The Untold History of the United States (Graphic Adaptation)

Now adapted into graphic novel format—the “riveting, eye-opening, and thought-provoking” (The Guardian) New York Times bestselling companion to the critically acclaimed Showtime documentary about the largely unknown true rise and decline of the American empire.

Since its initial publication in 2012, the New York Times bestselling companion to the critically acclaimed Showtime documentary by award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and renowned historian Peter Kuznick has been translated into more than twenty languages, updated in 2019 to include new material, and published in a two-volume set for young readers, with its source material airing around the world.

Now in beautifully inked graphic novel format, this adaptation of the modern classic breathes new life into key moments: from the rise of the American empire; to the madness of the apocalyptic nuclear age; and to the disastrous wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond.

Adapted by comics writer Scott Cunningham and illustrated by Hugo Award–winning cartoonist Steve Stiles and veteran comics artist Jim Fern, this fresh retelling of Stone and Kuznick’s riveting masterpiece boldly confronts the powerful forces at work behind an often half-told American history.

Oliver Stone made such iconic films as Platoon, Wall Street, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Natural Born Killers, Nixon, Salvador, and W., and is the author of the highly acclaimed memoir Chasing the Light.

Peter Kuznick is professor of history and director of the award-winning Nuclear Studies Institute at American University and is currently serving his sixth three-year term as distinguished lecturer with the Organization of American Historians. He has written extensively about science and politics, nuclear history, and Cold War culture.

Scott Cunningham started working for the long-running political comic World War 3 Illustrated and continued contributing and editing the magazine through the 1990s. He has also written for DC, Archie, Mad, Heavy Metal, and worked as an illustrator at The Village Voice and The New York Times. His first research-based graphic novel was Bad For You: Exposing the War on Fun, which he cowrote with the book’s illustrator Kevin Pyle. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with wife Dr. Elena Cunningham.

Steve Stiles’s professional career as a comic book artist began in 1975, working for Marvel’s British comic line, after which he branched out into a wide variety of genres, ranging from underground comix to children’s books to superhero comics. He was also well-known within the world of science fiction fanzines and won the Hugo Award as Best Fan Artist in 2016. Stiles passed away January 2020 and is survived by wife Elaine Stiles.

Jim Fern is a veteran comics artist with a long career, having worked with DC and Marvel and holding credits for Spider-Man, X-Men, Fables, and others. As early as 1980, Fern began learning from and working alongside artists Ernie Colon at DC and Mike Roy at Gold Key. Until 2015, he was consistently contributing art to DC. He helped design popular X-Men character Jubilee, and he cocreated and co-owns Scarlett the Vampire Redeemer and Crossing Midnight. Outside of graphic novels, Fern was also a Walt Disney World artist.