Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

by Ian W. Toll

How "a handful of bastards and outlaws fighting under a piece of striped bunting" humbled the omnipotent British Navy. Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military had become the most divisive issue facing the new government. Would a standing army be the thin end of dictatorship? Would a navy protect American commerce against the Mediterranean pirates, or drain the... (more)

So Far from God: The U.S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848

So Far from God: The U.S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848

by John S. D. Eisenhower

The Mexican-American War of the 1840s, precipitated by border disputes and the U.S. annexation of Texas, ended with the military occupation of Mexico City by General Winfield Scott. In the subsequent treaty, the United States gained territory that would become California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and parts of Wyoming and Colorado. In this highly readable account, John S. D. Eisenhower provides a... (more)

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West

Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West

by Hampton Sides

Praise for Blood and Thunder “Kit Carson’s role in the conquest of the Navajo during and after the Civil War remains one of the most dramatic and significant episodes in the history of the American West. Hampton Sides portrays Carson in the larger context of the conquest of the entire West, including his frequent and often lethal encounters with hostile Native Americans. Unusually, Sides gives full voice to... (more)

The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream

The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream

by H. W. Brands

“I have found it.” These words, uttered by the man who first discovered gold on the American River in 1848, triggered the most astonishing mass movement of peoples since the Crusades. California’s gold drew fortune-seekers from the ends of the earth. It accelerated America’s imperial expansion and exacerbated the tensions that exploded in the Civil War. And, as H. W. Brands makes clear in this spellbinding book,... (more)

Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence

Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence

by A. J. Langguth

The author of the acclaimed "Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution" presents this dramatic account of the War of 1812, the war that established a young nation as a permanent power and proved its claim to Manifest Destiny. Unabridged. 13 CDs.

1812: The War That Forged a Nation (P.S.)

1812: The War That Forged a Nation (P.S.)

by Walter R. Borneman

Although frequently overlooked between the American Revolution and the Civil War, the War of 1812 tested a rising generation of American leaders; unified the United States with a renewed sense of national purpose; and set the stage for westward expansion from Mackinac Island to the Gulf of Mexico. USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides," proved the mettle of the fledgling American navy; Oliver Hazard Perry hoisted a... (more)

American Legend: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett

American Legend: The Real-Life Adventures of David Crockett

by Buddy Levy

THE REAL KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER David Crockett was an adventurer, a pioneer, and a media-savvy national celebrity. In his short-but-distinguished lifetime, this charismatic frontiersman won three terms as a U.S. congressman and a presidential nomination. His 1834 memoir enjoyed frenzied sales and prompted the first-ever "official" book tour for its enormously popular author. Down-to-earth, heroic, and... (more)

Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787

Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787

by James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier

Includes a complete copy of the Constitution. Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world. Here is a remarkable rendering of that fateful time, told with humanity and humor. "The best popular history of the Constitutional Convention available."--Library Journal

Hard Road West: History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail

Hard Road West: History and Geology along the Gold Rush Trail

by Keith Heyer Meldahl

In 1848 news of the discovery of gold in California triggered an enormous wave of emigration toward the Pacific. Lured by the promise of riches, thousands of settlers left behind the forests, rain, and fertile soil of the eastern United States in favor of the rough-hewn lands of the American West. The dramatic terrain they struggled to cross is so familiar to us now that it is hard to imagine how frightening—even... (more)

Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr

by Nancy Isenberg

This definitive biography of the revolutionary era villain overturns every myth and image we have of him The narrative of America’s founding is filled with godlike geniuses—Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson—versus the villainous Aaron Burr. Generations have been told Burr was a betrayer—of Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. All untrue. He did not turn on Hamilton; rather,... (more)

Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis

Three Roads to the Alamo: The Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis

by William C. Davis

Three Roads to the Alamo is the definitive book about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barret Travis--the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their destiny at the Alamo in one of the most famous and tragic battles in American history--and about what really happened in that battle.

Seven Trails West

by Arthur King Peters

This volume tells many stories in one: the epic tale of men and women (some of them famous trailbreakers, some little known); the lures that attracted these pragmatic dreamers to the West; and the ordeals and disappointments they overcame along the way. Illustrated with archival photographs, paintings, maps and documents, the book offers the general reader an overview of the western trail network that bound an... (more)

Lewis and Clark: An American Journey

by Daniel B. Thorp

Dramatic paintings, maps drawn by members of the expedition, journal sketches and entries, and photographs tell one of America’s most enduring and fascinating tales. In every moment of their voyage, recounted here by historian Daniel B. Thorp, the courage and perseverance of these two visionaries shine forth. Follow the Corps of Discovery as they head across the then-frontier of St. Louis, through the plains... (more)

Saga of Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown West

Saga of Lewis and Clark: Into the Unknown West

by Thomas Schmidt

Beautifully written and illustrated, this book follows Lewis and Clark from the inception of their expedition to their celebrated homecoming. In an effort to seek out -- and stake out -- the fabled Northwest Passage, Captains Lewis and Clark led the expedition from Missouri through uncharted territory to Oregon. They fought rivers, suffered sunstroke, encountered and befriended Indians, and survived hunger,... (more)

The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History : Volume 4: Global America, 1915-2000

The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History : Volume 4: Global America, 1915-2000

by D. W. Meinig

This landmark book, the concluding volume in a magisterial series, presents the story of America’s interwoven history and geography from 1915 to 2000. Discussing such developments as the automotive, neotechnic, and communications revolutions, the world wars, urban migration, and regionalism, D.W. Meinig offers unprecedented insights into the reshaping of the United States. "Meinig at his best: he presents a... (more)

Jefferson and the Gun-Men: How the West Was Almost Lost (It Happened in)

Jefferson and the Gun-Men: How the West Was Almost Lost (It Happened in)

by M. R. Montgomery

Contrary to popular opinion, the opening of the American frontier was not a simple land purchase; it was actually a hardscrabble fight. Even as Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out on their legendary journey to the Pacific Ocean, other forces were taking the measure of the land with far darker ambitions. Aaron Burr, the charming and treacherous former vice president, determined that if he could not be... (more)

The National Road (The Road and American Culture)

The National Road (The Road and American Culture)

This comprehensive, authoritative and richly illustrated volume offers a sweeping overview of the project that shaped the geography and history of the U.S. by uniting East and West--and, ultimately, dividing North and South. With its companion volume, A Guide to the National Road, it describes the origins, evolution and meaning of the National Road for American culture, economics and patterns of settlement.... (more)

The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers

The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers

by Andrew D. Olsen

Boone

by Robert Morgan

This commanding biography from New York Times bestselling author Robert Morgan transforms a mythic American hero—a legend in his own time—into a flesh-and-blood man.Morgan's sweeping biography of Daniel Boone is the story of America—its ideals, its promise, its romance, and its destiny. It is the most comprehensive book ever written about the man who was the largest spirit of his time. Hunter, explorer, settler,... (more)

Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans

Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans

by Joyce Oldham Appleby

Inheriting the Revolution The First Generation of Americans Joyce Appleby Born after the Revolution, the first generation of Americans inherited a truly new world--and, with it, the task of working out the terms of Independence. Anyone who started a business, marketed a new invention, ran for office, formed an association, or wrote for publication was helping to fashion the world's first liberal society. These... (more)

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Tags: 1790-1860 america