by Stephen Puleo In April 1865, at General Ulysses S. Grant’s Headquarters at City Point, Virginia, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner witnessed President Lincoln’s strong connection with front-line soldiers, one of many examples of how the two men learned from each other. In my book, The Great Abolitionist, I include a chapter on the important events that took place during April, 1865, at General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia. Grant and his Army of the Potomac command staff ensconced themselves at City Point during the siege of Petersburg, and, after the fal ..read more

by David Gibbins Almost half of the ships that I cover in my book, A History of the World in 12 Shipwrecks, are vessels of war—a Viking longship, King Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose, a frigate of the 18th century, Sir John Franklin’s HMS Terror from his doomed Arctic expedition, and an armed merchantman of the Second World War. The wrecks of warships have a special significance because they are often associated with events in which our very survival has been at stake. The people who died in them were often volunteers from all walks of life who answered the call—often, too, people with ..read more

Adam Gamal (a pseudonym created to keep his family safe from harm) served in the most elite unit in the US Army and deployed more than a dozen times. His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Legion of Merit. Below is an excerpt from Adam’s book (written with Kelly Kennedy) about his unit―a military group so clandestine even its name is classified. Adam, right, and his boss prepare to go out on a mission. Photo courtesy of Adam Gamal. We went wherever the Army needed us. If we were tracking bad guys and they popped up in Timbuktu, then that’s where we went. But a gr ..read more

by Tom Clavin 67 years ago, the U.S. Army Pigeon Service closed. You might think that couldn’t have been much of a big deal. But it was. Also known as the Signal Pigeon Corps, it was a unit of the U.S. Army during World Wars I and II. Its assignment was the training and usage of homing pigeons for communication and even spying purposes. During World War II, the force consisted of 3,150 soldiers and 54,000 “war pigeons,” which were considered an undetectable method of communication. Over 90 percent of U.S. Army messages sent by pigeons were received. For most of its existence, the U.S. Army Pig ..read more

This Women’s History Month, we bring you seven fantastic books highlighting the amazing feats of women, whether in Hollywood, the White House, or the ruins of Ancient Egypt. Happy reading! Order your copy Skirts by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell Available now While the story of women’s liberation has often been framed by the growing acceptance of pants over the twentieth century, the most important and influential female fashions of the era featured skirts. In a sparkling, beautifully illustrated social history, Skirts traces the shifting roles of women over the twentieth century through ..read more

by Tom Clavin In the following excerpt from Follow Me to Hell, Tom Clavin introduces John Wesley Hardin, one of the Old West’s most notorious outlaws and a seasoned murderer.  John Wesley Hardin John Wesley Hardin is near or at the top of any list of American West “man-killers.” He was a homegrown Texan, born in Bonham in May 1853. The son of a Methodist preacher was a precocious killer, his career of carnage beginning when he was only 14 with the stabbing of another student during a schoolyard confrontation. The following year he shot a black man to death in Polk County. Hardin was jus ..read more

by Thomas Mullen When we think about the World War II years, we tend to visualize a time when all Americans were united, pulling together and sacrificing as one to defeat fascism. From Casbalanca to Saving Private Ryan, this heroic myth is strong and enduring. But that’s nostalgia talking. The truth is far trickier. German American Bund rally in Madison Square Garden, 1939.  Even at a time of war bonds and patriotic rallies and rationing, not every American opposed Hitler. Many people thought he had some pretty good ideas. An alarming amount of Americans embraced the anti-Semitic, Nazi ..read more

by Terry Golway As hard as it is to imagine, there was a time in the late 1930s when the United States saw fit to apologize to angry Nazi officials in Berlin because of the intemperate language of an American politician. And yet, it happened.  New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. The politician in question was Fiorello La Guardia, the Republican mayor of New York City and one of the most recognizable political figures of Depression-era America. La Guardia had been using his very public presence in American life to assail Adolf Hitler and his government since 1933, when he called the ..read more

In the following excerpt from God Save Benedict Arnold by Jack Kelly, the first shots of the American revolution echo through the colonies and one man is eager to respond: Benedict Arnold. Read more below.  The Battle of Lexington depicted in a 1910 portrait by William Barnes Wollen. The sudden arrival of a horseman on a Friday afternoon electrified New Haven. Israel Bissell leapt from his saddle and shouted for the village selectmen. His eyes bulged with news. Citizens came rushing to the green at the center of the prosperous Connecticut seaport. Bissell, his face strained with fatigu ..read more

by Tom Clavin Did you know that there was a series of events known as the “Kentucky Cave Wars”? Neither did I, until I went searching for a good rescue story. A rather unusual one centers on William Floyd Collins, who had two distinctions—he was viewed as America’s greatest cave explorer ever and attempts to rescue him that began 99 years ago riveted the nation. Floyd (as he was called) specialized in exploring and reporting his discoveries about the region of Kentucky that houses hundreds of miles of interconnected caves, today a part of Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest-known cave sy ..read more