New Releases by David McCullough

In this posthumous collection of thought-provoking essays—many never published before—Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and bestselling author David McCullough affirms the value of history, how we can be guided by its lessons, and the enduring legacy of American ideals. History Matters brings together selected essays by beloved historian David McCullough, some published here for the first time, written at different points over the course of his long career but all focused on the subject of his lifelong passion: the importance of history in understanding our present and future. Edited by McCullough’s daughter, Dorie McCullough Lawson, and his longtime researcher, Michael Hill, History Matters is a tribute to a master historian and offers fresh insights into McCullough’s enduring interests and writing life. The book also features a foreword by Jon Meacham. McCullough highlights the importance of character in political leaders, with Harry Truman and George Washington serving as exemplars of American values like optimism and determination. He shares his early influences, from the books he cherished in his youth to the people who mentored him. He also pays homage to those who inspired him, such as writer Paul Horgan and painter Thomas Eakins, illustrating the diverse influences on his writing as well as the influence of art. Rich with McCullough’s signature grace, curiosity, and narrative gifts, these essays offer vital lessons in viewing history through the eyes of its participants, a perspective that McCullough believed was crucial to understanding the present as well as the past. History Matters is testament to McCullough’s legacy as one of the great storytellers of this nation’s history and of the lasting promise of American ideals.

Cách đây 110 năm, Orville Wright đã trở thành phi công đầu tiên trên thế giới khi thực hiện chuyến bay lịch sử kéo dài vỏn vẹn 12 giây, vượt 91,44 mét. Sau nhiều năm trăn trở loay hoay với nhiều thí điểm các mô hình khác nhau, từ diều đến máy bay cánh lượn không động cơ, anh em Wright vốn chưa từng được đi học đại học đã mở ra kỷ nguyên mới cho lịch sử hàng không thế giới. | ĐÁNH GIÁ/NHẬN XÉT CỦA CHUYÊN GIA | “Khát vọng bay đã được truyền lại từ ngàn đời tổ tiên chúng ta, trong những hành trình gian khổ của họ trên các vùng đất hoang vu thời tiền sử, khi họ ngước nhìn những con chim tự do bay vút qua trong nỗi thèm muốn”. – Orville Wright “Tôi trải qua những cảm giác rất sâu sắc và thú vị – gần như không thể diễn tả. Những người chưa từng có trải nghiệm bay thì khó có thể nhận biết được cảm giác này. Đó là một giấc mơ thành hiện thực của những người đã mơ được bềnh bồng trên không. Hơn bất kỳ điều gì khác, cảm giác lúc đó là một trong những sự bình yên trọn vẹn, hòa quyện với sự phấn khích tối đa của từng dây thần kinh – nếu bạn có thể nhận thức được một sự kết hợp như vậy”. – Wilbur Wright “Nó không chỉ là một thành công, mà còn là một chiến thắng… có tính quyết định của ngành hàng không, tin này sẽ làm bùng lên cuộc cách mạng trong mọi lĩnh vực khoa học trên toàn thế giới” .- Le Figaro, mùa hè năm 1908 “Sự bí ẩn dường như không thể giải thích đã được giải mã. Wright đã bay một cách dễ dang khiến không ai còn nghi ngờ việc thử nghiệm bí ẩn này đã thực sự diễn ra ở Mỹ; cũng không ai hoài nghi việc người đàn ông này có khả năng bay liên tục trên không cả giờ đồng hồ. Đây là viễn cảnh phi thường nhất của một chiếc máy bay mà chúng ta từng thấy…”

From “one of our most gifted living writers” (The Washington Post), three great stories of American accomplishment—the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the construction of the Panama Canal, and the invention of flight—all collected in one volume. This boxed set includes the following three volumes: The Great Bridge The dramatic and enthralling story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time, a tale of greed, corruption, and obstruction but also of optimism, heroism, and determination. The Path Between the Seas The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant engineering feat that was filled with both tragedy and triumph. The Wright Brothers The #1 New York Times bestseller—the dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly—Wilbur and Orville Wright.

A New York Times Bestseller A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, one of America’s most honored historians—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—that reminds us of the enduring principles at the heart of the American experience. “Insightful and inspirational, The American Spirit summons a vexed and divided nation to remember—and cherish—our unifying ideas and ideals” (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Over the course of his distinguished career, McCullough has addressed Congress, the White House, universities, and historical institutions across the country. Now, in an era of self-reflection following a divisive political season, he brings together these stirring speeches in a powerful volume celebrating civic duty, American character, and historical perspective. “The American Spirit is as inspirational as it is brilliant, as simple as it is sophisticated” (Buffalo News). McCullough reminds us of the values that unite us as Americans—regardless of region, political affiliation, or background. This is a book of history, hope, and reflection that speaks directly to readers seeking wisdom, unity, and a deeper connection to the ideals that define the United States.

Nº1 New York Times bestseller. Un día de invierno del año 1903 en el remoto paraje de Outer Banks, Carolina del Norte, dos hermanos de Ohio hasta entonces desconocidos, Wilbur y Orville Wright, cambiaron el rumbo de la historia iniciando la era del vuelo con la primera máquina a motor tripulada más pesada que el aire. Los hermanos Wright fueron hombres de excepcional talento, férrea determinación y gran curiosidad intelectual, cualidades que ellos atribuían a su educación. En este interesante libro, el magistral historiador David McCullough ahonda en la inmensa riqueza de los «Documentos Wright» —los diarios personales, los apuntes y las más de mil cartas que componen la correspondencia privada de la familia— para contarnos el lado humano de una historia genuinamente americana. David McCullough, dos veces ganador del Premio Pulitzer, nos cuenta la dramática historia de los intrépidos hermanos que enseñaron al mundo a volar.

David McCullough nunca esperó que su discurso de graduación en 2012 iría viral y se habló de todo el mundo. Ahora se da una visión a ese discurso, la escuela, la familia y la vida en general de una manera ingeniosa y conmovedora que es bueno para los padres y adolescentes.

"David McCullough once again tells a dramatic story of people and technology, this time about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly: Wilbur and Orville Wright"--Provided by publisher.

From “America’s most beloved biographer, David McCullough” (Time)—a collection of his bestselling biographies of American Presidents. This ebook box set features David McCullough’s award-winning biographies of American Presidents. John Adams is the magisterial, Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of the independent, irascible Yankee patriot, one of our nation’s founders and most important figures, who became our second president. Mornings on Horseback is the brilliant National Book Award–winning biography of young Theodore Roosevelt’s metamorphosis from sickly child to a vigorous, intense man poised to become a national hero and then president. Truman is the Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry Truman, the complex and courageous man who rose from modest origins to make momentous decisions as president, from dropping the atomic bomb to going to war in Korea. Including a special bonus: The Course of Human Events. In this Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, David McCullough draws on his personal experience as a historian to acknowledge the crucial importance of writing in history’s enduring impact and influence, and he affirms the significance of history in teaching us about human nature through the ages.

From New York Times bestselling author David McCullough, a special ebook boxed set features books that study key points of American history. The David McCullough Great Moments in History ebook box set includes the following McCullough classics: 1776 is the riveting story of George Washington, the men who marched with him, and their British foes in the momentous year of American independence. The Johnstown Flood is the classic history of an American tragedy that became a scandal in the age of the Robber Barons, the preventable flood that destroyed a town and killed 2,000 people. Path Between the Seas is the epic National Book Award–winning history of the heroic successes, tragic failures, and astonishing engineering and medical feats that made the Panama Canal possible. The Great Bridge is the remarkable, enthralling story of the planning and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which linked two great cities and epitomized American optimism, skill, and determination. A special bonus is included: The Course of Human Events. In this Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, David McCullough draws on his personal experience as a historian to acknowledge the crucial importance of writing in history’s enduring impact and influence, and he affirms the significance of history in teaching us about human nature through the ages.

The riveting true story of how Ireland came to be, told through eyewitness accounts from a thousand years of struggle “A fascinating mixture of mythology and actual historical events. . . . Lovers of Irish and medieval literature will relish this book.”—Booklist For the first thousand years of its history, Ireland was shaped by its wars. Beginning with the legends of ancient battles and warriors, Wars of the Irish Kings moves through a time when history and storytelling were equally prized, into the age when history was as much propaganda as fact. This remarkable book tells of tribal battles, foreign invasions, Viking raids, family feuds, wars between rival Irish kingdoms, and wars of rebellion against the English. While the battles formed the legends of the land, it was the people fighting the battles—Cuchulain, Finn MacCool, Brian Boru, Robert the Bruce, Elizabeth I, and Hugh O’Donnell—who shaped the destiny and identity of the Irish nation. Brought together for the first time in one volume, Wars of the Irish Kings is a surprisingly immediate and stunning portrait of an all-but-forgotten time that forged the Ireland of today.

The freedoms we enjoy represent the hard work stretching back far into the past.

From Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh, these are stories of people of great vision and daring whose achievements continue to inspire us today, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. The bestselling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only shaped the course of history or changed how we see the world but whose stories express much that is timeless about the human condition. Here are Alexander von Humboldt, whose epic explorations of South America surpassed the Lewis and Clark expedition; Harriet Beecher Stowe, “the little woman who made the big war”; Frederic Remington; the extraordinary Louis Agassiz of Harvard; Charles and Anne Lindbergh, and their fellow long-distance pilots Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Beryl Markham; Harry Caudill, the Kentucky lawyer who awakened the nation to the tragedy of Appalachia; and David Plowden, a present-day photographer of vanishing America. Different as they are from each other, McCullough’s subjects have in common a rare vitality and sense of purpose. These are brave companions: to each other, to David McCullough, and to the reader, for with rare storytelling ability McCullough brings us into the times they knew and their very uncommon lives.

Draws on personal correspondence and period diaries to present a history of the American Revolution that ranges from the siege of Boston, to the American defeat at Brooklyn and retreat across New Jersey, to the American victory at Trenton.

America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and decisions that led Great Britain to undertake a war against her rebellious colonial subjects and that placed America’s survival in the hands of George Washington. In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence—when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper. Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is a powerful drama written with extraordinary narrative vitality. It is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color; farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the King’s men, the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. Written as a companion work to his celebrated biography of John Adams, David McCullough’s 1776 is another landmark in the literature of American history.

In 2001, David McCullough's Pulitzer prizewinning and bestselling biography John Adams rediscovered our second president and revealed fascinating aspects of his life that few had known before. Here is additional background and historical context that can help you better understand McCullough's brilliantly written and illuminating portrait: Why do some consider Adams to be the first "real" U.S. president? How might Adams fare if he were a candidate today? What are Adams's greatest political legacies?

The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling biography of America’s founding father and second president that was the basis for the acclaimed HBO series, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as “out of his senses”; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. This is history on a grand scale—a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

Remarks by David McCullough at the Public Broadcasting Service conference in Dallas, Texas, on June 22, 1997. The speaker discusses his role in the PBS series, "The American Experience," and "Smithsonian World," and suggests a joining forces of public television and public libraries. He further presents some thoughts for new public television projects.

In this riveting biography, David McCullough captures Harry S. Truman and the turbulent, historically significant times during which he served.

A noted historian's very personal tour of the city where so much of the American past took shape -- with excursions into institutions famous and obscure, the archives that are the nation's memory, and the haunts of some noble ghosts.

Publisher Description

Mile for mile, the Panama Railroad cost more in dollars - and lives - than any railroad ever built.