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Sally Denton - Passion and Principle

Passion and Principle

The passionate story of America’s first power couple, the target of one of the greatest smears in American political history.

She was the daughter of powerful Missouri politician Thomas Hart Benton and was a savvy political operator who played confidante and advisor to the highest political powers in the country.  He was a key figure in western exploration and California’s first senator, and became the first presidential candidate for the Republican Party—and the first candidate to challenge slavery.  Both shaped their times and were far ahead of it, but, most extraordinarily, their story has never fully been told.  Thanks in part to a deep-seated family quarrel between Jessie’s father and the couple, John and Jessie Frémont were eclipsed and opposed by some of the most mythic characters of their era, not least Abraham Lincoln.  Award-winning historian Sally Denton restores the reputations of John and Jessie and places them where they belong—at the center of our country’s history.

Sally Denton - Faith And Betrayal

Faith and Betrayal

The richly told story of a nineteenth-century woman–the author’s great-great-grandmother–whose religious faith was betrayed and regained on a journey across the American West.

In the 1850s, Jean Rio was a recently widowed English mother of seven. Rich, well educated, musically gifted, deeply spiritual, and increasingly dismayed by the social injustices she saw around her, she was moved by the promises of Mormon missionaries and set out from England for Utah. On her Atlantic crossing, she began a diary, and this extraordinary chronicle is the basis of Sally Denton’s book.
Sally Denton - American Massacre

American Massacre

On September 11, 1857, a wagon train passing through Utah laden with gold was attacked. Approximately 140 people were slaughtered—an act of religious fanaticism unparalleled in the annals of American history. This incident has ever since been the focus of passionate debate.  In her riveting book, Sally Denton makes a fiercely convincing argument that Mormon dignitaries were responsible for the massacre, that, indeed, Mormon leader Brigham Young bore significant responsibility, inciting the crime by both word and deed.

Sally Denton - The Money and the Power

The Money and the Power (with Roger Morris)

The most comprehensive look yet at Las Vegas and its breadth of influence. Denton and Morris reveal the city’s historic network of links to Wall Street, international drug traffickers, and the CIA. They expose the disturbing connections among politicians, businessmen, and the criminals that harness these illegal activities. Through this lucid and gripping indictment of Las Vegas, they uncover a national ethic of exploitation, violence, and greed, and provide a provocative reinterpretation of 20th century American history.
Sally Denton - The Bluegrass Conspiracy

The Bluegrass Conspiracy

When Kentucky Blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985—carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine—the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the U.S. government. The story of Thornton and "The Company" he served, and the lone heroic fight of State Policeman Ralph Ross against an international web of corruption is one of the most portentous tales of the 20th century.