A. J Langguth

In 1960, former Richmond, Indiana, police chief Dan Mitrione moved to Brazil to begin a new career with the United States Agency for International Development. During his ten years with the USAID, Mitrione trained and oversaw foreign police forces in extreme counterinsurgency tactics-including torture-aimed at stomping out communism across South America. Though he was only a foot soldier in a larger secret campaign, he became a symbol of America's...

George Washington was a man of honor, and his soldiers loved him-even if his military strategies were a bit shaky. Almost everyone in Congress liked Thomas Jefferson, though no one liked his constant leaves of absence. Benedict Arnold cut a dashing figure with the ladies, but when a suitor came to court his sister, Arnold reached for his pistols. All the dynamic personalities, all the legendary moments from the Revolution come to life in this vivid...

University of Southern California professor of journalism Langguth maintains America's first civil war occurred during the 1830s when Andrew Jackson expelled Indian tribes from the Deep South and created a bitter North-South conflict. Cherokees "were driven out of Georgia at bayonet point by U.S. Army forces led by General Winfield Scott. At the center of the story are the American statesmen of the day -- Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun--...