"Although frequently overlooked between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the War of 1812 tested a rising generation of American leaders; unified the United States with a renewed sense of national purpose; and set the stage for westward expansion from Mackinac Island to the Gulf of Mexico. USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," proved the mettle of the fledgling American navy; Oliver Hazard Perry hoisted a flag boasting, "Don't Give Up the Ship";...

"In her writing for Harper's, the London Review of Books, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, Lauren Oyler has emerged as one of the most trenchant and influential critics of her generation, a talent whose judgments on works of literature--whether celebratory or scarily harsh--have become notorious. But what is the significance of being a critic and consumer of media in today's fraught environment? How do we understand ourselves, and each other, as space...

In the second and final war of independence, Madison leads an unprepared nation into a struggle that will establish the United States as a major world power and stake its claim to the entire continent. Before the outcome is decided, the war will have engulfed land and sea, with a disastrous U.S. defeat at Detroit and epic naval campaigns on the Great Lakes. After the Americans sack Toronto, the British retaliate by burning the White House and the...

Chronicles the intertwined stories of Woodrow Wilson and Vladimir Lenin, revealing how their crucial decisions changed world politics and spread disruptive ideologies that continue to influence the modern world. --Publisher. "How did two men move the world away from wars for land and treasure to wars over ideas and ideologies--a change that would go on to kill millions? In April 1917, Woodrow Wilson--champion of American democracy but also of segregation,...

"Moral psychologist Tess Wilkinson-Ryan examines what she calls the 'sucker construct,' the fear of being taken advantage of--of being a sucker--and its outsized role in the shaping of our lives and our world"--

"An End to Suffering is a search to understand the Buddha's relevance in today' world, where religious violence, poverty, and terrorism prevail. Traveling extensively through the West as well as the East, Pankaj Mishra explores the myths and places of the Buddha's life, examines the West's 'discovery' of Buddhism, and considers the impact of Buddhist ideas on modern politics. The result is the most ambitious, convincing book on the Buddha that we...

"Former Secret Service agent and star of Bravo's Spy Games Evy Poumpouras shares lessons learned from protecting presidents, as well insights and skills from the oldest and most elite security force in the world to help you prepare for stressful situations, instantly read people, influence how you are perceived, and live a more fearless life"-- A former Secret Service agent to three presidents and recipient of the Medal of Valor for her heroism on...

The ensuing uprising led to the creation of the United States, the most powerful country in the modern world. Robert Harvey, whose most recent book Liberators was brilliantly reviewed on both sides of the ocean, challenges conventional views of the American Revolution in almost every aspect-why it happened, who was winning and when, the characters of the principal protagonists, and the role of Native Americans and slaves. In a time when the history...

Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. The result is an adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where the ghosts of the Lost Cause are resurrected through ritual and remembrance. He joins "hardcore" reenactors; witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war; finds that Andersonville Prison's commander, executed as a war criminal,...