Yale University Press Ignition: 34 books
by Chris Albertson
Language: English
Release Date: June 10, 2003
Language: English
Release Date: June 10, 2003
The definitive biography of musical legend Bessie Smith: “A landmark in the writing of jazz history . . . First-rate” (The Washington Post).
Known as the “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith was a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African American performer...
The Great Agnostic
Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought
Language: English
Release Date: January 8, 2013
“Jacoby writes with wit and vigor, affectionately resurrecting a man whose life and work are due for reconsideration” (The Boston Globe).
During the Gilded Age, which saw the dawn of America’s enduring culture wars, Robert Green Ingersoll was known as “the Great Agnostic.” The nation’s...
by Clive James
Language: English
Release Date: August 25, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: August 25, 2015
“[A] collection of Clive James’s essays on a variety of literary topics . . . This is sanity, humor and acuity in the face of death” (The Wall Street Journal).
In 2010, Clive James was diagnosed with terminal leukemia. Deciding that “if you don’t know the exact moment when the lights...
West from Appomattox
The Reconstruction of America After the Civil War
Language: English
Release Date: March 28, 2007
“This thoughtful, engaging examination of the Reconstruction Era . . . will be appealing . . . to anyone interested in the roots of present-day American politics” (Publishers Weekly).
The story of Reconstruction is not simply about the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War. In many...
by Tracy Campbell
Language: English
Release Date: May 28, 2013
Language: English
Release Date: May 28, 2013
This “fascinating, engaging” history of St. Louis’s monument to American expansion reveals a story of greed, discrimination, and community displacement (NextSTL.com).
Rising to a triumphant height of 630 feet, the Gateway Arch is one of the world’s most widely recognized structures...
My German Question
Growing Up in Nazi Berlin
Language: English
Release Date: October 7, 1998
“Not only a memoir, it’s also a fierce reply to those who criticized German-Jewish assimilation and the tardiness of many families in leaving Germany” (Publishers Weekly).
In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, anti-religious Jew in Nazi Germany...
Spies
The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America
Language: English
Release Date: May 26, 2009
“This important new book . . . based on archival material . . . shows the huge extent of Soviet espionage activity in the United States during the 20th century” (The Telegraph).
Based on KGB archives that have never been previously released, this stunning book provides the most complete...
Galileo
Watcher of the Skies
Language: English
Release Date: October 26, 2010
“Demonstrates an awesome command of the vast Galileo literature . . . [Wootton] excels in boldly speculating about Galileo’s motives” (The New York Times Book Review).
Tackling Galileo as astronomer, engineer, and author, David Wootton places him at the center of Renaissance culture. He...
Liberty's Dawn
A People's History of the Industrial Revolution
Language: English
Release Date: March 15, 2013
“Emma Griffin gives a new and powerful voice to the men and women whose blood and sweat greased the wheels of the Industrial Revolution” (Tim Hitchcock, author of Down and Out in Eighteenth-Century London).
This “provocative study” looks at hundreds of autobiographies penned between...
The Bagel
The Surprising History of a Modest Bread
Language: English
Release Date: November 3, 2008
A “scrumptious little book” about the cultural and historical background of this humble and hearty treat (The New York Times).
If smoked salmon and cream cheese bring only one thing to mind, you can count yourself among the world’s millions of bagel mavens. But few people are aware of...
The Unknown Battle of Midway
The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons
Language: English
Release Date: November 11, 2005
“A memoir and more . . . Kernan brings this maritime battle superbly to life. . . . And he narrates the air assault in gripping detail” (The Wall Street Journal).
The Battle of Midway is considered the greatest US naval victory, but behind the luster is the devastation of the American torpedo...
by Robert M. Utley
Language: English
Release Date: November 27, 2012
Language: English
Release Date: November 27, 2012
This “meticulous and finely researched” biography tracks the Apache raider’s life from infamous renegade to permanent prisoner of war (Publishers Weekly).
Notorious for his ferocity in battle and uncanny ability to elude capture, the Apache fighter Geronimo became a legend in his own...
Surge
My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War
Language: English
Release Date: October 29, 2013
“The definitive account . . . A fascinating combination of grand strategy and personal vignettes” (Max Boot, The Wall Street Journal).
Finalist for the 2013 Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History
Surge is an insider’s view of the most decisive phase of the Iraq War. After...
by Randy Roberts
Language: English
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Language: English
Release Date: October 26, 2010
A “humbling, inspiring . . . deeply emotional” biography of the boxing legend who held the heavyweight world championship for more than eleven years (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
Known as the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis defended his heavyweight title an astonishing twenty-five times. Through...