Celebrate the founding of the United States 250 years ago with these great non-fiction reads |
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Born Equal: Remaking America's Constitution, 1840-1920
by Akhil Reed Amar
In Born Equal, the prizewinning constitutional historian Akhil Reed Amar recounts the dramatic constitutional debates that unfolded across these eight decades, when four glorious amendments abolished slavery, secured Black and female citizenship, and extended suffrage regardless of race or gender. At the heart of this era was the epic and ever-evolving idea that all Americans are created equal. The promise of birth equality sat at the base of the 1776 Declaration of Independence. But in the nineteenth century, remarkable American women and men-especially Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Abraham Lincoln-elaborated a new vision of what this ideal demanded. Their debates played out from Seneca Falls to the halls of Congress, from Bloody Kansas to Gettysburg, from Ford's Theater to the White House gates, ultimately transforming the nation and the world.
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The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding
by Joseph J. Ellis
The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award winner American Sphinx [examines] how America's founders--Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams--regarded the issue of slavery as they drafted the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. In this daring and important work, [a] trusted voice on the founding era reckons with the realities and regrets of our founding and the tragedy of its two great failures: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.
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The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
by Walter Isaacson
To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a ... deep dive into the creation of one of history's most powerful sentences: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. Isaacson unpacks its genius, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it.
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The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America
by Kostya Kennedy
On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on a borrowed horse to fulfill a dangerous but crucial mission: to alert American colonists of advancing British troops, which would seek to crush their nascent revolt. Revere was not the only rider that night, and indeed, he had completed at least 18 previous rides throughout New England, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, and its consequences in the months and years to come--as the American Revolution morphed from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war--became one of our founding legends. In The Ride, Kostya Kennedy presents a dramatic new narrative of the events of April 18 and 19, 1775, informed by fresh primary and secondary source research into archives, family letters and diaries, contemporary accounts, and more.
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Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters
by Edward J. Larson
On the 250th anniversary of American independence, with the history of our founding a political battleground, this study of the ideas and battlefield sacrifices of 1776 by a Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar could not be more timely.
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We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution
by Jill Lepore
Author Jill Lepore's 15th book, We the People, a history of the U.S. Constitution, may be her best yet, a capacious work that lands at the right moment, like a life buoy, as our ship of state takes on water. --Hamilton Cain, Los Angeles Times From the best-selling author of These Truths comes We the People, a stunning new history of the U.S. Constitution, for a troubling new era.
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The American Revolution: An Intimate History
by Geoffrey C. Ward
A richly illustrated, human-centered history of America's founding struggle--expanding on the landmark, six-part PBS series. From a small spark kindled in America, a flame has arisen not to be extinguished. --Thomas Paine In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired independence movements and democratic reforms around the globe. The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. In this sumptuous volume, historian Geoffrey C. Ward ably steers us through the international forces at play, telling the story not from the top down but from the bottom up--and through the eyes of not only our Founding Fathers but also those of ordinary soldiers, as well as underrepresented populations such as women, African Americans, Native Americans, and American Loyalists, asking who exactly was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Enriched by guest essays from lauded historians such as Vincent Brown, Maya Jasanoff, Jane Kamensky, and Alan Taylor, and by an astonishing array of prints, drawings, paintings, texts, and pamphlets from the time period, as well as newly commissioned art and maps--and woven together with the words of Thomas Paine-- The American Revolution reveals a nation still grappling with the questions that fueled its remarkable founding.
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June is Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month
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When Memory Fades: What to Expect at Every Stage, from Early Signs to Full Support for Alzheimer's and Dementia
by Nathaniel Chin
A geriatrician whose perspective on his specialty changed when his own father was diagnosed with dementia provides clear, calm questions to ask and tasks to tackle--as well as what not to worry about--from the first moments of concern. When Nate Chin's father, also a doctor, began to feel his mind slipping, even a family as knowledgeable and capable as theirs was knocked back on its heels, disorganized, and unsure of what to do first. Chin, who in addition to his practice, became one of his father's primary caregivers until he died, determined to figure out the best way to move forward, for his own family, his patients, and now for everyone else. When Memory Fades is clear, smart, and cuts through the understandable impulse to grasp at ineffective treatments. From the first concerns that something might be wrong right through to the toughest stages of the disease, Chin gives granular information and frames topics that help readers figure out how to think about what's happening: --How to Distinguish Normal Signs of Aging from Clinical Dementia--How to Avoid Delaying Assessment--Navigating the Medical Exam--How to Plan & Run a Family Meeting--Focus on the early stages/transition period to full disease can be determinative to both quality of patient life and interactions--How to Set New Routines & Healthy Habits--Day to Day Patient Care--Community and Connection, and How to Maintain Them--Dying of Alzheimer's is Just Dying
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Dr. Colbert's Healthy Brain Zone: Reverse Memory Loss and Reduce Your Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer's
by Don Colbert
The key ingredient to fighting memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer's isn't in prescriptions or unnatural treatments. It's in a healthy, gut-friendly diet. This book will give you insight about the science behind the brain-gut connection so you can make wise and healthy diet choices. You will select foods that protect your brain from cognitive diseases and disorders. Dr. Colbert looks inside the science and provides natural protocols and treatments for cognitive decline, including the following: A weekly plan that incorporates supplements and healthy eating for optimum results. Thirty easy-to-make recipes for restoring balance and maximizing brain function. Instructions for other simple protocols that help you maintain a healthy brain and offer hope for preventing, slowing, and fighting memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer's, and other cognitive disorders.
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In the Evening, We'll Dance: A Memoir in Essays on Love & Dementia
by Anne-Marie Erickson
How does a loving, committed marriage survive the effects of dementia?In her deeply personal and daringly original memoir, Anne-Marie Erickson lays bare the onset and eventual passing of her husband from dementia. Her writing is multidimensional, poetic as it weaves together fragments of word origins, mythologies, and Biblical passages. Infused with the author's love and compassion, this compelling memoir pierces the mysteries of living and dying. Yes, it's much about her husband's tragic affliction, but it also moves beyond that to where we can gain invaluable lessons on how to love and endure in the face of a debilitating illness.
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Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia, the Caregiver, and the Human Brain
by Dasha Kiper
Inspired by Dasha Kiper's experience as a caregiver and counselor and informed by a breadth of cognitive and neurological research, Travelers to Unimaginable Lands dispels the myth of the perfect caregiver. In these compassionate, nonjudgmental stories of parents and children, husbands and wives, contending with dementia disorders, Kiper explores the existential dilemmas created by this disease: a man believes his wife is an impostor; a woman's imaginary friendships with famous authors drive a wedge between her and her devoted husband; another woman's childhood trauma emerges to torment her son; a man's sudden, intense Catholic piety provokes his wife. Kiper explains why the caregivers are maddened by these behaviors, mirroring their patients' irrationality, even though they've been told it's the disease at work. By demystifying the neurological obstacles to caregiving, Kiper illuminates the terrible pressure dementia disorders exert on our closest relationships, offering caregivers the perspective they need to be gentler with themselves.
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A Caregiver's Guide to Dementia: An Unintended Journey
by Janet Yagoda Shagam
According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are more than six million people living in the United States have Alzheimer's disease or some other form of dementia. Not reported in these statistics are the needs and challenges faced by adult children and other family members who are scrambling to make sense of what is happening to themselves and the loved ones with dementia in their care. It covers the basics of dementia as a brain disorder, its accompanying behaviors, the procedures used to diagnose and stage the disease, and the legal aspects of providing care for an adult who is no longer competent. Other topics covered include family dynamics, caregiver burnout, elder abuse, incontinence, finances and paying for care, the challenges same-sex families face, and coping with the eventuality of death and estate management.
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The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path
by Emma Heming Willis
The day Emma Heming Willis's husband, Bruce Willis, was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), all they were given was a pamphlet and told to check back in a few months. With no hope or direction, Emma walked out of that doctor's appointment frozen with fear, confusion, and a sense that her world had just fallen apart. In fact, it had. Bruce and Emma had their story written, their future mapped out. Yet all those dreams crumbled with that diagnosis, and Emma felt alone and more isolated than ever. How would she care for her husband while parenting their young daughters?
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