"A satirical allegory, in the manner of Candide, on the domestic and foreign policies of the New Deal." Cf. Hanna, A. Mirror for the nation

The definitive biography of a larger-than-life president who defied norms, divided a nation, and changed Washington forever Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson’s election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and the fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson’s presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama–the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers– that shaped Jackson’s private world through years of storm and victory. One of our most significant yet dimly recalled presidents, Jackson was a battle-hardened warrior, the founder of the Democratic Party, and the architect of the presidency as we know it. His story is one of violence, sex, courage, and tragedy. With his powerful persona, his evident bravery, and his mystical connection to the people, Jackson moved the White House from the periphery of government to the center of national action, articulating a vision of change that challenged entrenched interests to heed the popular will– or face his formidable wrath. The greatest of the presidents who have followed Jackson in the White House–from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to FDR to Truman–have found inspiration in his example, and virtue in his vision. Jackson was the most contradictory of men. The architect of the removal of Indians from their native lands, he was warmly sentimental and risked everything to give more power to ordinary citizens. He was, in short, a lot like his country: alternately kind and vicious, brilliant and blind; and a man who fought a lifelong war to keep the republic safe–no matter what it took.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author of The First American comes the first major single-volume biography in a decade of the president who defined American democracy • "A big, rich biography.” —The Boston Globe H. W. Brands reshapes our understanding of this fascinating man, and of the Age of Democracy that he ushered in. An orphan at a young age and without formal education or the family lineage of the Founding Fathers, Jackson showed that the presidency was not the exclusive province of the wealthy and the well-born but could truly be held by a man of the people. On a majestic, sweeping scale Brands re-creates Jackson’s rise from his hardscrabble roots to his days as frontier lawyer, then on to his heroic victory in the Battle of New Orleans, and finally to the White House. Capturing Jackson’s outsized life and deep impact on American history, Brands also explores his controversial actions, from his unapologetic expansionism to the disgraceful Trail of Tears. Look for H.W. Brands's other biographies: THE FIRST AMERICAN (Benjamin Franklin), THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION (Ulysses S. Grant), TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt) and REAGAN.

"Young Andrew was autistic and bilingual. He spoke English-and Chicken. He would sit on the front porch deep in conversation with his best friend, an Araucana chicken named Frightful. It was a two-way dialog consisting of secrets told and secrets kept between boy and fowl. His feathery friend became his voice; his only way to communicate in a confusing world. But one day, Andrew confided to Frightful: 'I think my body is trying to kill me.' That single statement catapulted Andrew's family and medical community into action: To discover and destroy the unseen monster that was claiming Andrew's life--a disease that created pain so great that no painkiller could touch it. By the time Andrew was sixteen, he had spent seven years in and out of the hospital. Through it all, Frightful listened as she sat in his lap or zoomed down the street on his new electric bike, stuffed into his jacket, zippered up to her beak. Hospitalized, Andrew talked to Frightful with the aid of two iPads and a FaceTime connection. Her love and friendship armed Andrew with the courage of a superhero as he received an experimental bone marrow transplant. He wasn't expected to live through the night, but he shouted into a room full of doctors, nurses, and family, 'Bring It On!' At his graduation, Andrew stood in front of an auditorium of parents, administrators, and peers and delivered a speech titled 'Why I Think Chickens Have Autism.' He received a standing ovation"--

“Your baby is special. I’ve never seen eyes like hers. She’s going to see and do remarkable things in her lifetime.” When Isaac and Lisa Andrews hear these words about their newborn daughter, they don’t realize just how true they are. Twelve-year-old Meadow Andrews has the remarkable ability to see where someone is at any given time, a gift that Meadow is hesitant to exploit. Determined to use her unique superpower for good, Meadow is frustrated that she has been unable to find local missing teen Callan Morris. In fact, she’s worried he’s dead. If that wasn’t enough, Meadow witnesses a theft that leaves her to fear for her life after the thief threatens her. The stakes are high for Callan Morris, who might die if he doesn't get help soon. Callan’s tragic childhood has led to him hiding from the world after fleeing his foster home and abusive foster brother. Determined to take care of himself, Callan comes to learn that family can be the people you know, not just your biological relatives. Tina Robyn is mad at the world, but mostly she’s angry at Meadow Andrews, her former friend turned enemy. Blaming Meadow for her father leaving, Tina jumps at any chance to bully the girl. When she finds a box of her father’s things, Tina is eager to learn more about her father and hopefully reunite with him. However, Tina soon realizes that perhaps her father is not the man she remembers after her search ends up putting Meadow’s life in danger.

Solomon tells the stories of parents who not only learn to deal with their exceptional children but also find profound meaning in doing so.

By the late 1810s, a global revolution in cotton had remade the U.S.-Mexico border, bringing wealth and waves of Americans to the Gulf Coast while also devastating the lives and villages of Mexicans in Texas. In response, Mexico threw open its northern territories to American farmers in hopes that cotton could bring prosperity to the region. Thousands of Anglo-Americans poured into Texas, but their insistence that slavery accompany them sparked pitched battles across Mexico. An extraordinary alliance of Anglos and Mexicans in Texas came together to defend slavery against abolitionists in the Mexican government, beginning a series of fights that culminated in the Texas Revolution. In the aftermath, Anglo-Americans rebuilt the Texas borderlands into the most unlikely creation: the first fully committed slaveholders' republic in North America. Seeds of Empire tells the remarkable story of how the cotton revolution of the early nineteenth century transformed northeastern Mexico into the western edge of the United States, and how the rise and spectacular collapse of the Republic of Texas as a nation built on cotton and slavery proved to be a blueprint for the Confederacy of the 1860s.