America experienced unprecedented expansion and turmoil in the years between 1815 and 1848. Historian David S. Reynolds illuminates the period's political story as well as the social and cultural movements that influenced it. He casts fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, along with John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation's territory and strengthened its position internationally. Waking Giant captures the...

In Illiberal Reformers, Thomas Leonard reexamines the economic progressives whose ideas and reform agenda underwrote the Progressive Era dismantling of laissez-faire and the creation of the regulatory welfare state, which, they believed, would humanize and rationalize industrial capitalism. But not for all. Academic social scientists such as Richard T. Ely, John R. Commons, and Edward A. Ross, together with their reform allies in social work, charity,...

"Weaves together a ... behind-the-scenes look at life during the Civil War and a ... tale of one misfit's odyssey to find his place in the world. Discovered at age four by P.T. Barnum, Tom Thumb soon finds himself traveling internationally, sitting on the laps of the queens of Europe, and entertaining the masses ... After marrying Lavinia Warren, Tom and wife are hosted at the White House by President Lincoln. With the country at war, Tom and Lavinia...

"Covers all major wars and conflicts in North America from the late-15th to mid-18th centuries, with discussions of key battles, diplomatic efforts, military technologies, and strategies and tactics ... [E]xplores the context for conflict, with essays on competing colonial powers, every major Native American tribe, all important political and military leaders, and a range of social and cultural issues."--Publisher's Web site.