Americas

Reconstruction begins where, for most Americans, the story of the Civil War ends: The North is victorious and slavery is abolished. But what happened next was one of the most important decades in American history, a moment when our country grappled with its original sin and imagined — and briefly enacted — a more perfect union.

Barbara Millicent Roberts was born in 1959. Her image is instantly recognizable almost anywhere in the world. She has held hundreds of jobs across the last six decades, from teen model to astronaut to movie star. She’s been adored, criticized, mocked, reinvented, memed, protested, and celebrated—sometimes all at once. Who is this remarkable woman? Well, you might know her better by her nickname: Barbie.

Two and a half centuries. Thirteen colonies to fifty states. From Lexington to the smartphone, from the Declaration to the Dust Bowl, from Appomattox to 9/11—the full story, told in one audiobook. In July 2026, the United States marks two hundred and fifty years since the Declaration of Independence. A quarter of a millennium of revolution, war, expansion, struggle, invention, immigration, and reinvention. A story that began with thirteen colonies on the edge of an empire—and produced the most powerful country in human history.

The year 1776 is undoubtedly iconic for Americans. After all, it is the year of the Declaration of Independence—the paradigm-shifting document that birthed a new vision of government and brought the United States into being. But the groundbreaking events of 1776 went far beyond the American Revolution. The Years That Changed History: 1776 invites you to take a uniquely different look at the events of this famous year, in a brilliant and surprising excavation of world history.

The United States was shaped by resistance—but not in the way we’ve been taught. The Revolution did not secure liberty; it opened the door to either liberty or oppression, where only white men enjoyed all of the benefits and protections of citizenship. In A Resistance History of the United States, public historian Tad Stoermer shows how from the very beginning, that tension—between the ideals of resistance and the realities of power—has defined America more than the Enlightenment ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Bestsellerautor Walter Isaacson unternimmt eine faszinierende Tiefenbohrung in die Entstehung eines der revolutionärsten Sätze der amerikanischen Geschichte: »Wir halten diese Wahrheiten für selbstverständlich, dass alle Menschen gleich erschaffen wurden, dass sie von ihrem Schöpfer mit gewissen unveräußerlichen Rechten ausgestattet wurden, wozu Leben, Freiheit und das Streben nach Glück gehören.« Im Sommer 1776 von Thomas Jefferson formuliert und dann von Benjamin Franklin und John Adams überarbeitet, bildet dieser Kernsatz der Amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung das Fundament der jungen amerkanischen Republik.

There has never been a nation like the United States of America. Its impact on the world is unprecedented in all of human history. After two and a half centuries of existence, it is difficult to imagine what the world would be like without it. But how did it come into existence? Who has really done justice to this astonishing story? Innumerable books have been written about the American Revolution, but the definitive treatment of the full story simply does not exist—certainly not in our generation.

“Perlstein...aims here at nothing less than weaving a tapestry of social upheaval. His success is dazzling.” —Los Angeles Times “Both brilliant and fun, a consuming journey back into the making of modern politics.” —Jon Meacham “Nixonland is a grand historical epic. Rick Perlstein...

Discover the remarkable history of the Battle of the Wilderness...The year 1864 saw Abraham Lincoln facing an increasingly unpopular war with too few Union victories, and a presidential re-election campaign pitting him against the Democratic challenger and former Union commander General George McClellan. The outlook for both looked dire for Lincoln.

A hugely entertaining social history of the elite and exclusive Caribbean island of St. Barthélemy from the New York Times bestselling author of Model and 740 Park. St. Barthelemy is revered for its luxury, its stunning beaches and its VIP fans. Those who’ve either been there or hope to go...

New York Times “The Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Talking About in 2026” An astonishing true story—one of the most gripping maritime sagas of the nineteenth century—told by our era’s “expert literary steersman” (Washington Post). From the best-selling author of Black Flags, Blue...

Chet Atkins was arguably the most influential American guitarist of the twentieth century and, through his work as a recording executive, is often credited as a founder of the Nashville Sound. In Chet Atkins: Mr. Guitar, noted music historian Don Cusic illuminates the legend, detailing Atkins's...

"With impressive scholarly sleuthing and a storyteller's eloquence, Danielle Allen has written a landmark book about the people and the ideas that changed the world. By bringing the glamorous Duke of Richmond back to life, Allen paints a panoramic portrait of how principles of human equality and...

The untold story of the women who debunked the Warren Report—a riveting history of obsession, heartbreak, and the myth of the great American century “A ghostly past brought brimmingly, engrossingly to life . . . a social history of novelistic propulsion with fanatical documentation and a...

The United States was creeping ever closer to independence. The shot heard round the world still echoed in the ears of Parliament as impassioned revolutionaries took up arms for and against King and country. In this captivating blend of careful research and rich narrative, Derek W. Beck...

Bloomsbury present The Perfect Moment, written and read by Isaac Butler. The prize-winning author of The Method reveals the forgotten origins of America’s culture wars—a story of late 20th century art vs. censorship, brimming with intense drama and fierce moral urgency. It’s 1988, the...

The United States is in a state of decline—a reality decades in the making. At the thin end of the wedge sits Appalachia, one of the nation's most deprived regions, mythologized by outsiders and misunderstood the world over. Embedded as a therapist within this community, Rayelle Davis frames...

From Whitewash, the first critical book on the Warren Report, through numerous Freedom of Information (FOIA) lawsuits, to Never Again!, his last published work, Harold Weisberg worked tirelessly to lift the veil of secrecy and deceit from the investigation of the assassination of President Kennedy. Based on the government’s own evidence, he demonstrated beyond question that the accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, did not kill President Kennedy. In his final years, Weisberg focused on making a record for history, producing over two dozen unpublished manuscripts on the subject.

The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man is a book written by Nels Anderson, which provides a comprehensive sociological study of the homeless population in America during the early 20th century. The book explores the lives and experiences of "hobos"—a term used to describe homeless men who traveled from place to place in search of work—and sheds light on the social and economic factors that led to their homelessness.

AUDIOBOOK READ BY THE AUTHOR “In writing a book about Minneapolis, Justin Ellis has really written a book about America's favorite lie—that good intentions lead to justice. Ellis is a rigorous historian and a visceral storyteller, and he has produced something essential: a reckoning with a...

A revelatory account of how words and actions combined to destroy Britain's colonial rule and secure Washington's American victory The American Revolution was not only fought on bloody battlefields, it was waged with the ink of pen and print. George Goodwin shows how the leaders of the American...

In June of 2013, Edward Snowden, a twenty-nine-year-old former CIA employee, leaked thousands of top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents to journalist Glen Greenwald. Branded as a whistleblower, Snowden reignited a debate about private citizens who reveal government secrets that should be exposed but may endanger the lives of others.

A bold Christian voice challenges progressives to confront the one racial disparity they have ignored for decades: the breakdown of the black family. Today, 70 percent of black children are born to unmarried parents and close to half grow up without a father at home. Both figures are...

A kaleidoscopic American history of extraordinary religious transformations, told through the ordinary people who made them happen. Ever since conquistadores claimed Taino land in the name of their Catholic God and New England Puritans formed their strictly Protestant “city on a hill,”...

"I have been waiting for a book like this, and I’m so glad it's here." — Clint Smith, author of How the Word is Passed Since the nation’s founding, Black Americans have had a unique perspective on the U.S. experience—a “second sight”—that reveals the truth about the nation to...