Between the 1880s and 1910s, thousands of African Americans passed civil service exams and became employed in the executive offices of the federal government. However, by 1920, promotions to well-paying federal jobs had nearly vanished for black workers...

Paul Jennings was born into slavery on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison in Virginia, later becoming part of the Madison household staff at the White House. Once finally emancipated by Senator Daniel Webster later in life, he would give an aged...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania“Both terrifying and enthralling.”—Entertainment Weekly“Thrilling, dramatic and powerful...

A unique "moneyball" look at the 2012 U.S. presidential contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney"Game changer." We heard it so many times during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. But what actually made a difference in the contest―and what was just...

History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. His cause went down in disastrous defeat and left the South impoverished for generations. If that cause had succeeded, it would have torn the United States in two and preserved the institution of slavery...

A New York Times Bestseller A 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award finalist A Washington Post Book World, Publisher's Weekly, and Los Angeles Times Book Review Best Book of the Year "Superb. . . . The best short biography of Franklin ever written...

The dramatic story of fugitive slaves and the antislavery activists who defied the law to help them reach freedom.More than any other scholar, Eric Foner has influenced our understanding of America's history. Now, making brilliant use of extraordinary...

This sweeping history of twentieth-century America follows the changing and often conflicting ideas about the fundamental nature of American society: Is the United States a social melting pot, as our civic creed warrants, or is full citizenship somehow...

“Fascinating.”—New York Times Book Review • “Well-written.”—The Boston Globe • “Extraordinary.”—The Christian Science Monitor • “A compelling page-turner.”—Adam HochschildOn the eve of a new century, an up-and-coming Theodore Roosevelt set out to...

While there have been many analyses of American imperialism, few have equalled the breadth or insight of this seminal text, one of the first to provide a historical perspective on the origins of the American empire. Victor Kiernan, one of the world's...

A selection of the landmark Supreme Court decisions that have shaped American societyPenguin presents a series of six portable, accessible, and—above all—essential reads from American political history, selected by leading scholars. Series editor Richard...

“An extraordinary work of reportage on the epic political story of our time” (Newsweek)—from Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthors of All the President’s Men.The Final Days is the #1 New York Times bestselling, classic,...

A probing look at one of the most incendiary subjects of our time―the relationship between the United States and IsraelThere has been more than half a century of raging conflict between Jews and Arabs―a violent, costly struggle that has had catastrophic...

"A wonderful, splendid book--a book that should be ready by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." --Howard FastWith a new introduction by Anthony Arnove, this edition of...

In the summer of 1754, deep in the wilderness of western Pennsylvania, a very young George Washington suffered his first military defeat, and a centuries-old feud between Great Britain and France was rekindled. The war that followed would be fought...

A landmark history of postwar America and the second volume in the Penguin History of the United States series, edited by Eric FonerIn this momentous work, acclaimed labor historian Joshua B. Freeman presents an epic portrait of the United States in the...

"Nothing in our time makes the Civil War as alive as the writings of Bruce Catton." —Baltimore SunInfinitely readable and absorbing, Pulitzer Prize-winner Bruce Catton’s The Civil War is one of the most widely read general histories of the war available...

Thomas Jefferson defined, at the moment of our nation’s birth, the issues that still direct our political life. Displaying his extraordinary variety of interests and powerful and precise style, Jefferson’s writings are an invaluable and incisive record...

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • Winner of The New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book AwardA new classic of science reporting.”—The New York TimesThe true story of a small town ravaged by industrial pollution, Toms River won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize...

Part geographical location, part time period, and part state of mind, the American West is a concept often invoked but rarely defined. Though popular culture has carved out a short and specific time and place for the region, author and longtime...