Accounts of political debates, economic developments, and military conflicts are all staples of our history, but there is much more to the American story. This appealing book fills in another dimension by tracing the evolution of American popular culture over the past two centuries. In ten chapters, each revolving around the lives of two remarkable individuals who are in some way emblematic of their times, Icons of American Popular Culture provides an intriguing window on the social, economic, and political history of our democracy from the antebellum period to the present.

Lives and Times is a biographical reader designed to acquaint students with major issues in American history through the lives of individuals, prominent and otherwise, whose activities and ideas were crucial in shaping the course of the nation's history. Employing a narrative style, each volume consists of thirteen chapters in which the lives of two individuals are examined in the broader context of major historical themes. Readers will find not only a diversity of individuals profiled, but also themes spanning political, economic, social, cultural, intellectual and military history. This...

As the first great Jewish player in the major leagues and the first African American to play major-league baseball during the twentieth century, respectively, Hank Greenberg and Jackie Robinson are forever linked because of the barriers they encountered, the discrimination they endured, the athletic gifts they exhibited, and especially the courage and dignity they displayed. Both suffered ridicule and abuse as they participated in the national pastime. Nevertheless, each excelled. Greenberg became one of the preeminent sluggers of the 1930s and 1940s who took a break from baseball to serve in...