Sam Cooke. His silky voice, dashing smile, and laundry list of hit records have managed to withstand the test of time. Now the extraordinary life of The Man Who Invented Soul Music is remembered by those who knew him best: Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective Available for the first time in print... Sam Cooke's great-nephew Erik Greene has compiled cherished memories and personal photos celebrating the private life of this legendary superstar. Sam's family reveals how his sparkling personality, captivating presence and enormous generosity not only made him a popular entertainer in the music industry, but a favorite within the family as well.

It is said that the inspiration for the character of Uncle Sam was a man named Sam Wilson, who provided food for the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. By the 1830s, the figure of Uncle Sam had become a personified image of America, commonly used by newspaper and magazine cartoonists to represent the U.S. government's decisions and policies. Perhaps the best-known image of Uncle Sam was created in 1917, during the First World War--a stern, white-haired man wearing star-spangled clothing, encouraging Americans to do their part to support their nation. Uncle Sam remains an important symbol of the United States and the policies and activities of our government.

Have you ever wondered why the American colors are red, white, and blue? Did you know that our national mascot was almost a turkey rather than a bald eagle? Can you trace your family's ancestry back to the Mayflower Pilgrims, or perhaps to a cowboy of the Old West? Do you think you would like to spend Thanksgiving watching footraces rather than televised football or eating venison and oysters rather than turkey? Many of us have played with Lincoln Logs, but did you know that they were named after President Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin? Symbols have always played a crucial role in shaping our identity as a country. The American buffalo, the Statue of Liberty, the Mayflower, and Uncle Sam himself have all helped convey to the world the American values of liberty and democracy. Delno and Jean West's lively prose unveils the stories behind America's symbols, complemented by Christopher Manson's handsome woodcuts, which perfectly convey the rugged individualism of the American spirit.

A vagrant is swept away by mysterious voices and visions of a haunted past that spans all of America's history. As the voices in his head begin to make sense, they set off time travelling visions that hint at his own violent past.

"An exporation of the origins and history of Uncle Sam and the real man, Samuel Wilson, who inspired this beloved symbol of America"--Provided by publisher.

Based on a rich array of sources that capture the voices of both political leaders and ordinary Americans, Uncle Sam Wants You offers a vivid and provocative new interpretation of American political history, revealing how the tensions of mass mobilization during World War I led to a significant increase in power for the federal government. Christopher Capozzola shows how, when the war began, Americans at first mobilized society by stressing duty, obligation, and responsibility over rights and freedoms. But the heated temper of war quickly unleashed coercion on an unprecedented scale, making wartime America the scene of some of the nation's most serious political violence, including notorious episodes of outright mob violence. To solve this problem, Americans turned over increasing amounts of power to the federal government. In the end, whether they were some of the four million men drafted under the Selective Service Act or the tens of millions of home-front volunteers, Americans of the World War I era created a new American state, and new ways of being American citizens.