Most Christians know John Newton as the slave ship captain who famously converted to Christ on the high seas and then penned one of the greatest hymns of the faith: "Amazing Grace." Less well-known is Newton's significance in his own day as an evangelical icon, great preacher and theologian, and important influence on abolitionist William Wilberforce. In this fascinating biography, Jonathan Aitken explores many facets of Newton's eventful life story, helping readers better understand his remarkable conversion and passionate fight to end the slave trade. The first modern account to draw on Newt... View More...
The personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as "The Oracle of Omaha"--for fans of the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett Here is the book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full... View More...
Written initially to guide his son, Benjamin Franklin's autobiography is a lively, spellbinding account of his unique and eventful life, now a classic of world literature that is sure to inspire and delight readers everywhere. Few men could compare to Benjamin Franklin. Virtually self-taught, he excelled as an athlete, a man of letters, a printer, a scientist, a wit, an inventor, an editor, and a writer, and he was probably the most successful diplomat in American history. David Hume hailed him as the first great philosopher and great man of letters in the New World. View More...
The first volume in the life of America's greatest First Lady, a woman who changed the lives of millions (Washington Post). Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. Three: 1938-1962, will be published in November 2016. Eleanor Roosevelt was born into the privileges and prejudices of American aristocracy and into a family ravaged by alcoholism. She overcame debilitating roots: in her public life, fighting against racism and injustice and advancing the rights of women; and in her private life, forming lasting intimate friendships with some of the great men and women of her times. This volume covers ER's family a... View More...
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A brilliant evocation of the qualities that made FDR one of the most beloved and greatest of American presidents. Drawing on archival material, public speeches, correspondence and accounts by those closest to Roosevelt early in his career and during his presidency, H. W. Brands shows how Roosevelt transformed American government during the Depression with his New Deal legislation, and carefully managed the country's prelude to war. Brands shows how Roosevelt's friendship and regard for Winston Churchill helped to forge one of the greatest alliances in history, as Roosevelt,... View More...
Brown tells the extraordinary stories of Kim Philby, a renowned double agent, and his father and mentor, Harry St. John Bridger Philby, who played a key role in establishing the modern Middle East. In this dual biography, the author includes interviews, private papers of both St. John and Kim Philby, and previously unreleased photographs and KGB memoranda--providing an intriguing account of espionage. View More...
A New York Times Bestselling AuthorThe first woman since Abigail Adams to be both the wife and mother of a president, Barbara Bush defied skeptics to become one of the most admired first ladies in history; and she remains a beloved public figure today. This inspiring follow-up to her number-one bestselling memoir covers the momentous eight years between the end of President George H. W. Bush's term in office and President George W. Bush's inauguration. View More...
A major new biography of the fourth president of the United States by New York Times bestselling author Lynne Cheney Lin-Manuel Miranda's play "Hamilton" has reignited interest in the founding fathers; it features James Madison among its vibrant cast of characters. This majestic new biography of James Madison explores the astonishing story of a man of vaunted modesty who audaciously changed the world. Among the Founding Fathers, Madison was a true genius of the early republic. Outwardly reserved, Madison was the intellectual driving force behind the Constitution and crucial to its ratificati... View More...
General Chuck Yeager, the greatest test pilot of them all -- the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound . . .the World War II flying ace who shot down a Messerschmitt jet with a prop-driven P-51 Mustang . . .the hero who defined a certain quality that all hotshot fly-boys of the postwar era aimed to achieve: the right stuff. Now Chuck Yeager tells his whole incredible life story with the same wide-open, full throttle approach that has marked his astonishing career. What it was really like enaging in do-or-die dogfights over Nazi Europe. How after being shot over occupied France, Yeage... View More...
"This engaging, wonderfully written narrative provides fresh insight into this complex woman. It is a triumph." --Doris Kearns Goodwin Catherine Clinton, author of the award-winning Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, returns with Mrs. Lincoln, the first new biography in almost 20 years of Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the most enigmatic First Ladies in American history. Called "fascinating" by Ken Burns and "spirited and fast-paced" by the Boston Globe, Mrs. Lincoln is a meticulously researched and long overdue addition to the historical record. In the words of Pulitzer-Prize winning historian ... View More...
A revealing account of the critical first days of FDR's presidency, during the worst moments of the Great Depression, when he and his inner circle launched the New Deal and presided over the birth of modern America "Nothing to Fear" brings to life a fulcrum moment in American history?the tense, feverish first one hundred days of FDR's presidency, when he and his inner circle swept away the old order and reinvented the role of the federal government. When FDR took his oath of office in March 1933, thousands of banks had gone under following the Crash of 1929, a quarter of American workers were... View More...
The bestselling author of Illiberal Education presents a brilliant reassessment of Ronald Reagan, whose leadership and vision transformed a nation. View More...
In 1822, before Jedediah Smith entered the West, it was largely an unknown land, "a wilderness," he wrote, "of two thousand miles diameter." During his nine years as a trapper for Ashley and Henry and later for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, "the mild and Christian young man" blazed the trail westward through South Pass; he was the first to go from the Missouri overland to California, the first to cross the length of Utah and the width of Nevada, first to travel by land up through California and Oregon, first to cross the Sierra Nevada. Before his death on the Santa Fe Trail at the hands of t... View More...
Flawed Giant--the monumental concluding volume to Robert Dallek's biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson--provides the most through, engrossing account ever published of Johnson's years in the national spotlight. Drawing on hours of newly released White House tapes and dozens of interviews with people close to the President, Dallek reveals LBJ as a visionary leader who worked his will on Congress like no chief executive before or since, and also displays the depth of his private anguish as he became increasingly ensnared in Vietnam. Writing in a clear, thoughtful, and evenhanded style, Dallek reve... View More...
An analysis of the history of the U.S. presidency details the lives of each president and looks at why some have become national heroes while others have faded into historical obscurity, revealing five qualities that successful presidents have typically brought to the Oval Office. Tour. View More...