"In this vivid and surprising history, we meet activists, investors, executives, and workers who fought over a simple question: Is the role of the corporation to deliver profits to shareholders, or something more? On one side were "business statesmen" who believed corporate largess could solve social problems. On the other were libertarian intellectuals such as Milton Friedman and his oft-forgotten contemporary, Henry Manne, whose theories justified...

Patented in 1917, Piggly Wiggly was by far the most influential self-service store of the early twentieth century. Before 1940 it was the only self-service chain with a national distribution network, but it was neither the first nor the only version. Beyond Piggly Wiggly reveals the importance of Piggly Wiggly in the invention of self-service and goes beyond the history of a single firm to explore the role of small business entrepreneurs who invented...

"For many Americans, the birth certificate is a mundane piece of paper, unearthed from deep storage when applying for a driver's license, verifying information for new employers, or claiming state and federal benefits. Yet as Donald Trump and his fellow 'birthers' reminded us when they claimed that Barack Obama wasn't an American citizen, it plays a central role in determining identity and citizenship. Here, award-winning historian Susan J. Pearson...

"This book argues that racism and white supremacist attitudes in the North, and not just the opposition of Andrew Johnson, blocked the adoption of Black suffrage (for men) in 1865. The virulent, racist tactics of the Democratic Party, as well as racism among a minority of Republicans and the small size of the northern Black population helped explain why the vigorous efforts of northern Blacks, southern Blacks, abolitionists, and Radical Republicans...

"Based on over 5,000 letters written by both black and white working-class Americans in the period 1830-1880, Love and the Working Class features the personal expression of ordinary Americans as they find a mate, joke or boast about sex, argue with their spouse, and express their feelings of attachment in both prose and poetry. Most of the letter-writers had no more than a third or fourth grade education and some of them were illiterate. Yet they...

"Purchasing a historic Savannah home unlocks the sweeping story of a Southern Jewish family. As Jason K. Friedman renovated his flat in a grand 1875 town house in his hometown of Savannah, he discovered a portal to the past. Liberty Street takes the reader on Friedman's personal journey to understand the history of the family who built the home. At the center of the story is a sensitive young man pulled between love and duty, a close-knit family straining...

The story of the epic friendship between John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, the golden era of improv, and the making of a comedic film classic that helped shape our popular culture.

"This book offers the first full account of Harriet Tubman's Civil War service and the Combahee River Raid. It details how Tubman commanded a ring of spies, scouts, and pilots and participated in military expeditions behind Confederate lines. It also recounts the story of enslaved families living in bondage and fighting for their freedom, using their own distinct and individual voices. The book uses more than 175 US Civil War pension files of the...