H. W. Brands Book order

"Bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands follows the lives of General William Tecumseh Sherman and Apache war leader Geronimo to tell the story of the Indian Wars and the final fight for control of the American continent. William Tecumseh Sherman and Geronimo were keen strategists and bold soldiers, ruthless with their enemies. Over the course of the 1870s and 1880s these two war chiefs would confront each other in the final battle for what the American West would be- a sparsely settled, wild home where Indian tribes could thrive, or a more densely populated extension of the America to the east of the Mississippi. Sherman was a well-connected son of Ohio who attended West Point and rose to prominence through his scorched-earth campaigns in the Civil War. Geronimo grew up among the Apache people, hunting wild game for sustenance and roaming freely on the land. After the brutal killing of his wife, children and mother by Mexican soldiers, he became a relentless avenger, raiding Mexican settlements across the American border. When Sherman rose to commanding general of the Army, he was tasked with bringing Geronimo and his followers onto a reservation where they would live as farmers and ranchers and roam no more. But Geronimo preferred to fight. The Last Campaign is a powerful retelling of a turning point in the making of our nation and a searing elegy for a way of life that is gone"--

"From bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands, a revelatory history of the shocking emergence of vicious political division at the birth of the United States Founding Partisans is a lively narrative of the early years of the republic as the Founding Fathers fought one another with competing visions of what our nation would be. To the framers of the Constitution, political parties were an existential threat to republican virtues. They had suffered the consequences of partisan politics in Britain before the American Revolution, and they wanted nothing similar for America. Yet parties emerged even before the Constitution was ratified, and they took firmer root in the following decade. The first party, the Federalists, formed around Alexander Hamilton and his efforts to overthrow the Articles of Confederation. Thomas Jefferson and the opposition organized as the Antifederalists, the precursor to the Republicans. The two factions wrestled as George Washington tried to remain above the fray. John Adams, however, our second president, was an avowed Federalist, and very much in the scrum. The country's first years unfolded in a contentious spiral of ugly elections and blatant violations of the Constitution. Still, peaceful transfers of power continued, and the nascent country made its way toward global dominance, against all odds. Founding Partisans is a powerful reminder that fierce partisanship is a problem as old as the republic, one we've survived time and time again"-- Provided by publisher

The book provides a gripping narrative of the military and political events surrounding the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent war. It highlights the complexities of the founding of the nation, emphasizing that division played a crucial role alongside unity. Through detailed accounts, the author sheds light on the turbulent times that shaped America's history, offering readers a deeper understanding of the struggles and conflicts that defined the nation's birth.

Bestselling historian and Pulitzer-prize finalist H. W. Brands follows the lives and battles of General William Tecumseh Sherman and Apache warrior Geronimo to tell the story of the Indian Wars and the final fight for control of the American continent.William Tecumseh Sherman and Geronimo were keen strategists and bold soldiers, ruthless with their enemies. Over the course of the 1870s and 1880s these two war chiefs would confront each other in the final battle for what the American West would be: a sparsely settled, wild home where Indian tribes could thrive, or a densely populated extension of the America to the east of the Mississippi. Sherman was a privileged son of Ohio who attended West Point and rose to prominence through his scorched earth campaigns in the Civil War. Geronimo grew up in the Apache tribe, hunting wild game for survival and roaming freely on the land. After the brutal killing of his wife, children, and mother, however, he became a relentless avenger, raiding Mexican settlements across the American border. When Sherman rose to General of the U.S. Army, he was tasked with bringing Geronimo and his tribe into an agreement with the U.S. government pledging that the Apache would live as farmers and ranchers and roam no more. But Geronimo preferred to fight. The Last Campaign is a powerful retelling of a turning point in the making of our nation and a searing elegy for a way of life that is gone.

What drives individuals to turn against their own country and take up arms? Conversely, what compels their neighbors, often similar in status and success, to defend that very country? H. W. Brands explores these questions in a compelling history of the American Revolution. Figures like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were unexpected rebels; Washington was at the pinnacle of Virginia society, while Franklin achieved global recognition from humble beginnings. John Adams, known for his contentious nature, might seem a more fitting rebel, yet he held the law in high regard. Despite their shared backgrounds, these three men chose rebellion against the British Empire that had enabled their success. Others, like William Franklin, opted for loyalty to Britain, as did royal governor Thomas Hutchinson and early Crown challenger Joseph Galloway, who faced accusations of treachery for not betraying their homeland. The conflict also forced Native Americans and the enslaved to pick sides amid the civil war. After the Revolution, Patriots were celebrated as heroes, while Loyalists were largely forgotten. This narrative reminds us that before America could secure its independence from Britain, it first had to navigate a painful civil war among family, friends, and neighbors.

A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times-bestselling author sets a new standard for histories of the American West

For the past nine years, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands has been tweeting the history of the United States. But this has been no ordinary version of the American tale. Instead, Brands gives his 5,000-plus followers a regular dose of history and poetry combined: his tweets are in the form of haikus. Haiku History presents a selection of these smart, shrewd, and always informative short poems. “Shivers and specters / Flit over hearts in Salem / And so nineteen hang” describes the Salem Witch Trials, and “In angry war paint / Men board the British tea ships / And toss the cargo” depicts the Boston Tea Party. “Then an anarchist / Makes one of the war heroes / The next president” recalls the assassination of William McKinley and the ascension of Teddy Roosevelt to the presidency, while “Second invasion: / Iraq, where Saddam is still / In troubling control” returns us to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. As he travels from the thirteen colonies to the 2016 election, Brands brings to life the wars, economic crises, social policies, and other events that have shaped our nation. A history book like no other, Haiku History injects both fun and poetry into the story of America—three lines at a time.

"What do moral people do when democracy countenances evil? The question, implicit in the idea that people can govern themselves, came to a head in America at the middle of the nineteenth century, in the struggle over slavery. John Brown's answer was violence--violence of a sort some in later generations would call terrorism. Brown was a deeply religious man who heard the God of the Old Testament speaking to him, telling him to do whatever was necessary to destroy slavery. When Congress opened Kansas territory to slavery, the eerily charismatic Brown raised a band of followers to wage war against the evil institution. One dark night his men tore several proslavery settlers from their homes and hacked them to death with broadswords, as a bloody warning to others. Three years later Brown and his men assaulted the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, with the goal of furnishing slaves with weapons to murder their masters in a race war that would cleanse the nation of slavery once and for all. Abraham Lincoln's answer was politics. Lincoln was an ambitious lawyer and former office-holder who read the Bible not for moral guidance but as a writer's primer. He disliked slavery yet didn't consider it worth shedding blood over. He distanced himself from John Brown and joined the moderate wing of the new, antislavery Republican party. He spoke cautiously and dreamed big, plotting his path to Washington and perhaps the White House. Yet Lincoln's caution couldn't preserve him from the vortex of violence Brown set in motion. Arrested and sentenced to death, Brown comported himself with such conviction and dignity on the way to the gallows that he was canonized in the North as a martyr to liberty. Southerners responded in anger and horror that a terrorist was made into a saint. Lincoln shrewdly threaded the needle of the fracturing country and won election as president, still preaching moderation. But the time for moderation had passed. Slaveholders lumped Lincoln with Brown as an enemy of the Southern way of life; seven Southern states left the Union. Lincoln resisted secession, and the Civil War followed. At first a war for the Union, it became the war against slavery Brown had attempted to start. Before it was over, slavery had been destroyed, but so had Lincoln's faith that democracy can resolve its moral crises peacefully"-- Provided by publisher

H. W. Brands rozmnožil řadu životopisů amerických prezidentů o důležitou položku: svou rozsáhlou práci zasvětil životu a působení Ronalda Reagana. Reaganova osobnost měla velký význam pro všechny země sovětského bloku, protože za jeho působení došlo ke zhroucení komunismu ve střední a východní Evropě. Autor se pochopitelně věnuje i vnitřní politice a proměně politického stylu, kterou Reagan ztělesňoval.

The book provides an in-depth exploration of the influential figure who significantly shaped American foreign policy, detailing their ascent to prominence and subsequent decline. It examines key events, decisions, and the broader historical context that defined their impact on international relations, offering insights into the complexities of political power and the dynamics of foreign diplomacy. Through this narrative, readers gain a nuanced understanding of the challenges and transformations within American foreign policy over time.