For some, patriotism means flags and parades, for others it's"My country right or wrong." But it's much more than that, and asAlan Axelrod observes in this revealing review of our history, truepatriotism is built on a bedrock of understanding—who we are asindividuals and as a nation, how our ideals and our democracy haveevolved, and what it really means to be an American. It's achallenge that calls for an open mind and a clear perspective onthe people, events, and issues that shaped our society—and that'sjust what 1001 Events That Made America provides. This handy, informative chronology of key events in ourhistory sweeps from 45,000 B.C., when the first intrepid Asianscrossed the Bering land bridge to populate North America, to the21st century, which finds us the richest and most powerful countryin the world—a prodigious, panoramic journey marked out by morethan 1,000 milestones and turning points, each explained inconcise, lively detail. From Plymouth Rock to Pearl Harbor, fromthe Civil

"Brilliant . . . Indispensable." LosAngeles Times Here is the story of the rise and fall of the notorious Bonannocrime family of New York as only best-selling author Gay Talesecould tell it.

National Bestseller New York Times Editors’ Choice Winner of the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize Silver Medalist for the Arthur Ross Book Award of the Council on Foreign Relations Finalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award For six months in 1919, after the end of “the war to end allwars,” the Big Three—President Woodrow Wilson, British primeminister David Lloyd George, and French premier GeorgesClemenceau—met in Paris to shape a lasting peace. In this landmarkwork of narrative history, Margaret MacMillan gives a dramatic andintimate view of those fateful days, which saw new politicalentities—Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Palestine, among them—born out ofthe ruins of bankrupt empires, and the borders of the modern worldredrawn.

Ben Macintyre’s Agent Zigzag was hailed as “rollicking,spellbinding” ( New York Times ), “wildly improbable butentirely true” ( Entertainment Weekly ), and, quite simply,“the best book ever written” ( Boston Globe ). In his newbook, Operation Mincemeat , he tells an extraordinary storythat will delight his legions of fans. In 1943, from a windowless basement office in London, two brilliantintelligence officers conceived a plan that was both simple andcomplicated— Operation Mincemeat. The purpose? To deceive the Nazisinto thinking that Allied forces were planning to attack southernEurope by way of Greece or Sardinia, rather than Sicily, as theNazis had assumed, and the Allies ultimately chose. Charles Cholmondeley of MI5 and the British naval intelligenceofficer Ewen Montagu could not have been more different.Cholmondeley was a dreamer seeking adventure. Montagu was anaristocratic, detail-oriented barrister. But together they were theperfect team and created an ingenious plan: Get a corp

When the British wrested New Amsterdam from the Dutch in 1664,the truth about its thriving, polyglot society began to disappearinto myths about an island purchased for 24 dollars and acartoonish peg-legged governor. But the story of the Dutch colonyof New Netherland was merely lost, not destroyed: 12,000 pages ofits records–recently declared a national treasure–are now beingtranslated. Drawing on this remarkable archive, Russell Shorto hascreated a gripping narrative–a story of global sweep centered on awilderness called Manhattan–that transforms our understanding ofearly America. The Dutch colony pre-dated the “original” thirteen colonies, yetit seems strikingly familiar. Its capital was cosmopolitan andmulti-ethnic, and its citizens valued free trade, individualrights, and religious freedom. Their champion was a progressive,young lawyer named Adriaen van der Donck, who emerges in thesepages as a forgotten American patriot and whose political visionbrought him into conflict with Pete

This is a book aboutGermans and Jews, about power and money. It is a book focused onBismarck and Bleichroder, Junker and Jew, statesman and banker,collaborators for over thirty years. The setting is that of aGermany where two worlds clashed: the new world of capitalism andan earlier world with its ancient feudal ethos; gradually a new andbroadened elite emerged, and Bismarck's tie with Bleichroderepitomized that regrouping. It is the story of the founding of thenew German Empire, in whose midst a Jewish minority rose toembattled prominence.

Presented in one comprehensive volume, this is the Civil Waras it really was-the forces and events that caused it, the soldiersand civilians who fought it, and the ideas and values that are itslegacy today.

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, the authorof the highly acclaimed The Winter People tells the moving, searingstory of the betrayal and brutal dispossession of the CherokeeNation. "(A) beautifully written and emotionally mature book . . .a must."--New York Newsday.

Handsome, accomplished, and charming, Henry Stuart, LordDarnley, staked his claim to the English throne by marrying MaryStuart, who herself claimed to be the Queen of England. It was notlong before Mary discovered that her new husband was interestedonly in securing sovereign power for himself. Then, on February 10,1567, an explosion at his lodgings left Darnley dead; the intriguethickened after it was discovered that he had apparently beensuffocated before the blast. After an exhaustive reevaluation ofthe source material, Alison Weir has come up with a solution tothis enduring mystery. Employing her gift for vividcharacterization and gripping storytelling, Weir has written one ofher most engaging excursions yet into Britain’s bloodstained,power-obsessed past.

The last quarter of the eighteenth century remains the mostpolitically creative era in American history, when a dedicatedgroup of men undertook a bold experiment in political ideals. Itwas a time of both triumphs and tragedies—all of which contributedto the shaping of our burgeoning nation. Ellis casts an incisiveeye on the gradual pace of the American Revolution and thecontributions of such luminaries as Washington, Jefferson, andMadison, and brilliantly analyzes the failures of the founders toadequately solve the problems of slavery and the treatment ofNative Americans. With accessible prose and stunning eloquence,Ellis delineates in American Creation an era of flawed greatness,at a time when understanding our origins is more important thanever.

The diplomatic origins, so-called, of the War are only thefever chart of the patient; they do not tell us what caused thefever. To probe for underlying causes and deeper forces one mustoperate within the framework of a whole society and try to discoverwhat moved the people in it. --Barbara W. Tuchman The fateful quarter-century leading up to the World War I was atime when the world of Privilege still existed in Olympian luxuryand the world of Protest was heaving in its pain, its power, andits hate. The age was the climax of a century of the mostaccelerated rate of change in history, a cataclysmic shaping ofdestiny. In The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman concentrates on societyrather than the state. With an artist's selectivity, Tuchman bingsto vivid life the people, places, and events that shaped the yearsleading up to the Great War: the Edwardian aristocracy and the endof their reign; the Anarchists of Europe and America, who voicedthe protest of the oppressed; Germany, as portrayed thr

... [Kenneth M. Stampp] has woven the strands of a complicatedstory, and given the radical Reconstructionists a fair hearingwithout oversimplifying their motives. That this book is alsoexcellent reading will not surprise those who know Mr. Stampp'sother distinguished works about the Civil War. -- Willie Lee Rose, The New York Times Book Review "... [Mr. Stampp] knows his specialty holds vital information forour own time, and he feels an obligation to give it generalcurrency, especially the Reconstruction years 1865-1877 wheredangerous myths still abound. The result of his concern is thislucid, literate survey... Because he is not afraid to stateopinions and to draw contemporary parallels, he has providedconsiderable matter for speculation, especially in regard to theultimate cause of Radical failure to achieve equality for theNegro..." -- Martin Duberman, Book Week "... Carefully and judiciously, Professor Stampp takes us overthe old ground, dismantli

News flash: The Indians didn’t save the Pilgrims fromstarvation by teaching them to grow corn. The “Wild West” was morepeaceful and a lot safer than most modern cities. And the biggestscandal of the Clinton years didn’t involve an intern in a bluedress. Surprised? Don’t be. In America, where history is riddled withmisrepresentations, misunderstandings, and flat-out lies about thepeople and events that have shaped the nation, there’s the historyyou know and then there’s the truth. In 33 Questions About AmericanHistory You’re Not Supposed to Ask, New York Times bestsellingauthor Thomas E. Woods Jr. reveals the tough questions about ournation’s history that have long been buried because they’re toopolitically incorrect to discuss, including: Are liberals really so antiwar? Was the Civil War all about slavery? Did the Framers really look to the American Indians as the modelfor the U.S. political system? Did Bill Clinton actually stop a genocide in Kosovo, a

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, PulitzerPrize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the greatuntold stories of American history: the decades-long migration ofblack citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities,in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus ofalmost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkersoncompares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples inhistory. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gainedaccess to new data and official records, to write this definitiveand vividly dramatic account of how these American journeysunfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves. With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this storythrough the lives of three unique individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, whoin 1937 left sharecropping and prejudice in Mississippi forChicago, where she achieved quiet blue-collar success and, in oldage, voted for Barack Obama when he ran for an Illinois Senateseat; sh

In his first three Commanders books, Tom Clancy teamed withGenerals Fred Franks, Jr., Chuck Horner, and Carl Stiner to providemasterful blends of history, biography, you-are-there narrative,insight into the practice of leadership, and plain, old-fashionedstorytelling. Battle Ready is all of that-and it is also somethingmore. Marine General Tony Zinni was known as the "Warrior Diplomat"during his nearly forty years of service. As a soldier, hiscredentials were impeccable, whether leading troops in Vietnam,commanding hair-raising rescue operations in Somalia, or-asCommander in Chief of CENTCOM-directing strikes against Iraq and AlQaeda. But it was as a peacemaker that he made just as great amark-conducting dangerous troubleshooting missions all over Africa,Asia, and Europe; and then serving as Secretary of State ColinPowell's special envoy to the Middle East, before disagreementsover the 2003 Iraq War and its probable aftermath caused him toresign. Battle Ready follows the evolution of both G

A useful, important book that reminds us, at the right time,how hard [European unity] has been, and how much care must be takento avoid the terrible old temptations. --Los Angeles Times Dark Continent provides an alternative history of the twentiethcentury, one in which the triumph of democracy was anything but aforgone conclusion and fascism and communism provided rivalpolitical solutions that battled and sometimes triumphed in aneffort to determine the course the continent would take. Mark Mazower strips away myths that have comforted us since WorldWar II, revealing Europe as an entity constantly engaged in abloody project of self-invention. Here is a history not ofinevitable victories and forward marches, but of narrow squeaks andunexpected twists, where townships boast a bronze of Mussolini onhorseback one moment, only to melt it down and recast it as a pairof noble partisans the next. Unflinching, intelligent, DarkContinent provides a provocative vision of Europ's past, present,and fut

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte, only twenty-eight, set sail forEgypt with 335 ships, 40,000 soldiers, and a collection ofscholars, artists, and scientists to establish an eastern empire.He saw himself as a liberator, freeing the Egyptians fromoppression. But Napoleon wasn’t the first—nor the last—whotragically misunderstood Muslim culture. Marching across seeminglyendless deserts in the shadow of the pyramids, pushed to the limitsof human endurance, his men would be plagued by mirages, suicides,and the constant threat of ambush. A crusade begun in honor woulddegenerate into chaos. And yet his grand failure also yielded atreasure trove of knowledge that paved the way for modernEgyptology—and it tempered the complex leader who believed himselfdestined to conquer the world.

“An elegant synthesis done by the leading scholar in the field,which nicely integrates the work on the American Revolution overthe last three decades but never loses contact with the older,classic questions that we have been arguing about for over twohundred years.” -Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers A magnificent account of the revolution in arms and consciousnessthat gave birth to the American republic. When Abraham Lincoln sought to define the significance of theUnited States, he naturally looked back to the American Revolution.He knew that the Revolution not only had legally created the UnitedStates, but also had produced all of the great hopes and values ofthe American people. Our noblest ideals and aspirations-ourcommitments to freedom, constitutionalism, the well-being ofordinary people, and equality-came out of the Revolutionary era.Lincoln saw as well that the Revolution had convinced Americansthat they were a special people with a special destiny to lead theworld toward liberty.

A remarkable feat--clear, compelling and accessible--.Critical background for any appreciation of the Jewishstate.-- The New York Times Book Review With his characteristic grace and lucidity, Howard M. Sachar,renowned author of thirteen earlier books on Middle Eastern andJewish history, brings to life the complex and dramatic story ofthe friendships and fallings-out between Israel and the variousEuropean powers over the last half-century. Dr. Sachar chronicles the always uneasy relationship between Israeland Great Britain; its early love-affair and nasty break-up withFrance; the shifting Soviet policies toward Israel; and theunlikely emergence of Germany as the new nation's chief Europeanbenefactor. A master of historical narrative, Sachar once againenlightens us with fine scholarship, insightful analysis, and anunerring knowledge of human--and national--motivations.

The complete historical works of the greatest chronicler ofthe Roman Empire in a wholly revised and updated translation. A brilliant narrator and a master stylist, Tacitus served asadministrator and senator, a career that gave him an intimate viewof the empire at its highest levels, and of the dramatic, violent,and often bloody events of the first century. In the Annals, hewrites about Augustus Caesar’s death and observes the innerworkings of the courts of the emperors Tiberius and Nero. In theHistories, he describes an empire in tumult, four emperors reigningin one year, each overthrown by the next. The Agricola, a biographyof Tacitus’s father-in-law, Julius Agricola—the most celebratedgovernor of Roman Britain—is the first detailed account of theisland that would eventually rule over a quarter of the earth. Andin the Germania, the famed warrior-barbarians of ancient Germanycome richly to life.

On April 10, 1970, Hill 927 was occupied by troopers of theScreaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. By July, theactivities of the artillery and infantry of Ripcord had caught theattention of the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and a long and deadlysiege ensued. Ripcord was the Screaming Eagles’ last chance to dosignificant damage to the NVA in the A Shau Valley before thedivision was withdrawn from Vietnam and returned to the UnitedStates. At Ripcord, the enemy counterattacked with ferocity, using mortarand antiaircraft fire to inflict heavy causalities on the unitsoperating there. The battle lasted four and a half months andexemplified the ultimate frustration of the Vietnam War: theinability of the American military to bring to bear its enormousresources to win on the battlefield. In the end, the 101stevacuated Ripcord, leaving the NVA in control of the battlefield.Contrary to the mantra “We won every battle but lost the war,” theUnited States was defeated at Ripcord. Now, at last, th

On 22 June 1941, the German army invaded the Soviet Union, onehundred fifty divisions advancing on three axes in a surpriseattack that overwhelmed and destroyed whatever opposition theRussians were able to muster. The German High Command was under theimpression that the Red Army could be destroyed west of the DneprRiver and that there would be no need for conducting operations incold, snow, and mud. They were wrong. In reality, the extreme conditions of the German war in Russiawere so brutal that past experiences simply paled before them.Everything in Russia--the land, the weather, the distances, andabove all the people--was harder, harsher, more unforgiving, andmore deadly than anything the German soldier had ever facedbefore. Based on the recollections of four veteran German commanders ofthose battles, FIGHTING IN HELL describes in detail what happenedwhen the world's best-publicized "supermen" met the world's mostbrutal fighting. It is not a tale for the squeamish.

The First World War is one of history’s greatest tragedies. Inthis remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws onexhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great Warreduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed twenty millionpeople, and cracked the foundations of the world we live intoday. The First World War is one of history’s greatest tragedies. Inthis remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws onexhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great Warreduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed twenty millionpeople, and cracked the foundations of the world we live intoday. From the Hardcover edition.