100 Turning Points in American History

By: Alan Axelrod

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Synopsis: Arnold J. Toynbee, the most famous professional historian of the twentieth century, is widely quoted as having declared that &“History is just one damn thing after another.&” This book argues that history is not about &“things&” at all but is all about turning points—the decisions, acts, innovations, errors, ideas, successes, and failures on which the shape of a nation&’s life—our lives—depends. It presents the 100 points at which America&’s path decisively turned on its way to where we find ourselves today. ● Columbus arrives in the New World● The first slaves arrive in America ● Independence is declared ● Female suffragists meet in Seneca Falls● Fort Sumter falls● A transcontinental railroad is completed● Edison lights his first electric lamp● FDR offers a &“New Deal&” ● The B-29 Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima● Neil Armstrong sets foot on the moon● President Nixon creates the EPA● 9/11 … Obama … Sandy Hook … Russian election &“meddling&” … the Age of Trump … These and many more are the crucial &“plot points&” in our grand national story, and best-selling historian Alan Axelrod presents them here.