Roots History

Bestselling Christian author Michael Phillips believes that the United States is on a collision course toward a new civil war. But a different kind of war. An ideological civil war, growing out of the erosion of virtues that have been the strength of the nation’s relational, spiritual, and ethical fabric for over two hundred years. When this war breaks out, it will cause more chaos and division even than that caused by the political strife of the past two decades. Institutions, families, and churches will be split in ways we cannot yet envision.

In this audiobook, Simon Louvish traces the early lives of Stanley Jefferson and Norvell Hardy and the surrounding minstrel and variety theater, which influenced all of their later work. Louvish examines the rarely seen solo films of both our heroes, prior to their serendipitous pairing in 1927, in the long-lost short Duck Soup. The inspired casting teamed them until their last days. Both often married, they found balancing their personal and professional lives a nearly impossible feat.

“Before I have a big meeting or decision to make,” says Oprah Winfrey, “I go and I sit with the ancestors. Literally, I go and sit in my closet and I say their names. I just say their names so that when I walk into the space, I don’t walk alone.” This audiobook will help millions of...

Conventional wisdom has it that the origins of the horror genre are found in the nineteenth century, in works like Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this paradigm-shaking new book, Bible scholar and cultural historian Brandon Grafius argues that the Bible is, among other things, the world's first work of horror literature. The tropes and themes that we find in slasher movies, body horror, folk horror, and zombie apocalypses were kickstarted by the Bible. Before Godzilla, there were the monsters arising from the sea in the book of Daniel.

We were never meant to be afraid of God―but many of us are. The ancient world of the New and Old Testament was saturated with this kind of fear. And as strange as this might seem to us, today’s Christians are not so different. We agonize over the exact wording of our prayers to try and make sure God responds a certain way. We push ourselves to do all the right things in the hopes that a distant, unpredictable God might be impressed enough to side with us. But this is not the God we encounter in the Scriptures and in the life of Christ.

Overground Railroad chronicles the history of the Green Book, which was published from 1936 to 1966. For years, it was dangerous for African Americans to travel in the United States. Because of segregation, Black travelers couldn't eat, sleep, or even get gas at most white-owned businesses. The Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, stores, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for Black travelers. It took courage to be listed in it, and the stories from those who took a stand against racial segregation are recorded and celebrated.

Eminent scholar Peter Irons makes a powerful and persuasive case that Blacks have always been held back by systemic racism in all major institutions that can hold power over them. Based on a wide range of sources, from the painful words of former slaves to test scores that reveal how our education system has failed Black children, this searing and sobering account of legal and extra-legal violence against Blacks peels away the fictions and myths expressed by White racists.

Beware Euphoria uncovers the roots of America's moral obsession with drug regulation, offering a lively and fascinating history of the nation's racialized fear of intoxication. Challenging the idea that early anti-drug laws in the United States arose from racial animus, George Fisher instead shows in textured detail how United States drug laws were driven by a deep-seated cultural taboo against euphoria and a preoccupation with white moral integrity.

This crescent of bottomlands between Memphis and Vicksburg, lined by the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers, remains in some ways what it was in 1860: a land of rich soil, wealthy planters, and desperate poverty - the blackest and poorest counties in all the South. And yet it is a cultural treasure house as well - the home of Muddy Waters, B. B. King, Charley Pride, Walker Percy, Elizabeth Spencer, and Shelby Foote.

This collection of classic Irish wisdom—in the form of stories, prayers, and proverbs—reveals the creator in the natural world and highlights the importance of the Celtic spiritual heritage.

A century ago, Europe's diplomats mismanaged the crisis triggered by the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and the continent plunged into World War I, which killed millions, toppled dynasties, and destroyed empires. Today, as the 100th anniversary of the Great War prompts renewed debate about the war's causes, scholars and policy experts are also considering the parallels between the present international system and the world of 1914. Are China and the United States fated to follow in the footsteps of previous great power rivals?

Whether you have played a Prince of Persia video game, seen the movie, or just heard about it in history class, it is hard to ignore the Persian Empire, which was among the greatest empires of the world for some time. The typical area for the Persian Empire was what is now Iran. The Persians had a vast influence on surrounding countries and regions. Their style, art, music, rule, and culture have had an influence on the development of science and the forming of nations. Learn more in this audiobook about this empire of old.

Descubra la historia no contada de Brasil, una tierra donde la exuberante belleza de la Amazonía se encuentra con la energía bulliciosa de ciudades en expansión como Río de Janeiro y São Paulo. Desde el amanecer de las antiguas civilizaciones indígenas hasta la llegada de los exploradores portugueses, la historia de Brasil es una de contrastes impresionantes.

In arguably one of the most divisive and polarizing eras, evangelicals are faced with a profound crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that has many dimensions - political, biblical, and theological - as well as a crisis of spiritual formation and discipleship. What ultimately is at the root of this crisis? Mark Galli encourages us to turn our attention away from the politics of the moment, the social issues being discussed online, and the debate du jour among Christians. He asks us instead to take a long and hard look at what’s missing in our spirituality.

In this thought-provoking book, the author embarks on a deep exploration of the historical and contemporary challenges that have led to civil unrest in the United States. Titled "Shattered Promises: Unveiling the Roots of Civil Unrest in America and the Path to Change," this book delves into the complex interplay of labor struggles, violence, social inequality, racial and ethnic tensions, the struggle for rights and justice, government responses, and the lasting impact of these events on American society.

Sensational tales of true-life crime, the devastation of the Irish potato famine, the upheaval of the Civil War, and the turbulent emergence of the American labor movement are connected in a captivating exploration of the roots of the Molly Maguires. A secret society of peasant assassins in Ireland that re-emerged in Pennsylvania’s hard-coal region, the Mollies organized strikes, murdered mine bosses, and fought the Civil War draft. Their shadowy 12-year duel with all powerful coal companies marked the beginning of class warfare in America.

With China’s history unfolding around her, this is the true story of how Frances channeled her unique talents and connections to unite people in our shared humanity.

An interdisciplinary work that brings life writing scholarship into conversation with prison studies and law and literature studies, Prison Life Writing theorizes how life writing works in prison, explains literature’s complicated entanglements with institutional power, and demonstrates the political and aesthetic innovations of one of America’s most fascinating literary genres.

Contrary to competing popular beliefs, police violence against African Americans has neither remained unchanged since the era of slavery nor is it a recent phenomenon disconnected from the past. In Bluecoated Terror, Jeffrey S. Adler draws on rich archival accounts to show how racialized police brutality is part of a larger system of state oppression with roots in the early twentieth-century South, particularly New Orleans.

In 1948, the Orioles, a Baltimore-based vocal group, recorded "It's Too Soon to Know". Combining the sound of Tin Pan Alley with gospel and blues sensibilities, the Orioles saw their first hit reach #13 on the pop charts, thus introducing the nation to vocal rhythm & blues and paving the way for the most successful groups of the 1950s. In the first scholarly treatment of this influential musical genre, Stuart Goosman chronicles the Orioles' story and that of myriad other black vocal groups in the postwar period.