Bernard A. Weisberger

A look at the times and people of a new democratic government challenged with survival by pirates, wars with England and Mexico, and governing new lands.

"Based on the [life] of Jacques Cœur, [this novel] presents the story of a Steve Jobs of the Middle Ages. Cœur was the King of France's visionary First Banker who, with his tours of the Far East, his public criticism of the Crusades, and his efforts to develop trade and an operable financial system, contributed to bringing France out of darkness and toward the Renaissance and modernity"--Amazon.com.

Executive, government official. Topics include: family background, West Point; Philippines, 1901-02; Panama Canal, 1905-15; DuPont, General Asphalt; World War I: shipbuilding program, Army Transport Service, Acting Quartermaster General; Montgomery Ward, 1919-24; establishment of retail stores; Sears, Roebuck, 1924-61: shopping centers, profit sharing, Allstate; New Deal; America First; supply problems in World War II: labor relations.

Looks at how the New Deal helped to create jobs during the Depression. Interviews former Civilian Conservation Corps workers who benefited from these programs.

Journalistic exploits in the first war thoroughly covered by the press.

Provides accounts of the major confrontations of the Cold War since 1945.

Dynastic political families have been an American tradition since the birth of the Republic. Indeed, a good part of our entire political history could be written simply by setting out the family histories of the Adamses, Roosevelts, Longs, and Kennedys. To that illustrious list must be added the La Follettes of Wisconsin, and they are brought vividly to life as never before in this collective biography by veteran journalist Bernard Weisberger. Magnetic, theatrical, intensely loved and passionately denounced, Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette was the rebel knight of the Progressive vanguard and a family patriarch in the larger-than-life tradition of Joe Kennedy. As governor of Wisconsin (1901-1906) and U.S. Senator (1906-1925) he battled uncompromisingly for his vision of democracy - an idealistic mixture of informed citizenry and enlightened public servants combining to produce a utopian egalitarianism. By contrast, the private man, often isolated and defeated by social forces beyond his understanding or control, suffered from intense periods of depression and relied heavily on his family for survival. With his beloved wife, Belle Case La Follette, a Progressive journalist in her own right, "old Bob" raised their brood to perceive a unique personal and family responsibility for challenging (and curing) society's ills. His first child, Fola, left her stage career to campaign for suffrage; Robert Jr. followed his father to the Senate in 1925, when he was only thirty; and, in 1930, youngest son Phil became the old man's heir as Governor of Wisconsin and as the state's leading Progressive figure. Not unlike the twentieth century's other political "first family," however, the La Follette saga ends in largely unrealized promise and tragedy. Fola, Phil, and Bob all ultimately abandoned public life, the latter two after bitter defeat and disillusionment. Finally, in February of 1953, "young Bob" took his own life . An intimate portrait of the Progressive movement and the revealing, poignant story of a prominent American family, The La Follettes of Wisconsin will charm, fascinate, and entertain its readers.

"In 1906, the baseball world saw something that had never been done. Two teams from the same city squared off against each other in an intracity World Series, pitting the heavily favored Cubs of the National League against the hardscrabble American League champion White Sox. Now, for its centennial anniversary, historian Bernard A. Weisberger tells the tale of a unique time in baseball, a unique time in America, and a time when Chicago was at the center of it all."--Jacket.

A review of the outstanding events in the history of America during the years 1890-1901.