American History Biographies

Yahoo’s lead baseball columnist offers an in-depth look at the most valuable commodity in sports—the pitching arm—and how its vulnerability to injury is hurting players and the game, from Little League to the majors. Every year, Major League Baseball spends more than $1.5 billion on...

A “well-researched and very readable new biography” (The Wall Street Journal) of “the Thomas Edison of guns,” a visionary inventor who designed the modern handgun and whose awe-inspiring array of firearms helped ensure victory in numerous American wars and holds a crucial place in world...

“A GRIPPING CLASSIC. Exhaustively researched, The Hunter Killers puts you directly into a Wild Weasel fighter cockpit during the Vietnam War. Dan Hampton lets you feel it for yourself as no one else could.”--Colonel LEO THORSNESS, Wild Weasel pilot and Medal of Honor recipient At the height...

The musician and Hip Hop legend—hailed as “the greatest MC of all time” and compared to Thelonious Monk—reimagines the writing handbook in this memoir and guide that incorporates the soulful genius, confidence, and creativity of a master artist. When he exploded on the music scene...

“A thoroughly engaging and enjoyable” (National Review) biography of Grover Cleveland—one of America’s most unusual presidents and the first one to serve two non-consecutive terms. “Entertaining and astute” (Booklist), A Man of Iron explores the remarkable life and extraordinary...

Gloria Steinem—writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world—now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She...

A New York Times Bestseller A multigenerational saga of two families, who rose from immigrant roots to the pinnacle of wealth and power, that tracks the unraveling of American democracy. In American Oligarchs, award-winning investigative journalist Andrea Bernstein tells the story of the Trump...

In 1968 James T. Gillam was a poorly focused college student at Ohio University who was dismissed and then drafted into the Army. Unlike most African-Americans who entered the Army then, he became a Sergeant and an instructor at the Fort McClellan Alabama School of Infantry.

The third volume of the legendary “Gonzo Papers” recalls high and hideous moments in Hunter S. Thompson’s life and career—featuring a new introduction from comedian Tim Heidecker. With Thompson’s trademark insight and passion about the state of American politics and culture, Songs of...

Our American Revolution for Beginners audiobook is written in a style and structure that makes listening and immersing yourself in history as enjoyable and captivating as possible. You'll witness the daring strategies, meet the real revolutionaries, and finally understand what pushed colonists to fight for independence.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles, a look at how some of the most educated people in America lost their minds—and how she almost did, too. As a Hillary voter, a New York Times reporter, and frequent attendee at her local gay bars, Nellie Bowles fit...

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times bestseller freshly adapted for the next generation. Inspiration for the PBS American Experience Documentary 'The Boys of '36' For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Great Depression comes the...

An accessible, compelling introduction to today’s major policy issues from the New York Times columnist, best-selling author, and Nobel prize–winning economist Paul Krugman. There is no better guide than Paul Krugman to basic economics, the ideas that animate much of our public policy...

The definitive account of Whitney Houston’s astonishing life, ground-breaking career, and tragic death — complete with never-before-seen photographs — from the only one who truly knows the story behind the headlines: her mother, Cissy Houston. Cissy has said little publicly about...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edmund Morris comes a revelatory new biography of Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific genius in American history. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time Publishers Weekly Kirkus Reviews Although Thomas Alva...

A novel in The L.A. Quartet. Internationally acclaimed author James Ellroy presents another literary noir masterpiece of historical paranoia. Los Angeles, 1958. Killings, beatings, bribes, shakedowns—it's standard procedure for Lieutenant Dave Klein, LAPD. He's a slumlord, a bagman, an...

The astounding yet true rags-to-riches saga of a homeless father who raised and cared for his son on the mean streets of San Francisco and went on to become a crown prince of Wall Street. At the age of twenty, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "[The] rare biography of a public figure that's not only beautifully written, but also shockingly revelatory." -- The Atlantic A vivid biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush, one of the most influential and under-appreciated women in American political...

He challenged the greatest empire on earth with a ragtag bunch of renegades—and brought it to its knees. Empire of Blue Water is the real story of the pirates of the Caribbean. Henry Morgan, a twenty-year-old Welshman, crossed the Atlantic in 1655, hell-bent on making his fortune. Over the...

A New York Times Notable Book The inspiration for PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film The Poison Squad. From Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Deborah Blum, the dramatic true story of how food was made safe in the United States and the heroes, led by the inimitable Dr...