Alan Axelrod

Who are the pivotal figures in American history--the men and women who have helped shape who we are as a people and how we look at ourselves as Americans? Historian Axelrod suggests we can answer this question only after we look with an open mind into all the areas of our collective past. This book highlights the famous as well as the infamous, the virtuous as well as the notorious, from the nation's earliest days to the present. Serving up history...

"Immediately after the armistice was signed in November, 1918, an American journalist asked Paul von Hindenburg who won the war against Germany. He was the chief of the German General Staff, co-architect with Erich Ludendorff of Germany's Eastern Front victories and its nearly war-winning Western Front offensives, and he did not hesitate in his answer. "The American infantry," he said. He made it even more specific, telling the reporter that the final...

"100 Turning Points in American History is devoted to the critical decisions, key events, and breakthrough inventions and discoveries that shaped our nation."

A man of omniverous interests, Roosevelt was a "progressive" in social and political issues. He believed wholeheartedly in capitalism, that bold entrepreneurial enterprise and long-established big business were both the great drivers of the American ecomony and American greatness. At the same time, he believed that capitalism must be overseen by the strong stewardship of good government.