Thomas Fleming is best known as a historian of the American Revolution and a biographer of America's founding fathers. But, as the following collection shows, this award-winning writer, whose career spanned more than fifty years, also explored with equal passion and curiosity the history of other, later eras. Spanning the generations from the beginnings of the United States to modern times, these chronicles explore events and decisions that continue to have an impact the nation to this day - from the battles of Jefferson and Hamilton and trials of Aaron Burr and John Brown to the sinking of the Maine and John Kennedy at war to the high cost of unconditional surrender in World War II and what America's presidents say about each other.

Brooklyn has always been a place of diversity and distinction. These qualities are everywhere across the borough, from its people to its events, landmarks, and more. In Chronicles of historic Brooklyn, Borough Historian John Manbeck has collected the stories that reveal the history and spirit of this ever-growing metropolis. From stories of murderous pirates who once besieged Sheepshead Bay to tales of the still-beloved Brooklyn Dodgers who played at Ebbets Field, Manbeck traces the long and colorful history. Explore the forgotten neighborhoods, iconic parks, vanishing waterfront and other attractions that show how and why Brooklyn has endured.

The 1990s was the decade when Marvel Comics sold 8.1 million copies of an issue of the X-Men, saw its superstar creators form their own company, cloned Spider-Man, and went bankrupt. It was when Superman died, Batman had his back broken, and the runaway success of Neil Gaiman's Sandman led to DC Comics' Vertigo line of adult comic books. It was the decade of gimmicky covers, skimpy costumes, and mega-crossovers. But most of all, the 1990s was the decade when companies like Image, Valiant and Malibu published million-selling comic books before the industry experienced a shocking and rapid collapse! These are just a few of the events chronicled in this exhaustive, full-color hardcover.

"I sometimes think that if, as the result of an accident, I were to lose my knowledge of Japanese, there would not be much left for me. Japanese, which at first had no connection with my ancestors, my literary tastes, or my awareness of myself as a person, has become the central element of my life." In this eloquent and wholly absorbing memoir, the renowned scholar Donald Keene shares more than half a century of his extraordinary adventures as a student of Japan. Keene begins with an account of his bittersweet childhood in New York; then he describes his initial encounters with Asia and Europe and the way in which World War II complicated that experience. He captures the sights, scents, and sounds of Japan as they first enveloped him, and talks of the unique travels and well-known intellectuals who later shaped the contours of his academic career. Keene traces the movement of his passions with delicacy and subtlety, deftly weaving his love for Japan into a larger narrative about identity and home and the circumstances that led a Westerner to find solace in a country on the opposite side of the world. Chronicles of My Life is not only a fascinating tale of two cultures colliding, but also a thrilling account of the emotions and experiences that connect us all, regardless of our individual origins.

Los Angeles sprawled westward toward the sand and sea of Santa Monica Bay throughout the twentieth century as land-grant ranchos gave way to capitalists and promoters. Developers subdivided the coastal land into neighborhoods and communities: Santa Monica, Brentwood, Bel-Air, Westwood, Venice, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Marina del Rey. These became places known to the nation at large for movie stars, moguls and business tycoons; for Will Rogers, Henry Huntington and UCLA; and for estate homes, amusement piers and surfing beaches. Join Jan Loomis, a former West L.A. magazine publisher and historian, as she tells the stories behind how it all came to be West Los Angeles.

In Volume One of The American Chronicles, Robert Vaughan panoramically evokes America at the beginning of the Twentieth century, poised on the brink of greatness and fraught with the tumult of rapid change. A time of robber-baron industrialists and rapid territorial expansion both at home and abroad, the new music called ragtime is the soundtrack for a confident nation of ambitious dreamers. It is 1904 and the nation's eyes are on the St.Louis World's Fair, which features an astounding variety of modern marvels. The enormous exhibition brings together the best minds the country has to offer, each of them with something to lose and opportunities to seize: Bob Canfield, a young and wealthy landowner who is willing to risk his honor and his fortune to make a profit out of the desert; Eric Twainbough, a solitary young cowboy riding the rails East from Wyoming, innocently bringing disaster with him; Terry Perkins, a reporter desperate to get the scoop on the story in St. Louis; Connie Bateman, one of the politically conscious new women fighting for freedom, bravely defending their right to equality.

Twentieth-century American society wittily and ironically portrayed by a great artist. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), one of the most popular American artists of the past century, has often been regarded as a simple illustrator and had his work identified with the covers of the Saturday Evening Post. He is, instead, a total artist. An acute observer of human nature and talented storyteller, Rockwell captured America's evolving society in small details and nuances, portraying scenes of the everyday life of ordinary people and presenting a personal and often idealized interpretation of the American identity. His images offered a reassuring visual haven in a period of epoch-making transformation that led to the birth of the modern American society. The art of Norman Rockwell entered the homes of millions of Americans for over fifty years, illustrating the Roaring Twenties, the Depression, World War II, and the 1950s and 1960s. His works mirror aspects of the life of average Americans with precise realism and often in a humorous light. The exhibition catalog organized in collaboration with the Norman Rockwell Museum of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, presents well-known and beloved masterpieces like the Triple Self-Portrait (1960), Girl at the Mirror (1954), and The Art Critic (1955) alongside carefully observed images of youthful innocence (No Swimming, 1921) and paintings with a powerful social message like The Problem We All Live With (1964).

1950 : Variety on the newstand -- 1951 : Before the storm -- 1952 : Expansion -- 1953 : EC soars, Fawcett crashes -- 1954 : Comics in crisis -- 1955 : Censored! -- 1956 : Birth of the silver age -- 1957 : Turbulence and transition -- 1958 : National takes the lead -- 1959 : The silver age gains traction

The banks of the Schuylkill once echoed with the hum of the steel mills, and immigrants came across the sea to transform Conshohocken and West Conshohocken into thriving industrial towns. When the storm clouds gathered in Europe, the neighboring communities proudly sent more sons and daughters per capita to serve in World War I than any other town in America. Author Jack Coll chronicles the history of these Pennsylvania mill towns with a series of compelling vignettes. From stories of Ned Hector, an African American soldier who fought valiantly during the Revolutionary War, to the heroics of the Conshohocken fire companies, Coll pays tribute to his home and evokes times gone by.

Showcases the discovery, settlement, and development of the western territory, from the Appalachians to the California coast. The book chronicles the full story, from 1800 to 1950. This exciting volume profiles the explorers, settlers, and fortune-seekersas well as Native Americansand how they shaped the West. More than 900 amazing images, hundreds in color, with rich, detailed captions. More than 90 sidebars on such wide-ranging topics as the Texas Revolution, the Oklahoma land rush, and the Dust Bowl. In addition, "eyewitness" sidebars offer vivid, first-hand accounts from those who lived through the West's most pivotal events. A 1,400-item timeline captures all significant moments and developments of the American West.