8 Men Out. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Even the most casual baseball fan will know a bit about the 1919 Chicago White Sox–or Black Sox*. But what is the true story behind the scandal? As we all know, Hollywood often takes liberties with the facts when producing a feature length film. And how did that World Series give birth to the game as we know it today? Charles Fountain has delved deep into the history and offers this fascinating account of the gambling ring that destroyed the players who participated–and maybe some who didn’t–and sheds light on that heroic figure, Joe Jackson.

Dr. Philip Jenkins has written extensively on the ‘Lost Gospels‘. In this newest book, The Many Faces of Christ, he takes on the notion that these books on the life and divinity of Jesus were never really accepted by the church. To the contrary, they were openly and regularly discussed by early church fathers and elders all the way through the middle ages. The story of how we came to the books of the Bible is well documented. Now Jenkins rights the historical inaccuracies long accepted on these gospels. How the misconceptions came to be and, more important, what those books contain, is utterly fascinating.

What a week it’s been in the political world. Hillary Clinton was back on the Hill again testifying about Benghazi. U.S. troops engaged in the Middle East. Assad visited Putin in Moscow. Putin’s troops continued their assault on ISIS. A wave of terror and retaliation once again grips Israel. Joe Biden dropped out of the race for the American presidency. And there was much more.

To help us make sense of all of this we turned to Art Cyr of Carthage College, Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post, Daniel Halper of the Weekly Standard, and Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner. What a week it was, and what happened will surely lead to more reasons for ongoing discussion.

Dr. James McPherson has dedicated his entire career to the study of the Civil War. As he so eloquently shows us in his new book, the Civil War is still as relevant–if not more relevant–to our current times than to those that were directly affected by it.

Often when studying history we focus on the major figures. This is no less true in American history, where we may discuss founding fathers, maybe Lincoln, or the great generals of our wars. But one man who was very much a major figure who has been overlooked with the passage of time is Henry Clay. Clay spent time in both the House and the Senate and ran for the presidency on multiple occasions. But his true talent was as a compromiser when he served as Speaker of the House.