November 2025

Here is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton's unsurpassed account of the Civil War, one of the most moving chapters in American history. Introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson, the book vividly traces the epic struggle between the Blue and Gray, from the early division between the North and South to the final surrender of Confederate troops.

Reviews

"Scholarly, judicious, clear, and unfailingly interesting." -- New York Times From Library Journal

Here is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Bruce Catton's unsurpassed account of the Civil War, one of the most moving chapters in American history. Introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winner James M. McPherson, the book vividly traces the epic struggle between the Blue and Gray, from the early division between the North and South to the final surrender of Confederate troops.

Reviews

"Scholarly, judicious, clear, and unfailingly interesting." --New York Times
From Library Journal

Here in this remarkable collection from American Heritage, such noted authors as Tom Brokaw, Wallace Stegner, John Lukacs, and others bring to life many of the most famous men and women of the Old West - from Lewis and Clark to Charles Frémont, Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Chief Joseph, Frederick Remington, the defenders of the Alamo, the Texas Rangers, and the riders of the Pony Express. It also shines a light on topics such as the origins of scalping, the famous Lincoln County War, the grim medical reality of Western gunfights, cowboy jargon, and the first rodeo.

Here, from American Heritage, is the dramatic story of the violent conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers that lasted more than 300 years, the effects of which still resonate today. Acclaimed historians Robert M. Utley and Wilcomb E. Washburn examine both small battles and major wars - from the Native rebellion of 1492 to Crazy Horse and the Sioux War to the massacre at Wounded Knee. Robert M. Utley is a former chief historian of the National Park Service and the author of many books and articles on western history, including biographies of General Custer and Sitting Bull.

The air war over Europe during World War II proved that combat in the sky can be even more devastating than combat on the ground. When the war ended, every major city in Germany was virtually destroyed. A German writer admitted that his own nation, in taking up the sword to conquer the world, had "summoned up those bands of furies which raced across the German skies." Here, from the acclaimed historian Stephen W. Sears, is the story of Europe's air war.

From award-winning journalist Henry Moscow, here is the story of one of America's greatest presidents. Jefferson wrote America's Declaration of Independence, but he also was an anthropologist, architect, astronomer, botanist, diplomat, farmer, inventor, lawyer, mathematician, and musician. He spoke French, Greek, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. He founded the University of Virginia and today's Democratic Party. During his eight years in office, he doubled the country's size.

In this indispensable volume, one of America's ranking scholars combines a life's work of research and teaching with the art of lively narration. Both authoritative and beautifully told, The Middle Ages is the full story of the thousand years between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance - a time that saw the rise of kings and emperors, the flowering of knighthood, the development of Europe, the increasing power of the Catholic Church, and the advent of the middle class. With exceptional grace and wit, Morris Bishop vividly reconstructs this distinctive era of European history in a work that will inform and delight scholars and general readers alike. "Mr. Bishop, the sage of Cornell, says here almost everything of transending importance about the Middle Ages and says it better than it has ever been said before. One feels great sympathy for those who must follow him...." -- Louisville Courier-Journal

At the height of their power in the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings seemed invincible – conquering, well-armed warriors whose ships were the ultimate in seafaring technology. From island bases near the deltas of major rivers, they used the waterways to scour the countryside, looting and burning towns, plundering merchant shipments, and stripping churches and monasteries of their gold, silver, and jeweled treasures.

The Norsemen eventually penetrated all of England and Scotland, founded cities in Ireland, gained a powerful province in France, controlled Frisia and the modern Netherlands, and raided lands around Spain, passing into the Mediterranean to attack Italy and North Africa. They established the first Russian kingdom, challenged Constantinople, and provided a personal guard for the Byzantine emperor.

They settled Iceland, where they developed Europe's first republic, founded two colonies on Greenland, and explored parts of North America five centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. Then, like the abrupt end of a summer thunderstorm, their adventures ceased.

Here is their dramatic story.

In 1815, the British controlled the seas. Before the end of the nineteenth century, they ruled Australia, India, New Zealand, half of Africa, half of North America, and islands all around the globe. Theirs was the most powerful empire the world has ever known. Here is the story of how the English acquired their vast domain; how they ruled, maintained, and exploited it; and how, within decades, they presided over its dissolution. Here are Britain's triumphs and also her stinging defeats, her heroes and her scoundrels. It is a full and fascinating chronicle of the growth of the British Empire and its people and of the impact that empire had on the rest of the world.

Some of America's foremost historians - including James M. McPherson, Allan Nevins, Harold Holzer, and Stephen B. Oates - recount the extraordinary life of Abraham Lincoln in this collection of the best essays from sixty years of American Heritage.
Lincoln, the book argues, "evolved into nothing less than an apostle for the sanctity of the Union, the ethic of majority rule, and the dreams of freedom and equality of opportunity. Who could have so predicted when Lincoln had seemed the least qualified candidate for the presidency?” Lincoln comes to life in this selection from America's leading history magazine, chosen by its current editor-in-chief, Edwin S. Grosvenor.