In this "sharp-eyed account of a nearly forgotten African-American sports legend" (Publishers Weekly)-the remarkable Major Taylor who became the world's fastest bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era-"Kranish has done historians and fans a service by reminding us that such immortals as Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods all followed in Major Taylor's wake" (The Washington Post). In the 1890s, the nation's promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws still separated blacks from whites, and the excesses of the Gilded Age created an elite upper class. When Major Taylor, a young black man, announced he wanted to compete in the nation's most popular and mostly white man's sport, cycling, Birdie Munger, a white cyclist who once was the world's fastest man, declared that he could help turn the young black athlete into a champion. Twelve years before boxer Jack Johnson and fifty years before baseball player Jackie Robinson, Taylor faced racism at nearly every turn-especially by whites who feared he would disprove their stereotypes of blacks. In The World's Fastest Man, years in the writing, investigative journalist Michael Kranish reveals new information about Major Taylor based on a rare interview with his daughter and other never-before-uncovered details from Taylor's life. Kranish shows how Taylor indeed became a world champion, traveled the world, was the toast of Paris, and was one of the most chronicled black men of his day. From a moment in time just before the arrival of the automobile when bicycles were king, the populace was booming with immigrants, and enormous societal changes were about to take place, "both inspiring and heartbreaking, this is an essential contribution to sports history" (Booklist, starred review). The World's Fastest Man "restores the memory of one of the first black athletes to overcome the drag of racism and achieve national renown" (The New York Times Book Review).

When Thomas Jefferson wrote his epitaph, he listed as his accomplishments his authorship of the Declaration of Independence and the Virginia statute of religious freedom, and his founding of the University of Virginia. He did not mention his presidency or that he was second governor of the state of Virginia, in the most trying hours of the Revolution. Dumas Malone, author of the epic six-volume biography, wrote that the events of this time explain Jefferson's "character as a man of action in a serious emergency." Joseph Ellis, author of American Sphinx, focuses on other parts of Jefferson's life but wrote that his actions as governor "toughened him on the inside." It is this period, when Jefferson was literally tested under fire, that Michael Kranish illuminates in Flight from Monticello.
Filled with vivid, precisely observed scenes, this book is a sweeping narrative of clashing armies--of spies, intrigue, desperate moments, and harrowing battles. The story opens with the first murmurs of resistance to Britain, as the colonies struggled under an onerous tax burden and colonial leaders--including Jefferson--fomented opposition to British rule. Kranish captures the tumultuous outbreak of war, the local politics behind Jefferson's actions in the Continental Congress (and his famous Declaration), and his rise to the governorship. Jefferson's life-long belief in the corrupting influence of a powerful executive led him to advocate for a weak governorship, one that lacked the necessary powers to raise an army. Thus, Virginia was woefully unprepared for the invading British troops who sailed up the James under the direction of a recently turned Benedict Arnold. Facing rag-tag resistance, the British force took the colony with very little trouble. The legislature fled the capital, and Jefferson himself narrowly eluded capture twice.
Kranish describes Jefferson's many stumbles as he struggled to respond to the invasion, and along the way, the author paints an intimate portrait of Jefferson, illuminating his quiet conversations, his family turmoil, and his private hours at Monticello. "Jefferson's record was both remarkable and unsatisfactory, filled with contradictions," writes Kranish. As a revolutionary leader who felt he was unqualified to conduct a war, Jefferson never resolved those contradictions--but, as Kranish shows, he did learn lessons during those dark hours that served him all his life.

The most current and definitive investigation into the life and times of the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump Revealed was reported by a team of award-winning Washington Post journalists and co-authored by investigative political reporter Michael Kranish and senior editor Marc Fisher. Trump Revealed offers the most thorough and wide-ranging examination of Donald Trump's public and private lives to date, from his upbringing in Queens and formative years at the New York Military Academy, to his turbulent careers in real estate and entertainment, to his astonishing rise as the Republican presidential nominee and now President-elect. The book is based on the investigative reporting of more than two dozen Washington Post reporters and researchers who leveraged their expertise in politics, business, legal affairs, sports and other areas. The effort was guided by a team of editors headed by Executive Editor Martin Baron, who joined the newspaper in 2013 after his successful tenure running The Boston Globe. His team's investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church inspired the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight, which stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams.

The miracle baby of the former Governor of Michigan, Mitt Romney catapulted to national prominence a decade ago, first as head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics Organizing Committee, and then as the Republican Governor of the solidly-blue Massachusetts. In this engrossing and eye-opening biography, seasoned Boston Globe investigative reporters Michael Kranish and Scott Helman - journalists who have covered the candidate for a decade-go beyond the all-American looks and dazzling smile, stump speeches and glossy campaign brochures to reveal the core of the highly successful figure that is so well recognized yet so little known. Based on the "Globe" journalists' years of reporting and hundreds of interviews and filled with eight pages of photos, "The Real Romney" is a fresh, probing, and fair portrait of this multifaceted man - CEO, politician, dedicated family man, devout Mormon-who made his name and huge fortune as a private equity dealmaker. Kranish and Helman trace Romney's roots from his privileged upbringing and his close, yet complicated relationship with his father. They explore the role of religion in his life, including his missionary service in France and the fatal car crash that profoundly impacted his path. They reveal his close relationships with his children and his wife, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. They analyze Romney's controversial tenure at Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private investment firms. And they provide a thorough examination of his race against Senator Ted Kennedy, his role in the 2002 Olympics, his Massachusetts governorship, and why his 2008 run for president failed. "The Real Romney" delves deep into the world of a complex individual now at his most critical juncture, revealing a driven man and the sacrifices and extraordinary lengths he will go to in the name of success, in politics and business. Hard-hitting and illuminating, it offers a solid understanding of the kind of campaign Romney will run in 2012-and the kind of leader he may be if wins.