The Generals

Lincoln's Political Generals

The Battlefield Performance of Seven Controversial Appointees

Benton Rain Patterson

Lincoln's most controversial generals--his so-called "political generals"--were appointed, promoted or kept in service for political purposes without regard for their competence. "It seems but little better than murder," the Army's general in chief, Henry Halleck, protested, "to give important commands to such men." The book shows these seven generals--Butler, Banks, Sigel, Fremont, McClernand, Hurlbut and Wallace--in action, allowing readers to decide for themselves if Halleck was right in his withering assessment of Lincoln's political generals.

Washington and Cornwallis

The Battle for America, 1775-1783

Benton Rain Patterson

Washington and Cornwallis is a gripping narrative of the defeats and narrow victories that won the States' independence from the English crown. Patterson chronicles the battles waged between General George Washington and Lieutenant General Charles Lord Cornwallis, and examines their methods of command and their controversial military decisions, and ultimately brings into focus the personalities of these two pivotal Revolutionary War generals.

The Great American Steamboat Race

The Natchez and the Robert E. Lee and the Climax of an Era

Benton Rain Patterson

Running from New Orleans to St. Louis in the summer of 1870, the race between the Robert E. Lee and the Natchez remains the world's most famous steamboat race. This book tells the story of the dramatic contest, which was won by the stripped-down, cargoless Robert E. Lee after three days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes of steaming through day, night and fog. The Natchez finished the race only hours later, having been delayed by carrying her normal load and tying up overnight because of the intense fog. Providing details on not only the race narrative but also on the boats themselves, the book gives an intimate look at the majestic vessels that conquered the country's greatest waterway and defined the bravado of 19th-century America.

With the Heart of a King

Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and the Fight for a Nation's Soul and Crown

Benton Rain Patterson

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Ending the Civil War

The Bloody Year from Grant's Promotion to Lincoln's Assassination

Benton Rain Patterson

Dramatically and authentically, using eyewitness accounts where possible, this book recounts the final 13 months of the Civil War, a year in which a new U.S. Army general in chief was appointed, a new course for the war was charted, a massive new campaign was begun, the abolition of slavery was confirmed by the re-election of Abraham Lincoln, and the course of history was altered by the assassination of America's most revered president. It was the year that the United States won the final battle and the year that the sundered nation was reunited. The book describes those events and the key figures in them.

The Mississippi River Campaign, 1861-1863

The Struggle for Control of the Western Waters

Benton Rain Patterson

Telling the story of the Civil War's Mississippi River Campaign through the experiences of leading officers, ordinary soldiers, and civilians, this book explains how the river campaign came to be one of the key tenets of the Union's strategy and a fundamental contributor to the war's ultimate outcome. It describes the Union's drive down the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, the drive up the river from the Gulf of Mexico, and the capturing of key cities and rebel fortifications along the way, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Memphis, Vicksburg, and finally, Port Hudson, Louisiana. The text is supplemented with 24 historical photographs from the Library of Congress and the National Archives.

The Beatles as Musicians

The Quarry Men Through Rubber Soul

Walter Everett

This volume is a comprehensive, chronologically-ordered study of every aspect of the musical life of the Beatles - composition, performance, recording and reception histories - from the group's beginnings in 1956 through to 1965.

American Sphinx

The Character of Thomas Jefferson

Joseph J. Ellis

Offers a reassessment of the life, image, and career of Thomas Jefferson, examining his complex personality, controversies about the man and his beliefs, and his accomplishments.

My Grandfather's Son

A Memoir

Clarence Thomas

Provocative, inspiring, and unflinchingly honest, My Grandfather's Son is the story of one of America's most remarkable and controversial leaders, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, told in his own words. Thomas was born in rural Georgia on June 23, 1948, into a life marked by poverty and hunger. His parents divorced when Thomas was still a baby, and his father moved north to Philadelphia, leaving his young mother to raise him and his brother and sister on the ten dollars a week she earned as a maid. At age seven, Thomas and his six-year-old brother were sent to live with his mother's father, Myers Anderson, and her stepmother in their Savannah home. It was a move that would forever change Thomas's life. His grandfather, whom he called "Daddy," was a black man with a strict work ethic, trying to raise a family in the years of Jim Crow. Thomas witnessed his grandparents' steadfastness despite injustices, their hopefulness despite bigotry, and their deep love for their country. His own quiet ambition would propel him to Holy Cross and Yale Law School, and eventually—despite a bitter, highly contested public confirmation—to the highest court in the land. In this candid and deeply moving memoir, a quintessential American tale of hardship and grit, Clarence Thomas recounts his astonishing journey for the first time, and pays homage to the man who made it possible. Intimately and eloquently, Thomas speaks out, revealing the pieces of his life he holds dear, detailing the suffering and injustices he has overcome, including the acrimonious and polarizing Senate hearing involving a former aide, Anita Hill, and the depression and despair it created in his own life and the lives of those closest to him. My Grandfather's Son is the story of a determined man whose faith, courage, and perseverance inspired him to rise up against all odds and achieve his dreams.

Swords and Plowshares

Maxwell Davenport Taylor

"General Maxwell D. Taylor was one of the great military heroes of recent American history. During World War II, Taylor fought in Sicily and Italy before parachuting into France as head of the 101st Airborne Division on Dday, 1944. Later he commanded the Division in the Arnhem drop in Holland and in the defense of Basting in the Bulge. After the war, Taylor served as superintendent of West Point, U.S. Commander in Berlin, Commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, and Army Chief of Staff under President Eisenhower. John F. Kennedy named him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and sent him to Vietnam in 1961; he returned to that country as Ambassador in 1965, and served as a key advisor to President Johnson until 1969. In Swords and Plowshares, Taylor tells the firsthand story of a life of action, courage, strategy, and dedication. Offering candid and controversial views of such central figures as Dwight Eisenhower, John Dulles, the Kennedy's, and General Westmoreland, Taylor contrasts their varying views of the role of air power in modern warfare, and presents his own approach to the problems of winning wars and making peace. These memoirs ably illustrate why General Maxwell Taylor deserves to rank among Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Patton as one of the great American military geniuses of our time." -- Publisher.

Mark Rothko

A Biography

James E. B. Breslin

This first full-length biography of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century draws on exclusive access to Mark Rothko's personal papers and hundreds of interviews with artists, patrons, and dealers. Breslin reveals the complexities and contradictions of the man, his art, and his time. 21 color plates. 52 halftones.

Let the Trumpet Sound

The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr

Stephen B. Oates

Winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award and the Christopher Award, this brilliant examination of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. portrays a very real man and his dream that shaped America's history.

Memoirs of Andrew Jackson

Major-General in the Army of the United States; and Commander in Chief of the Division of the South

Samuel Putnam Waldo

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Memoirs of Andrew Jackson, Major-General in the Army of the United States, etc

Samuel Putnam WALDO

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Civil and Military History of Andrew Jackson, Late Major-general in the Army of the United States, and Commander-in-chief of the Southern Division

Samuel Putnam Waldo

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Biography of Andrew Jackson

President of the United States, Formerly Major General in the Army of the United States

Philo A. Goodwin

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Biography of Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, Formerly Major General in the Army of the United States

Philo A. Goodwin

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The Life of Major General Andrew Jackson

Comprising a History of the War in the South; from the Commencement of the Creek Campaign to the Termination of Hostilities Before New Orleans. Addenda: Containing a Brief History of the Seminole War, and Cession and Government of Florida

John Henry Eaton

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