America–The Last Best Hope (One-Volume Edition)

Explore the Discovery of the New World, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the Fall of Communism, the Rise of Radical Islam, and more.

William J. Bennett

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781400212873
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

A single-volume edition of William J. Bennett's bestselling series, thoroughly revised and updated.

"The role of history is to inform, inspire, and sometimes provoke us, which is why Bill Bennett's wonderfully readable book is so important." --Walter Isaacson

A decade ago, William J. Bennett published a magisterial three-volume account of our nation's history. Now, Bennett returns to that bestselling trilogy, revising and condensing his epic tale into one volume, a page-turning narrative of our exceptional nation. In Bennett's signature gripping prose, Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Reagan, and others reemerge not as marble icons or dust-dry names in a textbook, but as full-blooded, heroic pioneers whose far-reaching vision forged a nation that attracted and still attracts millions yearning to breathe free.

In this riveting volume, Bennett covers America’s greatest moments in breath-taking detail:

• from the heroism of the Revolution to the dire hours of the Civil War,
• from the progressive reforms of the early 1900s to the civil rights reforms of the 1960s,
• from the high drama of the Space Race to the gut-wrenching tension of the Cold War,
• from the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of global Communism to the attacks of 9-11 and the war on terror.

 

William J. Bennett captures the players, personalities, and pivotal moments of American history with piercing insight and unrelenting optimism. In this gripping tale of a nation, the story of what Lincoln referred to as "the last best hope of earth" comes alive in all its drama and personality.

INDEX

Note: n after page number refers to footnotes.

Abbott, Jack, 643n

Abernathy, Ralph David, 580

abolitionist newspapers, suppression in South Carolina, 139

abolitionists, 139

abortion, 593n, 653, 654–655, 685, 748

Reagan on, 677

Supreme Court on, 661–663

Abraham Lincoln (USS), 775

Abrams, Morris, 682–683

Acheson, Dean, 52, 601–602

Action Direct, 686

Adams, Abigail, 83, 90

Adams, Charles Francis, 83, 202

Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., 225, 331

Adams, Henry, 325

Adams, John, 70

and Alien and Sedition Acts, 78

as ambassador, 45, 91

on American awareness of rights, 5

death, 121–122

and Declaration of Independence, 18

defense of British soldiers, 8–9

Jefferson letter to, 43

nomination of Washington as army commander, 14

in Paris, 34

peace efforts with France, 80–81

and “policy of humanity,” 24

presidency, 75–81, 86

as presidential candidate 1796, 75

as presidential candidate 1800, 81

as presiding officer of Senate, 61–62

proposal to rebuild navy, 77

on tea party, 10–11

as vice president, 61

view of Hamilton, 82–83

Adams, John Quincy, 121, 123–124, 141, 143

death, 159

at Ghent peace talks, 113

and Jackson inauguration, 128

on Louisiana purchase, 95

opposition to Texas statehood, 149

as Secretary of State, 119

Adams, Samuel, 8, 10, 53

and Boston tea party, 10

and Constitution ratification, 55

order for arrest, 12

and Sons ...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• One: The Greatest Revolution (1765–1783)
• Two: Reflection and Choice: Framing the Constitution (1783–1789)
• Three: The New Republic (1789–1801)
• Four: The Jeffersonians (1801–1829)
• Five: Jackson and Democracy (1829–1849)
• Six: The Rising Storm (1849–1861)
• Seven: Freedom’s Fiery Trial (1860–1863)
• Eight: A New Birth of Freedom (1863–1865)
• Nine: To Bind Up the Nation’s Wounds (1865–1877)
• Ten: An Age More Golden Than Gilded? (1877–1897)
• Eleven: The American Dynamo—Shadowed by War (1897–1914)
• Twelve: America and the Great War (1914–1921)
• Thirteen: The Boom and the Bust (1921–1933)
• Fourteen: FDR and the New Deal (1933–1939)
• Fifteen: America’s Rendezvous with Destiny (1939–1941)
• Sixteen: Leading the Grand Alliance (1941–1943)
• Seventeen: America Victorious (1943–1945)
• Eighteen: Truman Defends the Free World (1945–1953)
• Nineteen: Eisenhower and Happy Days (1953–1961)
• Twenty: Passing the Torch (1961–1969)
• Twenty-One: Nixon’s the One (1969–1974)
• Twenty-Two: The Year the Locusts Ate (1974–1981)
• Twenty-Three: Reagan and Revival (1981–1989)
• Epilogue: After 1989
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author