and the vindication (when Johnson drives through key bills that Kennedy couldn’t, and proves himself the most astute of politicians). Totally compelling -- Biography of the year * Sunday Times Ireland *It is an extraordinary story of a deeply flawed character, told with such verve, such command of the facts, and such an understanding of power -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *A major work of history and biography -- Annie Proulx * Guardian *The fourth installation of Caro’s masterwork came out this year and, cheeringly, there is no slackening of plot or pace -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *It is a profound portrait of two men, Johnson and John F. Kennedy, and the relationship between them -- Sarah Stands * Evening Standard *A fascinating story, Shakespearean in its passion and fury, as well as darkly comical -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *This pile-driving book has all the ingredients of a great drama, the humiliating childhood breeding a lifelong desire (to be president), the failure (to gain the Democratic nomination), the humiliation (almost constant, by J. F. Kennedy) the sudden change of fate (the assassination), and the vindication (when Johnson drives through key bills that Kennedy couldn’t, and proves himself the most astute of politicians). Totally compelling * Sunday Times Ireland *The fourth volume of Caro’s magisterial work spans the five years that end shortly after Kennedy’s assassination, as Johnson prepares to push for a civil rights * New York Times *A meticulous dissection of political and economic structures in the US… a riveting read by one of the modern masters of historical writing * Morning Star *
£24.00
Penguin Books Ltd Colossus The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
Book SynopsisIs America the new world empire? Presidents from Lincoln to Bush may have denied it but, as Niall Ferguson''s brilliant and provocative book shows, the US is in many ways the greatest imperial power of all time. What''s more, it always has been an empire, expanding westwards throughout the nineteenth century and rising to global dominance in the twentieth. But is today''s American colossus really equipped to play Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on its shoulders? The United States, Ferguson reveals, is an empire running on empty, weakened by chronic defecits of money, manpower and political will. When the New Rome falls, he warns, its collapse may come from within.''One of the timeliest and most topical books to have appeared in recent years'' Literary Review''Yet another tour de force from a writer who displays all his usual gifts of forceful polemic, unconventional intelligence and elegant prose ... guaranteed to spark fierce debate'' Trade ReviewColossus confirms Niall Ferguson's standing as one of the most incisive writers of history, politics and economics today * Sunday Telegraph *One of the timeliest and most topical books to have appeared in recent years * Literary Review *Yet another tour de force from a writer who displays all his usual gifts of forceful polemic, unconventional intelligence and elegant prose ... guaranteed to spark fierce debate * Irish Times *A bravura exploration of why Americans are not cut out to be imperialists but nonetheless have an empire. Vigorous, substantive, and worrying -- Timothy Garton Ash
£10.44
Verso Books Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a
Book SynopsisIn retelling the story of the radical Alexander Hamilton, Parenti rewrites the history of early America and the global economy. For much of the twentieth century, Hamilton-sometimes seen as the bad boy of the founding fathers or portrayed as the patron saint of bankers-was out of fashion. In contrast his rival Thomas Jefferson, the patrician democrat and slave owner who feared government overreach, was claimed by all. But more recently, Hamilton has become a subject of serious interest again.He was a contradictory mix: a tough soldier, austere workaholic, exacting bureaucrat, sexual libertine, glory-obsessed romantic with suicidal tendencies-and pioneer of industrialisation. As Parenti argues, we have yet to fully appreciate Hamilton as the primary architect of American capitalism and the developmental state. In exploring his life and work, Parenti rediscovers this gadfly as a pathbreaking political thinker and institution builder. In this vivid portrait, Hamilton emerges as a singularly important historical figure: a thinker and politico who laid the foundation for America's ascent to global supremacy and mass industrialisation-for better or worse.Trade ReviewIn praise of Lockdown America: "In the best tradition of investigative journalism, paced like a fine novel, it carries the authority of meticulous academic research." * Independent *In praise of Lockdown America: "Exhaustively documented ... deserves a full hearing from anyone serious about ending the often horrific realities of the criminal justice system." * Washington Post *In praise of Lockdown America: "Essential reading for those in law enforcement and politics who are attracted by the rhetoric of zero tolerance." * Times Literary Supplement *In praise of Lockdown America: "Terrifying, informative and gripping." * New York Press *
£18.00
Cornerstone The Barn
Book Synopsis'Haunting . . . The writing is often breathtaking, brutality amplified through perfectly crafted prose.' The Times'Extraordinary . . . Serious history and skillful journalism, but with the nuance and wallop of a finely wrought novel.' Washington Post'With a passion for truth and justice, and a fierce determination to dig for the secrets, Wright Thompson has produced an incredible history of a crime that changed America.' John GrishamHow forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta to bring about the most consequential murder in US history. Emmett Till's murder is one of the most infamous in American history; a moment that, more than any other, awakened the world to the racism of the Deep South. Yet despite growing up just a few miles from where it happened, Wright Thompson knew nothing of it until he left Mississippi. This is no accident: the cover-up began at once, and it is ongoing. Over the course of five years' research, Thompson has learnt that almost every part of the standard account of Till's killing is wrong. In August 1955, after the two men charged with the murder were acquitted by an all-white jury, they gave a false confession to a journalist: one that was misleading about where the murder took place and who was involved. We now know that at least eight people were present, and many more complicit. And we now know precisely where it took place: inside a barn on a 36-square-mile grid called Township 22 North, Range 4 West. This book tells the story of that barn. It is the story of what really happened on the night of August 28, 1955, and of the individuals who have spent decades bringing the truth to light. And it is the story of the centuries-old forces that made that night inevitable: forces that, over the course of 200 years, transformed Township 22 North, Range 4 West from Choctaw land, to a slave plantation, to a sharecropper's farm, to the site of the most significant murder in US history. The result is a revelatory work of investigative reportage and a panoramic new history of white supremacy in America. It maps the road that the US and the world must travel to heal its oldest, deepest wound.
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Rivers of Gold
Book SynopsisThe first part of his trilogy on the Spanish Empire, Hugh Thomas''s Rivers of Gold brings the rise of Spain''s global empire vividly to life, capturing the spirit of an ebullient age. Inspired by hopes of both riches and of converting native people to Christianity, the Spanish adventurers of the fifteenth century convinced themselves that an Earthly Paradise existed in the Caribbean. This is the story of the hundreds of conquistadors who set sail on the precarious journey across the Atlantic - taking with them wheat, the horse, the guitar and the wheel as well as guns, malaria and slaves - to create an empire that made Spain the envy of the world. ''Affirms Hugh Thomas''s record as one of the most productive and wide-ranging historians of modern times'' The New York Times ''Splendid ... bold and strong in its outlines, rich in fasinating details'' Paul Johnson, Literary Review ''So steeped is he in the spirit of the time, so familiar with its people and places that we almost feel he must have been there at the time'' Sunday Telegraph ''A vivid, dramatic and compelling narrative'' Arthur Schlesinger, Jr ''As a historian, Thomas is master of the big picture ... Rivers of Gold sweeps us restlessly on'' Jonathan Keates, Spectator ''An epic history of an extraordinary age'' Michael Kerrigan, Scotsman Hugh Thomas is the author of, among other books, The Spanish Civil War (1962) which won the Somerset Maugham Award, Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico (1994), An Unfinished History of the World (1979) and The Slave Trade (1997). The second volume of his planned trilogy on the Spanish Empire, The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V was published in 2011.Trade Review"As a historian, Thomas is master of the big picture ! Rivers of Gold sweeps us restlessly on" - Jonathan Keates, Spectator 'As an intelligent and incisive narrative the book would be hard to better... It is unusual to finish so long a book wishing for more' Sunday Telegraph
£17.09
Penguin Books Ltd A Childhood The Biography of a Place Penguin
Book Synopsis“One of the Finest Memoirs Ever Written” –The New Yorker The highly acclaimed memoir of one of the most original American storytellers of the rural SouthA Penguin ClassicHarry Crews grew up as the son of a sharecropper in Georgia at a time when “the rest of the country was just beginning to feel the real hurt of the Great Depression but it had been living in Bacon County for years.” Yet what he conveys in this moving, brutal autobiography of his first six years of life is an elegiac sense of community and roots from a rural South that had rarely been represented in this way. Interweaving his own memories including his bout with polio and a fascination with the Sears, Roebuck catalog, with the tales of relatives and friends, he re-creates a childhood of tenderness and violence, comedy and tragedy. Trade Review“Reading Crews, I found the courage to tell the stories I’d been amassing my whole life.” —Mary Karr “This memoir is for everyone. It’s agile, honest and built as if to last. Like its author, it’s a resilient American original.” —Dwight Garner, The New York Times“…the memoir is flawless, one of the finest ever written by an American….[it] answers some specific questions, namely where its author came from and how he became a writer, but it asks broader ones, too: why anyone becomes anything, how we square our pasts with our futures, and why certain things—a book, its author—are rescued from oblivion.”—Casey Cep, The New Yorker“Critics and awards anoint some authors as legends. Others depend on word-of-mouth and prose that stands the test of time….There is nothing folksy, never mind pastoral or genteel, about Crews. With caustic and fabulist writing, he exhumed the ghosts of America’s original sin…..Crews captured the raw essence of humanity in both fiction and nonfiction. Side by side, these reissues form the complete picture of an imperfect man who charged hard into extremes to escape his cultural inheritance.”—Lauren Leblanc, Los Angeles Times“Of all of Crews’ magnificent output, it is A Childhood: The Biography of a Place, first published in 1978 that is the most memorable and is written in a language that will sear the mind and memory…. There are startlingly wild scenes written with hair raising power….This review cannot begin to capture the power of the writing of Harry Crews nor the essence of this portrait of the life of a sharecropping family in the Great Depression. All that can be said is, read it. The power of the written word will never be made more clear.”—New York Journal of Books
£11.69
The University of Chicago Press A Hercules in the Cradle War Money and the
Book SynopsisTrade Review“I consider Edling one of the finest historians of the early American republic in the world today. A Hercules in the Cradle will revolutionize the way historians think about the founding and development of the federal state—a state with the capacity to fulfill the expanding new empire's ‘manifest destiny.’” -- Peter S. Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation“Edling’s Hercules in the Cradle shows how vitally important fiscal policy has been in laying the groundwork for the modern state. Revisionist historians have long challenged the Cold War shibboleth that the national government in the early republic was nothing but a ‘midget institution in a giant land.’ Edling’s distinctive contribution is to bring this revisionist sensibility to the study of public finance. This lucid and informative monograph vaults Edling to the front ranks of historians of state and society in the nineteenth-century United States; it should remain a standard work in the field for many years to come.” -- Richard R. John * Columbia University *“Max Edling deploys his unrivaled mastery of fiscal policy to trace the transformation of the United States in less than a century from a loose confederation into a world power. He conclusively shows that the ability of American politicians to finance warfare and territorial expansion, despite widespread fear of the national government and long-term debt, was a major reason why the United States succeeded where other nations faltered.” -- Andrew Cayton, coauthor of The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America, 1500-2000“In his first book, Max Edling virtually forced American historians to rethink the first premises underlying the adoption of the Constitution. The Federalists of 1787-1788, he demonstrated, were true state-builders. In his new book, Edling traces what that state looked like, how it evolved, and how, notwithstanding all the constitutional controversies it provoked, it proved to be a far more effective vehicle for mobilizing national resources for war than most scholars have appreciated. Thanks to Edling, we now have a much more sophisticated basis for comparing the development of the American state after 1789 to its European counterparts.” -- Jack Rakove, author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution“Edling examines in detail the financing of three wars: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. . . . Exploring the origins and evolution of American public finance, this book is well written and clearly argued. Highly recommended.” * Choice *“In this book, following themes laid out in his first monograph, Edling enhances his reputation as one of the leading historians of early US state formation. . . . A Hercules in the Cradle makes a convincing argument for the success of government finance as a crucial source of US expansion and power.” * H-Net Reviews *“Edling has written a very important book, one that deserves to be widely read by both academic specialists and persons interested in the foundations of American power in the twentieth century. . . . Hercules in the Cradle is a well-argued and meticulously researched contribution to an emerging historiography on the development of the early American state.” * New England Quarterly *“In this lively study, bristling with fresh insights and enhanced by serious quantitative analyses, Edling makes a compelling case for America’s growing out of its Herculean cradle because successive administrations successfully addressed its fiscal needs.” * Joyce Appleby, American Political Thought *“Edling’s account of how the development of an American fiscal-military state made possible the US government’s ‘liberal use of . . . aggression and violence’ to achieve its policy aims during the nineteenth century will provide scholars with valuable, interlinked case studies to consult for many years to come. Edling clearly deserves to be numbered among the most original and influential foreign scholars writing American history today.” * Journal of the Civil War Era *“Edling shows how American leaders even outdid Europeans in their embrace of borrow-now, tax-later policies. This sheds new light on war financing beyond what we have long known about the individual conflicts by providing an overarching framework for understanding how this model developed and for appreciating its persistence over time, even in the face of considerable social, economic, and political change. In an era when an estimated four-fifths of all federal spending was on war or preparation for war, Edling tells us an important story about the antebellum state.” * Journal of the Early Republic *“A Hercules in the Cradle examines the central role that national debt and tax policy played in the formation, survival, and expansion of the U.S. Edling argues persuasively that deft use of public credit and federal borrowing not only secured the young nation’s financial stability but also made possible the nation’s aggressive expansion from the early days of the republic through the purchase of Alaska in 1867. It is a nuanced and important reconsideration of the central role of national financial policy in the creation and growth of the American republic.” * American Historical Review *“Based on thorough research in primary and secondary sources, and a command of contemporary debates, Edling makes a strong case for his revisionist arguments. . . . The detailed presentation of the nature of government financial policies and of the interaction of national and international forces at the time makes this work important for all historians dealing with the period between the Revolution and the Civil War.” -- Stanley L. Engerman * Journal of American History *“Edling’s deeply impressive and vitally important study quietly forces us to reevaluate, to reconsider from the outside, whether the stories we tell ourselves about our moral purposes are quite as compelling in light of this history.” * Journal of Military History *“Though the details can be overwhelming, Edling explains such arcane matters of debt funding strategies with amazing clarity. His basic story is actually straightforward: Hamilton’s system called for the federal government to rely on tariff revenues in peacetime and loans in wartime and then to pay debts down quickly to preserve the nation’s borrowing capacity for future wars. The system had flaws, particularly the vulnerability of tariff revenue to the goodwill of the European naval powers, but Edling is more struck by an irony: that its putative opponents deployed it most aggressively.” * The Historian *Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: War, Money, and American History 1. A More Effectual Mode of Administration: The Constitution and the Origins of American Public Finance 2. The Soul of Government: Creating an American Fiscal Regime 3. So Immense a Power in the Affairs of War: The Restoration of Public Credit 4. Equal to the Severest Trials: Mr. Madison’s War 5. The Two Most Powerful Republics in the World: Mr. Polk’s War 6. A Rank among the Very First of Military Powers: Mr. Lincoln’s War Conclusion: The Ideology, Structure, and Significance of the First American Fiscal Regime Notes Index
£26.60
Penguin Books Ltd Legacy of Ashes The History of the CIA
Book SynopsisAll-powerful, brilliant, decisive, ruthlessly effective ... this is the image of the CIA as portrayed in countless films and novels. It is wrong.This shocking book, based on thousands of declassified documents and interviews with agents at all levels, shows the reality behind the glamorous myth: a blundering, chaotic and dangerously incompetent organization, so ineffective it was nicknamed ''Can''t Identify Anything'' by Nato forces. In a story of botched coups, missed targets, lost operatives and fatal errors, Tim Weiner shows how the CIA now poses a threat not only to the security of the US, but the world.Trade ReviewThis extraordinary story reads like tragedy and thriller. Impeccably sourced, utterly absorbing, dazzling and very, very dark * Time Out *This racy history reveals the CIA as a secret service to make Smiley weep and Bond howl in horror * Daily Telegraph *Combines thrilling storytelling with terrifying revelations -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * New Statesman, Books of the Year *Weiner's riveting history of the CIA contains dozens of jaw-dropping incidents ... astonishing * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *Timely, immensely readable, and highly critical -- Mark Bowden, author of 'Black Hawk Down'Marvellous ... that every quote is also on the record is a testament to his skill -- Steve Coll, author of 'Ghost Wars'Winner of the National Book Award * Prizes and awards *
£17.09
Yale University Press Indispensable Nation
Book SynopsisA clear-eyed analysis of the role the United States should play in the world as it exists todayTrade Review“Lieber provides a magisterial account of American global leadership, from the Cold War to the covid crisis, and the challenges posed by ambitious adversaries, China, Russia and Iran.”—Russell A. Berman, author of Fiction Sets You Free“What is America’s global role in the 21st century? With his usual common sense and cool logic, Robert Lieber cuts to the core and describes a path that is both realistic and principled.”—Elliott Abrams, former Deputy National Security Advisor“The world cannot do without a strong and engaged America, but the United States is losing its way. Drawing on his long career as one of the world’s most prominent scholars of international affairs, Robert Lieber brings wisdom and prudence to a case for the return of American leadership.”—Tom Nichols, author of The Death of Expertise“In recent decades, the emotional impetus behind American foreign policy has vacillated between overoptimism combined with complacency and pessimism combined with resignation. In Indispensable Nation, Robert Lieber makes a strong case for a reasoned and sustainable approach to international challenges and opportunities. As the world witnesses the return of large-scale war in Europe, this book should be read widely and debated.”—H. R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World
£23.75
Dialogue How the Word Is Passed
Book SynopsisONE OF BARACK OBAMA''S FAVOURITE BOOKS OF THE YEARA NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERLONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION''A beautifully readable reminder of how much of our urgent, collective history resounds in places all around us that have been hidden in plain sight.'' Afua Hirsch, author of Brit(ish)Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks - those that are honest about the past and those that are not - which offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping a nation''s collective history, and our own.It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preservingTrade ReviewA beautifully readable reminder of how much of our urgent, collective history resounds in places all around us that have been hidden in plain sight. Clint Smith chips away at their disguise with lyricism and grace -- Afua HirschBy blending journalistic inquiry with historical insights and poetic descriptions, the author turns a complex and traumatic subject - racism and the legacy of slavery in America - into a beautiful, insightful and even enjoyable journey * Economist Best Books of 2021 *Suffused with lyrical descriptions and incisive historical details, including Robert E. Lee's ruthlessness as a slave owner and early resistance by Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois to the Confederate general's "deification," this is an essential consideration of how America's past informs its present. * Publisher’s Weekly *...a devastating portrait with unforgettable details...a vivid portrait of the extent to which venues have attempted to redress past wrongs...A brilliant, vital work about 'a crime that is still unfolding * Kirkus *Through Smith's clear-eyed storytelling, he illustrates just how deeply the consequences of this intergenerational history manifest in the present day, both politically and personally. * Time *An important and timely book about race in America. -- Drew Faust * Harvard Magazine *Poet and journalist Clint Smith's debut examines the legacy of slavery in modern America, looking at historical monuments and landmarks across the country, ruminating on the ideas they represent in the narrative of our national identity and how that identity is bound to, and requires, anti-Black racism. * Buzzfeed *In this exploration of the ways we talk about-and avoid talking about-slavery, Smith blends reportage and deep critical thinking to produce a work that interrogates both history and memory. -- Kate Tuttle * Boston Globe *Sketches an impressive and deeply affecting human cartography of America's historical conscience...an extraordinary contribution to the way we understand ourselves. -- Julian Lucas * New York Times Book Review *With careful research, scholarship, and perspective, Smith underscores a necessary truth: the imprint of slavery is unyieldingly present in contemporary America, and the stories of its legacy, of the enslaved people and their descendants, are everywhere. * TeenVogue *Clint Smith, in his new book "How the Word Is Passed," has created something subtle and extraordinary. * Christian Science Monitor *Part of what makes this book so brilliant is its bothandedness. It is both a searching historical work and a journalistic account of how these historic sites operate today. Its both carefully researched and lyrical. I mean Smith is a poet and the sentences in this book just are piercingly alive. And it's both extremely personal-it is the author's story-and extraordinarily sweeping. It amplifies lots of other voices. Past and present. Reading it I kept thinking about that great Alice Walker line 'All History is Current'. -- John GreenHow the Word is Passed frees history, frees humanity to reckon honestly with the legacy of slavery. We need this book -- Ibram X. KendiAn extraordinary contribution to the way we understand ourselves -- Julian Lucas * New York TImes Book Review *The detail and depth of the storytelling is vivid and visceral, making history present and real -- Hope Wabuke * NPR *This isn't just a work of history, it's an intimate, active exploration of how we're still constructing and distorting our history -- Ron Charles * The Washington Post *
£9.99
Hoover Institution Press,U.S. Renewing Indigenous Economies
Book SynopsisBefore the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans had thriving societies based on governing structures and property rights that encouraged productivity and trade. These traditional economies were crippled by federal law. This book provides the knowledge for tribes trapped in ‘white tape’ to revitalize their economies and communities.
£23.36
Baraka Books A Peoples History of Quebec
Book SynopsisRevealing a little-known part of North American history, this lively guide tells the fascinating tale of the settlement of the St. Lawrence Valley. It also tells of the Montreal and Quebec-based explorers and traders who travelled, mapped, and inhabited a very large part of North America, and ""embrothered the peoples"" they met, as Jack Kerouac wrote.Trade ReviewA concise history of Quebec, from the earliest days of colonization to the aftermath of the most recent sovereignty referendum, rendered in an easily read 200 pages. As fascinating as the march of great figures and the mapping of landmark events are the details of how they affected the ordinary life of their times." —Montreal Gazette"At a trim 208 pages (including a tidy timeline of Quebec history and a useful index) and in a soft cover, it's the kind of book that's easy to carry on a trip and easy to bring to bed. It's also a good read which offers lots of room for reflection." —Quebec Heritage News"[This] is both an excellent history book to refresh the reader’s memory and a rich introduction to a people who were told they had no history. A great read." —Hélène De Billy, journalist
£17.95
Cambridge University Press The Cambridge History of America and the World
Book Synopsis
£37.99
John Murray Press The CIA
Book Synopsis''Gripping history that also informs the present'' Sunday Times''Lively and original'' The Spectator''A spectacular achievement'' Dominic Sandbrook''Fast-paced, absorbing, insightful'' Simon Hall''Simply superb'' Kathryn OlmstedA celebrated British historian of US intelligence explores how the CIA was born in anti-imperialist idealism but swiftly became an instrument of a new covert empire both in America and overseas.As World War II ended, the United States stood as the dominant power on the world stage. In 1947, to support its new global status, it created the CIA to analyse foreign intelligence. But within a few years, the Agency was engaged in other operations: bolstering pro-American governments, overthrowing nationalist leaders, and surveilling anti-imperial dissenters in the US.The Cold War was an obvious reason for this transformation - but not the only one.
£21.25
St. Augustine's Press The Civil War
Book Synopsis
£21.85
Bloomsbury Publishing USA Unprepared: America in the Time of Coronavirus
Book Synopsis''An essential volume'' E. J. Dionne, Jr.With an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winner Timothy Egan, the riveting, eye-opening first-draft history of the Covid-19 pandemic.Unprepared is the sweeping history of the Covid-19 pandemica raw, primary-source accounting of the epoch-defining event: a virus that first appeared in China in late 2019 and spread rapidly across the globe, killing hundreds of thousands, devastating economies, and changing the modern world forever. A day-by-day chronicle of the response to Covid-19 as it attacked, Unprepared gathers a range of public statements from President Trump and his administration, elected officials such as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, leading journalists and scientists, and organizations from National Nurses United to the United Food and Commercial Workers union. A haunting portrait of the world scrambling for answers while the number of cases rose alongside the death toll, the book reveals not only our strengths as a people, but also the fault lines and dysfunction that plague our nation in the new millennium. Unprepared is an illuminating artifact for today and for future generations, an astonishing document of history being made, and a multifaceted narrative that drops the reader directly into the real-time experience of confusion, drama, and fear that defines the outbreak of Covid-19.
£13.59
Casemate Publishers Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence
Book SynopsisNow a green, open space enjoyed by residents, Fort Hunt, Virginia – about 15 miles south of Washington, DC. – was the site of one of the highest-level, clandestine operations during World War II. Shortly after entering World War II, the U.S. military realised that it had to work on exploiting any advantages it might gain on the Axis Powers. One part of these endeavours was to establish a secret facility not too close, but also not too far from the Pentagon, which would interrogate and eavesdrop on the highest-level Nazi prisoners and also translate and analyse captured German war documents. The complex established at Fort Hunt was known by the code name: PO Box 1142.The American servicemen who interrogated German prisoners or translated captured German documents were young, bright, hardworking, and absolutely dedicated to their work. Many of them were Jews, who had escaped Nazi Germany as children – some had come to America with their parents, others had escaped alone, but their experiences and those they had been forced to leave behind meant they all had personal motivation to do whatever they could to defeat Nazi Germany. They were perfect for the difficult and complex job at hand. They never used corporal punishment in interrogations of German soldiers but developed and deployed dozens of tricks to gain information.The Allies won the war against Hitler for a host of reasons, discussed in hundreds of volumes. This is the first book to describe the intelligence operations at PO Box 1142 and their part in that success. It will never be known how many American lives were spared, or whether the war ended sooner with the programs at Fort Hunt, but they doubtless did make a difference. Moreover these programs gave the young Jewish men stationed there the chance to combat the evil that had befallen their families.Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Escape from the Nazis Chapter 3: Setting Up the Program Chapter 4: Name, Rank, Serial Number and ... Chapter 5: There Was More Than One Way to Skin a Cat Chapter 6: Translating Captured Documents Chapter 7: Operation Paperclip Chapter 8: Reunions at Fort Hunt Chapter 9: What Happened to the Soldiers after 1142 Appendix: Escape and Evasion
£16.96
BenBella Books Raising Our Hands: How White Women Can Stop
Book SynopsisWhite women are one of the most influential demographics in America—we are the largest voting bloc, with purchasing power that exceeds anybody else's, and when we unify to demand change, we are a force to be reckoned with. Yet, so many of us sit idly on the sidelines, opting out of raising our hands to do, learn, and engage in ways that could make a difference. Why? White American women are no monolith. Yet, as Women's March national organizer Jenna Arnold has learned over the past few years criss-crossing the US in conversations with white women about their identity and role in the country, we do possess common characteristics—ones that get in the way of us becoming more engaged as citizens. We're so focused on checking off our to-do lists, or so afraid of getting it wrong, or so busy trying to avoid conflict, that we are actively avoiding the urgent conversations we need to have. We are confused about how we got here and unsure how to do better. Raising Our Hands is the reckoning cry for white women. It asks us to step up and join the new frontlines of the fight against complacency—in our homes, in our behaviors, and in our own minds. Consider Raising Our Hands your starting place, your "Intro to Being a White Woman in Today's World" freshman-year class. In these pages, Jenna peels back the history that's been kept out of textbooks and the cultural norms that are holding us back, so we can finally start really listening to marginalized voices and doing our part to promote progress. The American white woman is a powerful force—an essential participant—to mobilize alongside the rest of humanity on behalf of the world, and we can no longer make excuses for why we don't have time or don't know enough.Trade Review"Jenna has uplifted marginalized voices embodying a crucial sentiment of Malcolm X's: It is white people's responsibility to bring other well-intended white people to the social justice work of our time. Raising Our Hands is the urgent answer to our request." —Angela Rye, political analyst and commentator "The world doesn't have time to wait for you to decide that you're brave enough to do the work laid out in Raising Our Hands—you can't read this fast enough." —Reshma Saujani, bestselling author of Brave Not Perfect and founder of Girls Who Code "The wisdom in these pages will help you see the world, and your role in it, through a powerful new lens. If you want to raise your hand and step up to the frontline, this book will firmly point you in the direction of how." —Sophia Bush, actress and activist "Jenna is a bold and brilliant writer who cleverly holds herself, her sisters, and the reader accountable to a higher standard . . . As a non-binary person of color, I was surprised to see my own privilege reflected in these pages. Raising Our Hands is a helpful tool for confronting privilege and bias regardless of race or gender identity." —Dr. Tiffany Jana, author of Overcoming Bias, Erasing Institutional Bias and Subtle Acts of Exclusion and founder of TMI Consulting "Jenna tackles this topic with care and simplicity through an intersectional lens. I'm excited for people to engage with this much needed conversation." —Geena Roccero, supermodel and first trans Asian Pacific Islander Playboy Playmate "So many of the ‘well intended' white women who have enthusiastically been marching over the past few years have been missing the urgent context of the foundational work that's needed today which Raising Our Hands provides. This is the book that willing white women have needed for so long: directions for how to engage in the collective work of liberation for all." —Tabitha St. Bernard-Jacobs, director of community engagement for the Women's March "At a time of division and uncertainty, we need true allies to hold their communities accountable and this book does just that." —Jamira Burley, social justice activist and White House Champion of Change "Arnold provides a useful and compassionate resource to guide readers seeking to transform themselves and their communities through self examination, deep listening, and accountability." —Jamia Wilson, author, activist, and publisher at The Feminist Press "We have a great responsibility to the future. The time has come to address our past, our origin, and the ways it continues to dictate our choices. This book is an amazing starting point." —Mesiah Burciaga-Hameed, Afro-indigenous youth advocate "Jenna Arnold's Raising Our Hands is a daring call-out that bravely tells white women with supremacist sensibilities that the jig is up . . . This is the book I want all of my white friends to read—they will be forced to own their collective ability to challenge injustice in profound ways." —Avis Wanda McClinton, Quaker anti-racist activist and preservationist "This book and books like this bring us to a space of collective healing so we can see how deeply dependent and connected we truly are. I applaud Jenna's delivery of a work whose time has come." —Erica Ford, social justice activist and cofounder of the National Black and Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium "It is time for action and young people are wondering where you are. Raising Our Hands is a user guide to how to be a great ally. Girls, especially black and brown girls, need your help and Jenna Arnold tells you how you can be your most effective selves!" —Naomi Wadler, youth activist "Funny, profound and engaging, Raising Our Hands is a catalytic treatise for the future of ourselves and country. Through searing truisms, it challenges us all to think and behave deeply and to be . . . more. Every chapter takes us collectively one step closer to a reimagined us." —Denise Hamilton, author of When Sleeping Women Wake, social justice facilitator, and CEO of WatchHerWork "Raising Our Hands is bright as it is straightforward. This is exactly the type of content, matched with motivating instruction, that so many of us white women are eager to dive into—it answers so many questions we didn't even know we had." —Reverend Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, Baptist Minister "This book is a call to action to raise our hands to say, ‘That's me—I don't know what I don't know but I want to do better. I'm that white woman. I'm ready to do the work now' . . . Whether we like it or not, we white people are implicated at birth and it's gonna take all of us digging deep, decolonizing our minds and dismantling the systems we are a part of to bring about the change we wish to see in the world." —Kerri Kelly, co-founder of Race & Resilience, author of American Detox (May 2021), and host of CTZN Podcast "Gripping. Urgent. Unflinching. A must-read." —Marie Forleo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything is Figureoutable "Impressive in scope and effective in its simplicity, Raising Our Hands is the tool many willing Americans have needed for too long. There are so many willing women eager to do something besides march but they don't know where to start—I suggest right here." —Rachel O'Leary Carmona, COO of the Women's March and social-justice activist "Jenna takes white women on a journey through self-discovery by pushing them to see the world through a more equitable lens. She demands they listen, they learn and they hold themselves accountable no matter how upside down it might turn their worlds." —Paola Mendoza, artist, activist, and author of Sanctuary "This book is a welcomed invitation to remind us all that we have learning to do and homage to pay to those who fought before us. Raising Our Hands does a great service in this education and provides an excellent road map on the work to do within ourselves and in the world around us." —Sarah Sophie Flicker, activist, artist, and contributor to the New York Times bestseller Together We Rise "Racial justice is something that Black and Brown folks cannot achieve alone. We need white people to do the courageous work to confront problematic behaviors within their own communities and families. Jenna has raised her hand to do just that with Raising Our Hands, clearly outlining the mental and societal roadblocks for white women while emphasizing the potential tectonic shifts that could happen if they were removed." —Carmen Perez, civil rights and racial justice activist, 2017 National Women's March co-chair, and CEO of The Gathering for Justice "This is the book I give those interested in being part of the solution but don't know where to start on wrapping their arms around the complex social fabric of the US. Presented through Jenna's engaging and simplistic lens, readers will draw complicated truths much closer." —Tiphani Montgomery, founder of Millions Conference and faith-based motivational speaker "Raising Our Hands is a firm, compassionate reminder to bind back to what is already so familiar to us humans if we consciously seek it out: compassion for each other and ourselves as we navigate what feels like the daunting complexity of life." —Zoe Buckman, visual artist and activist "Think you're too busy to make a difference? Think again. In this insightful, inspiring book, Jenna Arnold shows how to raise your hand and your voice to create a ‘rising tide raising all people' conversation, community and country. Read it and reap." —Sam Horn, author of Someday is Not a Day in the Week: 10 Hacks to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life Table of ContentsContents Author’s Note IntroductionChapter 1: Silence(d)Chapter 2: Performance Chores, Perfection, & PrivilegeChapter 3: White LiesChapter 4: Go White-Savior YourselfChapter 5: KKK & Kale SmoothiesChapter 6: What About the Boys?Chapter 7: “Us” vs. “Them”Chapter 8: You, Them, WeChapter 9: The Frontline—HOLDChapter 10: Our Reckoning Appendix: How to Facilitate a Listening CircleAcknowledgmentsEndnotesAbout the Author
£16.19
Double 9 Books LLP The Federalist Papers
Book Synopsis
£22.49
Double 9 Booksllp Stalky & Co
Book Synopsis
£11.99
Modern Library The Federalist Papers
£17.85
Yale University Press A Republic of Producers
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£46.75
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial
Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the Civil War to our combustible present, White Rage reframes the continuing conversation about race in America, chronicling the history of the powerful forces opposed to black progress. Since the abolishment of slavery in 1865, every time African Americans have made advances towards full democratic participation, white reaction has fuelled a rollback of any gains. Carefully linking historical flashpoints – from the post-Civil War Black Codes and Jim Crow to expressions of white rage after the election of America’s first black president – Carol Anderson renders visible the long lineage of white rage and the different names under which it hides. Compelling and dramatic in the history it relates, White Rage adds a vital new dimension to the conversation about race in America. ‘Beautifully written and exhaustively researched’ CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE ‘An extraordinarily timely and urgent call to confront the legacy of structural racism’ NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ‘Brilliant’ ROBIN DIANGELO, AUTHOR OF WHITE FRAGILITYTrade Review[White Rage] is an extraordinarily timely and urgent call to confront the legacy of structural racism bequeathed by white anger and resentment, and to show its continuing threat to the promise of American democracy. * Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review *I’ve read a fair bit of African-American history, but White Rage, by Carol Anderson, which is beautifully written and exhaustively researched, illuminated for me just how deliberately education policy in the United States disenfranchised African-Americans. * Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, bestselling author of AMERICANAH and HALF OF A YELLOW SUN *[A] slim but persuasive volume . . . A sobering primer on the myriad ways African American resilience and triumph over enslavement, Jim Crow and intolerance have been relentlessly defied by the very institutions entrusted to uphold our democracy. * Washington Post *White Rage is a riveting and disturbing history that begins with Reconstruction and lays bare the efforts of whites in the South and North alike to prevent emancipated black people from achieving economic independence, civil and political rights, personal safety, and economic opportunity. * The Nation *An unflinching look at America's long history of structural and institutionalized racism, White Rage is a timely and necessary examination of white anger and aggression towards black America . . . A compelling look at American history, White Rage has never seemed more relevant than it does today. * Bustle, “17 Books On Race Every White Person Needs To Read” *White Rage belongs in a place of honor on the shelf next to other seminal books about the African-American experience such as James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time, Isabel Wilkerson's The Warmth of Other Suns, and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. * Santa Barbara Independent *[A] powerful survey of American history as seen in the violent white reactions to black progress, from Reconstruction to the great migration to the current political landscape. * Boston Globe *Anderson has shown, with her well-sourced (she has several hundred detailed footnotes) and readable book, why the fights over race and access to the perquisites of American citizenship grind on . . . White Rage lends perspective and insight for those of us who are willing to confront, study and learn from the present situation in this country. * St. Louis Dispatch *Two steps forward, one step back: White Rage deftly crafts the pattern of how White backlash has always countered African American progress. * ZORA, The 100 greatest books ever written by African American women *White Rage is a harrowing account of our national history during the century and a half since the Civil War--even more troubling for what it exposes about our present, our deep and abiding racial divide. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in understanding--and perfecting--our union. * Natasha Trethewey, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for NATIVE GUARD and Two-term Poet Laureate of the United States *Anderson’s keen analysis presents a powerful portrait of white rage and entitlement — two shameful forces that continue to characterize our national conversation about race. * Esquire, “If You Want to Learn About Anti-Racism, These 10 Books Are a Start” *Riveting * Michael Eric Dyson, author of TEARS WE CANNOT STOP, for the New York Times “By the Book” *Brilliant * Robin DiAngelo, author of WHITE FRAGILITY, for the Amazon Book Review *Anderson lays out a troubling yet persistent pattern in American history that started during Reconstruction. For every advancement achieved by African Americans, there is an unequal and ferociously opposite reaction. . . . Anderson’s book lays out the horrific story. * Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post *In every episode of White Rage Anderson amplifies and elongates this initial claim [white America’s seething resistance to African Americans’ sociopolitical advancements] into a striking argument about the nation’s failure to recognize African Americans as full members the citizenry. Though stretching a stand-alone essay into an extended study doesn’t work very often, White Rage operates efficiently and elegantly, offering readers new intelligence about American experience. Following Anderson, one gains insight by accrual. * Lit Hub *Professor Carol Anderson’s recent book White Rage is a tragic, yet invaluable contribution to our understanding of race relations throughout American history. * Medium, “We Need to Talk About Systemic Racism" *It's shocking, beautifully written, and, with white supremacy knocking on the White House door, more important than ever. Some books are great, some books are essential. White Rage is the latter. * Ed Yong, The Millions *Truly, I couldn't put it down. [White Rage] draws a razor-sharp line from the Civil War to Trayvon Martin with all the stops in between. If you want context for . . . the life we're living in this country right this minute, I urge you to pick up a copy. [Its] 160 pages have the power to change your life. * Ann Patchett, Parnassus Musing *Powerful . . . Like a meticulous prosecutor assembling her case, Anderson lays out a profoundly upsetting vision of an America driven to waves of reactionary white anger whenever it’s confronted with black achievement. * Bookforum *There is [a] book that I think we all need to read and read again: Carol Anderson’s White Rage. It so plainly shows us that whenever African Americans started to make any strides (in education, voting, employment, home ownership), those gains were a threat to the status quo of inequality — those strides sparked incredibly intense and well-organized blowback — all of which leads me to appreciate just how insidious and persistent racial hatred is in the U.S. We have to get smarter, bystanders … we need your help, it is not enough to proclaim that you’re not racist, we need your help. * Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Angelopoulos Professor in Public Health and International Development *Bracing . . . It might all seem very conspiratorial and cloak-and-dagger, were it not also true. Reading through all the frightfully inventive ways in which America makes racial inequality a matter of law (and order) has a dizzying effect: like watching a quick-cut montage of social injustice spanning nearly half a millennium. * The Globe and Mail *[F]or readers who want to understand the sense of grievance and pain that many African Americans feel today, White Rage offers a clearly written and well-thought-out overview of an aspect of U.S. history with which the country is still struggling to come to terms. * Foreign Affairs *Prescient . . . provides necessary perspective on the racial conflagrations in the U.S. * Kirkus Reviews *Anderson’s mosaic of white outrage deserves contemplation by anyone interested in understanding U.S. race relations, past and present. * Library Journal *[An] engaging, thought-provoking work . . . Anderson’s clear, ardent prose detailing the undermining of America’s stated ideals and democratic norms is required reading for anyone interested in the state of American social discourse. * Booklist *Few historians write with the grace, clarity, and intellectual verve Carol Anderson summons in this book. We are tethered to history, and with White Rage, Anderson adeptly highlights both that past and the tenacious grip race holds on the present. There is a handful of writers whose work I consider indispensable. Professor Anderson is high up on that list. * William Jelani Cobb, author of THE SUBSTANCE OF HOPE *To overcome our racial history, Americans must first learn our racial history--as it truly and painfully happened. This powerful book is the place to start. * David Von Drehle, author of RISE TO GREATNESS: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND AMERICA'S MOST PERILOUS YEAR *Anderson's book compellingly recenters America's racial narrative on the propulsive power of white fury. The sentiments she traces, and the force they carry, don't just explain our political past; they also reveal our political present. * The Week, Ezra Klein’s 6 Favorite Books *A short, simple history about the racial divide in America — but really approachable. * Tim Wise, “Good Morning America” *I highly recommend reading . . . Carol Anderson’s White Rage to help white people understand their place in the reproduction of racism and how to fight it. * The Bakersfield Californian *
£9.99
Simon & Schuster Benjamin Franklin
Book SynopsisIn this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America''s founders helped define our national character.Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constitution.In this colorful and intimate narrative, Isaacson provides the full sweep of Franklin’s amazing life, showing how he helped to forge the American national identity and why he has a particular resonance in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewThe Washington Post Book World The most readable full-length Franklin biography available.The New Yorker Energetic, entertaining, and worldly.The New York Times In its common sense, clarity and accessibility, it is a fitting reflection of Franklin's sly pragmatism....This may be the book that most powerfully drives a new pendulum swing of the Franklin reputation.The New York Times Book Review A thoroughly researched, crisply written, convincingly argued chronicle.Table of ContentsCONTENTSCHAPTER ONEBenjamin Franklin and the Invention of AmericaCHAPTER TWOPilgrim's Progress: Boston, 1706-1723CHAPTER THREEJourneyman: Philadelphia and London, 1723-1726CHAPTER FOURPrinter: Philadelphia, 1726-1732CHAPTER FIVEPublic Citizen: Philadelphia, 1731-1748CHAPTER SIXScientist and Inventor: Philadelphia, 1744-1751CHAPTER SEVENPolitician: Philadelphia, 1749-1756CHAPTER EIGHTTroubled Waters: London, 1757-1762CHAPTER NINEHome Leave: Philadelphia, 1763-1764CHAPTER TENAgent Provocateur: London, 1765-1770CHAPTER ELEVENRebel: London, 1771-1775CHAPTER TWELVEIndependence: Philadelphia, 1775-1776CHAPTER THIRTEENCourtier: Paris, 1776-1778CHAPTER FOURTEENBon Vivant: Paris, 1778-1785CHAPTER FIFTEENPeacemaker: Paris, 1778-1785CHAPTER SIXTEENSage: Philadelphia, 1785-1790CHAPTER SEVENTEENEpilogueCHAPTER EIGHTEENConclusionsCast of CharactersChronologyCurrency ConversionsAcknowledgmentsSources and AbbreviationsNotesIndex
£12.74
Simon & Schuster The Road to Jonestown
Book Synopsis2018 Edgar Award Finalist—Best Fact Crime“A thoroughly readable, thoroughly chilling account of a brilliant con man and his all-too vulnerable prey” (The Boston Globe)—the definitive story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre, the largest murder-suicide in American history, by the New York Times bestselling author of Manson.In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially mixed, and he was a leader in the early civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California, where he got involved in electoral politics and became a prominent Bay Area leader. But underneath the surface lurked a terrible darkness. In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his early days as an idealistic minister to a secret life of extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing, before the fateful decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink. Guinn examined thousands of pages of FBI files on the case, including material released during the course of his research. He traveled to Jones’s Indiana hometown, where he spoke to people never previously interviewed, and uncovered fresh information from Jonestown survivors. He even visited the Jonestown site with the same pilot who flew there the day that Congressman Leo Ryan was murdered on Jones’s orders. The Road to Jonestown is “the most complete picture to date of this tragic saga, and of the man who engineered it…The result is a disturbing portrait of evil—and a compassionate memorial to those taken in by Jones’s malign charisma” (San Francisco Chronicle).Trade Review“I have to say that it is weird to find out the background of things that I grew up hearing about around the dinner table. The level of research and detail in The Road to Jonestown is the best ever, and really lets readers understand not only what happened, but how and why. This book tells the Jim Jones story better than anything I have read to date.” -- Jim Jones, Jr.“Jeff Guinn offers what might be the most complete picture to date of this tragic saga, and of the man who engineered it. . . . The result is a disturbing portrait of evil — and a compassionate memorial to those taken in by Jones’ malign charisma.” -- Kevin Canfield * The San Francisco Chronicle *"A thoroughly readable, thoroughly chilling account of a brilliant con man and his all-too vulnerable prey. . . . Generates a bizarre — dare I say Manson-like? — magnetic force that pulls the reader through its many pages. Noir thriller morphs into horror story." -- Dan Cryer * The Boston Globe *"Magisterial. . . . Guinn's exhaustive research, shrewd analysis, and engaging prose illuminate a monstrous yet tragic figure--and the motives of those who lost their souls to him." * Publishers Weekly *"A vivid, fascinating revisitation of a time and series of episodes fast receding into history even as their forgotten survivors still walk among us." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *"A powerful account of Jones's life. . . . Guinn's blow-by-blow account of Jonestown's final days in the book's last chapters is riveting." * BookPage *
£11.69
Simon & Schuster Ltd Hard Choices
Book SynopsisHILLARY RODHAM CLINTON''S INSIDE ACCOUNT OF THE CRISES, CHOICES AND CHALLENGES SHE FACED DURING HER FOUR YEARS AS AMERICA''S 67THSECRETARY OF STATE, AND HOW THOSE EXPERIENCES DRIVE HER VIEW OF THE FUTURE, INCLUDING A NEW EPILOGUE. ''All of us face hard choices in our lives,'' Hillary Rodham Clinton writes at the start of this personal chronicle of years at the centre of world events. ''Life is about making such choices. Our choices and how we handle them shape the people we become.'' In the aftermath of her 2008 presidential run, she expected to return to representing New York in the Unites States Senate. To her surprise, her formal rival for the Democratic Party nomination, newly elected President Barack Obama, asked her to serve in his administration as Secretary of State. This memoir is the story of the four extraordinary and historic years that followed, and the hard choices that she and her colleagues confronted. Secretary Clinton and President Obama had
£9.89
Skyhorse Publishing The Atlas of the Civil War
Book SynopsisFrom the first shots fired at Fort Sumter in 1861 to the final clashes on the Road to Appomattox in 1864, The Atlas of the Civil War reconstructs the battles of America's bloodiest war with unparalleled clarity and precision. Edited by Pulitzer Prize recipient James M. McPherson and written by America's leading military historians, this peerless reference charts the major campaigns and skirmishes of the Civil War. Each battle is meticulously plotted on one of 200 specially commissioned full-color maps. Timelines provide detailed, play-by-play maneuvers, and the accompanying text highlights the strategic aims and tactical considerations of the men in charge. Each of the battle, communications, and locator maps are cross-referenced to provide a comprehensive overview of the fighting as it swept across the country. With more than two hundred photographs and countless personal accounts that vividly describe the experiences of soldiers in the fields, The Atlas of the Civil War brings to life the human drama that pitted state against state and brother against brother.
£999.99
New York University Press The Delectable Negro
Book SynopsisTakes the enslaved person's claims of human consumption seriously, focusing on both the literal starvation of the slave and the tropes of cannibalism on the part of the slaveholder, and further draws attention to the ways in which Blacks experienced their consumption as a fundamentally homoerotic occurrence.Trade ReviewWe have all read about the hunger of slaves whose masters sought to starve them into submission. ButThe Delectable Negroasks of these slaves: 'How does it feel to be an edible, consumed object?' Inverting the trope of slave hunger, VincentWoodardprovocatively suggests that the slaveholder is a parasite who feeds off the slaves body in acts that range from cannibalistic to sexual modes of consumption, especially the homoerotic. In an even greater provocation, however, Woodard argues that within the black community, hunger is transformed into a regenerative space from which the search for home and communal belonging may be initiated. A bold and brilliant book. -- Carla L. Peterson,author of Black Gotham: A Family History of African Americans in Nineteenth-Century New York CityThe Delectable Negrouncovers a compelling set of themes in the scholarship on U.S. slave culture: white cannibalism as a significant trope for white depletion of, and desire for, the laboring and eroticized black male body. In a stunning series of arguments, Woodard forces us to reconsider the historical out-of-hand rejection of black African fear (and, not rarely, claims) of white cannibalism, showing how remarkably wide-reaching was the sense that slavery satisfied some sadomasochistic instinct among the slave-owning class. -- Maurice O. Wallace,author of Constructing the Black MasculineThe Delectable Negro is a brilliant, fearless, and deeply political book. * Early American Literature *With unflinching clarity,The Delectable Negroexposes and examines the pervasive cultural fantasies that have rendered the enslaved black body into a consumable object from the eighteenth century to the present. [] [I]ts powerful insights will continue to generate new lines of important inquiry for years to come. * American Historical Review *It should be noted here that Woodard died before this book was published; it is a shame that he could not see his daring work enter debate. Praise must go to Joyce and McBride, moreover, for their careful and attentive editorial work that made this publication of this text possible. . . . Woodard's career would surely have been even bolder after this book, but this text's interruption into critical theory alone is itself worth celebrating. * American Studies *Table of ContentsEditor's Note Justin A. JoyceForewordE. Patrick Johnson Introduction: "Master ... eated me when I was meat" 1. Cannibalism in Transatlantic Context 2. Sex, Honor, and Human Consumption 3. A Tale of Hunger Retold: Ravishment and Hunger in F. Douglass's Life and Writing 4. Domestic Rituals of Consumption 5. Eating Nat Turner 6. The Hungry Nigger Notes BibliographyIndex About the Author About the Editors
£23.74
Penguin Books Ltd The Myth of American Idealism
Book Synopsis''One of the greatest, most radical public thinkers of our time. When the sun sets on the American empire, as it will, as it must, Noam Chomsky''s work will survive'' Arundhati RoyFrom one of the world's most prominent thinkers comes an urgent warning of the threat that US power poses to humanity's futureThe land of the free. The home of the brave. But what has America achieved in the aim of spreading democracy' except wreak havoc across the globe and establish a reckless foreign policy that serves the interest of few and has endangered all too many?In this timely book, Noam Chomsky writing with Nathan J. Robinson, vividly traces America's pursuit of global domination, offering an incisive critique of the self-serving myths that dominant elites in the United States continue to push.Offering penetrating accounts of Washington's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, they examine how interventions such as these have been justified with noble stories about humanitarian missions and benevolent intentions but are now driving us closer to wars with Russia and China.At once thorough and devastating, urgent and provocative, The Myth of American Idealism offers a highly readable entry to the conclusions Noam Chomsky has come to after a lifetime of thought and activism.''The west''s most prominent critic of US imperialism . . . the closest thing in the English-speaking world to an intellectual superstar'' Guardian
£16.14
Simon & Schuster Watergate: A New History
Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * “Do we need still another Watergate book? The answer turns out to be yes—this one.” —The Washington Post * “Dazzling.” —The New York Times Book Review From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky, comes the first definitive narrative history of Watergate—“the best and fullest account of the crisis, one unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)—exploring the full scope of the scandal through the politicians, investigators, journalists, and informants who made it the most influential political event of the modern era.In the early hours of June 17, 1972, a security guard named Frank Wills enters six words into the log book of the Watergate office complex that will change the course of history: 1:47 AM Found tape on doors; call police. The subsequent arrests of five men seeking to bug and burgle the Democratic National Committee offices—three of them Cuban exiles, two of them former intelligence operatives—quickly unravels a web of scandal that ultimately ends a presidency and forever alters views of moral authority and leadership. Watergate, as the event is called, becomes a shorthand for corruption, deceit, and unanswered questions. Now, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Garrett M. Graff explores the full scope of this unprecedented moment from start to finish, in the first comprehensive, single-volume account in decades. The story begins in 1971, with the publication of thousands of military and government documents known as the Pentagon Papers, which reveal dishonesty about the decades-long American presence in Vietnam and spark public outrage. Furious that the leak might expose his administration’s own duplicity during a crucial reelection season, President Richard M. Nixon gathers his closest advisors and gives them implicit instructions: Win by any means necessary. Within a few months, an unsteady line of political dominoes are positioned, from the creation of a series of covert operations code-named GEMSTONE to campaign-trail dirty tricks, possible hostage situations, and questionable fundraising efforts—much of it caught on the White House’s own taping system. One by one they fall, until the thwarted June burglary attracts the attention of intrepid journalists, congressional investigators, and embattled intelligence officers, one of whom will spend decades concealing his identity behind the alias “Deep Throat.” As each faction slowly begins to uncover the truth, a conspiracy deeper and more corrupt than anyone thought possible emerges, and the nation is thrown into a state of crisis as its government—and its leader—unravels. Using newly public documents, transcripts, and revelations, Graff recounts every twist with remarkable detail and page-turning drama, bringing readers into the backrooms of Washington, chaotic daily newsrooms, crowded Senate hearings, and even the Oval Office itself during one of the darkest chapters in American history. Grippingly told and meticulously researched, Watergate is the defining account of the moment that has haunted our nation’s past—and still holds the power to shape its present and future.Trade ReviewPRAISE FOR WATERGATE: A NEW HISTORY “Do we need still another Watergate book? The answer turns out to be yes — this one: Garrett M. Graff’s Watergate: A New History. It is a remarkably rich narrative with compelling characters, who range from criminal and flawed to tragic and heroic. As someone who played a small role in the drama while I was editing many of The Washington Post’s Watergate stories, I found that Graff convincingly populates and re-creates an extraordinary time in the history of the country and this city. ... fast-paced ... filled with apt sketches of its many characters, major and minor, from all the president’s men, and some of their spouses, to journalists, investigators, lawyers and members of Congress. It vividly re-creates all the key events, from Nixon’s overreaction to the revelation of the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War in June 1971 to his resignation in August 1974.... engaging, informative and thought-provoking, more than earning its place on bookshelves alongside the old histories.” —Len Downie, Jr., The Washington Post “Dazzling. . . A lively writer, Graff explores the dramatic scope of the Watergate saga through its participants — politicians, investigators, journalists, whistle-blowers and, at center stage, Nixon himself.” —Douglas Brinkley, The New York Times Book Review “Award-winning author Graff aims to give readers the full scope of Watergate — a much bigger, more bizarre story than even remembered — telling the full story from start to finish in this ambitious book.” —New York Post “A definitive, exhaustive account of the scandal. . . a fascinating, horrifying examination of the Nixon presidency up close—enough to scare the record straight.” —AirMail “A meticulously researched, expansive history of the Watergate scandal from start to finish, from the release of the Pentagon Papers in 1971 to the reverberations that echo through present day.” —Barbara VanDenburgh, USA TODAY “A brisk, riveting, compulsively readable, comprehensive, up-to-date narrative of the entire tangled affair, and it's hard to imagine it better told. . . . Now the best and fullest account of the Watergate crisis, one unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Monumental. . . effortlessly clarifies the strands of one of the most complex episodes in modern history. . . A masterful, epic look at a story that is still barely believable.” —The Daily Mail “This meticulously researched and documented book should now become the definitive source for those who wish to dive into the cesspool of deceit, intrigue and criminal behavior that were associated with the seemingly innocuous break-in and the cover-up. ... [Graff] makes a valiant attempt to connect all the disparate threads from the confusing tapestry of multiple investigations, muffled tapes and self-serving memoirs available. His organization of the book makes the 700-plus pages flow seamlessly as the investigators reach their inevitable conclusions. In summary, this book should be required reading for any citizen with the faintest interest in how the sausage-factory of Washington politics functions and how our country has managed to arrive at today’s dysfunctional impasse.” —J. Kemper Campbell, Lincoln Journal-Star “Lively, wide-ranging, detailed.” —Erica J. Smith, The Virginian Pilot “Garrett Graff aptly calls Watergate a 'Gordian knot of scandal.' This comprehensive, searching, yet elegant book untangles it more completely than any attempt so far. I learned a lot!” —Rick Perlstein, bestselling author of Nixonland and Reaganland “Watergate is one of the great tragic double-edged swords of modern American history: its crimes were swiftly exposed, the criminals punished, the rule of law restored––and it profoundly, permanently undermined American citizens' trust in their government. Garrett Graff's fresh chronicle of that inflection point is lucid, enlightening and indispensable.” —Kurt Andersen, author of Evil Geniuses and writer-host of Nixon at War “I thought I knew all the Watergate stories. I was wrong. Graff did a herculean job going through so much existing Watergate material to pull together a compelling new story and make it all fresh again. Think you know the entire story from beginning to end? Not until you’ve read this.” —Howard Mortman, C-SPAN communications director and author of When Rabbis Bless Congress “Expertly researched and assembled, this is a valuable introduction to one of history’s greatest political scandals. . . . Graff skillfully interweaves the perspectives of journalists and law enforcement officials investigating the Watergate break-in with the Nixon team’s attempts to “use the organs of government to cover up their own rogue operation,” and incisively analyzes how the congressional inquiry into the scandal resulted in Democrats and Republicans coming together to uphold the Constitution and limit the powers of the president.” —Publishers Weekly
£14.44
Monthly Review Press,U.S. The Dawning of the Apocalypse: The Roots of
Book SynopsisAugust 2019 saw numerous commemorations of the year 1619, when what was said to be the first arrival of enslaved Africans occurred in North America. Yet in the 1520s, the Spanish, from their imperial perch in Santo Domingo, had already brought enslaved Africans to what was to become South Carolina. The enslaved people quickly defected to local Indigenous populations, and compelled their captors to flee. Deploying such illuminating research, The Dawning of the Apocalypse is a riveting revision of the “creation myth” of settler colonialism and how the United States was formed. Here, Gerald Horne argues forcefully that, in order to understand the arrival of colonists from the British Isles in the early seventeenth century, one must first understand the “long sixteenth century”—from 1492 until the arrival of settlers in Virginia in 1607. During this prolonged century, Horne contends, “whiteness” morphed into “white supremacy,” and allowed England to co-opt not only religious minorities but also various nationalities throughout Europe, thus forging a muscular bloc that was needed to confront rambunctious Indigenes and Africans. In retelling the bloodthirsty story of the invasion of the Americas, Horne recounts how the fierce resistance by Africans and their Indigenous allies weakened Spain and enabled London to dispatch settlers to Virginia in 1607. These settlers laid the groundwork for the British Empire and what became the United States of America.
£18.04
Regnery Publishing Inc The Power and the Money
Book SynopsisWhen U.S. presidents clash with corporate titans, what tips the balance of power? In The Power and the Money, acclaimed presidential historian Tevi Troy takes readers on a riveting journey through the biggest battles between CEOs and the nation’s commander in chief. He unearths the untold stories – both political and personal – that have shaped America. Troy shows how the vast reach of the federal government become a critical fact of life for every business, entrepreneur, and innovator. Today, companies find themselves navigating a competitive landscape defined by stringent regulations, so top CEOs and key business leaders must influence the legislative and regulatory system. As public affairs teams and government relations experts put forward strategies to survive Washington, CEOs have become the most important warrior on the frontlines. The Power and the Money shows how some of the nation’s most
£18.75
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Population Control
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Wide-ranging. ... Will undoubtedly put the fear of God into [readers]." -- Kirkus "Phenomenal. ... Marrs is one of the last remaining true investigative journalists in America today." -- Natural News
£11.69
Vintage Publishing The Big Oyster
Book SynopsisMark Kurlansky is the author of Cod: a Biography of the Fish that Changed the World (winner of the Glenfiddich Award for the Best Food Book in 1997), The Basque History of the World, Salt: A World History and Choice Cuts: A Miscellany of Food Writing. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter.Trade ReviewKurlansky's great ability is to chose a single element as a prism through which to view the development or degeneration of culture; in this book he takes his readers from the 16th century to the present day, encompassing biology, commerce, the politics of race, history, literature, and, of course, gourmandise -- Erica Wagner * The Times *A diligent researcher and a terrific storyteller...quirky, engrossing narrative -- Jackie McGlone * Herald *A unique perspective -- Killian Fox * Observer *Fascinating... Kurlansky's portrait of that vanished age is absolutely engrossing -- Philip Hoare * Sunday Telegraph *Packed with interest * Independent *
£11.69
Vintage Publishing In America
Book SynopsisIn 1960 John Steinbeck and his dog Charley set out in their green pickup truck to rediscover the soul of America, visiting small towns and cities from New York to New Orleans.The trip became Travels With Charley, one of his best-loved books.Half a century on, Geert Mak sets off from Steinbeck’s home.Trade ReviewWhere Steinbeck generally avoided the hubbub of big cities, Mak balances descriptions of the rural plains and towns that symbolize the country's early origins with fascinating sections on urban growth and decay... An ambitious and enjoyable take on America's story * Times Literary Supplement *Rambling, thoughtful, often funny... Wonderful * Guardian *[A] smart, deep-rooted state of the nation report from Main Street, USA * The Times *Perfect for armchair travellers * Choice Magazine *The lyrical story of two journeys interwoven with a broad history and witty observations about the changes of place and people over the past 50 years -- Julia Richardson * Daily Mail *
£13.49
Penguin Books Ltd Pragmatism and Other Writings
Book SynopsisThe writings of William James represent one of America''s most original contributions to the history of ideas. Ranging from philosophy and psychology to religion and politics, James composed the most engaging formulation of American pragmatism. ''Pragmatism'' grew out of a set of lectures and the full text is included here along with ''The Meaning of Truth'', ''Psychology'', ''The Will to Believe'', and ''Talks to Teachers on Psychology''.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Giles GunnSuggestions for Further ReadingA Note on the TextsPragmatism (1907)PrefaceLecture I: The Present Dilemma in PhilosophyLecture II: What Pragmatism MeansLecture III: Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically ConsideredLecture IV: The One and the ManyLecture V: Pragmatism and Common SenseLecture VI: Pragmatism's Conception of TruthLecture VII: Pragmatism and HumanismLecture VIII: Pragmatism and ReligionFrom The Meaning of Truth (1909)PrefaceThe Tigers in IndiaHumanism and TruthFrom Psychology: Briefer Course (1892)The Stream of ConsciousnessFrom The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)PrefaceThe Will to BelieveIs Life Worth Living?The Moral Philosopher and the Moral LifeFrom Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (1899)II. On a Certain Blindness in Human BeingsIII. What Makes a Life SignificantMiscellaneous EssaysAddress at the Centenary of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1903)A World of Pure Experience (1904)Is Radical Empiricism Solipsistic? (1905)Notes
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd John F. Kennedy
Book SynopsisUpdated edition of the authoritative single-volume biography of John F. Kennedy. Drawing upon first-hand sources and never-before-opened archives, prize-winning historian Robert Dallek reveals more than we ever knew about Jack Kennedy, forever changing the way we think about his life, his presidency and his legacy.Dallek also discloses that, while labouring to present an image of robust good health, Kennedy was secretly in and out of hospitals throughout his life, soill that he was administered last rites on several occasions. He never shies away from Kennedy''s weaknesses, but also brilliantly explores his strengths. The result is a full portrait of a bold, brave and truly human John F. Kennedy.
£16.99
Oxford University Press Inc Stars and Shadows
Book SynopsisStars and Shadows is the first work in American political history to offer a comprehensive historical view of how the often-overlooked virtue of friendship has come to shape the possibilities for democratic politics in America. Covering ten cases, Ambar's study illuminates how the personal bonds of friendship have proven critical to understanding the potential for a vigorous multiracial democracy over time. Ambar develops a working theory of multiracialdemocracy that demands more of us as citizens: a commitment to honestly engage one another, and perhaps most importantly, to engage our past with even greater courage and trust.Trade ReviewA searching history of interracial friendship and cooperation throughout American history ... A welcome case that all of us should just get along - and work hard to do so. * Kirkus Reviews *This beautifully-written historical meditation on the powers of friendship is an extended reflection about meaningful connections that span America's racial borderlands. Stars and Shadows—a book I could not put down—probes often surprisingly resonant relations, taking in the personal and the political in a democratic zone marked by affection and regard. In troubling times, it is moving and encouraging to gain access to such sources of hope for the fraught American experience. * Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University *A fresh, wise, humane antidote to the political bombast of our time. Amber brilliantly explores the way Americans have bonded across the racial divide from Thomas Jefferson to Angela Davis. Stars and Shadows is deeply researched, beautifully written, and genuinely moving. It all adds up to something special—a guide to the angels of our better selves—as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. * James A Morone, John Hazen White Professor, Brown University, and author of The Republic of Wrath: How American Politics Turned Tribal from George Washington to Donald Trump *Saladin Ambar offers the rare combination of a gifted storyteller whose prose is hard to put down and a penetrating scholar of politics. In Stars and Shadows, he gives readers an inspiring and candid set of meditations on friendship mediated through the lens of race and spanning the entirety of US history. In these ten narratives he conveys why friendship is a democratic responsibility on which any thriving multiracial society depends. This book is an urgent and extremely enjoyable read. * Elizabeth F. Cohen, Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University *Professor Ambar skillfully challenges readers to place the role of intra-racial political fraternity at the heart of American democracy. Using historical and present-day case studies of political friendships between Blacks and Whites, Ambar illustrates the prevalence of White supremacy in American politics but also adroitly weaves together a compelling account of friendships that challenge this political problem. This book is engaging, beautifully written, and thoroughly researched. Stars and Shadows is a must-read for students of American politics regardless of subfield or methodological orientation. * Nadia Brown, Professor of Government and Director of Women's and Gender Studies program at Georgetown University *Illuminating. . . . [Stars and Shadows is] a welcome case that all of us should just get along-and work hard to do so. * Kirkus Reviews *This beautifully-written historical meditation on the powers of friendship is an extended reflection about meaningful connections that span America's racial borderlands. Stars and Shadows-a book I could not put down-probes often surprisingly resonant relations, taking in the personal and the political in a democratic zone marked by affection and regard. In troubling times, it is moving and encouraging to gain access to such sources of hope for the fraught American experience. * Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University *A fresh, wise, humane antidote to the political bombast of our time. Amber brilliantly explores the way Americans have bonded across the racial divide from Thomas Jefferson to Angela Davis. Stars and Shadows is deeply researched, beautifully written, and genuinely moving. It all adds up to something special-a guide to the angels of our better selves-as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. * James A Morone, John Hazen White Professor, Brown University, and author of The Republic of Wrath: How American Politics Turned Tribal from George Washington to Donald Trump *Saladin Ambar offers the rare combination of a gifted storyteller whose prose is hard to put down and a penetrating scholar of politics. In Stars and Shadows, he gives readers an inspiring and candid set of meditations on friendship mediated through the lens of race and spanning the entirety of US history. In these ten narratives he conveys why friendship is a democratic responsibility on which any thriving multiracial society depends. This book is an urgent and extremely enjoyable read. * Elizabeth F. Cohen, Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University *Professor Ambar skillfully challenges readers to place the role of intra-racial political fraternity at the heart of American democracy. Using historical and present-day case studies of political friendships between Blacks and Whites, Ambar illustrates the prevalence of White supremacy in American politics but also adroitly weaves together a compelling account of friendships that challenge this political problem. This book is engaging, beautifully written, and thoroughly researched. Stars and Shadows is a must-read for students of American politics regardless of subfield or methodological orientation. * Nadia Brown, Professor of Government and Director of Women's and Gender Studies program at Georgetown University *Illuminating. . . . [Stars and Shadows is] a welcome case that all of us should just get along-and work hard to do so. * Kirkus Reviews *Ambar's lucid history lessons and spirit of optimism make this an enlightening study of how racial progress is made. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsIntroduction ONE: An Exchange of Letters: Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Banneker TWO: Three Meetings: Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass THREE: Color Lines: William James and W.E.B. Du Bois FOUR: First Ladies: Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune FIVE: Veins: Shirley Jackson, Stanley Hyman, Ralph Ellison SIX: Scripts: Marlon Brando and James Baldwin SEVEN: Mocambo: Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald EIGHT: Riverside: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. NINE: Icons and Intersectionalities: Gloria Steinem and Angela Davis TEN: Conclusion: An Uncommon Bond: Joe Biden and Barack Obama
£22.94
The University of Chicago Press Country and Midwestern
Book SynopsisThe untold story of Chicago's pivotal role as a country and folk music capital. Chicago is revered as a musical breeding ground, having launched major figures like blues legend Muddy Waters, gospel soul icon Mavis Staples, hip-hop firebrand Kanye West, and the jazz-rock band that shares its name with the city. Far less known, however, is the vital role Chicago played in the rise of prewar country music, the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s, and the contemporary offspring of those scenes. In Country and Midwestern, veteran journalist Mark Guarino tells the epic century-long story of Chicago's influence on sounds typically associated with regions further south. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and deep archival research, Guarino tells a forgotten story of music, migration, and the ways that rural culture infiltrated urban communities through the radio, the automobile, and the railroad. The Midwest's biggest city was the place where rural transplants could reinvent themselves Trade Review"Guarino is a child of Oak Park and has been a writer since high school, his work appearing in a vast and varied number of publications, on stages of theaters in plays he created and now, finally, between covers in a spectacular book dedicated to the musicians of Chicago. . . The book will thrill any music fan but it is something more than that. It gives readers a greater appreciation of the heart and resilience and creativity of this city and its ability to sustain and nurture those talented to persevere." * Chicago Tribune *"With an epic scope, gorgeous photographs, and useful discographies, this is a vital contribution to the history of American music and required reading for country and folk music fans." * Booklist starred review *"In his monumental new book Country and Midwestern, music writer Guarino tells a riveting story of the central role that Chicago has played in the development of country and folk music. Every chapter of the book features stories of people, places, and events that have made Chicago home to a growing and vibrant music scene. . . . Country and Midwestern is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of country and folk music." * No Depression *"Smartly-written, surprising puzzle piece of Americana: How Chicago, before Nashville, then later with Wilco and other cross-pollinators, was the quiet engine beneath country music for generations." * Chicago Tribune, on "books for summer 2023" *"Journalist Guarino researched his book Country and Midwestern, for more than ten years. . . . Now he’s seeing what a big audience there is for this subject—with author events all over the region." * NewCity Lit 50 2023 *"Guarino’s richly textured cultural history is informed by his instinctive sense of the sounds and lyrics that originated in Chicago’s small taverns and clubs that were an 'unusual hothouse for creativity,' crucial to the reinvention of country and folk music. Guarino captures the improvisation of balladeers and troubadours, and their music shaped by the century’s gyrations of immigration and industrialization. Among his most memorable characters is Studs Terkel’s friend Win Stracke, co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music, musician, and activist, hounded by Hoover’s anti-communist FBI, who observed: 'Chicago has no entrenched cultural tradition like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. An idea can grow here without being required to conform.'" * National Book Review *"With a combination of engaging prose and thorough research, [Country and Midwestern] sheds light on key Chicago contributions to the country and western music genre . . . The book provides compelling accounts of dozens of artists who worked in Chicago, such as bluegrass icon Bill Monroe, radio star (and future Hollywood legend) Gene Autry, folk-music titans John Prine and Steve Goodman, alt-country darlings The Handsome Family and the unheralded country trio The Sundowners, who performed in Chicago bars several nights a week between 1959 and 1989." * Block Club Chicago *"Chicago is well known for giving the world gospel, electric blues, and house music. In this groundbreaking book, journalist Guarino suggests that as migrants from the rural Midwest and the southern states headed north in the interwar period, the Windy City also played a crucial role in the rise of country and western and folk music. . . . Summing Up: Recommended." * CHOICE *"While Chicago is known mostly for its history with blues and jazz music, local writer Mark Guarino has tapped into the region's fascinating country roots. . . [taking] great care to detail the importance of the city and suburbs in the history of country music." * Daily Herald *“Guarino’s magnificent Country and Midwestern proves that the Second City was first among equals in the development of American roots music. A ruthless researcher and scintillating storyteller, Guarino provides critical context and moving portraits of the pickers, grinners and pioneers who shaped Chicago’s contributions to country and folk. A long overdue but welcome volume that will sit alongside other essential works on the subject, from Bill C. Malone’s Country Music USA to David Hadju’s Positively Fourth Street.” * Bob Mehr, author of Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements *"Long before Nashville’s emergence as the country music capital, Chicago held sway with the nationally-broadcast Barn Dance and a row of honky-tonk venues on Madison Street. Guarino masterfully connects the dots between that star-making era to a contemporary scene devoted to insurgent country. This is a definitive and long-overdue look at a vital, if underappreciated, thread in how so-called hillbilly music evolved and flourished in a seemingly incongruous setting: the hard streets of Chicago." * Greg Kot, cohost of Sound Opinions and author of I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the Music That Shaped the Civil Rights Era *"Those of us who came of age in the vicinity of Chicago understand its importance to country and folk music. The Windy City is home to some of the most prolific artists in the genre: John Prine, Wilco, Mavis Staples, Jon Langford and Robbie Fulks. Chicago gave us the WLS Barn Dance, the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Hyde Park Folk Festival, Flying Fish and Bloodshot Records. Some of us were lucky enough to make our own personal discoveries of the music that sustains us at clubs Gate of Horn, Earl of Old Town, the Hideout, and Whiskey River. Now, finally, author Mark Guarino chronicles the history of country and folk music in Chicago in his necessary and irresistible book Country and Midwestern." * Tamara Saviano, author of Without Getting Killed or Caught: The Life and Music of Guy Clark *"In this remarkable and thrilling book, Guarino writes that 'Chicago’s role in country music and the folk revival has never earned a closer look.' Well, it gets that now in a book exhaustively researched, stylishly written and exciting on every single page. In it I find people I knew well (even my father), many more that I heard play and sing in clubs, and some that are new to me. They are all here, vividly, the rogues, rascals and geniuses who made and keep making our city sing." * Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune columnist and 2022 Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The WLS Barn Dance and the Call to Chicago 2 “Hillbilly Heaven” in Chicago: Uptown and Skid Row 3 The Gate of Horn and the Chicago Folk Revival 4 Win Stracke and the Old Town School of Folk Music 5 Bohemia in Hyde Park: The University of Chicago Folk Festival 6 Chicago’s Second Folk Boom: The 1970s in Old Town and Lincoln Park 7 Country Music Surges and Bluegrass Arrives 8 “Insurgent Country”: Looking Backward to Go Forward 9 The Old, Weird Chicago Acknowledgments Appendix A: Chicago in Song Appendix B: Essential Chicago Country and Folk Albums Notes Index
£21.00
The University of Chicago Press The Cult of Creativity
Book SynopsisA history of how, in the mid-twentieth century, we came to believe in the concept of creativity. Named a best book of 2023 by the New Yorker and a notable book of 2023 by Behavioral Scientist. Creativity is one of American society's signature values, but the idea that there is such a thing as creativityand that it can be cultivatedis surprisingly recent, entering our everyday speech in the 1950s. As Samuel W. Franklin reveals, postwar Americans created creativity, through campaigns to define and harness the power of the individual to meet the demands of American capitalism and life under the Cold War. Creativity was championed by a cluster of professionalspsychologists, engineers, and advertising peopleas a cure for the conformity and alienation they feared was stifling American ingenuity. It was touted as a force of individualism and the human spirit, a new middle-class aspiration that suited the needs of corporate America and the spirit of anticommunism. Amid increasingly rigid systems, creativity took on an air of romance; it was a more democratic quality than genius, but more rarified than mere intelligence. The term eluded clear definition, allowing all sorts of people and institutions to claim it as a solution to their problems, from corporate dullness to urban decline. Today, when creativity is constantly sought after, quantified, and maximized, Franklin's eye-opening history of the concept helps us to see what it really is, and whom it really serves. Trade Review"In Franklin’s account, creativity, the concept, popped up after the Second World War in two contexts. One was the field of psychology. Since the nineteenth century, when experimental psychology (meaning studies done with research subjects and typically in laboratory settings, rather than from an armchair) had its start, psychologists have been much given to measuring mental attributes. . . . The pages Franklin devotes to the contemporary creativity landscape are the freshest and most fun in the book." -- Louis Menand * New Yorker *"Franklin posits that 'creativity' is a concept invented in America after the Second World War, appearing primarily in two contexts: psychological research and business, each arising semi-independently, but feeding into and reinforcing each other. Humanistic psychologists—attuned to postwar anxieties about alienation and conformity—connected creativity with authenticity and self-expression. The advertising industry—the motor of consumerism—grabbed on to the term to appropriate the glamour and prestige of the artist and confer those attributes on admen and product designers. In the information age, countercultural values turned out to be entirely compatible with consumer capitalism. The difficulties that arose in defining creativity are intrinsic to the concept itself, Franklin argues, and his provocative book unpacks the history of a term whose origins are more recent than we might imagine." * New Yorker, on "Best Books of 2023" *"Where did the concept of creativity come from? And why is it valued so highly? One answer is posited by Franklin’s provocative new book. . . . Franklin cogently argues that creativity became a buzzword because it was a way to retool white-collar workers for a service economy—one that rewarded branding, research and development instead of Fordian manufacturing. . . . His book is an antidote for anyone who has sat, pen in hand, struggling to locate their 'divine muse.'" * The Economist *"As historian Franklin notes in his forthcoming book The Cult of Creativity, the concept [of creativity] gained much of its cultural currency in the mid-20th century, when executives and other leaders tried to stimulate creativity in hopes of churning out better ad spreads and new technologies. With these titans’ encouragement, Americans began to see creativity as a virtuous end in itself, buying into the promise that expanding our creative abilities could fulfill us individually and secure our collective future." * Boston Globe *"The Cult of Creativity comes at a technological turning point. The emergence of generative-AI tools has given us the option of outsourcing our brainstorming, becoming prompt engineers to idea-spitting machines. . . . In Mr. Franklin’s idealistic scenario of the future, we will redirect our energy away from producing more disruptive innovations and toward a thoughtful consideration of 'what should be produced in the first place.' World-saving ideas and technologies are still needed—whether they result from creative thinking or not—but 'the space to question the goodness of the new,' Mr. Franklin suggests, might be 'the big idea we need right now.'" * Wall Street Journal *"What Franklin leaves us with is a thought-provoking reevaluation of a celebrated societal value marbled with contradictions. All told, The Cult of Creativity is lucid, fresh and illuminating. If you need more adjectives than that, you’ll have to brainstorm them yourself." * NewCity *"Franklin challenges the notion that creativity is a trait that can be cultivated and unleashed by virtually anyone. . . . He proposes a nuanced and critical approach to the study of creativity, one that recognizes its complexity, diversity, and context-dependence. In doing so he offers a nicely written and well-researched book that casts a fresh and insightful perspective on a controversial topic. . . . Summing Up: Recommended. All readers." * CHOICE *"Franklin’s well-researched book on the young history of the word 'creativity' has simultaneously turned out to be a chronicle of the morals and values ruling post-war America – and implicitly many other Western countries. Its pleasant style and the many well-chosen quotations from the creativity literature, helped by the mildly critical tone, make for insightful and entertaining reading." * Leonardo *"As the subtitle of Franklin’s book suggests, the highly valued quality we call 'creativity'—so ubiquitous today as to seem universal and timeless—is actually quite new. Franklin tells a story of psychologists, scholars, business management 'gurus,' ad men, education policymakers, artists, and engineers who together reified creativity as immanently versatile, a trait both inherent to the individual and developable at scale. . . . It turns out the taken-for-granted virtue of creativity is yet another dubious invention of midcentury cold war and a product of academia’s collusion with industry." * Public Books *"When we let people get away with thinking that creativity is the alpha and omega of existence, or even just of the business world, we sow a garden of vices. We’ve seen corporate monsters before, but it took the cult of creativity to concoct the particular monster called Elon Musk. Franklin’s wonderful book made me understand, as never before, the forces that shaped this billionaire narcissist schmuck and not a few lesser rich schmucks as well." * The New Republic *“The Cult of Creativity is a beautifully written and well-documented account of how creativity gained the societal value it has today. Franklin reveals the powerful social construction at work behind the meaning of creativity and reminds us that such ideas have historical roots, as well as a more sinister side that should concern us all. Through engaging storylines, he builds a complex picture that is captivating to discover, piece by piece.” -- Vlad Glaveanu, author of Wonder: The Extraordinary Power of an Ordinary Experience“Celebrated and sought-after, ‘creativity’ is often presented as the magic yet ineffable elixir for fame and fortune by today’s artists, technologists, and business leaders. And yet—until Samuel Franklin’s marvelous new book—it has been little studied as a historical phenomenon. The Cult of Creativity examines how, after World War II, a fascinating ensemble of psychologists, advertising executives, and other assorted gurus attempted to explain and quantify human ingenuity. The result is an insightful and delightful exploration into how we think about technology, capitalism, and consumerism.” -- W. Patrick McCray, author of Making Art Work: How Cold War Engineers and Artists Forged a New Creative Culture“The Cult of Creativity presents an exceptionally lucid look at the various ideas, doctrines, and programs behind the concept of creativity. Through keen analysis, Franklin brings together scholarship from a range of sources to frame this powerful social and cultural critique.” -- Howard Brick, author of Transcending Capitalism: Visions of a New Society in Modern American ThoughtTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 Between the Commonplace and the Sublime 2 The Birth of Brainstorming 3 Creativity as Self-Actualization 4 Synectics at the Shoe 5 The Creative Child 6 Revolution on Madison Avenue 7 Creativity Is Dead . . . 8 From Progress to Creativity 9 Long Live Creativity Conclusion: What Is to Be Done? Acknowledgments Notes Index
£19.00
University of Illinois Press A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered
Book SynopsisScholars, journalists, and policymakers have long argued that the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act dramatically reshaped the demographic composition of the United States. In A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered, leading scholars of immigration explore how the political and ideological struggles of the age of restriction--from 1924 to 1965--paved the way for the changes to come. The essays examine how geopolitics, civil rights, perceptions of America's role as a humanitarian sanctuary, and economic priorities led government officials to facilitate the entrance of specific immigrant groups, thereby establishing the legal precedents for future policies. Eye-opening articles discuss Japanese war brides and changing views of miscegenation, the recruitment of former Nazi scientists, a temporary workers program with Japanese immigrants, the emotional separation of Mexican immigrant families, Puerto Rican youth's efforts to claim an American identity, and the restaurant raids of conscriptedTrade Review"A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered is a terrific anthology of thirteen essays, excavating the fertile history of immigration between 1924 and 1965." --Journal of American Ethnic History"This book makes a good case for why we must understand the mid-century period as part of a larger history of US immigration. As an overview of some of the best recent work on the period, this compilation stands out." --History"This anthology provides an excellent analysis of immigration policy changes in the 1924-1965 period. . . . These essays are well worth reading and offer a new, more comprehensive look at this period." --Journal of American History"This important collection revises our understanding of a relatively understudied period in the historiography of US immigration and citizenship, the years between the institution of national origins quotas in the 1920s and their abrogation in the 1960s. As such, it deserves wide scholarly attention."--Kunal M. Parker, author of Making Foreigners: Immigration and Citizenship Law in America, 1600-2000"Bringing together essays by rising stars and established leaders in US immigration history, this volume opens our understanding of the complexities of the national origins era by highlighting understudied dynamics, advancing new periodizations, and bringing new historical actors to the fore. Taken as a whole, the essays insist on the centrality of racial-nationalist boundary-making—and of struggles to defeat it—within the broader history of the US in the world in the mid-twentieth century."--Paul A. Kramer, author of The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States, and the Philippines
£19.19
Yale University Press Immigration and Apocalypse How the Book of
Book Synopsis
£33.25
