Explores the ways in which history has been used to influence people and government, focusing on how reportage of past events has been manipulated to justify religious movements and political campaigns.

"Thanksgiving is a popular holiday in the United States. But many people don't know the true or whole history of the holiday. Readers will learn how Thanksgiving started and its lasting legacy in the U.S."--

The stories we tell about our past matter. But those stories have been shaped by prejudice, hoaxes and misinterpretations that have whitewashed entire chapters of history, erased women and invented civilizations. Today history is often used to justify xenophobia, nationalism and inequality as we cling to grand origin stories and heroic tales of extraordinary men. Exploring myths, mysteries and misconceptions about the past - from the legacies of...

Modern humans have come a long way in the seventy thousand years they've walked the earth. Art, science, culture, trade -- on the evolutionary food chain, we're true winners. But it hasn't always been smooth sailing, and sometimes -- just occasionally -- we've managed to truly f*ck things up. Weaving together history, science, politics and pop culture, Phillips offers a panoramic exploration of humankind in all its glory, or lack thereof. From Lucy,...

"From historian and author of the popular daily newsletter LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN, a vital narrative that explains how America, once a beacon of democracy, now teeters on the brink of autocracy--and how we can turn back. In the midst of the impeachment crisis of 2019, Heather Cox Richardson launched a daily Facebook essay providing the historical background of the daily torrent of news. The essays soon turned into a newsletter and, spread by word...

"An exciting and humorous take on twenty pivotal moments of history and what would have happened if things had gone differently-from World War I (What if Kaiser Wilhelm had stopped the war?) to Alexander the Great (What if the world's greatest conqueror had a male heir?) to the European colonization of North America (What if the Vikings had stayed?). Readers will not only learn what really happened and why, but also how tiny differences could have...