Brands' biographical works are really "life and times" stories, with emphasis on the times. In researching an historical period he looks for a character by which he could tell the story of the time, creating through them a voice the readers can identify with. Personal notes and writings, letters and diary entries are all items of great interest to Brands as they allow the period to come alive.[7] "When you tell a story, there are imperatives of structure, of style, of pacing and all of this, that are there simply because you want to make it a good story. When do you introduce your characters? When do you put them onstage, when do you take them off the stage? How do you weave the different threads of the narrative together?"[9]Though the focus in a biography, the subject's life and experience, must necessarily be more narrow than a general history of the time, Brands uses these biographies with the intention of relating the history of the period in an interesting way. One method he uses is to describe the overall events transpiring, then to cut back to the personal writings of the individual. The subject's perception of the world is placed within the broader perspective of the age. Said Brands: "History is a story... in fact, it is the best story I can think of."[5] Examples of Brands' biographical histories include his biographies on Benjamin Franklin, covering the colonial period and the Revolutionary War; Andrew Jackson, covering the War of 1812, western expansion and the conflict over the National Bank; Ulysses S. Grant, covering the Sectional Crisis, the Civil War and Reconstruction; Theodore Roosevelt, covering the Industrial Era and the Progressive Movement; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, covering the Great Depression, the New Deal, the Second World War, and the ascension of the U.S. as an international power.[10]He takes a progressive view on the nation's founders and the U.S. Constitution, arguing that the founders were at heart radicals who were willing to challenge the status quo in search of a better future. That being so, he believes that Americans today should not be constrained by the views of self-government held by the founders. "In revering the founders we undervalue ourselves and sabotage our own efforts to make necessary improvements in the republican experiment they began. Our love of the founders leads us to abandon and even betray the principles they fought for."[11] He believes the framers would not want the Constitution to be interpreted by the idea of original intent, and believes that we are in error when we view the founders in a "deified" way.[5] "The one thing that [the Founders] did have was an audacity to challenge conventional wisdom."[9]Brands believes that Americans place too much importance on the individual in the White House. "We have this very interesting relationship with the presidents where the president is supposed to be one of us, but on the other hand he represents everybody so he is sort of above all of us. We make too much of presidents, but we can hardly help ourselves."[12] Though noting the power of the Office of the President has increased greatly since the opening of the twentieth century, when the United States emerged as a significant world power and U.S. foreign policy became far more important, Brands believes that popular focus on the president is excessive. "We have a cult of the president, where we make too big a deal of the president."[13]In addition to his works on US history, Brands has works on the economic development of the United States and biographies of key leaders in corporate America. His books are known for their readability and narrative thrust.[14] He has authored twenty-four books, co-authored three others with T. H. Breen, and produced numerous articles that have been featured in newspapers and magazines. His writings have received critical and popular acclaim. The First American was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Prize, as well as a New York Times bestseller. The Age of Gold was a Washington Post Best Book of 2002 and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller. Andrew Jackson was a Chicago Tribune Best Book of 2005 and a Washington Post bestseller. What America Owes the World was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize in international affairs. The Wages of Globalism was a Choice Outstanding Academic Book winner. Lone Star Nation won the Deolece Parmelee Award. Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt was his second finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared in the documentaries The Presidents (2005), 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America (2006), America: The Story of Us (2010), The Men Who Built America (2012), and The Eighties (miniseries) (2016). His writings have been published in several countries and translated into German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._W._B...