John Brown's Trial

By Brian McGinty

McGinty (Lincoln and the Court) gives us a detailed account of the trial and execution of abolitionist John Brown in 1859 for his raid on Harpers Ferry. Through studying the trial records, period newspapers, and accounts by trial participants, the author raises several important points regarding the fairness of the proceedings. First, the Commonwealth of Virginia tried Brown even though the Harpers Ferry arsenal was the property of the federal government. The prosecutor, Andrew Hunter, had had a relative by marriage who was killed by Brown's men, a factor that should have removed him from the trial. Both of Brown's original defense attorneys had witnessed the raid. After the jury returned the guilty verdict, Brown's appeals were quickly denied, and Governor Henry Wise of Virginia refused to grant clemency. In short, the government of Virginia was determined to be rid of Brown. The results, however, went against Virginia and the South: Brown's eloquent defense of his actions, denunciation of slavery, and execution transformed him into a symbol for the end of slavery.

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Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers

By Kay Bailey Hutchison

In a series of skillfully drawn biographical portraits, United States Senator and bestselling author Kay Bailey Hutchison examines the lives of sixty-three pioneers in military service, journalism, public health, social reform, science, and politics—all American women. Mixing historical portraits with modern success stories, Senator Hutchison shows how American women from all periods of history have contributed to the strength and progress of our nation. Senator Hutchison, a trailblazer herself, became the first woman from the state of Texas elected to the United States Senate.

With courage, purpose, and compassion, the women of Leading Ladies continue to blaze trails for thousands of American women to follow—and no history of the nation can be written without them.

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Civil War Wives: The Lives and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant

By Carol Berkin


Traces the vivid stories of the wives of Theodore Weld, Jefferson Davis, and Ulysses S. Grant to demonstrate how their personal beliefs were overshadowed by the supporting roles they played to their high-profile husbands before unique wartime and personal challenges brought their characters to the foreground.

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In Afghanistan: Two Hundred Years of British, Russian and American Occupation

By David Loyn

An award-winning BBC foreign correspondent chronicles the military conflicts of Afghanistan throughout the past two centuries, evaluating the roles of misunderstanding and broken agreements as well as the author's perspectives on how foreign occupiers underestimated Afghani capabilities.

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Lincoln's Political Generals

By David Work

In an examination of Lincoln's policy of appointing political generals to build a national coalition to fight and win the Civil War, Work follows the careers of sixteen generals through the war. He demonstrates convincingly that these generals' efforts significantly aided the Union war effort in their capacity as administrators, political supporters, recruiters and organizers of troops, and advocates of the Union cause among key political and ethnic constituencies.

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Founders: The People Who Brought You a Nation

By Ray Raphael

Examines the lives of seven lesser known figures from the Revolutionary period, including one of Washington's soldiers, a wealthy merchant, a blacksmith, and the politically active Mercy Otis Warren.

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Citizen-in-Chief: The Second Lives of the American Presidents

By Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss

A collection of behind-the-scenes stories about the lives of presidents after their White House years includes such accounts as John Quincy Adams's work as an abolitionist, William Howard Taft's service as chief justice of the Supreme Court, and Dwight Eisenhower's covert support of the war effort in North Vietnam.

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American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America

By Edmund S. Morgan


The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Benjamin Franklin celebrates lesser-known aspects of the lives of America's founding fathers, national heroes, and more obscure figures whose steadfastness to their causes influenced the country's development.

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Seeds of Terror: How Heroin is Bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda

By Gretchen Peters

Examines the drug trade in Afghanistan, discussing how farmers there continue to grow poppy illegally, and how the Taliban and al Qaeda control heroin labs and distribution networks, and use drug profits to finance terrorist activities.

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