We know Lincoln for his hymn to democracy in the Gettysburg Address and as the president who had to steady his hand when signing the Emancipation Proclamation. But there was another dimension to Lincoln, less visible but no less central to his character...

By a prize-winning historian: The dramatic story of a Black man’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary-era AmericaWhen most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants...

The “gripping” (The Atlantic) story of five families shattered by pernicious, pervasive conspiracy theories, and how we might set ourselves free from a crisis that could haunt American life for generations.“Excellent . . . This is the intimate side of...

In this masterful, groundbreaking work, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Heather Ann Thompson shines surprising new light on an infamous 1984 New York subway shooting that would unveil simmering racial resentments and would lead, in unexpected ways, to a...

From CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams, a revelatory account of how one man, four teenagers, and a struggling city collided over race, vigilantism, and public safety . . . exposing the fault lines of a nationOn a dirty New York subway car on December 22,...

Winner of the MAAH Stone Prize“Splendid . . . Adams’s book explores class as well as race, with a richness and sophistication that recall J. Anthony Lukas’s 1985 masterpiece, Common Ground.” —Jeffrey Toobin, The New York Times Book Review“Passionate and...

In 1776, one man’s words—and the determination of American patriots—allowed our nation to survive its first crisis.Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Declaration of Independence marked the birth of the United States. But two essays of that era appealed...

The Confederate States of America was born in defense of slavery and, after a four-year struggle to become an independent slaveholding republic, died as emancipation dawned. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands...

The first-ever Black history to center queer voices, this landmark study traces the lives of LGBTQ+ Black Americans from slavery to present dayGender and sexual expression have always been part of the Black freedom struggleIn this latest book in Beacon’s...

An acclaimed historian narrates the stories of newly emancipated children who were re-enslaved by white masters through apprenticeships and their parents fights to free themWhile the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, white southerners established a...

For readers of The Sum of Us and South to America, an essential new look at the roots of American inequality—and the seeds of its transformationOnce the powerhouse of a fledgling country’s economy, the Mississippi Delta has been consigned to a narrative...

Ever since its publication in 1941, The Mind of the South has been recognized as a path-breaking work of scholarship and as a literary achievement of enormous eloquence and insight in its own right. From its investigation of the Southern class system to...

Fifty years ago, a government investigation led by US senator Frank Church uncovered some of the darkest state secrets of the twentieth century. The Church Committee confirmed the nation's worst fears about the unchecked power of its intelligence...