Paperback - Great The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections by Tom Brokaw The heartwarming New York Times bestseller by the author of The Greatest Generation When I wrote about the men and women who came out of the Depression, who won great victories and made lasting sacrifices in World War II and then returned home to begin building the world we have today ... it was my way of saying thank you. I was not prepared for the avalanche of letters and responses touched off by that book. I had written a book about America, and now America was writing back. Tom Brokaw touched the heart of the nation with his towering #1 bestseller The Greatest Generation, a moving tribute to those who gave the world so much -- and who left an enduring legacy of heroism and grace. The Greatest Generation Speaks was born out of the vast outpouring of letters Brokaw received from people eager to share their personal memories and experiences of a momentous time in America's history. These letters and reflections cross time, distance, and generations as they give voice to lives forever changed by war: eighty-year-old Clarence M. Graham, who recounts his harrowing experience as a soldier captured by the Japanese -- and provides a gripping eyewitness account of the dropping of the atomic bomb; Patricia Matthews Dorph, a soldier's daughter who shares the love letters her parents exchanged during the war, a lasting legacy of passion, devotion, and enduring love; Rabbi Judah Nadich, the first Jewish chaplain to serve in the war; Lorraine Davis, a civilian who helped form the Club of '44, a group of wartime wives who still meet today. From the front lines of battle to the back porches of beloved hometowns, The Greatest Generation Speaks brings to life the hopes and dreams of a generation who fought our most hard-won victories, and whose struggles and sacrifices made our future possible. Learn More

Hardcover - Like New 9-11 A Tribute by Press Association On September 11, 2001, the unthinkable happened—the United States of America was attacked mercilessly, without warning, by then unnamed terrorists. The World Trade Center’s twin towers and the Pentagon, iconographic buildings in the hearts and minds of Americans, were devastated from a clear blue sky. This second Day of Infamy struck at the heart of the United States and changed the outlook of the Free World forever. Within minutes the inferno was identified as a merciless attack by international terrorism against America and her allies. Shock and disbelief reverberated around the world as the death toll rose and the awful implications of the outrage became clear. How would the newly inaugurated President George W. Bush cope with this tragedy? What could he do to collect the stunned nation and guide America through this calamity? How would the world change? It became quickly apparent—through the words and actions of foreign world leaders of all political persuasions—that the attack revolted all decent-minded people. Uniquely, America and her allies united as one against the terrorist attack. Their words show their cohesion in their measured, reasoned, but implacable response. Such outrage had no commonality with any government or peoples. The terrorists would not succeed and could be certain that they would be hunted down to their lairs—where ever they hid. This book is a tribute to the people who lost their lives on September 11—they will not be forgotten. It is a salute to the matchless courage of the public servants—the policemen and firefighters—who selflessly laid their lives on the line to help others, and died trying to save their fellow men. These men and women epitomized the indomitable spirit and courage of a nation forged in freedom, showing that the United States would not succumb to violence and terror but instead rebuild stronger than ever and take the war to its enemies. The key leaders—Bush, Blair, Gulliani—showed their best in this time of trouble providing comfort, inspiration, and leadership. As good as his word, President Bush has led the world to the door of the Taliban, the evil government of Afghanistan that harbored and succored the terrorists, Osama bin Laden and his cohorts. Over 300 fantastic photos from the archives of the Press Association, together with the actual words of the principal players and world leaders as they reacted to unfolding events, make this a comprehensive and compelling document of the events. The epilogue contains the address of President Barack H Obama announcing the covert military action that resulted in the demise of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. Learn More

Paperback - Great The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels by Jon Meacham Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade against Jim Crow. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear — a struggle that continues even now. While the American story has not always — or even often — been heroic, we have been sustained by a belief in progress even in the gloomiest of times. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, The good news is that we have come through such darkness before — as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail. Learn More

Hardcover - Great Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder Bestselling author Gary Kinder tells, for the first time, an extraordinary tale of history, maritime drama, heroic rescue, scientific ingenuity, and individual courage. This is the riveting true account of death, danger, and discovery on the high seas in the dramatic search for America's greatest lost treasure, the S.S. Central America. Learn More

Paperback - Great Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson Soul by Soul tells the story of slavery in antebellum America by moving away from the cotton plantations and into the slave market itself, the heart of the domestic slave trade. Taking us inside the New Orleans slave market, the largest in the nation, where 100,000 men, women, and children were packaged, priced, and sold, Walter Johnson transforms the statistics of this chilling trade into the human drama of traders, buyers, and slaves, negotiating sales that would alter the life of each. What emerges is not only the brutal economics of trading but the vast and surprising interdependencies among the actors involved. Using recently discovered court records, slaveholders' letters, nineteenth-century narratives of former slaves, and the financial documentation of the trade itself, Johnson reveals the tenuous shifts of power that occurred in the market's slave coffles and showrooms. Traders packaged their slaves by feeding them up, dressing them well, and oiling their bodies, but they ultimately relied on the slaves to play their part as valuable commodities. Slave buyers stripped the slaves and questioned their pasts, seeking more honest answers than they could get from the traders. In turn, these examinations provided information that the slaves could utilize, sometimes even shaping a sale to their own advantage. Johnson depicts the subtle interrelation of capitalism, paternalism, class consciousness, racism, and resistance in the slave market, to help us understand the centrality of the peculiar institution in the lives of slaves and slaveholders alike. His pioneering history is in no small measure the story of antebellum slavery. Learn More

Paperback - Good Booknotes: Stories from American History Brian Lamb American history is shaped by great and small events, and in recent years a generation of writers has brought these events to life. They have shared these stories with the viewers of the long-running C-SPAN author-interview program Booknotes, and here some of the best have been collected for readers to savor. In this volume, more than eighty contemporary writers and historians examine seminal moments from American history, celebrated and uncelebrated alike. Learn More

Paperback George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution Brian Kilmeade , Don Yaeger As a Long Islander endlessly fascinated by events that happened in a place I call home, I hope with this book to give the secret six the credit they did not get in life. The Culper spies represent all the patriotic Americans who give so much for their country but, because of the nature of their work, will not or cannot take a bow or even talk about their missions. Brian Kilmeade When General George Washington beat a hasty retreat from New York City in August 1776, many thought the American Revolution might soon be over. Instead, Washington rallied thanks in large part to a little-known, top-secret group called the Culper Spy Ring. Washington realized that he could not beat the British with military might, so he recruited a sophisticated and deeply secretive intelligence network to infiltrate New York. So carefully guarded were the members identities that one spy s name was not uncovered until the twentieth century, and one remains unknown today. But by now, historians have discovered enough information about the ring s activities to piece together evidence that these six individuals turned the tide of the war. Drawing on extensive research, Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger have painted compelling portraits of George Washington s secret six: Robert Townsend, the reserved Quaker merchant and reporter who headed the Culper Ring, keeping his identity secret even from Washington; Austin Roe, the tavern keeper who risked his employment and his life in order to protect the mission; Caleb Brewster, the brash young longshoreman who loved baiting the British and agreed to ferry messages between Connecticut and New York; Abraham Woodhull, the curmudgeonly (and surprisingly nervous) Long Island bachelor with business and family excuses for traveling to Manhattan; James Rivington, the owner of a posh coffeehouse and print shop where high-ranking British officers gossiped about secret operations; Agent 355, a woman whose identity remains unknown but who seems to have used her wit and charm to coax officers to share vital secrets. In George Washington s Secret Six, Townsend and his fellow spies finally receive their due, taking their place among the pantheon of heroes of the American Revolution. Learn More

Hardcover - Great Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast by Robert C. Belyk Fascinating, never-before-documented stories of the worst shipwrecks on the Pacific Coast during the golden age of coastal transportation, 1854 to 1929 In this intriguing chronicle, author Robert Belyk closely examines ten significant maritime disasters that occurred during one of the most turbulent eras in the history of travel. Discover the real-life drama endured by those caught in the terrifying midst of disaster at sea and the real causes behind the tragedies. Vividly re-created and painstakingly researched, the shipwrecks accounted for here include: * 1854: the Yankee Blade runs aground off Point Arguello, California.Twenty-eight passengers lose their lives. * 1875: The old side-wheeler Pacific rams another passenger ship off the coast of Cape Flattery, Washington. Two hundred and seventy-seven people perish when her rotting hull gives way. * 1906: The Valencia strikes a reef off the Washington coastline. Before dozens of dazed onlookers on the shore, the ship goes down, taking 117 passengers and crew with her. Learn More

Hardcover - Like New Broke : The Plan to Restore our Trust, Truth and Treasure by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe (Goodreads Author) THE FACTS. THE FUTURE. THE FIGHT TO FIX AMERICA—BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. In the words of Harvard historian Niall Ferguson, the United States is “an empire on the edge of chaos.” Why? Glenn Beck thinks the answer is pretty simple: Because we've turned our backs on the Constitution. Yes, our country is financially broke, but that's just a side effect of our broken spirit, our broken faith in government, the broken promises by our leaders, and a broken political system that has centralized power at the expense of individual rights. There is a lot of work ahead, but we can't move forward until we first understand how we got here. Starting with the American Revolution, Glenn takes readers on an express train through 234 years of history, culminating with the Great Recession and the bipartisan recklessness of Presidents Bush and Obama. It's the history lesson we all wished we'd had in school. (Did you know, for example, that FDR once made a key New Deal policy decision based on his lucky number?) Along the way, you'll see how everything you thought you knew about the political parties is a lie, how Democrats and Republicans alike used to fight for minimum government and maximum freedom, and how both parties have been taken over by a cancer called “progressivism.” By the end, you'll understand why no president, no congress and no court can fix this problem alone. Looking toward them for answers is like looking toward the ocean for drinking water—it looks promising, but the end result is catastrophic. After revealing the trail of lies that brought us here, Broke exposes the truth about what we're really facing. Most people have seen pieces of the puzzle, but very few have ever seen the whole picture—and for very good reason: Our leaders have done everything in their power to hide it. If Americans understood how dire things really are, they would be demanding radical reform right now. Despite the rhetoric, that's not the kind of change our politicians really believe in. Finally, Broke provides the hope that comes with knowing the truth. Once you see what we're really up against, it's much easier to develop a realistic plan. To fix ourselves financially, Glenn argues, we have to fix ourselves first. That means some serious introspection and, ultimately, a series of actions that will unite all Americans around the concept of shared sacrifice. After all, this generation may not be asked to storm beaches, but we are being asked to do something just as critical to preserving freedom. Packed with great stories from history, chalkboard-style teachable moments, custom illustrations, and Glenn Beck's trademark combination of entertainment and enlightenment, Broke makes the case that when you're traveling in the wrong direction, slight course corrections won't cut it—you need to take drastic action. Through a return to individual rights, an uncompromising adherence to the Constitution, and a complete rethinking about the role of government in a free society, Glenn exposes the idea of “transformation” for the progressive smokescreen that it is, and instead builds a compelling case that restoration is the only way forward. Learn More

Paperback - Good The Klondike Fever: The Life and Death of the Last Great Gold Rush by Pierre Berton In 1897 a grimy steamer docked in Seattle and set into epic motion the incredible succession of events that Pierre Berton's exhilarating The Klondike Fever chronicles in all its splendid and astonishing folly. For the steamer Portland bore two tons of pure Klondike gold. And immediately, the stampede north to Alaska began. Easily as many as 100,000 adventurers, dreamers, and would-be miners from all over the world struck out for the remote, isolated gold fields in the Klondike Valley, most of them in total ignorance of the long, harsh Alaskan winters and the territory's indomitable terrain. Less than a third of that number would complete the enormously arduous mountain journey to their destination. Some would strike gold. Berton's story belongs less to the few who would make their fortunes than to the many swept up in the gold mania, to often unfortunate effects and tragic ends. It is a story of cold skies and avalanches, of con men and gamblers and dance hall girls, of sunken ships, of suicides, of dead horses and desperate men, of grizzly old miners and millionaires, of the land — its exploitation and revenge. It is a story of the human capacity to dream, and to endure. Learn More

Hardcover - Like New Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America by Felipe Fernández-Armesto In 1507, European cartographers were struggling to redraw their maps of the world and to name the newly found lands of the Western Hemisphere. The name they settled on: America, after Amerigo Vespucci, an obscure Florentine explorer. In Amerigo, the award-winning scholar Felipe Fernández-Armesto answers the question “What’s in a name?” by delivering a rousing flesh-and-blood narrative of the life and times of Amerigo Vespucci. Here we meet Amerigo as he really was: a sometime slaver and small-time jewel trader; a contemporary, confidant, and rival of Columbus; an amateur sorcerer who attained fame and honor by dint of a series of disastrous failures and equally grand self-reinventions. Filled with well-informed insights and amazing anecdotes, this magisterial and compulsively readable account sweeps readers from Medicean Florence to the Sevillian court of Ferdinand and Isabella, then across the Atlantic of Columbus to the brave New World where fortune favored the bold. Amerigo Vespucci emerges from these pages as an irresistible avatar for the age of exploration–and as a man of genuine achievement as a voyager and chronicler of discovery. A product of the Florentine Renaissance, Amerigo in many ways was like his native Florence at the turn of the sixteenth century: fast-paced, flashy, competitive, acquisitive, and violent. His ability to sell himself–evident now, 500 years later, as an entire hemisphere that he did not “discover” bears his name–was legendary. But as Fernández-Armesto ably demonstrates, there was indeed some fire to go with all the smoke: In addition to being a relentless salesman and possibly a ruthless appropriator of other people’s efforts, Amerigo was foremost a person of unique abilities, courage, and cunning. And now, in Amerigo, this mercurial and elusive figure finally has a biography to do full justice to both the man and his remarkable era. “A dazzling new biography . . . an elegant tale.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An outstanding historian of Atlantic exploration, Fernández-Armesto delves into the oddities of cultural transmission that attached the name America to the continents discovered in the 1490s. Most know that it honors Amerigo Vespucci, whom the author introduces as an amazing Renaissance character independent of his name’s fame–and does Fernández-Armesto ever deliver.” –Booklist (starred review) Learn More

Hardcover - Like New Twilight at Monticello by Alan Pell Crawford, James M. Boles (Narrator) Told with grace and masterly detail, Alan Pell Crawford's unprecedented and engrossing personal look at the intimate Thomas Jefferson in his final years will change the way audiences think about this true American icon. Learn More