FORT SUMTER TO PERRYVILLE "Anyone who wants to relive the Civil War, as thousands ofAmericans apparently do, will go through this volume withpleasure.... Years from now, Foote's monumental narrative mostlikely will continue to be read and remembered as a classic of itskind."--New York Herald Tribune Book Review "Here, for a certainty, is one of the great historical narrativesof our century, a unique and brilliant achievement, one that mustbe firmly placed in the ranks of the masters."--Van Allen Bradley,Chicago Daily News

FREDERICKSBURG TO MERIDIAN "Gettysburg...is described with such meticulous attention toaction, terrain, time, and the characters of the various commandersthat I understand, at last, what happened in that battle.... Mr.Foote has an acute sense of the relative importance of events and anovelist's skill in directing the reader's attention to the men andthe episodes that will influence the course of the whole war,without omitting items which are of momentary interest. Hisorganization of facts could hardly bebetter."-- Atlantic

I have never read a better, more vivid, more understandableaccount of the savage battling between Grant's and Lee's armies....Foote stays with the human strife and suffering, and unlike mostSouthern commentators, he does not take sides. In objectivity, inrange, in mastery of detail in beauty of language and feeling forthe people involved, this work surpasses anything else on thesubject.... It stands alongside the work of the best ofthem.-- New Republic

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National BookAward Based on hitherto unexamined sources: interviews with ex-slaves,diaries and accounts by former slaveholders, this "rich andadmirably written book" (Eugene Genovese, The New York TimesBook Review ) aims to show how, during the Civil War and afterEmancipation, blacks and whites interacted in ways that dramatizednot only their mutual dependency, but the ambiguities and tensionsthat had always been latent in "the peculiar institution."

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

THE CIA IN ITS GLORY DAYS and the mad confidence that led todisaster in Vietnam are the subjects of Roger Warner's prizewinninghistory, Shooting at the Moon: The CIA's War in Laos (firstpublished as Back Fire, Simon Schuster, 1995). For a fewyears in the early 1960s the CIA seemed to be running a perfectcovert war in Laos - quiet, inexpensive, just enough arms to helpMeo tribesmen defend their home territory from the Communist PathetLao. Then the big American war next door in Vietnam spilled acrossthe border. How the perfect covert war ballooned into sorrow anddisaster is the story Roger Warner tell in Shooting at the Moon,awarded the Cornelius Ryan Award for 1995's Best Book on ForeignAffairs by the Overseas Press Club. Warner describes his characters with a novelist's touch -soldiers and diplomats busy with war-making; CIA field officersfrom bareknuckle warriors to the quiet men pulling strings in theshadows; and above all the Meo as they realized they had been leddown the garden path.

A source of endless fascination and speculation, the subjectof countless biographies, novels, and films, Elizabeth I is nowconsidered from a thrilling new angle by the brilliant younghistorian Tracy Borman. So often viewed in her relationships withmen, the Virgin Queen is portrayed here as the product of women—themother she lost so tragically, the female subjects who worshippedher, and the peers and intimates who loved, raised, challenged, andsometimes opposed her. In vivid detail, Borman presents Elizabeth’s bewitching mother,Anne Boleyn, eager to nurture her new child, only to see her takenaway and her own life destroyed by damning allegations—which taughtElizabeth never to mix politics and love. Kat Astley, the governesswho attended and taught Elizabeth for almost thirty years, inviteddisaster by encouraging her charge into a dangerous liaison afterHenry VIII’s death. Mary Tudor—“Bloody Mary”—envied her youngersister’s popularity and threatened to destroy her altogether. Andanimosity dr

To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp's history is the book to read.Since its first appearance in 2000, it has become a classic in thefield of Middle East studies, read and admired by students,soldiers, policymakers and journalists. The book is now updated toinclude the recent American invasion, the fall and capture ofSaddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. Whatis clear is that much that has happened since 2003 was foreshadowedin the account found in this book. Tripp's thesis is that thehistory of Iraq throughout the twentieth-century has made it whatit is today, but also provides alternative futures. Unless this isproperly understood, many of the themes explored in this book -patron-client relations, organized violence, sectarian, ethnic andtribal difference - will continue to exert a hold over the futureof Iraq as they did over its past.

A masterpiece o f the historian’s art, Hugh Thomas’s TheSpanish Civil War remains the best, most engrossing narrativeof one of the most emblematic and misunderstood wars of thetwentieth century. Revised and updated with significant newmaterial, including new revelations about atrocities perpetratedagainst civilians by both sides in this epic conflict, this"definitive work on the subject" (Richard Bernstein, The NewYork Times ) has been given a fresh face forty years after itsinitial publication in 1961. In brilliant, moving detail, Thomasanalyzes a devastating conflict in which the hopes, dreams, anddogmas of a century exploded onto the battlefield. Like no otheraccount, The Spanish Civil War dramatically reassembles theevents that led a European nation, in a continent on the brink ofworld war, to divide against itself, bringing into play themachinations of Franco and Hitler, the bloodshed of Guernica, andthe deeply inspiring heroics of those who rallied to the side ofdemocracy. Communists, an

As the United States marks the 150th anniversary of ourdefining national drama, 1861 presents a gripping and originalaccount of how the Civil War began. 1861 is an epic of courage and heroism beyond the battlefields.Early in that fateful year, a second American revolution unfolded,inspiring a new generation to reject their parents’ faith incompromise and appeasement, to do the unthinkable in the name of anideal. It set Abraham Lincoln on the path to greatness and millionsof slaves on the road to freedom. The book introduces us to a heretofore little-known cast of CivilWar heroes—among them an acrobatic militia colonel, an explorer’swife, an idealistic band of German immigrants, a regiment of NewYork City firemen, a community of Virginia slaves, and a youngcollege professor who would one day become president. AdamGoodheart takes us from the corridors of the White House to theslums of Manhattan, from the mouth of the Chesapeake to the desertsof Nevada, from Boston Common to Alcatraz Isl

In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famousmoment in American military history, James Bradley has captured theglory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six menwho raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind theimmortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage andindomitable will of America. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at IwoJima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortarfire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled tothe island's highest peak. And after climbing through a landscapeof hell itself, they raised a flag. Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerfulaccount of six very different young men who came together in amoment that will live forever. To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or thewar. But after his death at age seventy, his family discoveredclosed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers ,James Bradley draws on those documents

This handsomely illustrated volume commemorates AbrahamLincoln’s 200th birthday and gives rare insight into the Presidentwho shook the world—and whose words and example endure today innations from Siberia to Mexico to Pakistan. This is the officialbook of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM)in Springfield, Illinois that has welcomed more than one millionvisitors since its 2005 opening. Using the exhibition halls as a launching point, this book offersstories, anecdotes, and never-before-seen images and artifacts fromthe museum’s vault. It positions Lincoln as a man of his century, atime ripe with Industrial Revolution, travel and culture,abolition, and war. Worldwide events figure into the story:Britain’s emergence as a democracy, Russia’s freeing of the serfs,Japan’s opening to foreign trade, Germany’s unity underBismarck. Every page reflects the humor, integrity, and unique style ofleadership that made Abe Lincoln a legend. Quote boxes reveal hissayings

Sun Tzu's Art of War , compiled more than two thousand yearsago, is a study of the anatomy of organizations in conflict. It isperhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy inthe world today. Now, this unique volume brings together theessential versions of Sun Tzu's text, along with illuminatingcommentaries and auxiliary texts written by distinguishedstrategists. The translations, by the renowned translator ThomasCleary, have all been published previously in book form, except forThe Silver Sparrow Art of War, which is available here for thefirst time. This comprehensive collection contains: The Art of War: This edition of Sun Tzu's text includes theclassic collection of commentaries by eleven interpreters. Mastering the Art of War: Consisting of essays by two prominentstatesmen-generals of Han dynasty China, Zhuge Liang and Liu Ji,this book develops the strategies of Sun Tzu's classic into acomplete handbook of organization and leadership. It draws onepisodes from Chinese his

The distinguished historian of the Jewish people, Howard M.Sachar, gives us a comprehensive and enthralling chronicle of theachievements and traumas of the Jews over the last four hundredyears. Tracking their fate from Western Europe’s age of mercantilism inthe seventeenth century to the post-Soviet and post-imperialistIslamic upheavals of the twenty-first century, Sachar applies hisrenowned narrative skill to the central role of the Jews in many ofthe most impressive achievements of modern civilization: whether inthe rise of economic capitalism or of political socialism; in thediscoveries of theoretical physics or applied medicine; in “higher”literary criticism or mass communication and popularentertainment. As his account unfolds and moves from epoch to epoch, fromcontinent to continent, from Europe to the Americas and the MiddleEast, Sachar evaluates communities that, until lately, have beenunderestimated in the perspective of Jewish and world history—amongthem, Jews of Sephardic

Sumptuously illustrating the vivid parade of a thousand years ofhistory, this comprehensive historical atlas concentrates on theMediterranean world but also shows what happened across the globebetween A.D. 400 and 1500 —from the fall of Rome to the age ofdiscovery. Every page glistens with period works of art,fascinating maps, quotes from medieval figures, close-ups ofintriguing artifacts, and rich landscape photographs of the placeswhere battles were fought and monarchs were crowned. For everycentury, a signature city is spotlighted to represent that era'sdevelopments. Time lines connect the many dramatic events that tookplace in these dark and exciting times, which continue to shape ourworld today. Written by a team of veteran National Geographicwriters, this richly illustrated reference includes full index,reading list, and glossary.

In this deeply researched and clearly written book, thePulitzer Prize–winning historian Alan Taylor tells the rivetingstory of a war that redefined North America. During the earlynineteenth century, Britons and Americans renewed their struggleover the legacy of the American Revolution. Soldiers, immigrants,settlers, and Indians fought in a northern borderland to determinethe fate of a continent. Would revolutionary republicanism sweepthe British from Canada? Or would the British empire contain,divide, and ruin the shaky American republic? In a world of double identities, slippery allegiances, and porousboundaries, the leaders of the republic and of the empire struggledto control their own diverse peoples. The border dividedAmericans—former Loyalists and Patriots—who fought on both sides inthe new war, as did native peoples defending their homelands.Serving in both armies, Irish immigrants battled one another,reaping charges of rebellion and treason. And dissident Americansflirted with seces

Henry David Thoreau was just a few days short of histwenty-eighth birthday when he built a cabin on the shore of WaldenPond and began one of the most famous experiments in living inAmerican history. Apparently, he did not originally intend to writea book about his life at the pond, but nine years later, in Augustof 1854, Houghton Mifflin's predecessor, Ticknor and Fields,published Walden;or, a Life in the Woods. At the time the book waslargely ignored, and it took five years to sell out the firstprinting of two thousand copies. It was not until 1862, the year ofThoreau's death, that the book was brought back into print. Sincethen it has never been out of print. Published in hundreds ofeditions and translated into virtually every modern language,it hasbecome one of the most widely read and influential books everwritten, not only in this country but throughout the world. On the one hundred and fiftiethanniversary of the original publication of Walden, Houghton Mifflinis proud to present the most bea

At the end of the American Revolution, sixty thousandAmericans loyal to the British cause fled the United States andbecame refugees throughout the British Empire. This groundbreakingbook offers the first global history of the loyalist exodus toCanada, the Caribbean, Sierra Leone, India, and beyond. Followingextraordinary journeys like the one of Elizabeth Johnston, a youngmother from Georgia, who led her growing family to Britain,Jamaica, and Canada, questing for a home; black loyalists such asDavid George, who escaped from slavery in Virginia and went on tofound Baptist congregations in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone; andMohawk Indian leader Joseph Brant, who tried to find autonomy forhis people in Ontario, Liberty’s Exiles challengesconventional understandings about the founding of the United Statesand the shaping of the postrevolutionary world. Based on originalresearch on four continents, this book is at once an intimatenarrative history and a provocative new analysis—a story about thepast that

Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects onebook that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading byall Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 was We WereSoldiers Once . . . and Young . In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry,under the command of Lt. Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopterinto a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediatelysurrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later,only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped topieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray andAlbany constituted one of the most savage and significant battlesof the Vietnam War. How these men persevered--sacrificed themselves for their comradesand never gave up--makes a vivid portrait of war at its mostinspiring and devastating. General Moore and Joseph Galloway, theonly journalist on the ground throughout the fighting, haveinterviewed hundreds of men who fought there, including the NorthVietnamese co

Going beyond even the expertise of archaeologists andhistorians, world-class engineer Craig B. Smith explores theplanning and engineering behind the incredible Great Pyramid ofGiza. How would the ancient Egyptians have developed their buildingplans, devised work schedules, managed laborers, solved specificdesign and engineering problems, or even improvised on the job? Theanswers are here, along with dazzling, one-of-a-kind colorphotographs and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations of tools,materials, and building techniques the ancient masters used. In hisforeword to the book, Egypt's Undersecretary of State for the GizaMonuments Zahi Hawass explains the importance of understanding theGreat Pyramid as a straightforward construction project.

From a master chronicler of Spanish history comes amagnificent work about the pivotal years from 1522 to 1566, whenSpain was the greatest European power. Hugh Thomas has written arich and riveting narrative of exploration, progress, and plunder.At its center is the unforgettable ruler who fought the French andexpanded the Spanish empire, and the bold conquistadors who werehis agents. Thomas brings to life King Charles V—first as a ganglyand easygoing youth, then as a liberal statesman who exceeded allhis predecessors in his ambitions for conquest (while making sureto maintain the humanity of his new subjects in the Americas), andfinally as a besieged Catholic leader obsessed with Protestantheresy and interested only in profiting from those he presidedover. The Golden Empire also presents the legendary men whom KingCharles V sent on perilous and unprecedented expeditions: HernánCortés, who ruled the “New Spain” of Mexico as an absolutemonarch—and whose rebuilding of its capital, Tenochti

That Sweet Enemy brings bothBritish wit (Robert Tombs is a British historian) and Frenchpanache (Isabelle Tombs is a French historian) to bear on threecenturies of the history of Britain and France. From Waterloo toChirac’s slandering of British cooking, the authors chart thiscross-channel entanglement and the unparalleled breadth ofcultural, economic, and political influence it has wrought on bothsides, illuminating the complex and sometimes contradictory aspectsof this relationship—rivalry, enmity, and misapprehension mixedwith envy, admiration, and genuine affection—and the myriad ways ithas shaped the modern world. Written with wit and elegance, and illustrated with delightfulimages and cartoons from both sides of the Channel, That SweetEnemy is a unique and immensely enjoyable history, destined tobecome a classic.

Mining newspaper files and the deep archives and journalisticexpertise of the Newseum, an interactive museum of news located inWashington, D.C., Outrage, Passion and Uncommon Sense examinesdecisive issues and events in U.S. history through the nation'seditorial pages. Approximately fifty editorials are reprinted hereon topics ranging from suffrage and race to war and politics—evenChristmas—with probing analysis by Gartner. "Editorials are the soul of the newspaper," Gartner says in thebook's introduction. "Maybe the heart and the soul. And, on a goodnewspaper that knows and understands and loves its hometown, or itshome country, the editorial is the heart and the soul of the town,or the nation, as well." Readers will also see a visual account of the era throughtwo-color illustrations, showcasing editorial cartoons, photographsand typographic details from period newspapers. Outrage, Passionand Uncommon Sense is a vital, significant collection that portraysthe undeniable influence one edi