100 Turning Points in American History

Arnold J. Toynbee, the most famous professional historian of the twentieth century, is widely quoted as having declared that “History is just one damn thing after another.” This book argues that history is not about “things” at all but is all about turning points—the decisions, acts, innovations, errors, ideas, successes, and failures on which the shape of a nation’s life—our lives—depends. It presents the one hundred points at which America’s path decisively turned on its way to where we find ourselves today.Columbus arrives in the New WorldThe first slaves arrive in AmericaIndependence is declaredFemale suffragists meet in Seneca FallsFort Sumter fallsA transcontinental railroad is completedEdison lights his first electric lampFDR offers a “New Deal”The B-29 Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb on HiroshimaNeil Armstrong sets foot on the moonPresident Nixon creates the EPA9/11, Obama, Sandy Hook, Russian election “meddling,” and the Age of TrumpThese and many more are the crucial “plot points” in our grand national story, and bestselling historian Alan Axelrod presents them here.