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 HISTORYONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2025NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA 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 LibraryLonglisted for the 2025 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction"[Lepore's] 15th book,

“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...

An informative look at America's Constitution, updated with rulings on issues such as immigration, gay marriage, gun control, and affirmative action.In The Words We Live By, Linda R. Monk probes the idea that the Constitution may seem to offer cut-and-dried answers to questions regarding personal rights, but the interpretations of this hallowed document are nearly infinite. For example, in the debate over gun control, does "the right of the people to bear ...

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...

America's greatest president, who rose to power in the country's greatest hour of need and whose vision saw the United States through the Civil WarAbraham Lincoln towers above the others who have held the office of president—the icon of greatness, the pillar of strength whose words bound up the nation's wounds. His presidency is the hinge on which American history pivots, the time when the young republic collapsed of its own contradictions and a new birth of freedo...

**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...

The author and dean of constitutional law offers framework for understanding the US Constitution and the current threats facing democracy.Worried about what a super conservative majority on the Supreme Court means for the future of civil liberties? From gun control to reproductive health, a conservative court will reshape the lives of all Americans for decades to come. The time to develop and defend a progressive vision of the US Constitution that protects the right...

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,