John P. Avlon

A groundbreaking, revelatory history of Abraham Lincoln’s plan to secure a just and lasting peace after the Civil War—a vision that inspired future presidents as well as the world’s most famous peacemakers, including Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a story of war and peace, race and reconciliation.As the tide of the Civil War turned in the spring of 1865, Abraham Lincoln took a dangerous two-week trip to visit the troops on the front lines accompanied by his young son, seeing combat up close, meeting liberated slaves in the ruins of Richmond, and comforting wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.The power of Lincoln’s personal example in the closing days of the war offers a portrait of a peacemaker. He did not demonize people he disagreed with. He used humor, logic, and scripture to depolarize bitter debates. Balancing moral courage with moderation, Lincoln believed that decency could be the most practical form of politics, but he understood that people were more inclined to listen to reason when greeted from a position of strength. Ulysses S. Grant’s famously generous terms of surrender to General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox that April were a direct expression of the president’s belief that a soft peace should follow a hard war.While his assassination sent the country careening off course, Lincoln’s vision would be vindicated long after his death, inspiring future generations in their own quests to secure a just and lasting peace. As US General Lucius Clay, architect of the post-WWII German occupation, said when asked what guided his “I tried to think of the kind of occupation the South would have had if Abraham Lincoln had lived.”Lincoln and the Fight for Peace reveals how Lincoln’s character informed his commitment to unconditional surrender followed by a magnanimous peace. Even during the Civil War, surrounded by reactionaries and radicals, he refused to back down from his belief that there is more that unites us than divides us. But he also understood that peace needs to be waged with as much intensity as war. Lincoln’s plan to win the peace is his unfinished symphony, but in its existing notes, we can find an anthem that can begin to bridge our divisions today.

“A vivid portrait…and thoughtful consideration of George Washington’s wisdom that couldn’t be timelier” ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review). A revealing look at the first President’s Farewell Address, a still-relevant warning against partisan politics and foreign entanglements.George Washington’s Farewell Address was a prophetic letter he wrote to his fellow citizens and signed from a “parting friend,” addressing the forces he feared could destroy our hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. In it, Washington called for unity among “citizens by birth or choice,” advocated moderation, defended religious pluralism, proposed a foreign policy of independence (not isolation), and proposed that education is essential to democracy. He established the precedent for the peaceful transfer of power.Washington’s urgent message was adopted by Jefferson after years of opposition and quoted by Lincoln in defense of the Union. Woodrow Wilson invoked it for nation-building; Eisenhower for Cold War; Reagan for religion. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Yet its message remains starkly relevant today. In Washington’s Farewell , John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.Washington’s Farewell “brings to light Washington’s goodbye by elucidating what it meant not only during the early days of the republic, but its lasting effect through the centuries” ( Library Journal , starred review). Now the Farewell Address may inspire a new generation to re-center their politics and reunite our nation through the lessons rooted in Washington’s shared experience.

One year into the Obama administration there is a bad craziness snaking through America: the Wingnuts are on the attack. They are the unhinged activists, professional partisans and paranoid conspiracy theorists on both the far right and far left of the political spectrum, whose hate and hyper-partisanship since Obama's inauguration threatens to mock the promise upon which he was elected. In "Wingnuts", journalist John Avlon travels to the outer-reaches of American politics to explain how far-left and far-right extremists came to dominate the nation's political dialogue. From the revolutionary-inspired "Tea Party" protests to the healthcare town hall 'hijackings', principled policy opposition to government spending has taken a sharp right turn into Crazytown. Not to mention Sarah Palin's rants about administration 'death panels', attacks like Obama-as-Hitler/Communist/Antichrist and actual death threats against elected leaders. For those with a vested interest in stirring the crazypot - like the hyper-partisan talk-show radio and cable news hosts - all of this has been good for business: hate is a cheap and easy recruiting tool. But it can be murder on a democracy...

With a fighting spirit, a fresh perspective, and flashes of humor, John P. Avlon tells the story of the vital center in American politics, from Theodore Roosevelt to the present day. Independent Nation is a rallying cry for the moderate majority of Americans who are tired of the intolerant voices on the far right and left and choose instead to walk an independent path between these extremes in the belief that what we share as Americans is far greater than what divides us.

We are living in a time when obituaries for the newspaper industry are being written every day. And yet, opinion writing is finding new life online as never before. A new generation deserves access to the best of the past, to classic newspaper writing that combines the immediacy of news with the precision of poetry.In this new Deadline Artists collection, America’s greatest journalists take on the stories of scandal, tragedy, triumph, and tribute that have defined the spirit of their age. This is history written in the present tense, offering high drama and enduring wisdom. Walk with Jack London in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake or grieve over the assassination of Abraham Lincoln with Walt Whitman while the blood still dries at Ford’s Theater. Watch as Watergate unfolds, sex scandals explode, the Twin Towers implode, and winning home runs capture the thrill of a comeback capped with a World Series victory.Contributors include: Jack London, H.L. Mencken, Dorothy Thompson, Richard Wright, Damon Runyon, Shirley Povich, Murray Kempton, Mike Ryoko, Ruben Salazar, Mary McGrory, Mike Barnicle, Molly Ivins, Pete Hamill, Carl Hiaasen, Nicholas Kristof, Leonard Pitts, Steve Lopez, Peggy Noonan, and Mitch Albom.