Examines the events and personalities, particularly President Andrew Jackson, that shaped the development of the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century.

The years from 1815 to 1848 were arguably the richest period in American life. In Waking Giant, award-winning historian David S. Reynolds illuminates the era's exciting political story alongside the fascinating social and cultural movements that influenced it. He casts fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, as well as John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation's territory and strengthened its position internationally.Waking...

"The dramatic story--from adulterous beginning to tragic end--of the passionate relationship between Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel"--

The acclaimed historian chronicles the brutal Creek War of 1813-1814, where Andrew Jackson shattered Native American control of the Deep South which led to the infamous Trail of Tears and set the stage for the Civil War.

"Long before he became the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson waged a bloody campaign to gain lasting American control of the Old Southwest--the huge territory that stretched from the Appalachians to the Mississippi and from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico. Under the Peace of Paris of 1783, most of this vast country had already been ceded to the United States by Great Britain. But from the Creeks and the Seminoles to the Choctaws,...