Books in Eyewitness to History series

Harriet Tubmans fame as a conductor on the Underground Railroad led to her nickname: Moses. She displayed considerable courage leading fugitive slaves to freedom and, incredibly, never lost a passenger. Less well known is Tubmans service in the Union army as a scout and spy during the Civil War. This captivating volume uses Tubmans own remembrances as well as other primary sources to provide a greater understanding of her astonishing life story as well as major issues of the United States in the 1800s. Historic photographs, fact boxes, and sidebars add valuable information to the main text and appealing design.

Neil Armstrong, the first person to step on the moon, uttered the legendary statement: Thats one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. This thrilling book explains how a young boy from Ohio became arguably the most famous astronaut of all time. A pilot by the time he was 16, Armstrong served in the Korean War before joining the US space program. Readers will learn the amazing story of the journey to the moon and gain an understanding of how perilous that mission really was. Armstrongs interviews, writings, and other insights are interspersed throughout this must-read volume.

The life-altering experiences of the American soldiers who liberated three Nazi concentration camps.On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler’s Germany. These men discovered the very depths of human-imposed cruelty and depravity: railroad cars stacked with emaciated, lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains; warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and dead bodies; and―perhaps most disturbing of all―the half-dead survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly civilized societies were capable of such crimes. Military historian John C. McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts―including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections―Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.

The journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark across the newly acquired Louisiana Territory from 1804 to 1806 was truly extraordinary. It's best explained using the journals of these two explorers. In this book, primary source materials were carefully chosen to highlight the most interesting and exciting parts of the adventure. Maps, sidebars, and fact boxes highlight many of the exploits of the Corps of Discovery.

Prelude to Revolution tells the story of a critical event in America’s early history, when a new nation’s fate was still uncertain.Before colonial Americans could declare independence, they had to undergo a change of heart. Beyond a desire to rebel against British mercantile and fiscal policies, they had to believe that they could stand up to the fully armed British soldier. Prelude to Revolution uncovers one story of how the Americans found that confidence.On April 19, 1775, British raids on Lexington Green and Concord Bridge made history, but it was an episode nearly two months earlier in Salem, Massachusetts, that set the stage for the hostilities. Peter Charles Hoffer has discovered records and newspaper accounts of a British gunpowder raid on Salem. Seeking powder and cannon hidden in the town, a regiment of British Regulars were foiled by quick-witted patriots who carried off the ordnance and then openly taunted the Regulars. The prudence of British commanding officer Alexander Leslie and the persistence of the patriot leaders turned a standoff into a bloodless triumph for the colonists. What might have been a violent confrontation turned into a local victory, and the patriots gloated as news spread of "Leslie’s Retreat."When British troops marched on Lexington and Concord on that pivotal day in April, Hoffer explains, each side had drawn diametrically opposed lessons from the Salem raid. It emboldened the rebels to stand fast and infuriated the British, who vowed never again to back down. After relating these battles in vivid detail, Hoffer provides a teachable problem in historic memory by asking why we celebrate Lexington and Concord but not Salem and why New Englanders recalled the events at Salem but then forgot their significance.Praise for the work of Peter Charles Hoffer"This book more than succeeds in achieving its goal of helping students understand and appreciate the cultural and intellectual environment of the Anglophone world."―New England Quarterly, reviewing When Benjamin Franklin Met the Reverend Whitefield"A synthetic essay of considerable grace and scope... An excellent overview of the field."―Journal of Legal History, reviewing Law and People in Colonial America

Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of the most powerful and popular US presidents. He was the only one to serve 12 years and was elected four times. As the leader of the nation, he saw the country through an economic depression and World War II. Through primary sources, personal and political writings, and quotations, readers will become familiar with the man behind the famous name, from his early life to his momentous presidency. This book is a unique way to examine US history in the early twentieth century through the biography of one remarkable man.

What happens to democracy when dissent is treated as treason?In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect.In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history.Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin’s book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union.

For over 50 years, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential leaders of the women's rights movement of the 1800s. In this book, abundant with interesting photographs and images, readers are given a glimpse of Stanton's public and personal life through her own writings. Her friendship with Susan B. Anthony, work for the women's rights convention of 1848, and connection with the antislavery movement are especially highlighted. Sidebars and fact boxes offer more about this period in US and world history.

What happens to democracy when dissent is treated as treason?In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect.In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history.Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin’s book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union.