In this addition to the esteemed Oxford history series, historian Daniel Walker Howe illuminates the period from the battle of New Orleans to the end of the Mexican–American War, an era of revolutionary improvements in transportation and communications that accelerated the extension of the American empire. He examines the era's politics but contends that John Quincy Adams and other advocates of public education and economic integration, defenders of the rights of Indians, women, and African-Americans were the true prophets of America's future. He reveals the power of religion to shape many aspects of American life during this period, including slavery and antislavery, women's rights, and other reform movements. Howe's panoramic narrative—weaving social, economic, and cultural history together with political and military events—culminates in the bitterly controversial but brilliantly executed war against Mexico that gained California and Texas for the United States.