White House History

When America was attacked on 9/11, its citizens almost unanimously rallied behind its new, untested president as he went to war. What they didn't know at the time was that the Bush administration's highest priority was not to vanquish Al Qaeda, but to consolidate its own power at any cost. It was a mission that could be accomplished only by a propaganda presidency in which reality was steadily replaced by a scenario of the White House's own invention.

Best-selling presidential biographer Merle Miller has crafted a candid portrait of one of the most complex, fascinating, difficult, and colorful figures in American history. From his birth in 1908 to his death in 1973, the story of Lyndon B. Johnson is told with no sparing his personal excesses and contentious public image - while also highlighting the strength of his greatest accomplishments in Washington.

From the author of Plain Speaking and Lyndon comes an intimate and unconventional portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, America’s most beloved warrior. Bringing together thousands of hours of interviews with the men and women who were closest to him, Merle Miller has constructed a revealing and personal biography of the man who would become the supreme commander. Miller has crafted the defining biography on the life of the 34th president, bringing more depth to the man many thought they knew.

This unprecedented history of Black cinema examines 100 years of Black movies - from Gone with the Wind to Blaxploitation films to Black Panther - using the struggles and triumphs of the artists, and the films themselves, as a prism to explore Black culture, civil rights, and racism in America. From the acclaimed author of The Butler and Showdown.

Norman: Through My Eyes has evolved over 50 years. Always ahead of his time, Norman Hastings began researching his own family history well before this national obsession became what it is today, and more latterly through a collaboration between Norman and his daughter to convert his notes into an electronic record. The motivation for the book was founded on conversations held with Norman and his mother about her own deprived childhood.

The riveting story of a dramatic confrontation between Native Americans and White settlers, a compelling conflict that unfolded in the newly created Washington Territory from 1853 to 1857. When appointed Washington’s first governor, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, an ambitious military man turned politician, had one goal: To persuade (peacefully if possible) the Indians of the Puget Sound region to turn over their ancestral lands to the Federal Government.

In the spring of 1864, the newly installed Union commander Ulysses S. Grant did something none of his predecessors had done before: He threw his army against the wily, audacious Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia over and over again. At Spotsylvania Court House, the two armies shifted from stalemate in the Wilderness to slugfest in the mud. Most commonly known for the horrific 22-hour hand-to-hand combat in the pouring rain at the Bloody Angle, the battle of Spotsylvania Court House actually stretched from May 8 to 21, 1864 - 14 long days of battle and maneuver.

Is Christianity the White Man's Religion? affirms that ethnic diversity has played a powerful role in the formation of the Old and New Testaments and that the Bible is a book of justice, promoting equality for all people. Contrary to popular Eurocentric conceptions, biblical Christianity is not just for White Westerners. It's good news for all of us.

It was a time when anything seemed possible–instant wealth, glittering fame, fabulous luxury–and for a run of magical weeks in the spring and summer of 1920, Charles Ponzi made it all come true. Promising to double investors’ money in three months, the dapper, charming Ponzi raised the “rob Peter to pay Paul” scam to an art form and raked in millions at his office in downtown Boston. Ponzi’s Scheme is the amazing true story of the irresistible scoundrel who launched the most successful scheme of financial alchemy in modern history–and uttered the first roar of the Roaring Twenties.

"Leute fragen mich immer wieder, wo der Blues denn eigentlich begann, und alles, was ich sagen kann, ist, dass, als ich ein Junge war, wir immer auf den Feldern gesungen haben. Es war kein richtiges Singen, na ja, eher so Schreien, aber wir machten unsere Songs über Sachen, die uns damals tatsächlich passierten, und ich denke, das war die Zeit, als der Blues begann." (Son House 1965) Es ist heute unumstritten, dass der Blues einen gewaltigen Einfluss auf die Entwicklung der modernen Rock- und Popmusik genommen hat.