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U. S. History

A Time for Every Man to Stir

by Jack Kelly

To celebrate Labor Day, author Jack Kelly shares with The History Reader why Thomas…
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National Aviation Day Must-Reads

Each year on August 19th, America celebrates National Aviation Day. Today, we bring you our favorite…
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Rope’s Role in Colonial America’s Tarring and Feathering

he Bostonian's Paying the Excise-Man, or Tarring & Feathering. Copy of mezzotint attributed to Philip Dawe, 1774. Public domain.

by Tim Queeney

Tim Queeney, author of Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the…
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Richard Nixon’s Call for a Cosmic Hoedown

Apollo 11 launch from Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

by Jeffrey Kluger

Few authors have had as big an impact on space journalism as Jeffrey…
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To Look Them in the Face: Bunker Hill 250

Map of The Battle of Bunker Hill.

by Jack Kelly

As part of the ongoing celebration of the birth of the United States…
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This Is a Pretty Country We Live In: The Trial of Anne Royall

Ducking stool illustration

by Jack Kelly

In honor of Anne Royall's birthday (June 11, 1769), author Jack Kelly shares…
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Ben Franklin Gets Juiced With a Little Hemp

Ben West's painting of Benjamin Franklin drawing electricity from the sky.

by Tim Queeney

In June of 1752, with some sources specifically saying the tenth of June, Benjamin Franklin conducted…
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The MKULTRA Conspiracy

by John Lisle

Project Mind Control's John Lisle explains how something as classified…
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Lincoln’s First Responder

by Tom Clavin

Earlier this week—April 14th—was the 160th anniversary of our Sixteenth…
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Featured Excerpt: Project Mind Control

DCI Allen Dulles on the cover of Time magazine in 1953, the year that he established MKULTRA.

by John Lisle

In Project Mind Control, John Lisle reveals inside story of the CIA’s secret mind control project,…
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U. S. History

Featured Excerpt: Emilio Pucci

Il Deputato Liberale Emilio Pucci, IV Legislatura Repubblica Italiana, 2016. Courtesy of Wikimedia. Public Domain.

by by Terence Ward and Idanna Pucci

Terence Ward and Idanna Pucci with a foreword by Suzy Menkes When people think of fashion…
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The Importance of Mud

by Jane Ziegelman

Once Upon a Town author Jane Ziegelman credits her studies in cultural anthropology…
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Featured Excerpt: The Escapes of David George

Map from The Escapes of David George. Credit: Credit: Springer Cartographics

by Gregory E. O'Malley

When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial…
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Five New History Books to Read This February

From the dramatic story of a Black man’s relentless search for freedom in Revolutionary-era America to…
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Galileo’s Secret Sauce: People Skills

A portrait of Galileo by Flemish painter Justus Sustermans. Circa 1640. Public domain. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

by Matt Kaplan

In I Told You So!, author Matt Kaplan reveals how scientists from Darwin…
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Anne Sebba’s 7 Most Important Holocaust Books

Auschwitz gate

by Anne Sebba

On January 27, 1945, Auschwitz was finally liberated. In The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, New York…
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The Landmarks of Mary Ann Patten’s Maine

by Tilar J. Mazzeo

New York Times bestselling author Tilar J. Mazzeo gives a behind-the-scenes look…
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Dolly Parton Knows Who She Is

Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, 1969.

by Martha Ackmann

Lifelong fan Martha Ackmann shares with The History Reader why she felt drawn…
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