NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other individual to create modern capitalism. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The First Tycoon describes an improbable life, from Vanderbilt’s humble birth during the presidency of George Washington to his death as one of the richest men in American history. In between we see how the Commodore helped to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation. Epic in its scope and success, the life of Vanderbilt is also the story of the rise of America itself.

Explores the influence of Kabbalah in shaping America’s religious identity In 1688, a leading Quaker thinker and activist in what is now New Jersey penned a letter to one of his closest disciples concerning Kabbalah, or what he called the mystical theology of the Jews. Around that same time, one of the leading Puritan ministers developed a messianic theology based in part on the mystical conversion of the Jews. This led to the actual conversion of a Jew in Boston a few decades later, an event that directly produced the first kabbalistic book conceived of and published in America. That book was read by an eventual president of Yale College, who went on to engage in a deep study of Kabbalah that would prod him to involve the likes of Benjamin Franklin, and to give a public oration at Yale in 1781 calling for an infusion of Kabbalah and Jewish thought into the Protestant colleges of America. Kabbalah and the Founding of America traces the influence of Kabbalah on early Christian Americans. It offers a new picture of Jewish-Christian intellectual exchange in pre-Revolutionary America, and illuminates how Kabbalah helped to shape early American religious sensibilities. The volume demonstrates that key figures, including the well-known Puritan ministers Cotton Mather and Increase Mather and Yale University President Ezra Stiles, developed theological ideas that were deeply influenced by Kabbalah. Some of them set out to create a more universal Kabbalah, developing their ideas during a crucial time of national myth building, laying down precedents for developing notions of American exceptionalism. This book illustrates how, through fascinating and often surprising events, this unlikely inter-religious influence helped shape the United States and American identity.

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Like a strand of mutating DNA, a deadly conspiracy winds its way through the Alpha Quadrant, even as it stretches across several years of Starfleet history. This special omnibus volume contains the entire bestselling saga-by some of Star Trek's most popular authors: Book One: Infection John Gregory Betancourt Deanna Troi's life is endangered by a mysterious plague that threatens to spread throughout the Federation and beyond! Book Two: Vectors Dean Wesley Smith & Kristine Kathryn Rusch On the Cardassian space station known as Terok Nor, Dr. Katherine Pulaski struggles to heal the planet Bajor! Book Three: Red Sector Diane Carey An elderly Dr. McCoy reunites with Ambassador Spock to save the Romulan royal family-and a new generation! Book Four: Quarantine John Vornholt Lieutenant Tom Riker joins forces with the outlaw Maquis to rescue a world in peril! Book Five: Double or Nothing Peter David Along with Captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the Starship Excalibur, Jean-Luc Picard tracks the deadly contagion to its source! Book Six: The First Virtue Michael Jan Friedman & Christie Golden Years before commanding the U.S.S. Enterprise™, a young Picard must prevent a war -- and witness the secret origin of a diabolical threat that would someday menace all he cares for!

As Protestantism expanded across the Atlantic, most evangelists were not Anglo-Americans but were members of the groups that missionaries were trying to convert. Native Apostles reveals the way Native Americans, Africans, and black slaves redefined Christianity and addressed the challenges of slavery, dispossession, and European settlement.