New Releases by Douglas Brinkley

The acclaimed historian and author of "Tour of Duty" chronicles the heroism of the brave men of D-Day whose selfless courage was celebrated by President Ronald Reagan 40 years later.

Offers a vivid narrative of the seventy-seven-day struggle to control the remote Khe Sanh base in Vietnam, during which a severely outnumbered and isolated group of Marines held off an enemy onslaught, in a multimedia history that features firsthand remin

Provides information such as military commander profiles, the war''s armaments and battlefronts, timelines, oral histories, and the political, social, and economic factors that influenced the conflict.

World War II comes alive through the public records and private accounts of the day. Eminent historian Brinkley has carefully chosen the critical documents that bring to life the days of the war from the first Allied counteroffensive to V-J Day.

Published for the 60th anniversary of D-Day, this illustrated volume with audio CDs presents firsthand accounts of the Normandy invasion with a central narrative by one of America''s preeminent historians. A compelling compilation of firsthand accounts of the Normandy invasion presents forty oral histories that recount the events and experiences of D-Day from the perspectives of the veterans themselves, accompanied by a selection of interviews on CD.

As he talked about that historic day 35 years ago when he became the first human to set foot on the moon, the notoriously reticent Neil Armstrong dropped his guard, and the inner boy from Ohio shone through.

A deadly mission up the Bay Hap River would be John Kerry''s last in Vietnam. Everything ventured, nothing gained but a chestul of medals and the horrific memories that came with them.

Some American presidents have been larger than life but none of them have been larger than death. C-SPAN''s Brian Lamb has visited the gravesites of every president, living & dead, in order to create this guide. With hundreds of photos & lively evaluations of each president from historian Richard Norton Smith & an afterword from Douglas Brinkley, the book is about the presidents'' lives as much as it is about their final resting places. Its collection of the president''s last words offers a poignant & sometimes humorous look at the last moments of the great men. From their lives to their death scenes, from their funerals to their burial spots, this unique guidebook provides travelers with all the info. needed to visit the graves & libraries of the presidents. Illus.

Introducing a new series where history comes alive in riveting documents and images of great events as they occurred. This first volume recounts the moves and decisions of the axis group from 1939-1942 during World War II. 75 illustrations.

An exploration of the Mississippi River, tracing its length from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, and discussing its important role in the history of the United States. Includes photographs, period illustrations, artwork, documents, and maps.

On 1 December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, a quiet and dignified 42-year-old black seamstress refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her arrest led to a 381-day boycott of the city''s bus system, led by Martin Luther King, which is now considered the beginning of the American civil rights movement. Rosa Parks'' personality and character were an important part of the bus boycott''s success. Graceful, reserved and a devout churchgoer, she was also a civil rights activist alongside her daytime job as a seamstress, and she believed in the use of righteous force when necessary. The boycott was an epic event. 50,000 blacks (three-quarters of the city''s population) somehow found some other way to get to and from work, week after week. In 1957 she and her husband moved north to Detroit, where she continued to work for civil rights, taking part in most of the great marches of the 1960s, although she found the male chauvinism of these events increasingly unacceptable. She was a great admirer of Martin Luther King, and he of her, and his assassination in 1968 was a bitter blow. After King''s death, the movement began to lose its way and Rosa Parks believed that anger and violence were replacing non-violent social protest. In later years she seemed almost a forgotten figure, but in the 1990s this appeared to be changing. In 1999 Time magazine hailed here as one of the hundred most significant individuals of the century, and there were plaudits from the Pope, Nelson Mandela and others. This book about the life and times of a remarkable and inspiring woman is also a brilliant re-creation of mid-century American life.

In this newly updated edition, Douglas Brinkley, one of our most distinguished historians, brings together a stunning collection of eyewitness accounts that chronicles the American experience from the perspectives of those who participated in its making. Witness to America includes nearly 150 works drawn from America''s history, from the first shots of the Revolutionary War to the twenty-first century. From Patrick Henry''s rousing "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" speech to John Brown''s stand at Harpers Ferry; from Franklin D. Roosevelt''s promise of a New Deal to Neil Armstrong''s account of walking on the moon; from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina to Barack Obama''s landmark speech on race: this sweeping volume brings the milestones in American history vividly to life. Here are unique and revealing selections from such historical figures as John Adams, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, as well as influential individuals, among them Booker T. Washington, Charles Lindbergh, Ernie Pyle, Rosa Parks, and Betty Friedan. While many of the selections come from notable citizens, most are from ordinary Americans—schoolteachers, students, homemakers, pioneers, and soldiers—who describe the everyday events that have epitomized American life over the course of its history, indelibly demonstrating both the variety and vitality of the American character. Witness to America sweeps across the vast territory that is our nation, illuminating the movements, ideas, inventions, and events that have shaped and defined us—from the Pony Express to the personal computer; from the frontier to the rise of suburbia; from farming to modernization and the information age. Within these pages discover the art of whaling, learn about survival on the Gold Rush trail, experience the glory and trauma of war, and glean new insight on the great leaders. Here are debates and speeches, diary entries, letters, memoirs, court records, and more—including many first-person accounts that make history come alive as never before, such as a powerful description of the atomic explosion from a correspondent on the Enola Gay and a young student''s evaluation of the changing roles of women at her high school. Witness to America is a fascinating, highly readable, and entertaining collection that shows us what America is and where it may go.

Hailed by "Time" magazine as "a fascinating . . . rich, energetic American story", this extraordinary biography will transform America''s perception of Jimmy Carter. Photos. National radio telephone tour.

In this comprehensive account, two prize-winning historians explain how the idea of the United Nations was conceived, debated, and revised, first within the U.S. government and then by negotiation with its major allies in World War II. 28 illustrations.

Incorporating the most recent scholarship, this eighth revised edition of "Rise to Globalism" now in paperback offers a concise and informative overview of the evolution of American foreign policy from 1938 to the present. Ambrose also wrote bestsellers "Undaunted Courage" and "D-Day".

Excerpts from student journals and photographs mark a Hofstra University professor''s account of his "travelling classroom," in which seventeen students took a six-week bus tour across America, reading, meeting cultural heroes, and experiencing the country. 25,000 first printing.

Acheson was President Harry Truman''s secretary of state, the American father of NATO and active in US foreign policy after World War II. He was also a Democratic Party activist in Eisenhower''s presidency and an advisor in the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon eras. This charts his post-secretarial career.