“To the Best of My Ability”, James McPherson ed.

This is a fun book with mini-biographies of all 43 American presidents — with pictures, quotes, and historical context, plus the full text of each of their inaugural speeches. A really good overview. It’s published by DK, which is one of my favorite publishers — all of their books are particularly well produced, have beautiful graphics, and are just cool to read. One of the things that I was struck by when reading this is how much the office of hte presidency changes over time — during some periods it’s incredibly meaningful and creates major change in our society — at others, it’s almost invisible. Really nicely put together book — I’d recommend you borrow it from me if you’re interested.