Identifying ten values that have inspired and defined the American national consciousness, a history names the leaders who presented each ideal and explains how they shaped the nation's intellectual heritage.

Product Description: Published to coincide with the 125th anniversary of William Carlos Williams' birth, Neil Baldwin’s thoughtful biography captures the rich life of the preeminent poet who was also a beloved country doctor. Baldwin writes movingly of the small-town New Jersey folk who came to see Dr...read more

Product Description: How and why did this quintessential American folk-hero and pioneering industrialist become one of the most obsessive anti-Semites of our time-a man who devoted his immense financial resources to publishing a pernicious forgery, The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion? Once Henry Ford's virulent media campaign against the Jews took off during the "anxious decade" following World War I, how did America's splintered Jewish community attempt to cope with the relentless tirade conducted for ninety-one consecutive weeks in the automobile manufacturer's personal newspaper, The Dearborn Independent? What were the repercussions of Ford's Jew-hatred extending deeply into the 1930s? Drawing upon previously-uncited oral history transcripts, archival correspondence, and family memoirs, Neil Baldwin answers these and other questions, examining the conservative biases of the men at the inner circle of the Ford Motor Company and disentangling painful ideological struggles among an elite Jewish leadership reluctantly pitted against the clout and popularity of "The Flivver King...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The genius of America's most prolific inventor, Thomas Edison, is widely acknowledged, and Edison himself has become an almost mythic figure. But how much do we really know about the man who considered deriving rubber from a goldenrod plant as opposed to the genius who gave us electric light? Neil Baldwin gives us a complex portrait of the inventor himself—both myth and man—and a multifaceted account of the intellectual climate of the country he worked in and irrevocably changed...read more

Product Description: The definitive biography of one of the most influential surrealists and a quintessential modernist. Figure-painter, sculptor, photographer, filmmaker, and collagist, Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Brooklyn. This book traces his American upbringing and his departure for Europe plus his work in painting, sculpture, photography, and filmmaking...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Looks at the Aztec civilization of Mexico, describes the role and characteristics of their deity Quetzalcoatl, and discusses the influence of the myth of the plumed serpent (view table of contents)

Discusses the plot, themes, style, and point of view of A Separate Peace and provides advice on writing term papers and preparing for tests on the novel

Product Description: A lively, in-depth discussion of A SEPARATE PEACE. Students are taken on an exciting journey of discovery through every scene or chapter. Also included are unique text notes, ideas for term papers, notes on the author's life as well as a glossary.