Now and Then Reader publishes original short form nonfiction for Kindle Singles, Apple Quick Reads, Kobo Books Short Reads and Barnes and Noble Nook Books. We concentrate on writings that are historically based but also have relevance for present day events with a focus on American History and European History.

Available for purchase through Amazon Kindle Books, Barnes and Noble Nook Books, Kobo Books and the Apple iBookstore, Now and Then nonfiction titles range from 5,000 to 25,000 words or approximately 15 to 60 pages in length.

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Most Popular

Trauma for Everyone

How PTSD Became the Malady of Millions

by Stewart Justman

Medical History

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has become one of the more popular psychological conditions of our time. First used to describe the symptoms related to combat experiences in war, today a diagnosis of PTSD has been expanded to include some of the most common everyday situations. How it got that way is the subject of Stewart Justman’s fascinating exploration of the rise of PTSD—a story of a questionable diagnosis and of medicine gone astray.

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Vigilante Wars

Gang Democracy and the Collapse of Government in San Francisco's Gold Rush Years

by Cecelia Holland

United States History, American History, U.S. History, U.S. Government

The 1849 Gold Rush in California brought to a boiling point the new state’s unruly politics and produced mob rule in the muddy streets of San Francisco. Cecelia Holland’s compelling account of these events reveals a disturbing underside of democratic government in a nation headed for civil war.

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The Quintessential American

Selections from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

by Benjamin Franklin

United States History, American History, U.S. History

In his famous Autobiography, Franklin displays the iconic American virtues of thrift, ambition, hard work, self-improvement, and common sense. In these selections he reflects upon his rise and the self-taught lessons that brought his success.

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The Story of a Photograph

Walker Evans, Ellie Mae Burroughs, and the Great Depression

by Jerry L. Thompson

United States History, American History, U.S. History, Essays

Walker Evans’s iconic photograph of Ellie Mae Burroughs of Hale County, Alabama, made while he was working with James Agee, has become a memorable symbol of the Great Depression. How it came to be, and what consequences it provoked, make for a fascinating tale.

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Dress British, Think Yiddish

How Jews Came to Yale in Ivy League Clothing

by Daniel Horowitz

Fashion

From the 1920s to the 1960s, Jewish clothiers supplied the accoutrements of success—the Ivy League style—at American universities, but especially at Yale, one of the oldest and most traditional. At the same time Yale admitted few Jews as students. And then a funny thing happened: as the penchant for repp ties and natural-shoulder suits declined at Yale, the influx of Jews—and other minorities—increased. Here’s the story of how this came about, and how Yale’s idea of success changed, related by someone who was on the scene. 

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Race Goes To War

Ollie Stewart and the Reporting of Black Correspondents in World War II

by Antero Pietila & Stacy Spaulding

United States History

American blacks entered World War II in a peculiar position. Could they fight for the freedom of others while their own country denied theirs? And could they fight honorably in a still segregated armed forces? This illuminating perspective on World War II reportage shows how questions of race followed troops to the battlefields and how black correspondents—allowed on the frontlines for the first time—reported it. 

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