In the spring of 1861, just prior to the onset of the Civil War, eighteen-year-old Martha Somerville finds her life rapidly changing along with the world around her. As she and her loved ones stand on the brink of war, Martha sets about... Read More

Put aside any preconceived notions of a cuisine revolving around fried chicken, grits, and Coca-Cola. And just forget about Paula Dean. In The World in a Skillet, Angela and Paul Knipple, food writers from Memphis, Tennessee, have laid... Read More

“Which path the United States ultimately takes will be determined by the Millennial Generation’s willingness to engage in a vast civic endeavor to remake America and its institutions and the willingness of the rest of the country to... Read More

“We inhabit a world where history doesn’t matter,” writes scholar Cynthia Haven in the introduction to this collection of biographical essays. “As a result, we lose the ability to think and learn from the past…we only fetishize... Read More

Much has been and will be written on Barack Obama the politician, but until now, little has appeared on Obama the intellectual. This lucid investigation of the president’s intellectual roots is an important addition to Obama literature... Read More

Jaimy Gordon must be as passionate about horses and horseracing as the ensemble of characters she has created in "Lord of Misrule". Only a devotee could conjure the insider world of the sport to the equal satisfaction of the uninitiated... Read More

America may be forgiven for not knowing that Benjamin Albert Botkin (1901–1975) was its folklorist, since Botkin’s greatest popular impact occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, arguably peaking in 1944 with the publication of his... Read More

Groundbreakers in the film industry often remain unfamiliar names to the average moviegoer. Attracted to popular actors and high-budget productions, fans of commercial cinema are often oblivious to the imaginative leaders behind the... Read More