"Richard Rubin has done something that will never be possible for anyone to do again. His interviews with the last American World War I veterans--who have all since died--bring to vivid life a cataclysm that changed our world forever but that remains curiously forgotten here."--Adam Hochschild, author of "To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918
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In 2003, 85 years after the end of World War I, Richard Rubin set out to see if he could still find and talk to someone who had actually served in the American Expeditionary Forces during that colossal conflict. Ultimately, he found dozens, aged 101 to 113, from Cape Cod to Carson City, who shared with him at the last possible moment their stories of America's Great War. Nineteenth-century men and women living in the twenty-first century, they were self-reliant, humble, and stoic, never complaining, but still marveling at the immensity of the war they helped win, and the complexity of the world they helped create. Though America has largely forgotten their war, you will never forget them, or their stories. A decade in the making, "The Last of the Doughboys" is the most sweeping look at America's First World War in a generation, a glorious reminder of the tremendously important role America played in the war to end all wars, as well as a moving meditation on character, grace, aging, and memory.
"An outstanding and fascinating book. By tracking down the last surviving veterans of the First World War and interviewing them with sympathy and skill, Richard Rubin has produced a first-rate work of reporting."--Ian Frazier, author of "Travels in Siberia"
"I cannot remember a book about that huge and terrible war that I have enjoyed reading more in many years."--Michael Korda, "The Daily Beast"

Beginning with America's struggle to rebuild after the Civil War to a burst of growth that led to it becoming a superpower, this visually engaging and informative book gives the reader everything needed to know about American History from the Reconstruction to the end of the 20th Century. It follows the transformation of the United States from a relatively small, remote, and isolated outpost to the richest, most powerful, and most influential nation in the world. It also covers a period that produced some of the world's most unforgettable characters -- and some of America's proudest (and not so proud) moments. American History 101 is crammed with special features, including lists of who's who, biographical and little-known facts, and a host of photo's, cartoons, and vintage illustrations.

When Richard Rubin, fresh out of the Ivy League, accepts a job at a daily newspaper in the old Delta town of Greenwood, Mississippi, he is thrust into a place as different from his hometown of New York as any in the country. Yet to his surprise, he is warmly welcomed by the townspeople and soon finds his first great scoop in Handy Campbell, a poor, black teen and gifted high school quarterback who goes on to win a spot on Mississippi State's team -- a training ground for the NFL.

Six years later, Rubin, back in New York, learns that Handy is locked up in Greenwood, accused of capital murder. Returning south to cover the trial, Rubin follows the trail that took Handy from the football field to county jail. As the best and worst elements of Mississippi rise up to do battle over one man's fate, Rubin must confront his own unresolved feelings about the confederacy of silence that initially enabled him to thrive in Greenwood but ultimately forced him to leave it.