New Releases by James M. McPherson

History has not been kind to Jefferson Davis. His cause went down in disastrous defeat and left the South impoverished for generations. If that cause had succeeded, it would have torn the United States in two and preserved the institution of slavery. Many Americans in Davis''s own time and in later generations considered him an incompetent leader, if not a traitor. Not so, argues James M. McPherson. In Embattled Rebel, McPherson shows us that Davis might have been on the wrong side of history, but it is too easy to diminish him because of his cause''s failure. In order to understand the Civil War and its outcome, it is essential to give Davis his due as a military leader and as the president of an aspiring Confederate nation. Davis did not make it easy on himself. His subordinates and enemies alike considered him difficult, egotistical, and cold. He was gravely ill throughout much of the war, often working from home and even from his sickbed. Nonetheless, McPherson argues, Davis shaped and articulated the principal policy of the Confederacy with clarity and force: the quest for independent nationhood. Although he had not been a fire-breathing secessionist, once he committed himself to a Confederate nation he never deviated from this goal. In a sense, Davis was the last Confederate left standing in 1865. As president of the Confederacy, Davis devoted most of his waking hours to military strategy and operations, along with Commander Robert E. Lee, and delegated the economic and diplomatic functions of strategy to his subordinates. Davis was present on several battlefields with Lee and even took part in some tactical planning; indeed, their close relationship stands as one of the great military-civilian partnerships in history. Most critical appraisals of Davis emphasize his choices in and management of generals rather than his strategies, but no other chief executive in American history exercised such tenacious hands-on influence in the shaping of military strategy. And while he was imprisoned for two years after the Confederacy''s surrender awaiting a trial for treason that never came, and lived for another twenty-four years, he never once recanted the cause for which he had fought and lost.--Publisher.

This economically priced version of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, 7th Edition offers readers the complete narrative while limiting the number of features, photos, and maps. A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to U.S. History, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER uses these three themes in a unique approach to show how the United States was transformed, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. This approach helps students understand not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The text integrates the best of recent social and cultural scholarship into a political story, offering students a comprehensive and complete understanding of American history. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

This economically priced version of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, 7th Edition offers readers the complete narrative while limiting the number of features, photos, and maps. A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to U.S. History, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER uses these three themes in a unique approach to show how the United States was transformed, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. This approach helps students understand not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The text integrates the best of recent social and cultural scholarship into a political story, offering students a comprehensive and complete understanding of American history. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

James McPherson evokes the meaning and significance of the Civil War

A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to U.S. history, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, Seventh Edition, uses these three themes to show how the United States was transformed from hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on Earth. This approach helps students understand the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story and recognize how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The text integrates the best of recent social and cultural scholarship-including fun material on movies and other forms of popular culture-into a political story, offering a comprehensive and complete understanding of American history. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

How did America transform itself, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth? You''ll find out in LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE Sixth Edition. The authors tell this story through the lens of three major themes: liberty, equality, and power. You''ll learn not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

How did America transform itself, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth? You''ll find out in LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE Sixth Edition. The authors tell this story through the lens of three major themes: liberty, equality, and power. You''ll learn not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

All contributing authors are recipients of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.

A book with 23 illustrations, 19 maps, notes, a bibliography and an index offers a sweeping history of the Civil War navies in action.

A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to US History, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, uses these three themes to show how the United States was transformed from hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. This approach helps students understand the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, and also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The text integrates the best of recent social and cultural scholarship -- including fun material on music and movies -- into a political story, offering students the most comprehensive and complete understanding of American history available. Available in the following split options: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, Sixth Edition (Chapters 1-32), ISBN: 978-0-495-90499-1; Volume 1: To 1877 (Chapters 1-17), ISBN: 978-0-495-91587-4; Volume 2: Since 1863 (Chapters 17-32), ISBN: 978-0-495-91588-1. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER offers students a clear, concise understanding of how America transformed itself, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. The authors promote this understanding by telling the story of America through the lens of three major themes: liberty, equality, and power. An approach which helps students understand not only the effect of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The Concise Fifth Edition incorporates the work of new coauthor, Alice Fahs (University of California, Irvine), an accomplished historian of the 19th and 20th centuries, with special expertise in cultural history and the history of gender. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER continues to offer strong political, social, and cultural coverage and valuable pedagogical tools including History Through Film (now one in every chapter) to help draw students into the material and show the relevance of history to their own lives. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE, 5e is available in the following volume splits: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE FIFTH EDITION (Chapters 1-32), ISBN: 9781439084953; LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE 5e, VOLUME I: TO 1877, (Chapters 1-17), ISBN: 9780495903826; and LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE 5e, VOLUME II: SINCE 1863, (Chapters 17-32), ISBN: 9780495903833. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER offers students a clear, concise understanding of how America transformed itself, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. The authors promote this understanding by telling the story of America through the lens of three major themes: liberty, equality, and power. This approach helps students understand not only the effect of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. The Concise Fifth Edition incorporates the work of new coauthor, Alice Fahs (University of California, Irvine), an accomplished historian of the 19th and 20th centuries, with special expertise in cultural history and the history of gender. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER continues to offer strong political, social, and cultural coverage and valuable pedagogical tools including History Through Film (now in every chapter) to help draw students into the material and show the relevance of history to their own lives. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE, 5e is available in the following volume splits: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE FIFTH EDITION (Chapters 1-32), ISBN: 9781439084953; LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE 5e, VOLUME I: TO 1877, (Chapters 1-17), ISBN: 9780495903826; and LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, CONCISE 5e, VOLUME II: SINCE 1863, (Chapters 17-32), ISBN: 9780495903833. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom and the New York Times bestsellers Crossroads of Freedom and Tried by War, among many other award-winning books, James M. McPherson is America''s preeminent Civil War historian. In this collection of provocative and illuminating essays, McPherson offers fresh insight into many of the enduring questions about one of the defining moments in our nation''s history. McPherson sheds light on topics large and small, from the average soldier''s avid love of newspapers to the postwar creation of the mystique of a Lost Cause in the South. Readers will find insightful pieces on such intriguing figures as Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Jesse James, and William Tecumseh Sherman, and on such vital issues as Confederate military strategy, the failure of peace negotiations to end the war, and the realities and myths of the Confederacy. This Mighty Scourge includes several never-before-published essays--pieces on General Robert E. Lee''s goals in the Gettysburg campaign, on Lincoln and Grant in the Vicksburg campaign, and on Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief. All of the essays have been updated and revised to give the volume greater thematic coherence and continuity, so that it can be read in sequence as an interpretive history of the war and its meaning for America and the world. Combining the finest scholarship with luminous prose, and packed with new information and fresh ideas, this book brings together the most recent thinking by the nation''s leading authority on the Civil War.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson provides a compact biography of Lincoln -- a man of humble origins who preserved our nation during its greatest catastrophe and ended the scourge of slavery.

In this classic study, Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson deftly narrates the experience of blacks--former slaves and soldiers, preachers, visionaries, doctors, intellectuals, and common people--during the Civil War. Drawing on contemporary journalism, speeches, books, and letters, he presents an eclectic chronicle of their fears and hopes as well as their essential contributions to their own freedom. Through the words of these extraordinary participants, both Northern and Southern, McPherson captures African-American responses to emancipation, the shifting attitudes toward Lincoln and the life of black soldiers in the Union army. Above all, we are allowed to witness the dreams of a disenfranchised people eager to embrace the rights and the equality offered to them, finally, as citizens.

Evaluates Lincoln''s talents as a commander in chief in spite of limited military experience, tracing the ways in which he worked with, or against, his senior commanders to defeat the Confederacy and reshape the presidential role.

Understanding the past helps us navigate the present and future. When you read this text, you will not only learn about American History, you will be exposed to movies and music that tell the stories of American History in addition to the reading material you expect in a college level history book. A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to US History, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, uses themes in a unique approach to show how the United States was transformed, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. This approach helps you understand not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

Read about the Old West and its people.

This is Volume II: Since 1863 of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, Fourth Edition. LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER offers students a clear understanding of how America transformed itself, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. The authors promote this understanding by telling the story of America through the lens of three major themes: liberty, equality, and power. This approach helps students understand not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power. This Fourth Edition retains the narrative clarity, unparalleled coverage, and thematic unity that are the hallmarks of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER. It updates the text''s proven ability to cover social and cultural history with such timely topics as globalization, the impact of science and technology, evolving roles for religion, and expands upon the text''s extensively multicultural coverage. Backed by an ancillary package unmatched in this market, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER makes its thorough, memorable coverage equally accessible to students and instructors. It''s available in the following volume splits: LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, Fourth Edition (Chapters 1-31), ISBN: 0534627307; LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, Volume I: To 1877, Fourth Edition (Chapters 1-17), ISBN: 0534627315; LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER: A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, Volume II: Since 1863, Fourth Edition (Chapters 17-31), ISBN: 0534627323.

Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson''s fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous episodes that preceded the Civil War--the Dred Scott decision, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, John Brown''s raid on Harper''s Ferry--and then moves into a masterful chronicle of the war itself--the battles, the strategic maneuvering on both sides, the politics, and the personalities. Particularly notable are McPherson''s new views on such matters as the slavery expansion issue in the 1850s, the origins of the Republican Party, the causes of secession, internal dissent and anti-war opposition in the North and the South, and the reasons for the Union''s victory. The book''s title refers to the sentiments that informed both the Northern and Southern views of the conflict: the South seceded in the name of that freedom of self-determination and self-government for which their fathers had fought in 1776, while the North stood fast in defense of the Union founded by those fathers as the bulwark of American liberty. Eventually, the North had to grapple with the underlying cause of the war--slavery--and adopt a policy of emancipation as a second war aim. This "new birth of freedom," as Lincoln called it, constitutes the proudest legacy of America''s bloodiest conflict. This authoritative volume makes sense of that vast and confusing "second American Revolution" we call the Civil War, a war that transformed a nation and expanded our heritage of liberty.

A world history textbook chronicling the rise of Western and Eastern civilizations. Includes photos, art, illustrated charts, vocabulary exercises, and review questions.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian McPherson offers a masterful portrait of the bloodiest single day in American history, the Battle of Antietam, fought on September 17, 1862.

Understanding the past helps us navigate the present and future. When you read this text, you will not only learn about American History, you will be exposed to movies and music that tell the stories of American History in addition to the reading material you expect in a college level history book. A highly respected, balanced, and thoroughly modern approach to US History, LIBERTY, EQUALITY, POWER, uses themes in a unique approach to show how the United States was transformed, in a relatively short time, from a land inhabited by hunter-gatherer and agricultural Native American societies into the most powerful industrial nation on earth. This approach helps you understand not only the impact of the notions of liberty and equality, which are often associated with the American story, but also how dominant and subordinate groups have affected and been affected by the ever-shifting balance of power.