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American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15
by Cameron McWhirter Zusha ElinsonA finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize“A magisterial work of narrative history and original reportage . . . You can feel the tension building one cold, catastrophic fact at a time . . . A virtually unprecedented achievement.” —Mike Spies, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)A Washington Post top 50 nonfiction book of 2023 | Short-listed for the Zócalo Book PrizeOne of The New York Times’ 33 nonfiction books to read this fall | One of Esquire’s best books of fall | A Kirkus Reviews best nonfiction book of 2023Named a most anticipated book of the fall by The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and BloombergAmerican Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 presents the epic history of America’s most controversial weapon.In the 1950s, an obsessive firearms designer named Eugene Stoner invented the AR-15 rifle in a California garage. High-minded and patriotic, Stoner sought to devise a lightweight, easy-to-use weapon that could replace the M1s touted by soldiers in World War II. What he did create was a lethal handheld icon of the American century.In American Gun, the veteran Wall Street Journal reporters Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson track the AR-15 from inception to ubiquity. How did the same gun represent the essence of freedom to millions of Americans and the essence of evil to millions more? To answer this question, McWhirter and Elinson follow Stoner—the American Kalashnikov—as he struggled mightily to win support for his invention, which under the name M16 would become standard equipment in Vietnam. Shunned by gun owners at first, the rifle’s popularity would take off thanks to a renegade band of small-time gun makers. And in the 2000s, it would become the weapon of choice for mass shooters, prompting widespread calls for proscription even as the gun industry embraced it as a financial savior. Writing with fairness and compassion, McWhirter and Elinson explore America’s gun culture, revealing the deep appeal of the AR-15, the awful havoc it wreaks, and the politics of reducing its toll. The result is a moral history of contemporary America’s love affair with technology, freedom, and weaponry.Includes 8 pages of black-and-white images.
American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman--and the Shoot-out that Stopped It
by Stephen Hunter John Bainbridge Jr.A fast-paced, definitive, and breathtakingly suspenseful account of an extraordinary historical event—the attempted assassination of President Harry Truman in 1950 by two Puerto Rican Nationalists and the bloody shoot-out in the streets of Washington, DC, that saved the president's life.Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter, and John Bainbridge, Jr., an experienced journalist and lawyer, American Gunfight is at once a groundbreaking work of meticulous historical research and the vivid and dramatically told story of an act of terrorism that almost succeeded. They have pieced together, at last, the story of the conspiracy that nearly doomed the president and how a few good men—ordinary guys who were willing to risk their lives in the line of duty—stopped it. It begins on November 1, 1950, an unseasonably hot afternoon in the sleepy capital. At 2:00 P.M. in his temporary residence at Blair House, the president of the United States takes a nap. At 2:20 P.M., two men approach Blair House from different directions. Oscar Collazo, a respected metal polisher and family man, and Griselio Torresola, an unemployed salesman, don&’t look dangerous, not in their new suits and hats, not in their calm, purposeful demeanor, not in their slow, unexcited approach. What the three White House policemen and one Secret Service agent cannot guess is that under each man's coat is a 9mm automatic pistol and in each head, a dream of assassin's glory. At point-blank range, Collazo and then Torresola draw and fire and move toward the president of the United States. Hunter and Bainbridge tell the story of that November day with narrative power and careful attention to detail. They are the first to report on the inner workings of this conspiracy; they examine the forces that led the perpetrators to conceive the plot. The authors also tell the story of the men themselves, from their youth and the worlds in which they grew up to the women they loved and who loved them to the moment the gunfire erupted. Their telling commemorates heroism—the quiet commitment to duty that in some moments of crisis sees some people through an ordeal, even at the expense of their lives.
American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg
by French L. MacLeanThe first biography of MSgt. John C. Woods, infamous US Army hangman of the Nuremberg trials MacLean meticulously separates fact from the mythology surrounding this enigmatic figure This is a follow-on book to The Fifth Field, winner of the 2013 Richard G. Trefry Award from the Army Historical Foundation
American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020
by George F. WillExamine the ways in which expertise, reason, and manners are continually under attack in our institutions, courts, political arenas, and social venues with this collection from the Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist. George F. Will has been one of this country&’s leading columnists since 1974. He won the Pulitzer Prize for it in 1977. The Wall Street Journal once called him &“perhaps the most powerful journalist in America.&” In this new collection, he examines a remarkably unsettling thirteen years in our nation&’s experience, from 2008 to 2020. Included are a number of columns about court cases, mostly from the Supreme Court, that illuminate why the composition of the federal judiciary has become such a contentious subject. Other topics addressed include the American Revolutionary War, historical figures from Frederick Douglass to JFK, as well as a scathing assessment of how State of the Union Addresses are delivered in the modern day. Mr. Will also offers his perspective on American socialists, anti-capitalist conservatives, drug policy, the criminal justice system, climatology, the Coronavirus, the First Amendment, parenting, meritocracy and education, China, fascism, authoritarianism, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, and the morality of enjoying football. American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent, 2008-2020 is a collection packed with wisdom and leavened by humor from one the preeminent columnists and intellectuals of our time.
American Hardcore
by Steven Blush George Petros"American Hardcore sets the record straight about the last great American subculture"-Paper magazineSteven Blush's "definitive treatment of Hardcore Punk" (Los Angeles Times) changed the way we look at Punk Rock. The Sony Picture Classics-distributed documentary American Hardcore premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. This revised and expanded second edition contains hundreds of new bands, thirty new interviews, flyers, a new chapter ("Destroy Babylon"), and a new art gallery with over 125 rare photos and images.
American Haven
by Elizabeth YatesTeenagers Michael and Meredith Lamb find new friends and mountains to climb when they travel from war-torn London to New Hampshire with their Uncle Tony during World War II.
American Health Crisis: One Hundred Years of Panic, Planning, and Politics
by Martin HalliwellA history of U.S. public health emergencies and how we can turn the tide. Despite enormous advances in medical science and public health education over the last century, access to health care remains a dominant issue in American life. U.S. health care is often hailed as the best in the world, yet the public health emergencies of today often echo the public health emergencies of yesterday: consider the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918–19 and COVID-19, the displacement of the Dust Bowl and the havoc of Hurricane Maria, the Reagan administration’s antipathy toward the AIDS epidemic and the lack of accountability during the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Spanning the period from the presidency of Woodrow Wilson to that of Donald Trump, American Health Crisis illuminates how—despite the elevation of health care as a human right throughout the world—vulnerable communities in the United States continue to be victimized by structural inequalities across disparate geographies, income levels, and ethnic groups. Martin Halliwell views contemporary public health crises through the lens of historical and cultural revisionings, suturing individual events together into a narrative of calamity that has brought us to our current crisis in health politics. American Health Crisis considers the future of public health in the United States and, presenting a reinvigorated concept of health citizenship, argues that now is the moment to act for lasting change.
American Heathens: Religion, Race and Reconstruction in California
by Joshua PaddisonIn the 19th-century debate over whether the United States should be an explicitly Christian nation, California emerged as a central battleground. Racial groups that were perceived as godless and uncivilized were excluded from suffrage, and evangelism among Indians and the Chinese was seen as a politically incendiary act. Joshua Paddison sheds light on Reconstruction’s impact on Indians and Asian Americans by illustrating how marginalized groups fought for a political voice, refuting racist assumptions with their lives, words, and faith. Reconstruction, he argues, was not merely a remaking of the South, but rather a multiracial and multiregional process of reimagining the nation.
American Heavy Frigates 1794-1826
by Mark LardasBy 1805 the 44-gun frigate was probably viewed as a failed experiment whilst the 38-gun frigate was viewed as the vessel of the future. Ten years later every navy was building 44-gun frigates and today it is viewed as the symbol of the Napoleonic-era cruiser. This remarkable transformation resulted from the performance of three ships – the Constitution, United States, and President – 44-gun frigates built for the United States Navy between 1794 and 1799. Their victories in the naval War of 1812, as well as their performance against the Barbary Pirates, caught the imagination of the world – and spurred all navies into re-examining the class.
American Hebraist: Essays on Agnon and Modern Jewish Literature (Dimyonot)
by Alan MintzAlan Mintz (1947–2017) was a singular figure in the American Jewish literary landscape. In addition to publishing six authoritative books and numerous journal articles on modern and contemporary Jewish culture, Mintz contributed countless reviews and essays to literary journals, including the New Republic, the New York Times Book Review, and the Jewish Review of Books. Scattered in miscellaneous volumes and publications, these writings reveal aspects of Mintz’s scholarly personality that are not evident in his monographs.American Hebraist collects fifteen of Mintz’s most insightful articles and essays. The topics range from the life and work of Nobel Prize winner S. Y. Agnon—including a chapter from Mintz’s unfinished literary biography of that author—to Jewish and Israeli literature, the Holocaust, and a rare autobiographical essay. The chapters are introduced and contextualized by Mintz’s longtime colleague and friend David Stern, who opens the book by tracing the arc of Mintz’s intellectual career; the volume concludes with a personal essay and remembrance written by Beverly Bailis, the last student to complete a doctorate under Mintz’s direction.Brimming with erudition and intriguing biographical notes, American Hebraist provides new insights into the life and work of one of the twentieth century’s most important scholars of modern Hebrew literature. Students and scholars alike will benefit from this essential companion to Mintz’s scholarship.
American Hegemony after the Great Recession: A Transformation in World Order (International Political Economy Series)
by Brandon TozzoThis book traces America's rise as a hegemon of the capitalist system, arguing that the greatest threat to global economic stability is America's polarized and ineffectual political system rather than foreign competition from China and the European Union. The author points to China's considerable demographic problem, which will likely undermine its economic potential. Furthermore, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe - which has left the continent politically fragmented by an institutional malaise - is evidence of the United States' continued status as the world's most successful nation. Tozzo posits that, due to factors such as its initial response to the financial crisis, the near failure of its banking system, the catastrophe of the debt ceiling crisis, and the election of Donald Trump as president, the greatest threat to American hegemony is America itself.
American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe
by John KrigeIn 1945, the United States was not only the strongest economic and military power in the world; it was also the world's leader in science and technology.
American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
by Jeffrey Toobin<P>From New Yorker staff writer and bestselling author of The Nine and The Run of His Life: The People v. O. J. Simpson, the definitive account of the kidnapping and trial that defined an insane era in American history <P>On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, a sophomore in college and heiress to the Hearst family fortune, was kidnapped by a ragtag group of self-styled revolutionaries calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. The already sensational story took the first of many incredible twists on April 3, when the group released a tape of Patty saying she had joined the SLA and had adopted the nom de guerre "Tania." <P>The weird turns of the tale are truly astonishing--the Hearst family trying to secure Patty's release by feeding all the people of Oakland and San Francisco for free; the bank security cameras capturing "Tania" wielding a machine gun during a robbery; a cast of characters including everyone from Bill Walton to the Black Panthers to Ronald Reagan to F. Lee Bailey; the largest police shoot-out in American history; the first breaking news event to be broadcast live on television stations across the country; Patty's year on the lam, running from authorities; and her circuslike trial, filled with theatrical courtroom confrontations and a dramatic last-minute reversal, after which the term "Stockholm syndrome" entered the lexicon. <P>The saga of Patty Hearst highlighted a decade in which America seemed to be suffering a collective nervous breakdown. Based on more than a hundred interviews and thousands of previously secret documents, American Heiress thrillingly recounts the craziness of the times (there were an average of 1,500 terrorist bombings a year in the early 1970s). <P>Toobin portrays the lunacy of the half-baked radicals of the SLA and the toxic mix of sex, politics, and violence that swept up Patty Hearst and re-creates her melodramatic trial. American Heiress examines the life of a young woman who suffered an unimaginable trauma and then made the stunning decision to join her captors' crusade. <P> Or did she? <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
American Heretic
by Dean GrodzinsTheodore Parker (1810-1860) was a powerful preacher who rejected the authority of the Bible and of Jesus, a brilliant scholar who became a popular agitator for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights, and a political theorist who defined democracy as "government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people"--words that inspired Abraham Lincoln. Parker had more influence than anyone except Ralph Waldo Emerson in shaping Transcendentalism in America.In American Heretic, Dean Grodzins offers a compelling account of the remarkable first phase of Parker's career, when this complex man--charismatic yet awkward, brave yet insecure--rose from poverty and obscurity to fame and notoriety as a Transcendentalist prophet. Grodzins reveals hitherto hidden facets of Parker's life, including his love for a woman who was not his wife, and presents fresh perspectives on Transcendentalism. Grodzins explores Transcendentalism's religious roots, shows the profound religious and political issues at stake in the "Transcendentalist controversy," and offers new insights into Parker's Transcendentalist colleagues, including Emerson, Margaret Fuller, and Bronson Alcott. He traces, too, the intellectual origins of Parker's epochal definition of democracy as government of, by, and for the people.The manuscript of this book was awarded the Allan Nevins Prize by the Society of American Historians.
American Heretics: Catholics, Jews, Muslims and the History of Religious Intolerance
by Peter GottschalkIn the middle of the nineteenth century a group of political activists in New York City joined together to challenge a religious group they believed were hostile to the American values of liberty and freedom. Called the Know Nothings, they started riots during elections, tarred and feathered their political enemies, and barred men from employment based on their religion. The group that caused this uproar?: Irish and German Catholics—then known as the most villainous religious group in America, and widely believed to be loyal only to the Pope. It would take another hundred years before Catholics threw off these xenophobic accusations and joined the American mainstream. The idea that the United States is a stronghold of religious freedom is central to our identity as a nation—and utterly at odds with the historical record. In American Heretics, historian Peter Gottschalk traces the arc of American religious discrimination and shows that, far from the dominant protestant religions being kept in check by the separation between church and state, religious groups from Quakers to Judaism have been subjected to similar patterns of persecution. Today, many of these same religious groups that were once regarded as anti-thetical to American values are embraced as evidence of our strong religious heritage—giving hope to today's Muslims, Sikhs, and other religious groups now under fire.
American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order
by Jerome E. CopulskyA penetrating account of the religious critics of American liberalism, pluralism, and democracy—from the Revolution until today &“A chilling consideration of persistent mutations of American thought still threatening our pluralist democracy.&”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The conversation about the proper role of religion in American public life often revolves around what kind of polity the Founders of the United States envisioned. Advocates of a &“Christian America&” claim that the Framers intended a nation whose political values and institutions were shaped by Christianity; secularists argue that they designed an enlightened republic where church and state were kept separate. Both sides appeal to the Founding to justify their beliefs about the kind of nation the United States was meant to be or should become. In this book, Jerome E. Copulsky complicates this ongoing public argument by examining a collection of thinkers who, on religious grounds, considered the nation&’s political ideas illegitimate, its institutions flawed, and its church‑state arrangement defective. Beholden to visions of cosmic order and social hierarchy, rejecting the increasing pluralism and secularism of American society, they predicted the collapse of an unrighteous nation and the emergence of a new Christian commonwealth in its stead. By engaging their challenges and interpreting their visions we can better appreciate the perennial temptations of religious illiberalism—as well as the virtues and fragilities of America&’s liberal democracy.
American Heritage (Merit Badge Series)
by Boy Scouts of AmericaIs learning about your heritage a waste of time? Is a knowledge of events and personalities from the past useless in the fast-paced world of 20th-century America? Daniel Boorstin, a noted American historian, answers: "We are overwhelmed by the instant moment -- headlined in this morning's newspaper and flashed on this hour's newscast....
American Heritage History of Flight
by Arthur GordonPeople dreamed of flight for thousands of years. When we finally took to the skies, a new world opened up. This sweeping, superbly researched history from American Heritage details how various pioneers and innovators - from the Wright Brothers to Chuck Yeager - helped lift us into the sky.
American Heritage Picture History of World War II
by C.L. Sultzberger and the Editors of American HeritageEye-witness accounts augment a pictorial history of World War II at both the battlefronts and at home.
American Heroes on the Homefront
by Oliver NorthCombat-decorated Marine Oliver North delivers a riveting firsthand account of the extraordinary young American volunteers—the best and bravest of their generation—who stepped forward to defend us from radical Islamic terror. For more than a dozen years North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel’sWar Stories have traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation in harm’s way and chronicle what it truly means to be a hero. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes in vivid detail the breathtaking courage, steadfast commitment, and resilient strength of those who serve—and those who love them. The term “selfless devotion” may be a cliché to many in our modern culture—but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that ought to encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. They give of themselves, literally and physically. Since the terror attack of 9-11- 01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American Heroes: From the #1 bestselling authors of Walk in My Combat Boots
by James Patterson Matt EversmannFrom the authors of Walk in My Combat Boots, “American Heroes is a gripping collection of firsthand accounts…capturing the indomitable spirit of our nation’s finest&” (Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series). U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts—from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America’s most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor. They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and for the good of our beloved country. There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to be an American hero. <br><b>New York Times Bestseller</b></br>
American Heroes: In The Fight Against Radical Islam
by Chuck Holton Oliver NorthI have the best job in all broadcasting. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen, and Marines—those who fight America's wars—are my only "beat." I hang around with heroes for a living.
American Heroes: On the Homefront
by Oliver NorthFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Heroes Proved, a moving collection of "straightforward, honest testimonials to the courage American troops display on and off the battlefield" (Kirkus Reviews).For more than a dozen years, combat-decorated Marine Oliver North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel's War Stories traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes the courage, commitment, and strength of those who serve--and those who love them. The term "selfless devotion" may be a cliché to many--but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that will encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Since the terror attack of 9-11-01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American Heroes: On the Homefront
by Oliver NorthFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Heroes Proved, a moving collection of "straightforward, honest testimonials to the courage American troops display on and off the battlefield" (Kirkus Reviews).For more than a dozen years, combat-decorated Marine Oliver North and his award-winning documentary team from FOX News Channel's War Stories traveled to the frontlines of the War on Terror to profile the dedicated men and women who serve our nation. This time, he follows them from the battlefield to the homefront and finds extraordinary inspiration in their triumph over life-altering adversity. In this new volume of his New York Times bestselling American Heroes series, North describes the courage, commitment, and strength of those who serve--and those who love them. The term "selfless devotion" may be a cliché to many--but not to the men and women on the pages of this book. Their stories resound with bravery, a warrior ethos, and spiritual strength that will encourage us all. Heroes are people who knowingly place themselves at risk for the benefit of others. Since the terror attack of 9-11-01, more than 2 million young Americans have volunteered to serve in difficult and dangerous places. No military force in history has been asked to do more than those who have served and sacrificed in this long fight. They are American heroes. So too are their loved ones here at home. These are their stories.
American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America
by Edmund S. Morgan"A wise, humane and beautifully written book."--Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal From the best-selling author of Benjamin Franklin comes this remarkable work that will help redefine our notion of American heroism. Americans have long been obsessed with their heroes, but the men and women dramatically portrayed here are not celebrated for the typical banal reasons contained in Founding Fathers hagiography. Effortlessly challenging those who persist in revering the American history status quo and its tropes and falsehoods, Morgan, now ninety-three, continues to believe that the past is just not the way it seems.