Speaking to a fractured country for the first time as president, Abraham Lincoln endorsed a constitutional amendment designed to permanently safeguard slavery in every state in which the institution already existed. If that proslavery provision had been ratified, it would have become the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Three years later, Lincoln again threw his support behind a constitutional amendment to address slavery: this time to abolish it. Formally ratified in 1865, t...

From Damon Root, a senior editor of Reason magazine, Overruled: The Long War for Control of the U.S. Supreme Court is "the most thorough account of the libertarian-conservative debate over judicial review…a valuable guide to both the past and the potential future of these important issues" ( The Washington Post).Should the Supreme Court defer to the will of the majority and uphold most democratically enacted laws? Or does the Constitution ...

**“If you read one book about Lincoln, make it A. Lincoln.”—**USA Today**NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYThe Washington Post • The Philadelphia Inquirer • The Christian Science Monitor • St. Louis Post-Dispatch.NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE CHRISTOPHER AWARD**Everyone wants to define the man who signed his name “A. Lincoln.” In his lifetime and ever since, friend...

**WINNER OF THE 2026 PULITZER PRIZE FOR HISTORY | ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025 | NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARNamed one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, New Yorker, Smithsonian, Bookpage, and the Chicago Public LibraryWinner of the Massachusetts Book Award for NonfictionShortlisted for the 2026 Cundill History PrizeLonglist...

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of We Are Lincoln Men comes a stunning portrait of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency.“A book of investigative tenacity, interpretive boldness and almost acrobatic balance” (The Chicago Tribune), Lincoln brilliantly depicts Abraham Lincoln’s gradual ascent from humble beginnings in rural Kentucky to the ever-expanding political circles in Illinois, and finally to the presidency of a country divide...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY 2026ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION 2025THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA THE ECONOMIST, HISTORY TODAY, NEW YORK TIMES, NEW YORKER AND WASHINGTON POST BOOK OF THE YEAROn the 250th anniversa...

“A masterwork [by] the preeminent historian of the Civil War era.”—Boston GlobeSelected as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times Book Review, this landmark work gives us a definitive account of Lincoln's lifelong engagement with the nation's critical issue: American slavery. A master historian, Eric Foner draws Lincoln and the broader history of the period into perfect balance. We see Lincoln, a pragmatic politician grounded in principle, deftly navigat...

The life story of the most controversial, volatile, and misunderstood provision of the Bill of Rights and “a welcome re-injection of historical context into the present debate over the rightful role of guns in American culture” (Chicago Tribune).At a time of increasing gun violence in America, Waldman’s book provoked a wide range of discussion. This book looks at history to provide some surprising, illuminating answers.The Amendmen...

W. E. B. Du Bois was a public intellectual, sociologist, and activist on behalf of the African American community. He profoundly shaped black political culture in the United States through his founding role in the NAACP, as well as internationally through the Pan-African movement. Du Bois's sociological and historical research on African-American communities and culture broke ground in many areas, including the history of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. Du Bois was also a prolifi...

The sixth edition of the classic and concise account of the US Supreme Court, its history, and its place in American politics.For more than fifty years, Robert G. McCloskey's classic work on the Supreme Court's role in constructing the US Constitution has introduced generations of students to the workings of our nation's highest court.As in prior editions, McCloskey's original text remains unchanged. In his historical interpretation, he argues that the streng...

**An instant New York Times bestsellerA nuanced exploration of Abraham Lincoln’s political acumen, illuminating a great politician’s strategy in a country divided—and lessons for our own disorderly present**In 1855, with the United States at odds over slavery, the lawyer Abraham Lincoln wrote a note to his best friend, the son of a Kentucky slaveowner. Lincoln rebuked his friend for failing to oppose slavery. But he added: “If for this you and I must differ, differ...

A preeminent constitutional scholar offers a hard-hitting analysis of the Supreme Court over the last two hundred yearsMost Americans share the perception that the Supreme Court is objective, but Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the country’s leading constitutional lawyers, shows that this is nonsense and always has been. The Court is made up of fallible individuals who base decisions on their own biases. Today, the Roberts Court is promoting a conservative agenda under t...