A lively account of the Kennedy administration by a former attorney general evaluates its idealism in the face of such events as the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and other period issues, in a memoir that recounts the author's witness to some of the era's most hot-button political and social upheavals.

The author of Silent Grief offers a compelling memoir about growing up with a family legacy of depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide as the author details his own battle with bouts of depression and his struggle with grief over the suicide of his brother, Tony, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

A thought-provoking study of Andrew Jackson chronicles the life and career of a self-made man who went on to become a military hero and seventh president of the United States, critically analyzing Jackson's seminal role during a turbulent era in history, the political crises and personal upheaval that surrounded him, and his legacy for the modern presidency.

Thirty years after betraying a fellow student to authorities only to have the woman vanish, a Canadian journalist who studied in China at the height of the Cultural Revolution returns to China to assuage her conscience by uncovering the fate of the woman she betrayed, embarking on a difficult odyssey through contemporary China in search of the truth.

Lee Woodruff traces the people, places, and events that have shaped her life and offers an upbeat look at marriage, motherhood, friendship, aging, and life's imperfections.  Woodruff is also the author of In an Instant: a Family's Journey of Love and Healing, about the injuries suffered by her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, when the tank in which he was riding while covering the war in Iraq was hit by an improvised explosive device.

September 13, 1860. A West Point graduate, John James "Black Jack" Pershing led the American Expeditionary Force during World War I, a role that established him as America's first modern combat commander. Yet, despite Pershing's accomplishments both before and after the Great War, his name has all but faded from public memory. In Pershing, biographer Jim Lacey gives him his due by tracing his entire life, from his military education to his post-war appointment as the General of the Armies of the United States. Check out this informative book to learn more about this accomplished--but unduly overlooked--military leader.

September 23, 1954. "The story starts in the early 1950s, when two young actors meet on tour in the provinces," says Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, at the outset of her revealing autobiography. Blair goes on to describe how her father abandoned her at a young age, the obstacles she overcame to become a successful barrister, and the unique challenges of being married to a prime minister while raising a young family and maintaining her own career. Blair also dishes about her relationships with celebrities, British royals, and American presidents, making this intimate memoir a delight for readers curious about the lives of the powerful, rich, and famous.

September 25, 1930. While author Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends is so widely read by young children that it might as well be considered required (albeit beloved) reading, relatively little is known about the man behind this and other classic books. Luckily, Lisa Rogak's A Boy Named Shel will satisfy readers hungry to learn about the late author's private life and personality, including his forays into songwriting and scriptwriting, his incurable wanderlust, and his frequent visits to the Playboy mansion. Want to know more about the surprising real lives of children's book authors? Another book to check out is Linda Lear's Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature.

September 25, 1929. She's been on telelvision for more than five decades, appearing everywhere from NBC's Today to ABC's The View, and during that time Barbara Walters has come face-to-face with more people and events than most of us could ever even imagine. Yet, in this riveting memoir, Walters somehow manages to chronicle the entirety of her lengthy career while also discussing her relationships with men, family, and friends. She also makes a point to detail her struggles as a woman in what was, at the beginning of her journalism career, definitely a man's world. "Compulsively readable," says Publishers Weekly.

In 1976, 11-year-old Cupcake Brown found her mother on the floor of the family's San Diego home, dead from a seizure. After her biological father surrendered her, Brown became one of countless victims of the child welfare system. She suffered sexual abuse and neglect, became involved in prostitution and gangs, and eventually descended into drug and alcohol addiction. Yet Brown's story is ultimately one of triumph, as she later got clean and even graduated from law school. To learn more about Brown's gritty yet inspirational life story, check out A Piece of Cake; at the end, even the biggest of cynics will be convinced that anything is possible if you work hard enough.

In this candid memoir, Chris Gardner, a successful stockbroker and motivational speaker, traces his journey from rags to riches and his path to personal fulfillment. Gardner shares painful memories of his childhood with an abusive stepfather in the ghettoes of Milwaukee, relates how he ended up homeless with a small toddler in tow (they often slept in public bathrooms), and discusses his triumphant climb to the top of Wall Street. This motivating, up-by-his-bootstraps tale was made into a 2006 movie starring actor Will Smith, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance.

At the age of 60, former advertising executive Michael Gates Gill's career was over, he was newly divorced, and his finances were in ruins. Then, to top things off, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In desperate need of a job with health insurance, he became a barista at a Starbucks in Manhattan. Much to his surprise, his time spent making lattés alongside his younger coworkers ended up transforming him into a happier and more empathetic person. How Starbucks Saved My Life is Gill's memoir of his life-altering experience; check it out for a riches-to-rags story of redemption and enlightenment.

While at Harvard in the mid-1990s, Lauralee Summer stood out amongst her classmates not just because she was a female wrestler (the only one on the team), but because of her background. As the daughter of an eccentric and sporadically employed mother, Summer spent most of her childhood in and out of temporary housing, welfare hotels, and homeless shelters. Yet, despite those challenges, Summer had a loving relationship with her mother, she exceled in high school, and she eventually made her way into Harvard, where she encountered privilege and wealth completely unlike anything she had ever known. This hopeful story about triumphing over adversity is certain to inspire readers.