Topic
American History
A focused shelf of free JJ University books connected to American History.
The American Revolution was rewritten into mythology, erasing the uncomfortable truths about who was left out of freedom.
How addiction became America's most profitable business model, from colonial opium to the opioid epidemic and the rehab industry that profits from both.
A sweeping history of how alcohol shaped civilization, from ancient fermentation to Prohibition to modern drinking culture and its effects on the human brain.
An insider's exploration of Amish life, faith, and the brutal cost of leaving a world where belonging is everything.
A chapter-by-chapter walkthrough of the Book of Mormon's actual narrative—prophets, plates, philosophers getting wrecked, and Jesus in America.
How the American Revolution was sanitized, mythologized, and repackaged into the patriotic gospel we're taught instead of what actually happened.
The scandalous life of Aaron Burr—duelist, vice president, accused traitor, and America's most notorious founding villain.
How American universities transformed from centers of learning into corporate brands that market dreams, sell debt, and turn sports into spectacle.
A comprehensive exposé of the CIA's darkest operations—from Nazi recruitment and mind control experiments to shadow armies, drug trafficking, and domestic surveillance.
A brutally honest takedown of Columbus that exposes the torture, slavery, and lies behind the myth of the 'discoverer' of America.
The story of Cuba's communist revolution, the CIA's failed attempts to destroy it, and how a small island survived decades of American hostility and Soviet collapse.
A systematic breakdown of what all major cults—from Jonestown to NXIVM—have in common, exposing the universal playbook of manipulation used by charismatic leaders.
How one Ohio city invented the airplane, the cash register, and the electric starter—then watched the world forget it existed.
How Walt Disney and his successors transformed a cartoon mouse into a global entertainment empire that reshaped American culture and corporate strategy.
The tumultuous history of the American dollar from phantom colonial currency through Civil War greenbacks to the gold standard's collapse.
Seven thinkers from Spinoza to Twain who dared to question biblical authority and faced the consequences.
A critical biography that exposes how Thomas Edison built his genius brand on the uncredited labor of his workforce and a ruthless patent system.
A darkly comic exposé of how America's premier law enforcement agency evolved from a filing cabinet operation into a surveillance state powerhouse that repeatedly betrayed its own mission.
How Franklin Delano Roosevelt weaponized federal power and reshaped America through the New Deal despite fierce resistance from the Supreme Court and political enemies.
How the American Revolution was transformed from messy reality into patriotic myth through deliberate storytelling and selective memory.
Henry Ford didn't just build cars—he rewired how we work, live, and move, creating the assembly line, the suburbs, and the modern machine age itself.
Benjamin Franklin bottled lightning, charmed France, and helped birth a nation—all while refusing to wear a powdered wig.
A myth-busting biography of George Washington that strips away the cherry tree legends to reveal the complex planter, soldier, and reluctant ruler behind the marble monument.
Henry George's radical economic theory that land should be taxed instead of labor—backed by Einstein, Churchill, and MLK—explained for modern readers.
The story of Harriet Tubman, from enslaved woman to Underground Railroad conductor to Civil War combatant to suffragist—the woman they couldn't catch.
How Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese resistance outlasted French colonialism and American empire through decades of brutal warfare and covert operations.
The extraordinary life of Harry Houdini, master escape artist and illusionist who captivated early 20th century America with death-defying stunts and became a cultural icon.
The seventh president of the United States stares out from history with a look that says, I dared you to forget me.
The messy, contradictory life of Thomas Jefferson—from writing the Declaration of Independence to the brutal election of 1800 that would define American democracy.
A candid look at JFK's messy presidency—from the Bay of Pigs disaster to the Cuban Missile Crisis to his reluctant embrace of civil rights—cutting through the Camelot mythology to reveal the calculating politician behind the charm.
A critical examination of Jehovah's Witnesses—their failed doomsday prophecies, social control tactics, and the human cost of shunning dissenters.
How Colonel Sanders turned a roadside chicken shack into a global empire, complete with lawsuits, bucket wars, and the secret recipe that conquered the world.
The story of Stan Lee, the man who transformed comic books into modern mythology and created Marvel's universe of flawed, relatable superheroes.
The story of Abraham Lincoln navigating America's deadliest crisis, from the election that split the nation to the battles and words that barely held it together.
The fiery life of Malcolm X, from street hustler to prison convert to the revolutionary voice who refused to apologize for calling America exactly what he saw.
The CIA's infamous Cold War program of mind control experiments using drugs, torture, and psychological manipulation on unwitting subjects.
A critical examination of Mormonism's origins, from Joseph Smith's prophetic visions and golden plates to the priesthood power structures that built a religious empire.
How the American Revolution was sanitized into myth, erasing the messy truths about who was left out of freedom.
How the American Revolution was rewritten into a myth that obscured the compromises, contradictions, and unfinished business of 1776.
A tiny pebble named Pip embarks on an adventurous journey up a mountain, discovering courage and strength despite feeling small.
How poker evolved from shadowy riverboats and Wild West saloons into a mathematically sophisticated game crowned by the World Series of Poker.
A witty, irreverent tour through American presidential history that treats each commander-in-chief as a flawed human rather than a marble monument.
The story of how Purdue Pharma weaponized OxyContin to ignite America's opioid crisis, targeting vulnerable communities and profiting from mass addiction.
A deep dive into how race was invented, weaponized through policy, and baked into American neighborhoods, schools, and wealth itself.
A sweeping chronicle of revolutions from ancient Egypt to Latin America, exploring how power changed hands and the world was remade.
A critical dismantling of American mythology that exposes the gap between the promised American Dream and the uncomfortable historical realities of slavery, propaganda, and manufactured destiny.
A history of how America's two major political parties completely switched their ideological positions over time, leaving voters permanently confused about what they actually stand for.
A provocative history of how schools evolved from ancient academies to modern American factories designed to mass-produce obedient citizens.
An exploration of how American soap operas became an infinite loop of melodrama that sedated generations of viewers with familiar comfort.
How a sickly kid turned himself into America's most legendary president through sheer force of will, war, and myth-making.
A sharp takedown of Thanksgiving mythology that exposes how a brutal colonial history got whitewashed into paper feathers and pageant scripts.
How Tom Brady went from the 199th draft pick to NFL legend, building a wellness empire while dominating football for two decades.
An investigative exposé of the Twelve Tribes, a hidden American cult founded by Elbert Eugene Spriggs, revealing its doctrine, businesses, and internal control mechanisms.
A time traveler's romance where past lives and stolen moments in a library blur the lines between destiny and choice.
How the American Revolution was sanitized, mythologized, and repackaged into a national gospel that erased the messy truths of what actually happened.
How the American Revolution was rewritten into mythology, erasing the uncomfortable truths about who was left out of freedom.
How the American Revolution was rewritten into mythology, erasing the messy truths for a convenient national gospel.
A damning exposé of how corporations knew about climate change for decades, hid the evidence, and left humanity to face catastrophic consequences from heat, floods, and fires.
The ones who stared at the ceiling wondering what else was out there and what was in here.
To every delivery driver, burnt crust, and cardboard box that whispered, “It’s going to be okay.” This book is for you.
No, I’d start the kind that eats twenty-year-olds alive and burps out “entrepreneurs.” The kind where “family” means you take the blame, and “culture” means I make the money.
And for the ones who never gave up asking what this world is really made of.
The Game Was the Reward THE GAME WAS THE REWARD BEFORE THE SEASON passes.
And for Cammi, who reminded me why stories like this matter.
by JJ Dedication For those who were taught a dream but never told the cost.
Prologue – The Curtain Rises PROLOGUE – THE CURTAIN RISES YOU DON’T STUMBLE into a Freddie Mercury.
(Here’s a hint: it already is.) Prologue PROLOGUE LET’S GET SOMETHING straight — this isn’t a movie review.
Prologue: The Buzz PROLOGUE: THE BUZZ YOU NEVER FORGET the first hit.
Dedication Chapter One - The Coin Isn’t Fair Chapter Two - The Dice Are Loaded Chapter Three - Weather, Death, and Why Forecasts Sound Like Guesses Chapter Four - What Are the Odds You’re Alive?
This isn’t some offshore thriller or seedy backroom cash drop.
The House That Emotion Built THE HOUSE THAT EMOTION BUILT BEFORE WE HAD words for anxiety or self-worth, we had Pixar.
And to the ones who still believe fire can be reborn from ash.
A year to the day before, his parents had lost a stillborn child they also named Vincent.
It started with some funky little dude probably humming into a log.
IT STARTED IN 1879 with a man named Charles Taze Russell and a magazine called the Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.
In ancient villages, across Europe and beyond, magic wasn’t about broomsticks or bubbling cauldrons.