Best of
American-History

1957

Day of Infamy


Walter Lord - 1957
    But as Japan’s deadly torpedoes suddenly rained down on the Pacific fleet, soldiers, generals, and civilians alike felt shock, then fear, then rage. From the chaos, a thousand personal stories of courage emerged. Drawn from hundreds of interviews, letters, and diaries, Walter Lord recounts the many tales of heroism and tragedy by those who experienced the attack firsthand. From the musicians of the USS Nevada who insisted on finishing “The Star Spangled Banner” before taking cover, to the men trapped in the capsized USS Oklahoma who methodically voted on the best means of escape, each story conveys the terror and confusion of the raid, as well as the fortitude of those who survived.

Washington


Douglas Southall Freeman - 1957
    In 1948 renowned biographer and military historian Douglas Southall Freeman won his second Pulitzer Prize for his new and dramatic reexamination of George Washington. For years biographies had gone from idolatry to muckraking in their depictions of this somewhat marbleized Founding Father. Freeman’s new interpretation was a fresh step, making Washington a living, breathing individual, flawed but heroic. An able commander who defeated the British Empire against incredible odds, Washington proved to be just as adept at wielding political power, and adroitly steered our new loosely called nation through the first stormy years of our unproven federal stewardship and the first two presidential administrations. Here with an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Kammen, who puts the writing and publication of Washington into perspective, and an afterword by Pulitzer Prize winner Dumas Malone, who explains the travails of Freeman’s grinding work, Washington is the most comprehensive biography available, and its value as an important classic has never been more evident.

The Crisis of the Old Order 1919-33


Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. - 1957
    Schlesinger, Jr.’s Age of Roosevelt series, is the first of three books that interpret the political, economic, social, and intellectual history of the early twentieth century in terms of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the spokesman and symbol of the period. Portraying the United States from the Great War to the Great Depression, The Crisis of the Old Order covers the Jazz Age and the rise and fall of the cult of business. For a season, prosperity seemed permanent, but the illusion came to an end when Wall Street crashed in October 1929. Public trust in the wisdom of business leadership crashed too. With a dramatist’s eye for vivid detail and a scholar’s respect for accuracy, Schlesinger brings to life the era that gave rise to FDR and his New Deal and changed the public face of the United States forever.

American Cause


Russell Kirk - 1957
    Russell Kirk, whose life and thought has recently been featured in C-SPAN's acclaimed American Writers series -- intended this little book to be an assertion of the moral and social principles upholding our nation. Kirk's primer is an aid to reflection on those principles -- political, economic, and religious -- that have united Americans when faced with challenges and threats from the enemies of ordered freedom. In this new age of terrorism, Kirk's lucid and straightforward presentation of the articles of American belief is both necessary and welcome. Gleaves Whitney's newly edited version of Kirk's work, combined with his insightful commentary, make The American Cause a timely addition to the literature of liberty.

Mighty Stonewall


Frank E. Vandiver - 1957
    Had he not met his death early in May, 1863, his influence could well have changed the course of the war. Frank E. Vandiver's detailed research and zestful writing style provide a vivid description of Stonewall's boyhood, West Point training, early career, years of teaching at the Virginia Military Institute, and Civil War campaigns. Here, too, are insights into Jackson's personal life and his deep religious feelings, which were so influential on his military thought and actions.

Sitting Bull: Champion of the Sioux


Stanley Vestal - 1957
    Yet it was Sitting Bull who acquired the notoriety and was paraded in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as "the warrior who killed Custer." But this new edition of Stanley Vestal's classic biography of the famous chief emphasizes that "Sitting Bull's fame does not rest upon the death of Custer’s five troops. Had he been twenty miles away shooting antelope that morning, he would still remain the greatest of the Sioux."The stirring account of the death throes of a mighty nation and its leader is the story of the "greatest of the Sioux" and his struggle to keep his people free and united. The Sioux were formidable warriors, as attested to by men who fought against them, like General Anson Mills, who said, "They were the best cavalry in the world; their like will never be seen again," but they were up against an overwhelming tide of soldiers, homesteaders, and bureaucrats. Sitting Bull fought long and hard and "He was ... a statesman, one of the most farsighted we have had," but statesmanship could not prevail against such odds.This powerful biography of Sitting Bull is brought to a new generation of readers in h a new and expanded edition, for much new material had been added to the original edition (published in 1932) that could not be disclosed while the informants were still living. Sitting Bull is a moving account of the epic courage of one man in the face of his inevitable defeat as the last defender of his people's rights.

Lee's Dispatches: Unpublished Letters of General Robert E. Lee, C.S.A., to Jefferson Davis and the War Department of the Confederate States of America 1862-65


Robert E. Lee - 1957
    When first published in 1914, these letters, written between June 2, 1862, and April 1, 1865, put Lee's strategy in clearer perspective and shed new light on certain of his moves that had been in dispute.As Douglas Southall Freeman states in the Introduction, every written line of Lee's was a lesson in war. For example, the letters reveal that in 1862, when plans for the defense of Richmond were under review, the Confederate high command considered but rejected a bold proposal to strengthen Stonewall Jackson's army in the Shenandoah Valley, embark on a vigorous offensive campaign against the North, and, if necessary, abandon Richmond.Together these 215 dispatches offer a portrait of Lee that can otherwise be glimpsed only by sifting through hundreds of other letters scattered through the ponderous volumes of the Official Records. They fill many important details about the leadership of the South's greatest general, especially about his close and always cooperative relationships with President Davis.

The Bridge at Remagen: A Story of World War II


Ken Hechler - 1957
    On March 7, 1945, a small group of American infantrymen, engineers, and tank crews secured the Ludendorff Bridge that crossed the Rhine. The successful mission saved thousands of American lives and spearheaded the invasion of Nazi Germany.The Bridge at Remagen is the detailed narrative of this surprising but crucial military action, one that stunned the German army. It is also the moving story of men who did not consider themselves heroes, but who performed magnificently under fire. In this amazing true story, Ken Hechler gives you the hour-by-hour account of brilliant military daring, human courage, and almost incredible luck that profoundly changed the course of the war.

The Pewter Plate


Florence Parker Simister - 1957
    This was in Providence, Rhode Island, during the Revolutionary War. Hannah didn't realize then how selfish she was, not to give up her own plate to the cause, but she did when her brother was wounded. As time passed, she learned how much of a struggle it was to fight for freedom. There was hard work for the little girl, but excitement, soldiers, spies and even her plate saved a life!"

The Great Plantation, A Profile of Berkeley Hundred and Plantation Virginia from Jamestown to Appomattox


Clifford Dowdey - 1957
    The title says it all.

Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolution Through the Eyes of Those Who Fought and Lived It


George F. Scheer - 1957
    This is a document of the first great war of principle as it felt and sounded to those who were there, making history."I know of no book where [the student] or general reader can attain…a more stimulating sense of what it truly was to have been there, of what it meant for humanity, patriot or redcoat, to have fought there, to have suffered there, to have settled the issues on the field." -- Perry Miller"…[C]ontinues to be one of the most interesting and lively volumes in the literature of the War of Independence." -- Don Higginbotham

The American Communist Party: A Critical History


Irving Howe - 1957
    After setting the stage for the appearance of the Party in this country, they deal with the "disorders and early sorrows" of the Communists, carefully relating them to events in Russia and Europe.

Albert Gallatin: Jeffersonian Financier and Diplomat


Raymond Walters Jr. - 1957
    presents the definitive biography of Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), recounting sixty years that the Swiss-born diplomat served his adopted country as a congressional leader, Secretary of the Treasury, financier, and ambassador. Gallatin was a founder of the House Committee on Finance (later the Ways and Means Committee), a member of the new Democratic-Republican Party, and an active politician who opposed the Federalist Party and its programs, while also helping to bring about the election of Thomas Jefferson.