Geoffrey C. Ward Bücher

More than 40 years after it ended, the Vietnam War continues to haunt the U.S. They still argue over why they were there, whether they could have won, and who was right and wrong in their response to the conflict. When the war divided the country, it created deep political fault lines that continue to divide them today. Now, continuing in the tradition of their critically acclaimed collaborations, the authors draw on dozens of interviews in America and Vietnam to give the perspectives of people involved at all levels of the war: U.S. and Vietnamese soldiers and their families, high-level officials in America and Vietnam, antiwar protestors, POWs, and many more.

4 cassettes / 4 hours Read by Ken Burns. This companion AudioBook to Ken Burns's acclaimed PBS series explores the defining American phenomenon of baseball. Played professionally for eight months each year and enjoyed by amateurs year-round, baseball transforms ordinary people into remarkable figures, such as Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Joe DiMaggio. These gifted individuals embody universal fantasies that find their most profound expression on the baseball field. The narrative by Ward and Burns delves into the rich history of the game, illustrating its profound connection to American life, including politics, race, labor, big business, advertising, and social customs. Covering significant milestones, the audio recounts the evolution of the game from Alexander Cartwright's 1845 rules to the establishment of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players in 1885, the 1924 Negro World Series, Jackie Robinson's groundbreaking debut in 1947, and Nolan Ryan's final no-hitter in 1991. Monumental, affecting, informative, and entertaining, this audio resonates with all Americans, capturing the essence of baseball's impact on the nation.

The vivid voices that speak from these pages are not those of historians or scholars. They are the voices of ordinary men and women who experienced--and helped to win--the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.Focusing on the citizens of four towns-- Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama;--The War follows more than forty people from 1941 to 1945. Woven largely from their memories, the compelling, unflinching narrative unfolds month by bloody month, with the outcome always in doubt. All the iconic events are here, from Pearl Harbor to the liberation of the concentration camps--but we also move among prisoners of war and Japanese American internees, defense workers and schoolchildren, and families who struggled simply to stay together while their men were shipped off to Europe, the Pacific, and North Africa.Enriched by maps and hundreds of photographs, including many never published before, this is an intimate, profoundly affecting chronicle of the war that shaped our world.

"The Civil War defined us as what we are & it opened us to being what we became, good & bad things...It was the crossroads of our being, & it was a hell of a crossroads: the suffering, the enormous tragedy of the whole thing."- Shelby FooteWhen the illustrated edition of The Civil War was published, The NY Time hailed it as "a treasure for the eye & mind." Ward's history interweaves the author's narrative with the voices of those who lived thru the cataclysmic trial of nationhood: not just Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass & Robert E. Lee, but genteel Southern ladies & escaped slaves, cavalry officers & common foot soldiers who fought in Yankee blue & Rebel gray. The Civil War also includes essays by historians of the era: Don E. Fehrenbacher, on the war's origins; Barbara J. Fields, on the freeing of slaves; Shelby Foote, on the soldiers & commanders; James M. McPherson, on the political dimensions; & C. Vann Woodward, assessing the America that emerged from the war's ashes.Introduction: The crossroads of our being1861: A house divided Why the war came/ Don E. Fehrenbacher1862: Forever freeWho freeds the slaves?/ Barbara J. Fields1863: The universe of battleMen at war: an interview with Shelby Foote1864: Most hallowed groundWar & politics/ James M. McPherson1865: The better angels of our natureWhat the war made us/ C. Vann Woodward

This companion volume offers an in-depth exploration of the themes and stories presented in the acclaimed ten-part PBS TV series. It features insights from the creators, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and detailed analyses of the episodes, enriching the viewer's understanding of the series. With a focus on the cultural and historical significance of the content, the book serves as both a guide and a celebration of the series, appealing to fans and newcomers alike.

Presents a companion volume to the series tracing the history of the West

He was the first black heavyweight champion in history, the most celebrated-and most reviled-African American of his age. In "Unforgivable Blackness," the prizewinning biographer Geoffrey C. Ward brings to vivid life the real Jack Johnson, a figure far more complex and compelling than the newspaper headlines he inspired could ever convey. Johnson battled his way from obscurity to the top of the heavyweight ranks and in 1908 won the greatest prize in American sports-one that had always been the private preserve of white boxers. At a time when whites ran everything in America, he took orders from no one and resolved to live as if color did not exist. While most blacks struggled just to survive, he reveled in his riches and his fame. And at a time when the mere suspicion that a black man had flirted with a white woman could cost him his life, he insisted on sleeping with whomever he pleased, and married three. Because he did so the federal government set out to destroy him, and he was forced to endure a year of prison and seven years of exile. Ward points out that to most whites (and to some African Americans as well) he was seen as a perpetual threat-profligate, arrogant, amoral, a dark menace, and a danger to the natural order of things."Unforgivable Blackness" is the first full-scale biography of Johnson in more than twenty years. Accompanied by more than fifty photographs and drawing on a wealth of new material-including Johnson's never-before-published prison memoir-it restores Jack Johnson to his rightful place in the pantheon of American individualists.

First printing. Loaded with black and white photos and black and white and color illustrations. INSCRIBED by Jeff Ward.