The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From America's favorite government teacher, a "fascinating and fun" (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country.

In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn't make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history's unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time.

You'll meet a woman astride a white horse riding down Pennsylvania Ave, a young boy detained at a Japanese incarceration camp, a formerly enslaved woman on a mission to reunite with her daughter, a poet on a train, and a teacher who learns to work with her enemies. More than one thing is bombed, and multiple people surprisingly become rich. Some rich with money, and some wealthy with things that matter more.

This is a book about what really made America - and Americans - great. McMahon's cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free.

Author: Sharon McMahon
Publisher: Thesis
Published: 09/24/2024
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.12lbs
Size: 9.19h x 6.39w x 1.08d
ISBN: 9780593541678


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2024

About the Author
Sharon McMahon is a longtime high school government and law teacher who is now best known as America's Government Teacher on her Instagram account, Sharon Says So. In a time when flashy headlines and false information often take the spotlight, millions of people rely on McMahon for nonpartisan, fact-based information.

McMahon is the host of the award-winning podcast Here's Where It Gets Interesting, where each week, she provides entertaining yet factual accounts of America's most fascinating moments and people. She is also the founder of The Preamble, a newsletter that gives you the history of and context about stories that matter. In all that she does, McMahon encourages others to be world-changing humans. She has led her community in various philanthropic initiatives that have raised more than $9 million for teachers, domestic violence survivors, terminally ill children, medical debt forgiveness programs, refugees, and more.