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If you have questions about the materials meeting the requirements of this course, contact Mrs. Smith through Canvas Inbox.
After Lewis and Clark by
In 1807, a year after Lewis and Clark returned from the shores of the Pacific, groups of trappers and hunters began to drift West to tap the rich stocks of beaver and to trade with the Native nations. Colorful and eccentric, bold and adventurous, mountain men such as John Colter, George Drouillard, Hugh Glass, Andrew Henry, and Kit Carson found individual freedom and financial reward in pursuit of pelts. Their knowledge of the country and its inhabitants served the first mapmakers, the army, and the streams of emigrants moving West in ever-greater numbers. The mountain men laid the foundations for their own displacement, as they led the nation on a westward course that ultimately spread the American lands from sea to sea.
Alexander Cartwright by
Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. (1820–92) was present during the organization of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York in the mid-1800s. That much is certain. Since that time, Cartwright has been celebrated as the founder of our national pastime, much like Abner Doubleday. As with Doubleday, however, Cartwright’s claim to fame has also spawned all sorts of conjecture and controversy. His complex life, not just the mythography surrounding him, comes clearly into focus in Monica Nucciarone’s biography of the incomparable Cartwright. nbsp; Nucciarone traces Cartwright’s path from Elysian Fields in New Jersey to a gold-rush adventure in California, and on to Honolulu, where he became involved in the movement to annex Hawaii to the United States. Beginning with the widely held notion that Cartwright created the game of baseball as we know it today, then spread it across North America to Hawaii like a Johnny Appleseed, Nucciarone’s book separates fact from speculation. Although the picture that emerges may not be the Alexander Cartwright of legend, it shows us a man as colorful, complicated, and immense in character as any legend he inspired. nbsp; nbsp;
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna by
-- Focuses on the lives and accomplishments of prominent Hispanic men and women -- Underscores the important influence Hispanics have had on world culture -- Each in-depth biography is lavishly illustrated with photographs
Army Life in a Black Regiment by
In 1862 military necessity enabled Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to pry from a hesitant President Lincoln the authority to enlist black troops in the Union army. The pioneer regiment of ex-slaves was to secure the beachhead tenously held at Beaufort, off the South Carolina coast. Within a year, Lincoln was to hail the enlistment of black soldiers, which he had earlier resisted as "revolutionary," as the "heaviest blow yet dealt the rebellion." The abolition of slavery, unthinkable in 1861, was to be inevitable by 1863.The commanding officer chosen for the First South Carolina Volunteers was Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a militant human rights activist, writer and lecturer, and former Unitarian minister. "In all the land," writes the historian Ray Allen Billington, they "could have found no one better for this assignment." Higginson was an excellent strategist and administrator who combined firmness with warmth and charm. Closely watched in the nation's press by both friends and foes of the undertaking, he soon shaped a first-class regiment.Army Life in a Black Regiment is Colonel Higginson's stirring account of his two years at Camp Saxton, recording the immediate effect of a decision that proved crucial to our survival as a nation and that ultimately shaped constitutional history. It is both a literary masterpiece and a unique historical document.
Baseball's Great Experiment by
In this gripping account of one of the most important steps in the history of American desegregation, Jules Tygiel tells the story of Jackie Robinson's crossing of baseball's color line. Examining the social and historical context of Robinson's introduction into white organized baseball, both on and off the field, Tygiel also tells the often neglected stories of other African-American players--such as Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron--who helped transform our national pastime into an integrated game. Drawing on dozens of interviews with players and front office executives, contemporary newspaper accounts, and personal papers, Tygiel provides the most telling and insightful account of Jackie Robinson's influence on American baseball and society. The anniversary issue features a new foreword by the author.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic by
It was sung at Ronald Reagan's funeral, and adopted with new lyrics by labor radicals. John Updike quoted it in the title of one of his novels, and George W. Bush had it performed at the memorial service in the National Cathedral for victims of September 11, 2001. Perhaps no other song hasheld such a profoundly significant - and contradictory - place in America's history and cultural memory than the "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."In this sweeping study, John Stauffer and Benjamin Soskis show how this Civil War tune has become an anthem for cause after radically different cause. The song originated in antebellum revivalism, with the melody of the camp-meeting favorite, "Say Brothers, Will You Meet Us." Union soldiers in theCivil War then turned it into "John Brown's Body." Julia Ward Howe, uncomfortable with Brown's violence and militancy, wrote the words we know today. Using intense apocalyptic and millenarian imagery, she captured the popular enthusiasm of the time, the sense of a climactic battle between good andevil; yet she made no reference to a particular time or place, allowing it to be exported or adapted to new conflicts, including Reconstruction, sectional reconciliation, imperialism, progressive reform, labor radicalism, civil rights movements, and social conservatism. And yet the memory of thesong's original role in bloody and divisive Civil War scuttled an attempt to make it the national anthem. The Daughters of the Confederacy held a contest for new lyrics, but admitted that none of the entries measured up to the power of the original."The Battle Hymn" has long helped to express what we mean when we talk about sacrifice, about the importance of fighting - in battles both real and allegorical - for the values America represents. It conjures up and confirms some of our most profound conceptions of national identity and purpose. Andyet, as Stauffer and Soskis note, the popularity of the song has not relieved it of the tensions present at its birth - tensions between unity and discord, and between the glories and the perils of righteous enthusiasm. If anything, those tensions became more profound. By following this threadthrough the tapestry of American history, The Battle Hymn of the Republic illuminates the fractures and contradictions that underlie the story of our nation.
Black Jack Logan by
He was a dominant player in the politics of the Gilded Age, a three-term senator who was as popular as he was partisan. He was the vice-presidential candidate in the losing race in 1884. Had he not died unexpectedly at the age of sixty, he likely would have become president in 1888. He entered the political scene in 1859 with controversy, a Northern (Illinois) congressman so committed to enforcing the Fugitive Slave laws that abolitionists dubbed him "Dirty Work" Logan. The Civil War was the epiphany that changed his political and social philosophy. But more than that, the war made him a star. He changed his philosophy, changed political parties, and fought for the rights of African-Americans and for women's suffrage. His own Southern-bred mother refused to speak to him for years. He witnessed his first battle as a United States congressman, but became so impassioned with the fury of the fight that he picked up a discarded rifle and battled alongside the foot soldiers. Officially entering the war as a colonel, he served under such legends as Grant and Sherman, and his ostentatious nature and solid leadership on the battlefield earned him rapid promotions and dominant roles in the decisive campaigns of the war. By 1865 he was a major general leading an army, considered the best volunteer soldier that the war produced. He may be the most noteworthy nineteenth-century American to escape the notice of the twentieth century. His name is John Alexander Logan, known in his time as Black Jack Logan, and this, finally, is the book he deserves.
Blood Brothers by
Winner of the 2018 Ohioana Book Award for Nonfiction "Deanne Stillman's splendid Blood Brothers eloquently explores the clash of cultures on the Great Plains that initially united the two legends and how this shared experience contributed to the creation of their ironic political alliance." --Bobby Bridger, Austin Chronicle The little known story of the unlikely friendship of two famous figures of the American West--Buffalo Bill Cody and Sitting Bull--told through their time in Cody's Wild West show in the 1880s. It was in Brooklyn, New York, in 1883 that William F. Cody--known across the land as Buffalo Bill--conceived of his Wild West show, an "equestrian extravaganza" featuring cowboys and Indians. The idea took off. For four months in 1885 the Lakota chief Sitting Bull appeared in the show. Blood Brothers tells the story of these two iconic figures through their brief but important collaboration. Blood Brothers flashes back to 1876, when the Lakota wiped out Custer's 7th Cavalry unit at the Little Big Horn. Sitting Bull did not participate in the "last stand," but was nearby--and blamed for killing Custer. The book also flashes forward to 1890, when Sitting Bull was assassinated. Hours before, Cody rushed to Sitting Bull's cabin at Standing Rock, dispatched by the army to avert a disaster. Deanne Stillman unearths little told details about the two men and their tumultuous times. Their alliance was eased by none other than Annie Oakley. When Sitting Bull joined the Wild West, the event spawned one of the earliest advertising slogans: "Foes in '76, Friends in '85"--referring to the Little Big Horn. Cody paid his performers well, and he treated the Indians no differently from white performers. During this time, the Native American rights movement began to flourish. But with their way of life in tatters, the Lakota and others availed themselves of the chance to perform in the Wild West. When Cody died in 1917, a large contingent of Native Americans attended his public funeral. An iconic friendship tale like no other, Blood Brothers is truly a timeless story of people from different cultures who crossed barriers to engage each other as human beings. And it foretells today's battle on the Great Plains.
Bold Dragoon by
Jeb Stuart, leader of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, earned the admiration of his enemies during the first three years of the Civil War. Famed for his daring ride around McClellan during the Peninsula Campaign, and his raid behind Union lines in Virginia and into Maryland and Pennsylvania, he was a legend long before he was killed at Yellow Tavern in 1864.
Child of the Fighting Tenth by
This memoir by Forrestine Cooper Hooker details her childhood and young adulthood in the midst of the frontier cavalry. Hooker's father, Charles Cooper, was an officer in the Tenth U.S. Cavalry, one of two regiments with black troops, known as the Buffalo Soldiers, commanded by white officers.Hooker's stories capture the drama of growing up in the frontier army, the Indian wars on the plains, the Geronimo campaign in the Southwest and Mexico, her love for the regiment and the Buffalo Soldiers, their admiration for her, and even her lost love for a dashing young cavalry officer. Hernarrative is by turns compelling, charming, humorous, and warm. As Laura Ingalls Wilder depicted farm life on the frontier, so Forrestine Cooper Hooker depicts army life.
Covered Wagon Women, Volume 1 by
The women who traveled west in covered wagons during the 1840s speak through these letters and diaries. Here are the voices of Tamsen Donner and young Virginia Reed, members of the ill-fated Donner party; Patty Sessions, the Mormon midwife who delivered five babies on the trail between Omaha and Salt Lake City; Rachel Fisher, who buried both her husband and her little girl before reaching Oregon. Still others make themselves heard, starting out from different places and recording details along the way, from the mundane to the soul-shattering and spirit-lifting.
David Crockett by
Steeped in legend, shrouded in folklore, the real David Crockett, American frontiersman and cultural icon, finally emerges in this engrossing biography. His name was David Crockett. He never signed his name any other way, but popular culture transformed his memory into "Davy Crockett," and Hollywood gave him a raccoon hat he hardly ever wore. Best-selling historian Michael Wallis casts a fresh look at the frontiersman, storyteller, and politician behind these legendary stories. Born into a humble Tennessee family in 1786, Crockett never "killed him a b'ar" when he was only three. But he did cut a huge swath across early-nineteenth-century America--as a bear hunter, a frontier explorer, a soldier serving under Andrew Jackson, an unlikely congressman, and, finally, a martyr in his now-controversial death at the Alamo. Wallis's David Crockett is more than a riveting story. It is a revelatory, authoritative biography that separates fact from fiction, providing us with an extraordinary evocation of a true American hero and the rough-and-tumble times in which he lived.
Dean Acheson by
Dean Acheson was one of the most influential Secretaries of State in U.S. history, presiding over American foreign policy during a pivotal era--the decade after World War II when the American Century slipped into high gear. During his vastly influential career, Acheson spearheaded the greatestforeign policy achievements in modern times, ranging from the Marshall Plan to the establishment of NATO.Now, in this monumental biography, Robert L. Beisner paints an indelible portrait of one of the key figures of the last half-century. In a book filled with insight based on research in government archives, memoirs, letters, and diaries, Beisner illuminates Acheson's policy-making, describinghow he led the state department and managed his relationship with Truman, all to illuminate the vital policies he initiated in his years at State. The book examines Acheson's major triumphs, including the highly underrated achievement of converting West Germany and Japan from mortal enemies toprized allies, and does not shy away from examining his missteps. But underlying all his actions, Beisner shows, was a tough-minded determination to outmatch the strength of the Soviet bloc--indeed, to defeat the Soviet Union at every turn.The emotional center of the book focuses on Acheson's friendship with Truman. No pair seemed so poorly matched--one, a bourbon-drinking mid-Westerner with a homespun disposition, the other, a mustachioed Connecticut dandy who preferred perfect martinis--yet no such team ever worked bettertogether. Acheson's unstinting dedication to an often unpopular president was reciprocated with deep gratitude and loyalty. Together, they redrew the map of the post-war world.Over six foot tall, with steel blue, "merry, searching eyes" and a "wolfish" grin, Dean Acheson was an unforgettable character--intellectually brilliant, always debonair, and tough as tempered steel. This lustrous portrait of an immensely accomplished and colorful life is the epitome of thebiographer's art.
Deep Trails in the Old West by
Cowboy and drifter Frank Clifford lived a lot of lives--and raised a lot of hell--in the first quarter of his life. The number of times he changed his name--Clifford being just one of them--suggests that he often traveled just steps ahead of the law. During the 1870s and 1880s his restless spirit led him all over the Southwest, crossing the paths of many of the era's most notorious characters, most notably Clay Allison and Billy the Kid. More than just an entertaining and informative narrative of his Wild West adventures, Clifford's memoir also paints a picture of how ranchers and ordinary folk lived, worked, and stayed alive during those tumultuous years. Written in 1940 and edited and annotated by Frederick Nolan, Deep Trails in the Old West is likely one of the last eyewitness histories of the old West ever to be discovered. As Frank Clifford, the author rode with outlaw Clay Allison's Colfax County vigilantes, traveled with Charlie Siringo, cowboyed on the Bell Ranch, contended with Apaches, and mined for gold in Hillsboro. In 1880 he was one of the Panhandle cowboys sent into New Mexico to recover cattle stolen by Billy the Kid and his compañeros--and in the process he got to know the Kid dangerously well. In unveiling this work, Nolan faithfully preserves Clifford's own words, providing helpful annotation without censoring either the author's strong opinions or his racial biases. For all its roughness, Deep Trails in the Old West is a rich resource of frontier lore, customs, and manners, told by a man who saw the Old West at its wildest--and lived to tell the tale.
Defending the Borders by
The second book in his critically acclaimed series of Texas Ranger histories, Frederick Wilkins' Defending the Borders narrates a rarely told story of the rangers during the slightly-more-than-a-decade of Texas' history as one of the states of the United States, just before the Civil War ripped asunder the fabric of the federal union which Texas had joined. The period 1848-1861 is one in which Texas, despite having joined the Union, was nevertheless forced to rely upon itself for defense against both Indian depredations and invasions from south of the Rio Grande. The U.S. Army forces stationed in Texas were woefully insufficient in their numbers and in their capabilities to defend the new citizens of the United States. Although skimmed-over in earlier histories, the period is one of great importance and exciting incidents. The history of the raid into Mexico by James Callahan and his company of rangers, their battle at Escondido, and the almost complete burning and destruction of Piedras Negras has never before been so completely told. Texas' problems with Mexico's "Robin Hood," the adventurer Juan Nepomuceno Cortina who harassed Texas' border areas, have never before been narrated with such fascinating flair. Many of Texas' indomitable historical characters--"Rip" Ford, Sam Houston, Ed Burleson, "Sul" Ross--grace these pages with their exploits, but other heroes who should be better known here receive their full due. Audaciously emboldened by the results of his meticulous research, Wilkins is not afraid to disagree with that previous icon of ranger history--Walter Prescott Webb--when necessary. Wilkins' histories are a must for those who want to know the way it was!
Don't Ask What I Shot by
"Golf . . . is a sport in which the whole American family can participate--fathers and mothers, sons and daughters alike. It offers healthy respite from daily toil, refreshment of body and mind." --President Dwight D. Eisenhower On January 24, 1953, four days after his inauguration, the New York Times reported that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been spotted on the White House lawn practicing his short irons in the direction of the Washington Monument. This image of "The Golfing General" was one that the American public quickly became accustomed to, as Eisenhower is said to have played nearly 800 rounds during the course of his two-term presidency. He befriended the game's most beloved players, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, and Byron Nelson, and was the subject of hundreds of golf jokes and cartoons. The public's awareness of Eisenhower's obsession with golf led directly to the sport's mid-century surge in popularity. In Don't Ask What I Shot, noted historian Catherine M. Lewis offers a unique alternate portrait of Ike and this watershed period in American history. "Any time you have a person in the position of President Eisenhower, who was so enthusiastic about golf and had the press paying attention to his many excursions on the golf course, it was going to make people aware of the game and how much he enjoyed playing it." --Arnold Palmer "Don't Ask What I Shot is a fascinating examination of one of golf's pivotal decades, and the remarkable president who did more to popularize the game than any other in history." -Mark Frost, award-winning author of Grand Slam and The Greatest Game Ever Played "Whatever remained to be done to remove the last traces of the average man's carefully nurtured prejudice against a game originally linked with the wealthy and aloof was done by President Eisenhower." --Herbert Warren Wind, renowned golf writer
Dukes of Duval County by
The notorious Parr family manipulated local politics in South Texas for decades. Archie Parr, his son George, and his grandson Archer relied on violence and corruption to deliver the votes that propelled their chosen candidates to office. The influence of the Parr political machine peaked during the 1948 senatorial primary, when election officials found the infamous Ballot Box 13 six days after the polls closed. That box provided a slim eighty-seven-vote lead to Lyndon B. Johnson, initiating the national political career of the future U.S. president. Dukes of Duval County begins with Archie Parr's organization of the Mexican American electorate into a potent voting bloc, which marked the beginning of his three-decade campaign for control of every political office in Duval County and the surrounding area. Archie's son George, who expanded the Parrs' dominion to include jobs, welfare payments, and public works, became a county judge thanks to his father's influence--but when George was arrested and imprisoned for accepting payoffs, only a presidential pardon advocated by then-congressman Lyndon Johnson allowed George to take office once more. Further legal misadventures haunted George and his successor, Archer, but in the end it took the combined force of local, state, and federal governments and the courageous efforts of private citizens to overthrow the Parr family. In this first comprehensive study of the Parr family's political activities, Anthony R. Carrozza reveals the innermost workings of the Parr dynasty, a political machine that drove South Texas politics for more than seventy years and critically influenced the course of the nation.
The Eagle by 
Faith in the Fight by
For both the Union and Confederate soldiers, religion was the greatest sustainer of morale in the Civil War, and faith was a refuge in times of need. Guarding and guiding the spiritual well-being of the fighters, the army chaplain was a voice of hope and reason in an otherwise chaotic military existence. The clerics' duties did not end after Sunday prayers; rather, many ministers could be found performing daily regimental duties, and some even found their way onto fields of battle.
Geronimo by
Renowned for ferocity in battle, legendary for an uncanny ability to elude capture, feared for the violence of his vengeful raids, the Apache fighter Geronimo captured the public imagination in his own time and remains a figure of mythical proportion today. This thoroughly researched biography by a renowned historian of the American West strips away the myths and rumors that have long obscured the real Geronimo and presents an authentic portrait of a man with unique strengths and weaknesses and a destiny that swept him into the fierce storms of history. Historian Robert Utley draws on an array of new sources and his own lifelong research on the mountain West and white-Indian conflicts of the late nineteenth century to create an updated, accurate, and highly exciting narrative of Geronimo's life. Utley unfolds the story through the alternating perspectives of whites and Apaches, and he arrives at a more nuanced understanding of Geronimo's character and motivation than ever before. What it was like to be an Apache fighter-in-training, why Indians as well as whites feared Geronimo, how Geronimo maintained his freedom, and why he finally surrendered—the answers to these questions and many more fill the pages of this irresistable volume.
The First Tycoon by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt's humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.
Hard Road West by
In 1848 news of the discovery of gold in California triggered an enormous wave of emigration toward the Pacific. Lured by the promise of riches, thousands of settlers left behind the forests, rain, and fertile soil of the eastern United States in favor of the rough-hewn lands of the American West. The dramatic terrain they struggled to cross is so familiar to us now that it is hard to imagine how frightening--even godforsaken--its sheer rock faces and barren deserts seemed to our forebears. Hard Road West brings their perspective vividly to life, weaving together the epic overland journey of the covered wagon trains and the compelling story of the landscape they encountered. Taking readers along the 2,000-mile California Trail, Keith Meldahl uses the diaries and letters of the settlers themselves--as well as the countless hours he has spent following the trail--to reveal how the geology and geography of the West directly affected our nation's westward expansion. He guides us through a corrugated landscape of sawtooth mountains, following the meager streams that served as lifelines through an arid land, all the way to California itself, where colliding tectonic plates created breathtaking scenery and planted the gold that lured travelers west in the first place. "Alternates seamlessly between vivid accounts of the 19th-century journey and lucid explanations of the geological events that shaped the landscape traveled. . . . The reader comes away with both an appreciation for the arduous cross-continental wagon journey and an understanding of the events that created such a vast and difficult landscape."--Library Journal "[Meldahl] draws on his professional knowledge to explain the geology of the West, showing how centuries of geological activity had a direct effect on the routes taken by the travelers. . . . Meldahl provides a novel account of the largest overland migration since the Crusades."--Science News
Hearts West by
Complete with actual advertisements from both women seeking husbands and males seeking brides, New York Times bestselling book Hearts West includes twelve stories of courageous mail order brides and their exploits. Some were fortunate enough to marry good men and live happily ever after; still others found themselves in desperate situations that robbed them of their youth and sometimes their lives. Desperate to strike it rich during the Gold Rush, men sacrificed many creature comforts. Only after they arrived did some of them realize how much they missed female companionship. One way for men living on the frontier to meet women was through subscriptions to heart-and-hand clubs. The men received newspapers with information, and sometimes photographs, about women, with whom they corresponded. Eventually, a man might convince a woman to join him in the West, and in matrimony. Social status, political connections, money, companionship, or security were often considered more than love in these arrangements.
The Hemingses of Monticello by
This epic work tells the story of the Hemingses, a slave family whose close blood ties to American president Thomas Jefferson had been systematically edited out from American history until very recently. This book sets the family's compelling saga against the backdrop of Revolutionary America, Paris on the eve of its own revolution, 1970s Philadelphia and plantation life at Monticello. Much anticipated, this book promises to be the most important history of an American slave family ever written.
Hesitant Martyr in the Texas Revolution by
James Walker Fannin. Illegitimate son. Southern gentleman. Failed businessman. Devoted family man. Illegal slave trader. Courageous martyr. Tarnished hero of the revolution. But what is the rest of the story? Author Gary Brown brings to life a thorough and insightful analysis of this controversial and sometimes misunderstood historical figure, whom most remember as the commander who lost twice as many men as were killed at the Alamo and San Jacinto combined. Now the story can be completely examined with the help of all Fannin's known correspondence during the campaign at Goliad. Read and judge for yourself if history has been fair to James Walker Fannin.
An Honest President by
"Grover Cleveland made a name for himself as the fearless mayor of Buffalo, won New York's State House in a landslide, then overcame fierce opposition to become the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War. The office was still overshadowed by Abraham Lincoln, diminished by the corruption of the Grant administration, and faced with the huge challenge of Reconstruction. Cleveland proved he could meet the challenge, and he did so with unwavering integrity. Today, Grover Cleveland is mainly remembered as the only president to be elected to two nonconsecutive terms. But in his day, Cleveland was a renowned reformer - an enemy of political machines - who joined forces with Theodore Roosevelt to fight powerful party bosses, a moralist who vetoed bills he considered blatant raids on the Treasury, a vigorous defender of the Monroe Doctrine who resisted American imperialism, and a president who stood his ground against Wall Street robber barons in an era of big business. His real legacy, however is his statesmanship. His term in office was plagued by scandal and a gossip mongering press, but Grover Cleveland was a president of principle who never flinched from taking the high road."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by
Much of what is known about the experience of slavery comes from first-person accounts written by formerly enslaved men. In this volume, Jennifer Fleischner examines the first- and best-known female account of life under, and escape from, slavery -- Harriet Jacobs' autobiography. In her introduction, Fleischner shows how Jacobs used the written word to liberate herself and promote the end of slavery by carefully discussing her sexual exploitation as a slave in ways that would inspire sympathy in -- and not offend -- her Victorian white, middle-class, female audience. The rich collection of related documents that accompany Jacobs' complete narrative -- including a selection of Jacobs' letters and her brother's account of some of the same incidents Jacobs describes -- illuminate Jacobs' life, her thoughts about writing, and her relationships with white women abolitionists. Document headnotes, a chronology, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and a chart of the pseudonyms Jacobs used for her real-life characters further enrich this important contribution to the history of slavery in America.
Inside the Space Race by
Inside the Space Race is a well-documented personal account of one of the most important periods in American history – when the nation was in grave danger of a nuclear attack from space. The author, a key scientist in the nation’s man-in-space program, gives an inside look at events, personalities and clashes among individuals who developed the program that enabled the United States to beat the Soviets and send astronauts to the moon.
John Adams by
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling biography of America's founding father and second president that was the basis for the acclaimed HBO series, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. This is history on a grand scale--a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
John Glenn by
He was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. Nearly four decades later, as the world's oldest astronaut, his courage riveted a nation. But these two historic events only bracket a life that covers the sweep of an extraordinary century. In this engrossing book, John Glenn tells the story of his unique life--one lived at the center of a momentous time in history by a man who helped shape that history. He is the kind of hero who resists being called a hero. And yet his exploits in the service of his country, his dedication to family and friends, and his rock-ribbed traditional values have made this small-town boy from the Midwest a true American icon. John Glenn's autobiography spans the seminal events of the twentieth century. It is a story that begins with his childhood in New Concord, Ohio, in the aftermath of World War I. It was there that he learned the importance of family, community, and patriotism. Glenn saw firsthand the ravages of the Depression and learned that determination, hard work, and teamwork could overcome any adversity. These were the values he carried with him as a Marine fighter pilot during World War II and into the skies over Korea, for which he would be decorated for his courage, dedication, and sacrifice. Glenn flew missions with men he would never forget, from baseball great Ted Williams to little-known heroes who would never return to their families. Always a gifted flier, it was during the war that he contemplated the unlimited possibilities of aviation and its next frontiers: speed and space. John Glenn takes us into the cockpits of the experimental planes and spacecraft he flew to experience the pulse-pounding excitement of the early days of jet aviation, including his record-setting transcontinental flight in an F8U Crusader in 1957, and then on to his selection for the Project Mercury program in 1959. We see the early days of NASA, where he first served as a backup pilot for astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom and helped refine some of the initial cockpit and control designs for the Apollo program. In 1962 Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas6 Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States. Then came several years in international business, followed by a twenty-four-year career as a U.S. senator--and in 1998 a return to space for his remarkableDiscovery mission at the age of seventy-seven. This extraordinary book captures the unique alchemy that brings a man to the forefront of his time. Married to a woman he first met when they were both toddlers, known for his integrity, common sense, and leadership in the Senate, John Glenn tells a story that we must hear. For this narrative of steadfastness, devotion, courage, and honor is both a great adventure tale and a source of powerful inspiration for an age that needs John Glenn's values more than ever before.
Kings of Texas by
Praise for KINGS OF TEXAS ""Kings of Texas is a fresh and very welcome history of the great King Ranch. It's concise but thorough, crisply written, meticulous, and very readable. It should find a wide audience."" -Larry McMurtry, author of Sin Killer and the Pulitzer Prize--winning Lonesome Dove ""This book is about the King Ranch, but it is about much more than that. A compelling chronicle of war, peace, love, betrayal, birth, and death in the region where the Texas-Mexico border blurs in the haze of the Wild Horse Desert, it is also an intriguing detective story with links to the present-and a first-rate read."" -H.W. Brands, author of The Age of Gold and the bestselling Pulitzer Prize finalist The First American
Kit Carson by
History has portrayed Christopher "Kit" Carson in black and white. Best known as a nineteenth-century frontier hero, he has been represented more recently as an Indian killer responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Navajos. Biographer David Remley counters these polarized views, finding Carson to be less than a mythical hero, but more than a simpleminded rascal with a rifle. Kit Carson: The Life of an American Border Man strikes a balance between prevailing notions about this quintessential western figure. Whereas the dime novelists exploited Carson's popular reputation, Remley reveals that the real man was dependable, ethical, and--for his day--relatively open-minded. Sifting through the extensive scholarship about Kit, the author illuminates the key dimensions of Carson's life, including his often neglected Scots-Irish heritage. His people's dire poverty and restlessness, their clannish rural life and sternly Protestant character, committed Carson, like his Scots-Irish ancestors, to loyalty and duty and to following his leader into battle without question. Remley also places Carson in the context of his times by exploring his controversial relations with American Indians. Although despised for the merciless warfare he led on General James H. Carleton's behalf against the Navajos, Carson lived amicably among many Indian people, including the Utes, whom he served as U.S. government agent. Happily married to Waa-Nibe, an Arapaho woman, until her death, he formed a lasting friendship with their daughter, Adaline. Remley sees Carson as a complicated man struggling to master life on America's borders, those highly unstable areas where people of different races, cultures, and languages met, mixed, and fought, sometimes against each other, sometimes together, for the possession of home, hunting rights, and honor.
Land Is the Cry! by
Land Is the Cry! is the fascinating, untold story of Warren Ferris, a New York Yankee who deserves to be remembered as the "Father of Dallas County." Except for a twist of fate, Dallas, Texas, would have been named "Warwick" by its two founders, surveyor Ferris and land speculator William P. King. Historian A. C. Greene calls Warren Ferris the most "unappreciated figure in Dallas history." But Ferris has more than regional significance, for his remarkable story encompasses three arenas: the Niagara frontier of western New York, the fur-trading country of the Rocky Mountains, and frontier northeast Texas during the years of the Republic. Ferris merited fame even before he came to Texas in 1837. While working as a trapper and fur trader in the Rocky Mountains for six years, Ferris kept a diary of his adventures. This journal, the classic Life in the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by a map which he drew from memory, provided a unique and valuable picture of trapper and Indian life in the 1830s. Ferris also gave the public its first written description of Yellowstone's amazing geysers. As a businessman seeking to become a landowner, fur trader Ferris followed his brother Charles to Texas the year after the Texas Revolution. He became the official surveyor for Nacogdoches County, which then included much of northeast Texas west to the Trinity River. Although his brother returned to their hometown of Buffalo, New York, Warren Ferris spent another thirty-five years of his eventful life in Texas. Surveying at the Three Forks of the Trinity in 1839, Ferris entered the area before John Neely Bryan, the traditionally recognized founder of Dallas, and Ferris's surveys determined the line of streets and roads that shaped the future county. In 1847, Ferris settled down to farming east of White Rock Creek where he raised a family and helped build a community. This literate and versatile character was also a prolific letter writer, and much of the family correspondence to and from Buffalo has been preserved. These Ferris letters, and other family materials covering the period 1828-1885, help reconstruct the exciting life and times of Warren Ferris. Although Ferris might appear to be a stereotypical figure of Frederick Jackson Turner's trans-Mississippi West--fur trapper, surveyor, farmer--he is a complex and fascinating man. His long and varied career reveals some of the best and worst characteristics of the nineteenth-century frontiersman. A man worthy of the Romantic period, he was a flawed hero. His moods and motives often conflicted, producing a tension between his ideals and behavior. Warren Ferris's life is rich in human drama, an important frontier story of violent aggression, intrigue and scheming, poignant romance and bitter family quarrels. Susanne Starling has told a fascinating tale about an important figure of American frontier life.
LBJ by
From a Pulitzer prize-winning writer, the only single-volume biography of the towering yet enigmatic leader--from his humble origins to his rise to America's highest office. Flawed as a human being, Lyndon Johnson was a towering public figure of his era, a man whose social programs changed America in profound ways. In this compelling new biography, Irwin and Debi Unger explore the political and personal influences that made Johnson such an unpredictable, charismatic, and difficult man, depicting his life as a constant tension between political expediency and doing the right thing for Americans.
Lola Montez by
This is the remarkable biography of that one woman whose California story has become legend. The California Gold Rush had just passed it's peak-and so had the thirty-five year old Irish-woman when she first appeared in San Francisco. But Lola Montez still had great appeal; she retained a surfeit of overwhelming beauty, a cocky spirit and a quick wit, and she was well-known in the world at large for the distinguished male scalps she had collected, and for her scandalous antics all across Europe. San Francisco, Sacramento, Marysville and Grass Valley played host to her temper, wit and grace, and received in the bargain a mine of gossip and scandal for their press. Lola ran her course through California's theatre circuit, always maintaining an air of importance and inviting passionate, if mixed, reviews. Quickly known, her path crossed with Alonzo Delano, John Sutter, John Southwick, Dr. David Gorman ("Yankee") Robinson, Gilmore Meredith, and others. The few years Lola spent in northern California engendered a whole host of stories to which the passing of time has lent widespread credence. Some say that she came as the principal stockholder of Grass Valley's famous Empire Mine, and plotted with southern rebels tomake California a slave state with Lola as Empress. Others claim that she shocked a prim old Grass Valley minister by coming, uninvited, to dance before him in his parlor, that she might demonstrate how proper and tasteful was her art. With the exception of Murrieta, more exaggerated and dubious history has been written about Lola Montez than any other historical character in California. Through extensive research of contemporary newspapers, genealogical records and other fresh sources, Varley presents the most balanced and accurate story of Lola's life, without glossing over her warts-the intense sexuality, her probable contraction of syphilis, and her incessant deceit. This is the most definitive study ever offered of Lola Montez's western adventures-a stunning nineteenth century beauty who dominated and manipulated the social circles with which her life became entwined, and who added much needed glamour to California in the years following the Gold Rush.
The Man Who Made the Monitor by
Mention Civil War naval confrontations and the Monitor instantly springs to mind. The first of the ironclads, the Monitor not only took part in a major battle, it forever changed the face of naval construction. But who was the man behind the ship? Born in Filipstad, Sweden, in 1803, the brilliant and somewhat eccentric engineer John Ericsson spent his childhood observing his father's work in mining and later learned his engineering skills at the North Atlantic-Baltic canal. As a young man Ericsson turned to a variety of projects. In England, he introduced the ship's propeller, built an Arctic expedition vessel and designed some of the first successful steam locomotives. Moving to New York in 1839, he soon teamed up with Harry Cornelius Delameter of the Phoenix foundry, a partnership which resulted in Ericsson's most famous work, the USS Monitor. Focusing on the man behind the inventions, this book tells the life story of John Ericsson. It details a number of Ericsson's inventions including a steam-powered fire engine, the first screw-propelled warship, a variety of "hot-air engines," and early experiments in solar power from the roof of his Manhattan home. The main focus is Ericsson's design and construction of the ironclad USS Monitor. One of the first viable armored warships, the Monitor revolutionized naval warfare the world over. The ship's battle with the CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads and its eventual fate off the coast of Cape Hatteras are covered. Ericsson's relationships with contemporaries such as Alfred Nobel and recent developments concerning the recovery of the wreck of the Monitor are also examined.
Memoirs of a Soldier, Nurse, and Spy by
Among the hundreds of women who, in disguise, enlisted to serve as men in the Union army, only Sarah Edmonds is known to have written a memoir recounting her experiences. As Franklin Thompson she joined the 2nd Michigan Infantry Regiment in 1861, then fought in and witnessed some of the bloodiest struggles of the Civil War - from Blackburn's Ford and First Bull Run, through the Peninsula campaign with McClellan's Army of the Potomac, the battle of Fredericksburg, and then to the Kentucky campaign in 1863.
My Story by
Anson Mills saw frontier service in Arizona and Kansas, where he bravely fought against the Apache and the Cheyenne, respectively. His good fortune continued after his service, when he became a millionaire after inventing and improving military items.
Our Lincoln by
"Exhilarating . . . strikes a balance between the personal and the abstract."--Edward Rothstein, New York Times "These eloquent, compelling essays show why Lincoln was a man of his time and a man for all time. There is no better introduction to the complexities of his life and to why he still holds a spell over America and the world."--Library Journal Among these original essays by prize-winning historians, James M. McPherson examines Lincoln's deft navigation of the crosscurrents of politics and wartime strategy. Sean Wilentz elegantly explores Lincoln's debt to the democratic political tradition of Jefferson and Jackson. Eric Foner examines Lincoln's controversial position on the movement to colonize emancipated slaves outside the United States. James Oakes explores Lincoln's views on the rights of African Americans. There are also brilliant essays on Lincoln and civil liberties, and on his literary style, religious beliefs, and family life.
Sarah Winnemucca by
This book is the triumphant and moving story of Sarah Winnemucca (1844–91), one of the most influential and charismatic Native women in American history. Born into a legendary family of Paiute leaders in western Nevada, Sarah dedicated much of her life to working for her people. She played an instrumental and controversial role as interpreter and messenger for the U.S. Army during the Bannock War of 1878 and traveled to Washington in 1880 to obtain the release of her people from confinement on the Yakama Reservation. She toured the East Coast in the 1880s, tirelessly giving speeches about the plight of her people and heavily criticizing the reservation system. In 1883 she produced her autobiography—the first written by a Native woman—and founded a Native school whose educational practices were far ahead of its time. Sally Zanjani also reveals Sarah’s notorious sharp tongue and wit, her love of performance, her string of failed relationships, and at the end, possible poisoning by a romantic rival.
Southern Hero by
As a member of a distinguished South Carolina family, Matthew Calbraith Butler led a most interesting life. His cavalry service during the Civil War saw him rise from regimental captain to major general in command of a division. He began the war with Jeb Stuart and participated in all of his early campaigns. Butler was wounded in the battle at Brandy Station and lost his foot as a result, but he returned to duty and the battles outside of Richmond in 1864, then hurried South to resist Sherman's advance into South Carolina. Unlike many other Confederate generals, Butler remained influential after the War. He served in the U.S. Senate for eighteen years, oversaw the end of Reconstruction in South Carolina, and was a major general during the Spanish-American War.
Taming Texas by
The history of Texas is usually told in terms of its "giants" such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin. Here, instead, is a history of Texas told by one of its lesser giants, William Turner Sadler (1797-1884), whose biography becomes the framework for an exciting view of Texas History. Sadler, one of the leading pioneers of nineteenth-century Texas, participated in most of the major events of the period. He migrated to Texas from Georgia in 1835 to become a farmer. He soon found himself in command of a ranger company that built Fort Houston, served as a private in the battle of San Jacinto, was active in quelling the Cordova Rebellion, and became a leader in the campaign against Chief Bowles and the Cherokees. Eventually he served as a representative in both the Republic Congress and the state legislature. During the Civil War, at the age of sixty-six, Sadler served in Terrell's Texas Cavalry.
They Changed the World by
In the early years of World War II it was known that Germany had split the atom, and some feared that they might be working on an atomic bomb. Scientists in the United States urged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to pursue one lest the enemy have it first. This resulted in what was called the Manhattan Project, and many famous scientists were involved. However, more was needed than a few prominent scientists. A whole infrastructure was required: scientist and engineers, of course, but also clerks, truck drivers, teachers, cooks, technicians and all the other people necessary for the new city, Los Alamos, on the remote New Mexico plateau where the first atomic bomb would be created. It was referred to as The Hill. Sixty years, later, Santa Fe photographer AJ Melnick set out to find many of the people who were involved and capture their portraits while there was still time. As she visited with them, they told her stories of what it was like to live on The Hill from 1943 to 1945.
Three Years with the 92nd Illinois by
This unusually detailed and literate diary, written by a soldier who was later to become a newspaperman, records his personal experience of the latter part of the Civil War. King discusses his enlistment, the drunkenness and incompetence of some of his commanding officers, disparities between treatm
Tiger of the Wild Bunch by
Harvey 'Kid Curry' Logan was a noted gunfighter and a member of Butch Cassidy's infamous 'Hole in the Wall' gang. When Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fled the country, Logan was the most wanted outlaw in the United States. He was finally captured, but then escaped from prison in 1903. But what happened to him afterwards?
Tuxedo Park by
"In the fall of 1940, as German bombers flew over London and with America not yet at war, a small team of British scientists on orders from Winston Churchill carried out a daring transatlantic mission. The British unveiled their most valuable military secret in a clandestine meeting with American nuclear physicists at the Tuxedo Park mansion of a mysterious Wall Street tycoon, Alfred Lee Loomis. Powerful, handsome, and enormously wealthy, Loomis had for years led a double life, spending his days brokering huge deals and his weekends working with the world's leading scientists in his deluxe private laboratory that was hidden in a massive stone castle." "In this account of a hitherto unexplored but crucial story of the war, Jennet Conant traces one of the world's most extraordinary careers and scientific enterprises. She describes Loomis' phenomenal rise to become one of the Wall Street legends of the go-go twenties. He rode out the Depression years in high style, and indulged in the hobbies of the fabulously rich." "At the height of his influence on Wall Street, Loomis abruptly retired and devoted himself purely to science. He turned his Tuxedo Park laboratory into the meeting place for the most visionary minds of the twentieth century: Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, James Franck, Niels Bohr, and Enrico Fermi. With England threatened by invasion, he joined Vannevar Bush, Karl Compton, and the author's grandfather, Harvard president James B. Conant, in mobilizing civilian scientists to defeat Nazi Germany, and personally bankrolled pioneering research into the radar detection systems that ultimately changed the course of World War II." "Together with his friend Ernest Lawrence, the Nobel Prize-winning atom smasher, Loomis established a top-secret wartime laboratory at MIT and recruited the most famous names in physics. Through his close ties to his cousin Henry Stimson, who was secretary of war, Loomis was able to push FDR to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to create the advanced radar systems that defeated the German Air Force and deadly U-boats, and then to build the first atomic bomb. One of the greatest scientific generals of World War II, Loomis' legacy exists not only in the development of radar but also in his critical role in speeding the day of victory."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Twenty Years at Hull-House by
A new teaching edition of Twenty Years at Hull-House, this volume is an ideal way to introduce students to one of America's most famous women and an early leader of the Progressive movement. Jane Addams's original text has been reduced by about 35 percent, making it more accessible to undergraduates while maintaining the integrity of the original work. Her narrative of life in an immigrant urban neighborhood provides students with an entry into the ideology of the Progressive era and the tenets of social activism. The introduction provides a brief biographical sketch of Addams, outlines the decisions and conviction that led her to found Hull-House, and includes a vivid description of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Related documents include a description of life at Hull-House from the perspective of an immigrant who frequented it, an early review of Addams's tale, and perspectives from other reformers. Useful apparatus includes photographs, a chronology, a bibliography, and an index.
The Wild Blue by
Stephen E. Ambrose, acclaimed author of Band of Brothers and Undaunted Courage, carries us along in the crowded and dangerous B-24s as their crews fought to destroy the German war machine during World War II. The young men who flew the B-24s over Germany in World War II fought against horrific odds, and, in The Wild Blue, Ambrose recounts their extraordinary heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship with vivid detail and affection. Ambrose describes how the Army Air Forces recruited, trained, and selected the elite few who would undertake the most demanding and dangerous jobs in the war. These are the boys--turned pilots, bombardiers, navigators, and gunners of the B-24s--who suffered over fifty percent casualties. With his remarkable gift for bringing alive the action and tension of combat, Ambrose carries us along in the crowded, uncomfortable, and dangerous B-24s as their crews fought to the death through thick black smoke and deadly flak to reach their targets and destroy the German war machine. Twenty-two-year-old George McGovern, who was to become a United States senator and a presidential candidate, flew thirty-five combat missions (all the Army would allow) and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. We meet him and his mates, his co-pilot killed in action, and crews of other planes. Many went down in flames. As Band of Brothers and Citizen Soldiers portrayed the bravery and ultimate victory of the American soldiers from Normandy on to Germany, The Wild Blue illustrates the enormous contribution that these young men of the Army Air Forces made to the Allied victory.
Winston Churchill by
Winston Churchill is a renowned historical figure, whose remarkable political and military career continues to enthral. This book consists of short, highly readable chapters on key aspects of Churchill's career. Written by leading experts, the chapters draw on documents from Churchill's extensive personal papers as well as cutting-edge scholarship. Ranging from Churchill's youthful statesmanship to the period of the Cold War, the volume considers his military strategy during both World Wars as well as dealing with the social, political and economic issues that helped define the Churchillian era. Suitable for those coming to Churchill for the first time, as well as providing new insights for those already familiar with his life, this is a sparkling collection of essays that provides an enlightening history of Churchill and his era.
The Wolves at the Door by
Virginia Hall left comfortable Baltimore roots of privilege in 1931 to follow her dream of becoming a Foreign Service Officer. She watched as Hitler rolled into Poland, then France, and she decided to work for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE). There she learned things her wealthy Baltimore contemporaries would never have imagined - demolitions, assassination, secret radio communications, and resistance organization. She was deployed to France where the Gestapo imprisoned, beat, and tortured spies. Against such an ominous backdrop, Hall managed to locate drop zones for the money and weapons so badly needed by the French Resistance, helped escaped POWs and downed Allied airmen flee to England, and secured safe houses for agents in need.
A Woman of Valor by
"When the Civil War broke out, Clara Barton wanted more than anything to be a Union soldier, an impossible dream for a thirty-nine-year-old woman, who stood a slender five feet tall. Determined to serve, she became a veritable soldier, a nurse, and a one-woman relief agency operating in the heart of the conflict. Now, award-winning author Stephen B. Oates, drawing on archival materials not used by her previous biographers, has written the first complete account of Clara Barton's active engagement in the Civil War." "By the summer of 1862, with no institutional affiliation or official government appointment, but impelled by a sense of duty and a need to heal, she made her way to the front lines and the heat of battle. Oates tells the dramatic story of this woman who gave the world a new definition of courage, supplying medical relief to the wounded at some of the most famous battles of the war - including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Battery Wagner, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Petersburg. Under fire with only her will as a shield, she worked while ankle deep in gore, in hellish makeshift battlefield hospitals - a bullet-riddled farmhouse, a crumbling mansion, a windblown tent. Committed to healing soldiers' spirits as well as their bodies, she served not only as nurse and relief worker, but as surrogate mother, sister, wife, or sweetheart to thousands of sick, wounded, and dying men." "Her contribution to the Union was incalculable and unique. It also became the defining event in Barton's life, giving her the opportunity as a woman to reach out for a new role and to define a new profession. Nursing, regarded as a menial service before the war, became a trained, paid occupation after the conflict. Although Barton went on to become the founder and first president of the Red Cross, the accomplishment for which she is best known, A Woman of Valor convinces us that her experience on the killing fields of the Civil War was her most extraordinary achievement."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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