History in Five

"The Crafts challenged our nation, then, as they do now, to see that we are one nation, for better or worse." Learn more about the Crafts in our conversation with Ilyon Woo about her new book, Master Slave Husband Wife, available 01/17: spr.ly/6012Mogqy

"There was no one-size-fits-all approach to their late life and art, though they all subscribed to one imperative – you must work and go on working." Check out our conversation with Richard Lacayo about his new book, Last Light, available 10/11! simonandschuster.com/p/historyinfiv…

Happy publication day to American Rascal! Learn more about Jay Gould, the greatest of the 19th century robber barons.

“@evefairbanks's empathetic, comprehensive reporting shines" - The New York Times nytimes.com/2022/07/19/boo…

Happy publication day to The Inheritors! Check out @evefairbanks's conversation with @NPRWeekend npr.org/2022/07/17/111…

How can we let go of our pasts, as individuals and as countries? In The Inheritors, @evefairbanks answers this question through the lives of three ordinary South Africans.

"No foreign country ever recognised the demarcation between white and black South Africa as real. And yet over time what began as an absurdist proposition had become real." Read more from The Inheritors by @evefairbanks theguardian.com/world/2022/jul…

"South Africa has siblings, so to speak, all over the world...countries living on the presumption that a group in power can never share it lest they be subject to terrible vengeance." Read our Q&A with @evefairbanks, author of The Inheritors: spr.ly/6013zgx49

"[H]is English-born wife, Lizzie Whitley, had one working theory: He had cracked the mystery of a machine Edison wanted for himself, and was killed for it." Read more about The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures by @tencents77, available 4/19. nytimes.com/2022/04/14/boo…

In 1888, Louis Le Prince successfully created the first motion picture. Two years later, he disappeared. Paul Fischer (@tencents77) explores Le Prince's life and contributions in The Man Who Invented #MotionPictures, available April 19.

"Americans today seem to believe that we live in especially exhausting political times. But the rhythms of our moment...have nothing on the Truman era." Explore the Truman presidency in Jeffrey Frank's The Trials of Harry S. Truman, available now! spr.ly/6015K5vtT

Salmon P. Chase wasn’t just Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury—here are five things you didn't know about this key figure in American politics. Learn more in @wbstahr's biography of Salmon Chase: spr.ly/6019KT28H

On the night he died, 8 articles were discovered inside a compartment in Abraham Lincoln's wallet. @JohnAvlon explains how these treasured clippings speak to Lincoln's state of mind at the end of the war. Lincoln and the Fight for Peace is available now!

Lincoln's example in the final days of the Civil War offers a portrait of a peacemaker. @JohnAvlon shares the lessons we can learn from his fight for peace. Learn more about Lincoln and the Fight for Peace, available February 15: spr.ly/6010KyMgi

Fifty years after the Atlantic slave trade was outlawed, the Clotilda became the last ship in history to bring enslaved Africans to the United States. @BenHRaines discusses the ship's legacy and the impact it continues to have.

"[T]he 1950s uniquely present the model of how change actually begins--in the private lives of people most desperate for it." Read more from our Q&A with James Gaines, author of The Fifties: spr.ly/6013Jv9sS

"The past corrupts souls through the centuries, if we let it. Best to pull those old ghosts up out of the mud and into the light of day." Read more from our Q&A with @BenHRaines, author of The Last Slave Ship: spr.ly/6014JQfMI

How did the movements of the 1960s come to be? Author Jim Gaines shares the stories of five activists who pioneered the gay rights, feminist, civil rights, and environmental movements in the 1950s.

How do you become an exceptional leader? We're sharing 5 leadership lessons from Angela Merkel, pulled from @katimarton's #TheChancellor. spr.ly/6011JPYgx

New on History in Five: author @katimarton shares her inspiration for writing The Chancellor, Angela Merkel's legacy, and more: spr.ly/6016JKrgY