The United States became a great power in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and a superpower during World War II without quite knowing it. Few Americans fully appreciate the fact today. How many people know that in recent years we have had 250,000 troops in 700 bases around the world? Consider our recent history of military operations in the Caribbean, East Asia, the Far East, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Balkans. In America Rising, David Felix attempts to explain how and why America became a superpower by examining the political and economic factors that have driven its ascendence and their relationship throughout history.Felix begins with the dawn of America, showing how America amassed wealth and political power from the start through wars, assertions of economic might, and the creation of a cultural and philosophical base. The nation began with a political order, derived from our British origins, which enabled our pragmatic culture to take advantage of the vast wealth of a near-virgin continent. Political and economic freedom were paired, authority yielding to both freedoms. Our farmers and businessmen were dreamers, manufacturing realities out of those dreams. Felix's account then makes a point of neoclassical economics as an anvil on which to hammer out a sharper sense of the content of our existence.This book, which demonstrates the author's zest for historical analysis and great story-telling ability, points to the central fact of a rising America--the intensely energizing interaction between polity and economy. The United States is the greatest power in world history, but the rise of another great power, China, is beginning to be increasingly apparent. One trusts that, drawing upon its deep resources, America will remember its history and traditions and continue as a superpower.

The year 1816 found America on the cusp of political, social, cultural, and economic modernity. Celebrating its fortieth year of independence, the country's sense of self was maturing. Americans, who had emerged from the War of 1812 with their political systems intact, embraced new opportunities. For the first time, citizens viewed themselves not as members of a loose coalition of states but as part of a larger union. This optimism was colored, however, by bizarre weather. Periods of extreme cold and severe drought swept the northern states and the upper south throughout 1816, which was sometimes referred to as "The Year Without a Summer." Faced with thirty-degree summer temperatures, many farmers migrated west in search of better weather and more fertile farmlands. In 1816, historian C. Edward Skeen illuminates this unique year of national transition. Politically, the "era of good feelings" allowed Congress to devise programs that fostered prosperity. Social reform movements flourished. This election year found the Federalist party in its death throes, seeking cooperation with the nationalistic forces of the Republican party. Movement west, maturation of political parties, and increasingly contentious debates over such issues as slavery characterized this pivotal year. 1816 marked a watershed in American history. This provocative new book vividly highlights the stresses that threatened to pull the nation apart and the bonds that ultimately held it together.

The United States became a great power in the last quarter of the nineteenth century and a superpower during World War II without quite knowing it. Few Americans fully appreciate the fact today. How many people know that in recent years we have had 250,000 troops in 700 bases around the world? Consider our recent history of military operations in the Caribbean, East Asia, the Far East, Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Balkans. In America Rising, David Felix attempts to explain how and why America became a superpower by examining the political and economic factors that have driven its ascendence and their relationship throughout history. Felix begins with the dawn of America, showing how America amassed wealth and political power from the start through wars, assertions of economic might, and the creation of a cultural and philosophical base. The nation began with a political order, derived from our British origins, which enabled our pragmatic culture to take advantage of the vast wealth of a near-virgin continent. Political and economic freedom were paired, authority yielding to both freedoms. Our farmers and businessmen were dreamers, manufacturing realities out of those dreams. Felix's account then makes a point of neoclassical economics as an anvil on which to hammer out a sharper sense of the content of our existence. This book, which demonstrates the author's zest for historical analysis and great story-telling ability, points to the central fact of a rising America--the intensely energizing interaction between polity and economy. The United States is the greatest power in world history, but the rise of another great power, China, is beginning to be increasingly apparent. One trusts that, drawing upon its deep resources, America will remember its history and traditions and continue as a superpower.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Legion of the Damned® novels comes the final volume in the postapocalyptic military science fiction trilogy about America warring with itself and the people trying to keep it together... The Second Civil War continues to rage as Union president Samuel T. Sloan battles to keep America whole and, more than that, to restore the country to its former greatness. "Wanted Dead or Alive." Following a fateful battle between Union Army major Robin "Mac" Macintyre and her sister, the New Confederacy places a price on Mac's head, and bounty hunters are on her trail. But there's work to be done, and Mac is determined to help Sloan reunify the country by freeing hundreds of Union POWs from appalling conditions in Mexico and capturing a strategic oil reserve that lies deep inside Confederate territory. However, to truly have peace it will be necessary to capture or kill the New Confederacy's leadership, and that includes Mac's father, General Bo Macintyre.

A leading civil rights historian places Robert Kennedy for the first time at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960sÑand shows how many of todayÕs issues can be traced back to that pivotal time. History, race, and politics converged in the 1960s in ways that indelibly changed America. In Justice Rising, a landmark reconsideration of Robert KennedyÕs life and legacy, Patricia Sullivan draws on government files, personal papers, and oral interviews to reveal how he grasped the moment to emerge as a transformational leader. When protests broke out across the South, the young attorney general confronted escalating demands for racial justice. What began as a political problem soon became a moral one. In the face of vehement pushback from Southern Democrats bent on massive resistance, he put the weight of the federal government behind school desegregation and voter registration. Bobby KennedyÕs youthful energy, moral vision, and capacity to lead created a momentum for change. He helped shape the 1964 Civil Rights Act but knew no law would end racism. When the Watts uprising brought calls for more aggressive policing, he pushed back, pointing to the root causes of urban unrest: entrenched poverty, substandard schools, and few job opportunities. RFK strongly opposed the military buildup in Vietnam, but nothing was more important to him than Òthe revolution within our gates, the struggle of the American Negro for full equality and full freedom.Ó On the night of Martin Luther KingÕs assassination, KennedyÕs anguished appeal captured the hopes of a turbulent decade: ÒIn this difficult time for the United States it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are and what direction we want to move in.Ó It is a question that remains urgent and unanswered.

Rising Fascism in America: It Can Happen Here explores how rising fascism has infiltrated U.S. politics—and how the media and academia failed to spot its earlier rise. Anthony R. DiMaggio spotlights the development of rightwing polarization of the media, Trump’s political ascendance, and the prominence of extremist activists, including in Congress. Fascism has long bubbled under the surface until the coup attempt of January 6th, 2021. This book offers tactics to combat fascism, exploring social movements such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter in mobilizing the public. When so little scholarship engages the question of fascism, Anthony R. DiMaggio combines the rigor of academic analysis with an accessible style that appeals to student and general readers.

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist, this powerful elegy for our disappearing coast “captures nature with precise words that almost amount to poetry” (The New York Times). Hailed as “the book on climate change and sea levels that was missing” (Chicago Tribune), Rising is both a highly original work of lyric reportage and a haunting meditation on how to let go of the places we love. With every record-breaking hurricane, it grows clearer that climate change is neither imagined nor distant—and that rising seas are transforming the coastline of the United States in irrevocable ways. In Rising, Elizabeth Rush guides readers through these dramatic changes, from the Gulf Coast to Miami, and from New York City to the Bay Area. For many of the plants, animals, and humans in these places, the options are stark: retreat or perish. Rush sheds light on the unfolding crises through firsthand testimonials—a Staten Islander who lost her father during Sandy, the remaining holdouts of a Native American community on a drowning Isle de Jean Charles, a neighborhood in Pensacola settled by escaped slaves hundreds of years ago—woven together with profiles of wildlife biologists, activists, and other members of these vulnerable communities. A Guardian, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal Best Book Of 2018 Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award A Chicago Tribune Top Ten Book of 2018