Private History

According to the Elliot Ness myth, which has been widely disseminated through books, television shows, and movies, Ness and the Untouchables defeated Al Capone by marshaling superior firepower. In Scarface Al and the Crime Crusaders, Dennis Hoffman presents a fresh new perspective on the downfall of Al Capone.

New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist, Nina Burleigh, explores “the stark details of the forces that shaped [Donald] Trump’s thinking about women” (The New York Times) in this comprehensive, provocative, and critical account of the six women who have been closest...

Read by the author. Discover a fascinating and novel look at the U.S. presidents, the first families, and American history—all through the lens of hair. With meticulous detail and engaging storytelling, encyclopedia editor Theodore Pappas combs through American history, teasing out...

This volume does not claim to be a tactical, or strategic history of the campaigns of which it treats; it aims rather to be a narrative of the every day life and experience of the private soldier in camp and field how he lived, how he marched, how he fought and how he suffered. No sooner had some of the volunteers reached the front, and been subjected to the hardships and exposures of army life, than they fell sick, were sent to the hospital and were discharged without passing through any serious campaigns.

In this insider's look at one of the 20th century's most infamous trials, ex-juror Tracy Kennedy discloses what life was like for himself and his wife in the days leading up to the O.J. Simpson trial, and how it subsequently differed so much from their expectations. Kennedy reveals what happened during the trial and sequestration, a sequestration that turned the lives of a normal, married couple into an emotional hell.

The first really great battle of the Civil War was that of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, and I shall not only attempt to give a general account of the battle, but also describe it from the point of view of a man in the ranks. In respect to the general features of this desperate struggle between our own countrymen, my statements are derived from many reports and accounts carefully collated, and from many conversations with soldiers engaged, both from the Union and Confederate armies.

Gus Van Sant’s film and the ’90s cult of the alternative Gus Van Sant’s 1991 indie darling My Own Private Idaho perplexed and provoked, inspiring a new ethos for a new decade: being different was better than being good. Gentlemen of the Shade examines how the film was a coming-of-age for a generation of young people who would embrace the alternative and bring their outsider perspectives to sustainability, technology, gender constructs, and social responsibility.