Turning points

"In America Declares Independence, one of the nation's most distinguished and celebrated attorneys tackles disturbing questions head on. Noting that portions of the Declaration are frequently "wrenched out of context by partisan pleaders to promote parochial causes," Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz explores the document's history, theology, and political theory in search of its true and enduring meaning. No stranger to controversy, Dershowitz also assails some of the Declaration's underlying assumptions and questions the conclusions that these assumptions produced.". "Drawing on the personal letters and published writings of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and others, Dershowitz demonstrates that the men who wrote and revised the Declaration had no intention of establishing a Christian nation. He reveals that Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration, "rejected all the central tenets of orthodox Christianity" and closely resembled what today's Religious Right would call a "secular humanist."". "In his examinations of the contradictions inherent in the Declaration regarding equality and slavery, Dershowitz points out Jefferson's personal contradictions on the issue. His complex set of conflicting ideas and beliefs is seen as a microcosm of the conflicts over slavery that existed at the time and would eventually lead to the Civil War."--BOOK JACKET.

The definitive account of the Normandy invasion by the bestselling author of Stalingrad and The Fall of Berlin 1945From critically acclaimed world historian, Antony Beevor, this is the first major account in more than twenty years to cover the whole invasion from June 6, 1944, right up to the liberation of Paris on August 25. It is the first book to describe not only the experiences of the American, British, Canadian, and German soldiers, but also the terrible suffering of the French caught up in the fighting. More French civilians were killed by Allied bombing and shelling than British civilians were by the Luftwaffe.The Allied fleet attempted by far the largest amphibious assault ever, and what followed was a battle as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. Casualties mounted on both sides, as did the tensions between the principal commanders. Even the joys of liberation had their darker side. The war in northern France marked not just a generation, but the whole of the postwar world, profoundly influencing relations between America and Europe. Beevor draws upon his research in more than thirty archives in six countries, going back to original accounts, interviews conducted by combat historians just after the action, and many diaries and letters donated to museums and archives in recent years.D-Day will surely be hailed as the consummate account of the Normandy invasion and the ferocious offensive that led to the liberation of Paris.

Political and social history, chronicle of military affairs.

A stirring tale of adventure and tragedy "They brought balls of spun cotton and parrots and javelins and other little things that it would be tiresome to write down, and they gave everything for anything that was given to them. I was attentive and labored to find out if there was any gold." With these portentous words, Christopher Columbus described one of his first encounters with Native Americans on the island of Guanahani, which he had named San Salvador and claimed for Spain the day before. In Columbus in the Americas, bestselling author William Least Heat-Moon reveals that Columbus's subsequent dealings with the cultures he encountered not only did considerable immediate harm, but also set the pattern of behavior for those who followed him. Based on the logbook of Columbus and numerous other firsthand accounts of his four voyages to the New World, this vividly detailed history also examines the strengths and weaknesses of Columbus as a navigator, explorer, and leader. It recounts dramatic events such as the destruction of Fortress Navidad, the very first European settlement in the New World; a pitched battle in northern Panama with the native Guaymi people; and an agonizing year Columbus and his men spent marooned on a narrow spit of land in southern Jamaica. Filled with stories of triumph and tragedy, courage and villainy, Columbus in the Americas offers a balanced yet unflinching portrait of the most famous and controversial explorer in history. TURNING POINTS features preeminent writers offering fresh, personal perspectives on the defining events of our time.