Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free by John Ferling is $2.99 at Amazon US (and possibly in other stores)
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No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously
contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July
1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and
Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader
of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies
together was like getting "thirteen clocks to strike at once."
Other books have been written about the Declaration, but no author has
traced the political journey from protest to Revolution with the
narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes
readers from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of
Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate
erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost.
At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was
intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and
justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this
passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls "a national resource."
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The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes is $2.99 at Amazon US (and probably in other stores)
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In The Forgotten Man, Amity Shlaes, one of the nation's most-respected economic commentators, offers a striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression. She traces the mounting agony of the New Dealers and the moving stories of individual citizens who through their brave perseverance helped establish the steadfast character we recognize as American today.
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Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II, 1937-1945 by Rana Mitter is $2.99 at Amazon US (and probably other stores)
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The epic, untold story of China’s devastating eight-year war of resistance against Japan
For decades, a major piece of World War II history has gone virtually unwritten. The war began in China, two years before Hitler invaded Poland, and China eventually became the fourth great ally, partner to the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. Yet its drama of invasion, resistance, slaughter, and political intrigue remains little known in the West.
Rana Mitter focuses his gripping narrative on three towering leaders: Chiang Kai-shek, the politically gifted but tragically flawed head of China’s Nationalist government; Mao Zedong, the Communists’ fiery ideological stalwart, seen here at the beginning of his epochal career; and the lesser-known Wang Jingwei, who collaborated with the Japanese to form a puppet state in occupied China. Drawing on Chinese archives that have only been unsealed in the past ten years, he brings to vivid new life such characters as Chiang’s American chief of staff, the unforgettable “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, and such horrific events as the Rape of Nanking and the bombing of China’s wartime capital, Chongqing. Throughout, Forgotten Ally shows how the Chinese people played an essential role in the wider war effort, at great political and personal sacrifice.
Forgotten Ally rewrites the entire history of World War II. Yet it also offers surprising insights into contemporary China. No twentieth-century event was as crucial in shaping China’s worldview, and no one can understand China, and its relationship with America today, without this definitive work.
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