The first president born after America's independence ushers in a new era of no-holds-barred democracy The first "professional politician" to become president, the slick and dandyish Martin Van Buren was to all appearances the opposite of his predecessor, the rugged general and Democratic champion Andrew Jackson. Van Buren, a native Dutch speaker, was America's first ethnic president as well as the first New Yorker to hold the office, at a time when Manhattan was bursting with new arrivals. A sharp and adroit political operator, he established himself as a powerhouse in New York, becoming a U.S. senator, secretary of state, and vice president under Jackson, whose election he managed. His ascendancy to the Oval Office was virtually a foregone conclusion. Once he had the reins of power, however, Van Buren found the road quite a bit rougher. His attempts to find a middle ground on the most pressing issues of his day-such as the growing regional conflict over slavery-eroded his effectiveness. But it was his inability to prevent the great banking panic of 1837, and the ensuing depression, that all but ensured his fall from grace and made him the third president to be denied a second term. His many years of outfoxing his opponents finally caught up with him. Ted Widmer, a veteran of the Clinton White House, vividly brings to life the chaos and contention that plagued Van Buren's presidency-and ultimately offered an early lesson in the power of democracy.

They called him "the Magician," "the Red Fox" and other names that celebrated his political skill. And, indeed, there is no doubt that Martin Van Buren was the most innovative politician of his age. In the first modern biography of the eighth President, John Niven reveals a man who was preeminently a statesman - not just a superb practitioner of the art of the possible, as he is commonly depicted. First prominent in New York politics, Van Buren served as Andrew Jackson's Secretary of State and later as his vice president. The balance wheel of the administration, he was Jackson's most influential adviser. His own presidency (1837-1841) was beset by the worst depression the United States had yet faced, but, as Niven shows, Van Buren met the crisis with courage. His corrective measures incensed the financial community but save the public credit. Defeated in the 1840 election, he was denied the Democratic nomination in 1844, for opposing on moral grounds, the immediate annexation of Texas. In 1848, as the presidential candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil Party, he again lent his name to an unpopular cause he felt was right. Charming, witty, enigmatic, Van Buren could hold his own with the other key political figures of his day: Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams. Correcting many false images of Van Buren (including the view that he was a compromiser on the slavery issue), this authoritative biography unveils a brilliant career in American political life, set against the backdrop of a fascinating era. --Book jacket

"The Magician's Show Box, and Other Stories" by Lydia Maria Child, Caroline Sturgis Tappan. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Rose is now a fully fledged magician's apprentice—will her new magic be enough to find the dangerous magician's mask? When a precious mask of unimaginable power is stolen from the royal palace, Rose suspects that dark magicians are at work and that danger looms. The race to stop the evil thieves will take Rose to the mysterious city of Venice, where nothing is quite what it seems. Can Rose use her magic to find the terrible mask before its true powers are revealed?