American Century

The Mysterious John Quidor A Forgotten Painter. A Lost Masterpiece. A Legacy Buried in Shadows. John Quidor's name has long teetered on the edge of oblivion, an overlooked artist whose dreamlike and eerie works whispered of deeper truths. Known for his haunting depictions of literary scenes and spiritual visions, Quidor's career was marred by tragedy: a devastating fire that consumed his studio, a cholera outbreak that ravaged New York, and a quiet disappearance that left the art world puzzled. But his story didn’t end there. Driven westward, Quidor resurfaced briefly in Adams County, ...

Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner were the new media moguls of their day. With their photographs they brought the Civil War - and all of its terrible suffering - into Northern living rooms. By the end of the war, they were locked in fierce competition. And when the biggest story of the century happened - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln - their paparazzi-like competition intensified.

An aversion to urban density and all that it contributes to urban life, and a perception that the city was the place where "big government" first took root in America fostered what historian Steven Conn terms the "anti-urban impulse." In this provocative and sweeping audiobook, Conn explores the anti-urban impulse across the 20th century, examining how the ideas born of it have shaped both the places in which Americans live and work, and the anti-government politics so strong today.

Nineteenth-century America was rife with Protestant-fueled anti-Catholicism. Elizabeth Hayes Alvarez reveals how Protestants nevertheless became surprisingly and deeply fascinated with the Virgin Mary, even as her role as a devotional figure who united Catholics grew. Documenting the vivid Marian imagery that suffused popular visual and literary culture, Alvarez argues that Mary became a potent shared exemplar of Christian womanhood around which Christians of all stripes rallied.

A soldier at war. A lonely girl back home. After his dishonesty, will he get a second chance at romance? Maggie’s faith is important to her. She is confident and needs no reassurance, but is a lonely only child. As her patriotic contribution to America’s involvement in the Korean War, she writes to a soldier stationed there whom she doesn’t know. Tom is a soldier serving in Korea. The atrocities of war have rocked his faith in God until he feels uncomfortable even going inside a church. In letters he writes to Maggie, Tom doesn’t admit his lack of faith but disguises the truth.Tom ...

Within the annals of history lie stories of courage, sacrifice, and resilience—tales that illuminate the path of humanity's journey through the ages. Among these narratives, few are as compelling as that of the Culper Spy Ring, whose clandestine efforts played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of a nation. In the pages that follow, we embark on a journey through time, traversing the landscapes of the Revolutionary War and the 20th century revelation that brought the once-hidden heroes of the Culper Spy Ring into the light of recognition. Through meticulous research and evocative ...

Reluctant Race Men traces a history of the disparate challenges Black American reformers lodged against race across the long nineteenth century. It factors their opposition into the nation's history of race and reconstructs a reform tradition largely ignored in accounts of Black activism. Black-controlled newspapers, societies, churches, and conventions provided the principal loci and resources for questioning race. In these contexts, people of African descent generated a lexicon for refuting race, debated its logic, and, ultimately, reinterpreted it.

The Chisholm Trail: The History and Legacy of 19th Century America's Most Famous Cattle Drive Route examines how the various paths were forged, the people most responsible for them, and the most famous events associated with the trail's history. You will learn about the Chisholm Trail like never before.

Most Americans are aware that their 16th president was mortally wounded by a man named Booth at a Washington theater in April 1865. These are facts that nobody can dispute. However, a closer look at this history-changing catastrophe raises questions that have still not been fully answered. The passing of the 150th anniversary of the United States' first presidential assassination is an ideal time for students and scholars to consider these questions.

La historia más bella y mejor documentada de las sesenta y una jóvenes maestras que Sarmiento "importó" de los Estados Unidos a la Argentina en el siglo XIX. Sus amores, tragedias y relaciones prohibidas, y sus batallas pedagógicas y aventuras en las luchas políticas que asolaban la república, en un relato cautivante de la mano de Laura Ramos.

Horace Busby was one of LBJ's most trusted advisors; their close working and personal relationship spanned twenty years. In The Thirty-First of March he offers an indelible portrait of a president and a presidency at a time of crisis.

It is 1857. Olivia, Nick, their two little girls, and Charlie still live in the old boarding house. It has been nine years since Mourning left. Nine years since the last time Olivia has seen him – though he has always managed to arrange with Michelle to have Charlie spend a few weeks with him each summer. But today Olivia is anxiously awaiting Mourning’s arrival. Yesterday he sent a message with Michelle – he needs to talk with Olivia. Why now? What will he say? Does he intend to take Charlie for good? On this already emotionally-charged day, a cryptic telegram from Missouri arrives. ...

After the devastating trauma she suffered in Olivia, Mourning and finally knowing the reality with which she must contend, Olivia strives to rebuild herself – emotionally, socially, and financially. She seeks a new life in Detroit, the young and exciting city on a river, where she has come to feel at home. New friends help the healing process, while she continues to search for the two people she loves, who have disappeared from her life. She finds some solace in helping fugitive slaves escape over the river to Canada. She believes, as one of her new friends says, “In this time and place...

David Brainerd's diary is a poignant testament to the relentless pursuit of faith amidst the challenges of missionary life in colonial America. As a Puritan of Puritans, Brainerd's unwavering commitment to Calvinist theology shaped every facet of his existence, from his thoughts to his actions, all dedicated to the glorification of God. Sent as a missionary to the Native Americans in Pennsylvania during the 18th century, Brainerd's diary chronicles his struggles, triumphs, and deep spiritual introspection throughout his brief yet impactful life. Within the pages of Brainerd's diary, readers...

The American frontier in the 1700s produced some men of utter ruthlessness, and Jim Girty was one of the worst. Living among the Delaware Indians in the Ohio Valley, Girty and his brothers incited acts of savagery and war against the white settlers. One of Jim Girty's targets was the Village of Peace, a settlement of Christian Indians who had been converted by Moravian missionaries.

Raised by a pious single mother, William Lloyd Garrison embraced the general teachings of the Christian faith as a young man, and in his 20s, he became convicted that slavery was the greatest moral evil in the nation. Thereafter, he devoted most of his life to seeing it ended, and he refused to give an inch in the name of compromise on the things he felt strongly about. Few Americans in any era could tout the civil rights record William Lloyd Garrison could boast of.

Overall, A Moccasin on One Foot and a Shoe on the Other: Being Native American in the 21st Century serves as a valuable guidebook for teenage listeners, promoting cultural understanding, challenging misconceptions, and empowering Native American youth to navigate their identity with pride in the 21st century.

In Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Making of a National Leader, author Troy Jackson chronicles King's emergence and effectiveness as a civil rights leader by examining his relationship with the people of Montgomery, Alabama. Using the sharp lens of Montgomery's struggle for racial equality to investigate King's burgeoning leadership, Jackson explores King's ability to connect with the educated and the unlettered, professionals and the working class.

Seventeenth-century North America was truly a new world for both the European and indigenous First Nations native cultures that interfaced upon that spectacular wilderness theater. For both the native people and the European, this stage forged new understandings from all things thought familiar to previous generations. Throughout this historical period were episodes that defined the era, episodes that captured the essence of the human spirit, and episodes that abase a work of fiction.

Over the last decade, William Giraldi has established himself as a charismatic and uncompromising literary essayist. American Audacity gathers Giraldi's fierce and witty considerations of American writers and themes, including a never-before-published appreciation of James Baldwin and an introductory call to arms for 21st-century American literature.