"An outstanding read for anyone interested in the Civil War and Gettysburg in particular . . . innovative and thoughtful ideas on seemingly well-covered events." — The NYMAS ReviewThe largest land battle on the North American continent has maintained an unshakable grip on the American imagination. Building on momentum from a string of victories that stretched back into the summer of 1862, Robert E. Lee launched his Confederate Army of Northern Virginia on ...

A lost world adventure with a twist. The lost world actually existed right in the middle of the United States.Jorunn, a teenage Viking farm girl in Newfoundland, skips out aboard a small Viking trading vessel ahead of her marriage to a Viking warlord. He chases her and her new boyfriend, Einar, deep into Pre-Columbian North America. They manage to get to Cahokia, the major city of the ancient Mississippian Culture. Cahokia was the largest city to exist in North Ame...

A blisteringly funny, heart-scorching tale of remarkable kids shattered by tragedy and finally brought back together by love."—PeopleSomehow, between their father’s mysterious death, their glamorous soap-opera-star mother’s cancer diagnosis, and a phalanx of lawyers intent on bankruptcy proceedings, the four Welch siblings managed to handle each new heartbreaking misfortune together.All that changed with the death of their mother. While nineteen-ye...

Two renowned historians delve into the often-overlooked Second Manassas Campaign and its part in the dramatic evolution of the Civil War.In late June 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia drove back Maj. Gen. George McClellan's Army of the Potomac from the gates of the Confederate capital. Richmond was safe—at least for the moment.Another threat soon emerged when the Army of Virginia, a new command under Maj. Gen. John Pope, moved toward Fred...

Among the thousands who fought in the pivotal Battle of Antietam were scores of Ohioans. Sending eleven regiments and two batteries to the fight, the Buckeye State lost hundreds during the Maryland Campaign's first engagement, South Mountain, and hundreds more "gave their last full measure of devotion" at the Cornfield, the Bloody Lane and Burnside's Bridge. Many of these brave men are buried at the Antietam National Cemetery. Aged veterans who survived the ferocious contest returned to An...

"An important contribution to Civil War scholarship, offering an engrossing portrait of these important campaigns . . . this reviewer recommends it highly." — NYMAS ReviewThe fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 fundamentally changed the strategic picture of the American Civil War, though its outcome had been anything but certain. Union general Ulysses S. Grant tried for months to capture the Confederate Mississippi River bastion, to no avail. A bold running of ...

A guide to the Gettysburg Civil War battlefields and their history, featuring lesser-known sites, side trips, and optional stops along the way."I thought my men were invincible," admitted Robert E. Lee.A string of battlefield victories through 1862 had culminated in the spring of 1863 with Lee's greatest victory yet: the battle of Chancellorsville. Propelled by the momentum of that supreme moment, confident in the abilities of his men, Lee decided to once mor...

"Engaging, entertaining, educational, and eclectic, this collection of brief essays . . . provides hope for the future of accessible Civil War history." —A. Wilson Greene, author of A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for PetersburgWith the election looming in the fall, President Abraham Lincoln needed to break the deadlock. To do so, he promoted Ulysses S. Grant—the man who'd strung together victory after victory in the Western Theater, including the capture...

Popular media can spark the national consciousness in a way that captures people’s attention, interests them in history, and inspires them to visit battlefields, museums, and historic sites. This lively collection of essays and feature stories celebrates the novels, popular histories, magazines, movies, television shows, photography, and songs that have enticed Americans to learn more about our most dramatic historical era.From Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs to Abraham Lin...

A blisteringly funny, heart-scorching tale of remarkable kids shattered by tragedy and finally brought back together by love."—PeopleSomehow, between their father’s mysterious death, their glamorous soap-opera-star mother’s cancer diagnosis, and a phalanx of lawyers intent on bankruptcy proceedings, the four Welch siblings managed to handle each new heartbreaking misfortune together.All that changed with the death of their mother. While nineteen-ye...

Tyler and I inch toward the Green Room, in line with blow-dried TV anchors and stuffy columnists. He's practicing his handshake and hello: “It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. President.” When the couple in front of us steps forward for their picture, my teenager with sky-blue eyes and a soft heart looks up at me and says, “I hope I don't let you down, Dad.”What kind of father raises a son to worry...

“Michael Farquhar doesn’t write about history the way, say, Doris Kearns Goodwin does. He writes about history the way Doris Kearns Goodwin’s smart-ass, reprobate kid brother might. I, for one, prefer it.”—Gene Weingarten, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Washington Post columnistScandal! Intrigue! Cossacks! Here the world’s most engaging royal historian chronicles the world’s most fascinating imperial dynasty: the Romanovs, whose three-hundred-year reig...