A witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science.In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories--starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It ...

The definitive spellbinding story of the huge—and hugely conflicted—role New York City played in the Civil War."Populated by an epic cast of characters lurching through evocative tableaux at a breakneck pace, Mr. Strausbaugh's book stands alone, but never still."― The Wall Street JournalWinner of the Fletcher Pratt Award for Best NonfictionNo city was more of a help to Abraham Lincoln and t...

Cultural commentator John Strausbaugh's The Village is the first complete history of Greenwich Village, the prodigiously influential and infamous New York City neighborhood.From the Dutch settlers and Washington Square patricians, to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire and Prohibition-era speakeasies; from Abstract Expressionism and beatniks, to Stonewall and AIDS, the connecting narratives of The Village tell the story of America itself.Illustrated with historic...

A refreshingly clearheaded and taboo-breaking look at race relations reveals that American culture is neither Black nor White nor Other, but a mix-a mongrel.Black Like You is an erudite and entertaining exploration of race relations in American popular culture. Particularly compelling is Strausbaugh's eagerness to tackle blackface-a strange, often scandalous, and now taboo entertainment. Although blackface performance came to be denounced as purely racist mockery, and sham...

From John Strausbaugh, author of City of Sedition and The Village, comes the definitive history of Gotham during the World War II era.New York City during World War II wasn't just a place of servicemen, politicians, heroes, G.I. Joes and Rosie the Riveters, but also of quislings and saboteurs; of Nazi, Fascist, and Communist sympathizers; of war protesters and conscientious objectors; of gangsters and hookers and profiteers; of latchkey kids and bo...

A witty, deeply researched history of the surprisingly ramshackle Soviet space program, and how its success was more spin than science.In the wake of World War II, with America ascendant and the Soviet Union devastated by the conflict, the Space Race should have been over before it started. But the underdog Soviets scored a series of victories--starting with the 1957 launch of Sputnik and continuing in the years following--that seemed to achieve the impossible. It ...

From John Strausbaugh, author of City of Sedition and The Village, comes the definitive history of Gotham during the World War II era.New York City during World War II wasn't just a place of servicemen, politicians, heroes, G.I. Joes and Rosie the Riveters, but also of quislings and saboteurs; of Nazi, Fascist, and Communist sympathizers; of war protesters and conscientious objectors; of gangsters and hookers and profiteers; of latchkey kids and b...

In a single definitive narrative, City of Sedition tells the spellbinding story of the huge-and hugely conflicted-role New York City played in the Civil War.No city was more of a help to Abraham Lincoln and the Union war effort, or more of a hindrance. No city raised more men, money, and materiel for the war, and no city raised more hell against it. It was a city of patriots, war heroes, and abolitionists, but simultaneously a city of antiwar protest, draf...

"Darryl has written a profound book on the meaning of celebrity, sports and manhood . . . a riveting and memorable account." — David ConeFormer New York Met and Yankee slugger Darryl Strawberry has subtitled his autobiography Straw, "Finding My Way"—and his path was never easy. A National League Rookie of the Year, eight-time MLB All Star, and four-time World Series Champion, Strawberry's baseball achievements were often overshadowed by his...