A recent cover story in Parade magazine offered up photos of an eclectic group of Americans such as Jimmy Stewart, Robert Redford, Dolly Parton, Rosa Parks and Mark Twain. 'Can you guess what they have in common?' the cover asked. The story was based on a new book by James Webb called "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Changed America." All those people are of Scots-Irish descent and, in his book, Webb does an admirable job of separating the Scots-Irish from both the British and the Irish, while outlining the profound impact they have had on American history. ($25.95 / 384 pages / Broadway Books)
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