Books with author Albert Marrin (Author)

Saving the Buffalo explores the astonishing fate of these huge animals. There is no simple answer to their near extinction. The interplay of natural forces and people, both Native Americans and settlers, played a critical role in the story of this American symbol. Many thousands of buffalo roamed the Great Plains for centuries. The first Native Americans had more than 100 uses for the buffalo, but only killed as many as they needed.

John Brown is a man of many legacies, from hero, freedom fighter, and martyr, to liar, fanatic, and "the father of American terrorism." Some have said that it was his seizure of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry that rendered the Civil War inevitable.Deeply religious, Brown believed that God had chosen him to right the wrong of slavery. He was willing to kill and die for something modern Americans unanimously agree was a just cause. And yet he was a religious fanatic and a staunch believer in "righteous violence," an unapologetic committer of domestic terrorism. Marrin brings 19th-century issues into the modern arena with ease and grace in a book that is sure to spark discussion.

From National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin comes a compelling look at the life and impact of Thomas Paine and the profound power of ideas.Uneducated as a boy, Thomas Paine grew up to become one of the most influential writers of the 18th century. He brought the world Common Sense, Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason; simply written, verbal battles against political, civil, and religious ignorance. Dubbed 'The Father of the American Revolution', Paine began his written reign by fervently proposing the idea of American independence from Great Britain, where he lived before emigrating to the United States in his thirties. As one historical event led to another, Paine continued to divulge his ideas to the public, risking his reputation and even his life. Award-winning author Albert Marrin illustrates the hardships and significance of a man's beliefs and its affects on our nation in a way that all ages can comprehend.

Marrin captures all the excitement and drama of the American Revolution and recreates for the reader the important events from the Boston Massacre to Washington's Farewell to his troops. Here are the stories of the Boston Tea Party and how spies foiled British plans for Lexington and Concord, stories of the disastrous defeat on Long Island and the bitter winter at Valley Forge, when Baron von Steuben made soldiers out of volunteers. Here too are the triumphs, such as Trenton, Saratoga, and Yorktown. This book is also about the ideas and individuals behind the world's first successful rebellion, including Thomas Paine, whose writings inspired leaders as well as ordinary men and women to keep their revolution alive, and Commander in Chief George Washington, who maintained the loyalty and devotion of his troops through eight long years of bitter warfare. Marrin's exciting story is illustrated with more than fifty prints, paintings, and maps. This volume tells the story between Marrin's Search for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars and 1812: The War Nobody Won, completing the story of how thirteen scattered North American colonies became a nation.

A fascinating, fast-paced account of our first president's life and times Albert Marrin examines the "father of our country" from the perspectives of his character, military experience, and also his slaveholding, to assess Washington's role in our history. A born leader with a commanding physique, unwavering self-discipline, and an unconquerable will to succeed, he was also-as Lord Fairfax observed when Washington was only sixteen-"a man who will go to school all his life." Washington's schools were the rugged country of the French and Indian War, the misery-creating insolvency of the Continental Army, and the agrarian responsibility of his plantation in Mount Vernon. Neither a political theorist nor a firebrand, Washington embodied the virtues of fairness, restraint, and farsightedness that could hold the American colonies together-at least for a while. For, as he said near the end of his life and after two terms as president, "I can clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union."