‘Forget the Alamo’ Review: The Story Texas Schoolkids Grow Up on Is Only a Invention
The tale of the heroes who held out in a Spanish mission and created the Texas Republic leaves out a critical detail: Slavery
‘How German Ingenuity Inspired America’ Review: The Old World’s Gifts to the New
America's largest immigrant population introduced Teutonic traditions that seem homegrown to us now
‘Rock Me on the Water’ Review: How California Came to Dominate American Culture
The Eagles took it too easy, Debbie lit up our lives and Bruce (the shark) scared us to death
Where Those Rockets Got Their Red Glare
America owes its national anthem to South Asians who perfected the short-range missile (and sold it to the British)
‘Revolutionary’ Review: Washington Biographer Contends the General Wanted to Fight Like the British
Surprising take on the Founding Father refutes historians' view of him as an irregular commander
Andrew Jackson’s Battle With the Bigwigs Over Bank of the U.S.
Pugnacious president believed a national bank benefited rich Northeasterners over regular people
‘Bubble in the Sun’ Review: How Con Men Got Rich Selling Florida Swamp Land
Two million buyers paid the price for their naiveté when the 1920s land boom collapsed
‘Nine Days: The Race to Save Martin Luther King Jr.’s Life’ Review
The battle to free the civil rights leader from a notorious Georgia prison was central to the 1960 presidential election
‘New York, New York, New York’ Review: Sins and Songs of the City
Gotham lurches from crisis to crisis, but sorry, Jerry Ford, it hasn't dropped dead yet
‘Holding Back the River’ Review: The Water Is Wild and Can Never Be Tamed
Attempts to master America's mighty waterways are forever doomed to fail
‘The Age of Wood’ Review: The Simple Stuff That Created Civilization
When protohumans climbed down from trees, they chopped them down and used them to create a new world
Doughboy’s Smuggled Letter Home Recounts Dangerous Ocean Crossing
In late 1917, an American soldier risked government censors’ wrath to smuggle home a letter about dodging German submarines while aboard a troopship headed for war
Hot Issues in 1918 Midterm Election Roil U.S. Politics Today
Wilson's war was almost over and women's suffrage was near, but there was a pandemic and the country was polarized over Prohibition
George Washington’s Last Hours, Remembered As Heroic, Were Certainly Hellish
Despite intense suffering, the former president faced death with courage and strength of character
‘Fears of a Setting Sun’ Review: How Founders Lost Faith in American Experiment
Of the opening night cast, only James Madison maintained confidence in the success of the new nation
‘Nuclear Folly’ Review: When the Superpowers Nearly Started World War III
A new history of the Cuban Missile Crisis distills 60 years of official and secret narratives about the world's scariest moment
