The emergence of the early American republic as a new nation on the world stage conjured rival visions in the eyes of leading statesmen at home and attentive observers abroad. Thomas Jefferson envisioned the newly independent states as a federation of republics united by common experience, mutual interest, and an adherence to principles of natural rights. His views on popular government and the American experiment in republicanism, and later the expansion of its empire of liberty, offered ...

This biography of Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, his only published book, challenges conventional wisdom by demonstrating its core political thought as well as the political aspirations behind its composition, publication and initial dissemination. Building upon a close reading of the book's contents, Jefferson's correspondence and the first comprehensive examination of both its composition and publication history, the authors argue that Jefferson intended his Notes to ...

This book investigates the creation of the first truly nationalized party organizations in the United States in the late nineteenth century, an innovation that reversed the parties' traditional privileging of state and local interests in nominating campaigns and the conduct of national campaigns. Between 1880 and 1896, party elites crafted a defense of these national organizations that charted the theoretical parameters of American party development into the twentieth century. With empower...

The inspiration for the Netflix original movie War Machine**, starring Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Kingsley**From the author of The Last Magazine, a shocking behind-the-scenes portrait of our military commanders, their high-stake maneuvers, and the politcal firestorm that shook the United States.In the shadow of the hunt for Bin Laden and the United States’ involvement in the Middle East, General Stanley McChrystal, ...

Meghan McCain came to prominence as the straight-talking, progressive daughter of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain. And her profile has only risen since the election ended in favor of the other guy.What makes Meghan so appealing? As a new role model for young, creative, and vocal members of the GOP, she's unafraid to mix it up and speak her mind. In Dirty Sexy Politics she takes a hard look at the future of her party. She doesn't shy away from...

The classic one-volume abridgement of the National Book Award–winning biography of the 7th U.S. president, from an esteemed historian."A wonderful portrait, rich in detail, of a fascinating and important man and an authoritative . . . account of his role in American History." — New York Times Book ReviewRobert V. Remini's acclaimed three-volume biography The Life of Andrew Jackson won the National Book Award on its completio...

From Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jill Lepore, the story of the American historical mythology embraced by the far rightAmericans have always put the past to political ends. The Union laid claim to the Revolution—so did the Confederacy. Civil rights leaders said they were the true sons of liberty—so did Southern segregationists. This book tells the story of the centuries-long struggle over the meaning of the nation's founding, including the battle waged by the T...

In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, The Washington Post investigates America's complicated relationship with guns.Wayne LaPierre, the leader of the National Rifle Association, calls gun control "the fight of the century." For more than a year, The Washington Post examined the long, bloody history of gun control in America, an investigation that was reopened and expanded after the massacre of first-graders in Newtown, Connecticut.With new reporting on the st...

Is there anything new to say about Thomas Jefferson and slavery? The answer is a resounding yes. Master of the Mountain, Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book—based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers—opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world. We must, Wiencek suggests, follow the money.So far, historians have offered only easy irony or paradox t...

Why the American Revolution, of all the great revolutions, was the only enduring success.Through the Founders’ own voices—and in the homes they designed and built to embody the ideal of domestic happiness they fought to achieve—we come to understand why the American Revolution, of all great revolutions, was the only enduring success.The Founders were vivid, energetic men, with sophisticated worldviews, and this magnificent reckoning of their successes draws...

A military history of the 1775 invasion of Quebec by Benedict Arnold and the Continental Army, a narrative of adventure, hardship, and survival.Before Benedict Arnold was branded a traitor, he was one of the colonies' most valuable leaders. In September 1775, eleven hundred soldiers boarded ships in Massachusetts, bound for the Maine wilderness. They had volunteered for a secret mission, under Arnold's command to march and paddle nearly two hundred miles and seize B...

A plan for restoring and protecting freedom, based on the United States Constitution.There has been a deliberate effort over the past one hundred years to change the worldview of Americans from a liberty and constitutionally focused world view, based on the writings of Englishman John Locke, to that of government control of the individual based on the writings of Frenchman Jean Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau's model of state control now dominates government policy and ...