In this newsletter:

• Personal Update
• New Book Debuts today!

It's a beautiful early autumn in the Northwest. Sunny, crisp/warm days, lovely light, and trees starting to turn reds and golds. We've enjoyed time with family, friends, and relaxing. Our time at home is winding down as we are winding up to head towards Nashville for a couple of Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers cruises. It's a beautiful country and should be a nice time of year. We look forward to sharing some highlights. But mainly, we're celebrating the release today of Bill's new book!

United States Expansion

If you’ve ever looked at a map and wondered how the United States came to look the way it does today, this book was written for you. United States Expansion is available now in eBook, paperback, or audiobook editions. This weekend, the eBook is reduced from $2.99 down to only $.99 in hopes of getting a bunch of reviews rolling in early, which greatly helps the visibility on Amazon.

While researching and writing this book, one idea kept returning to me: The map makes the outcome look inevitable. It wasn’t. The United States could have developed very differently.

Napoleon might not have sold Louisiana. Britain and the United States might not have compromised over Oregon. Texas annexation might have failed. The war with Mexico might have ended differently. Russia might have kept Alaska. Hawaii might have followed another political path.

Instead, the United States was assembled through a remarkable sequence of decisions. That is what makes looking at the entire expansion story together so useful.

Most of us learned basics about the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, the Alamo, the Oregon Trail, the Mexican War, Alaska, and the Spanish-American War at different times. We rarely step back and connect them. United States Expansion puts those pieces onto one map and into one continuous narrative.

You’ll discover why rivers and ports mattered as much as land, why access to the Pacific became increasingly important, how domestic politics influenced expansion, why some territories became states while others did not, and how continental expansion eventually evolved into overseas power.

You’ll also encounter Jefferson, Napoleon, Lewis and Clark, Andrew Jackson, Stephen F. Austin, James K. Polk, William Seward, and many others whose decisions helped determine the nation's borders.

As with all my History Highlights books, the goal is not to overwhelm you with every possible detail. It is to provide enough context, stories, and connections to help the larger picture finally make sense.

To visit Amazon and choose from the eBook, paperback, and audiobook, CLICK HERE.​

Enjoy the book and please click here to leave a review!​

Bill and Laura