Local history Books

Book SynopsisThe shots that killed John F. Kennedy were fired from the sixth floor of a warehouse at the edge of Dealey Plaza. That floor in the Texas School Book Depository became a museum in 1989. This book recounts the slow and painful process by which a city and a nation came to terms with its collective memory of the assassination and its aftermath.

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Book SynopsisThe Arkansas River Valley is one of the most fertile regions in the South. During the Civil War, the river also served as a vital artery for moving troops and supplies. Mark Christ offers the first detailed military assessment of events in Arkansas, describing their consequences for both Union and Confederate powers.Trade ReviewA must read for anyone interested in the Civil War."" - The Journal of America's Military Past

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Book SynopsisAt once panoramic and intimate, Regular Army O! uses the testimony of enlisted soldiers - drawn from more than 350 diaries, letters, and memoirs - to create a vivid picture of life in an evolving army on the western frontier.Trade ReviewThis monumental study is the most complete rendering of the topic I have ever seen. With superb scholarship, Douglas McChristian provides in-depth knowledge on virtually every page. As one of the finest narrative writers working today, he writes entertainingly with subtle wit that can be hilarious, yet he concludes with all appropriate gravity that soldiers of the period, a racially and ethnically diverse lot, were competent overall and performed their duties earnestly and faithfully. McChristian knows his subject like no one else."" - Jerome A. Greene, author of American Carnage: Wounded Knee, 1890""Drawn from more than 350 diaries, reminiscences, and narratives preserved in libraries and archives far and wide, Doug McChristian's thoughtful narrative is a revealing and deserved homage to a remarkable class of ordinary men, soldiers barely known beyond their time but rightly remembered for their grit, steadfastness, and unfailing honor in a difficult and challenging time. This is a smart, richly rewarding book."" - Paul L. Hedren, author of Powder River: Disastrous Opening of the Great Sioux War

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Book SynopsisA magisterial work by a veteran historian, The Early Morning of War blends narrative and analysis to convey the full scope of the campaign of First Bull Run - its drama and suspense as well as its practical and tactical underpinnings and ramifications.Trade ReviewIn this book, Edward Longacre has applied his considerable skills as a biographer to a vivid piece of American history, injecting humanity and fresh insight to the story of the Civil War's first major battle. Practicing the lost art of personification and characterization with both flourish and wisdom, Longacre makes the players in this immense drama live anew."" - John Hennessy, author of Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas""Extensively researched and full of fresh insights and information, Edward G. Longacre's finely crafted Early Morning of War offers a remarkably thorough, highly readable account of the men and events that shaped the course of the first great campaign of the American Civil War."" - Ethan S. Rafuse, author of McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union and Manassas: A Battlefield Guide

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Book SynopsisChronicles the black student protest movement at Rutgers University, from the 1960s to today. Richard P. McCormick examines the forces that produced the protest movement, the tactics that were employed, and the qualified gains that were achieved.Trade ReviewThis account of the black student protest at Rutgers is informative, insightful, and important. It identifies some of the social, political, and emotional forces that shaped the form and substance of the struggle of my generation of African American students and the response of university administrators and faculties. The message is clear and correctùthe changes realized by that movement were necessary, dramatic, and, to a degree, revolutionary, but not sufficient. More change is needed to confront the ongoing challenges of inequality. -- Karen Predow-James Ph.D. * former chair of the Douglass Black Student Committee *Table of ContentsChapter 1: introduction Chapter 2: stirrings of change Chapter 3: a new urgency Chapter 4: the breaking point Chapter 5: "a new and pioneering program" Chapter 6: the educational opportunity fund Chapter 7: postscript

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Table of ContentsForeword Preface Glossary of Place Names Chapters 1. Founding a Community of Whaler Yeomen, 1609-1699 2. Whaler Yeoman Ascendancy, 1700-1765 3. Revolution and the New Nation, 1764-1800 4. Cape Island and Dennus Creek, 1801-1849 5. The Railroad and the Civil War, 1850-1878 6. Settlement of the Barrier Islands, 1879-1900 7. Progress and World War, 1901-1919 8. Prohibition, Depression, and the New Deal, 1920-1938 9. A Wartime and Postwar Resort Community, 1939-1961 10. A Resort Community in Transition, 1962-1992 Appendix A. The Thirty-Five Whaler Yeoman Families Appendix B. Intermarriage among the Whaler Yeoman Families, 1700-1799 Appendix C. Manumissions of Slaves, 1802-1834 Notes Bibliographic Essay Index Photographs follow Chapter 5 Maps, pages 22, 67, 124, 220

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Book SynopsisA strange and different way of life emerges as we discover an island loved and feared.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The Old Home 2 Marriage and Childbirth 3 (a) The Islandman (b) Peig 4 Death on the Island 5 Mass and Priests 6 Visitors and the Outside World 7 The Year's Round (a) Christmas (b) Other Festivals 8 Island Life 9 The Inevitable End

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Trade Review"An interesting and very beautifully illustrated memorial of a now closed chapter in the history of British manufacture." - The Times. "The Epoch of the Shawl Trade in Paisley," writes the author of this interesting volume, "is now rounded off, Like a flower it came up, blossomed, and decayed." Even thus, in Paisley, does the poetic imagination weave garlands of blooming thoughts round textile fabrics. The book, however, is description and history, not an effusion of creative art. The shawls are now rarities sought for by collectors. To such persons this volume must prove uncommonly valuable as explaining, both by pictures and by written descriptions, the technical excellences of garments that must always rank among the most wonderful productions of the world-old craft of the weaver." - The Scotsman. "Mr. Blair is one of the few who still possess the necessary qualifications for writing a record of the lost trade, for he was brought up in it. He has performed his task with the competence of a craftsman and with the enthusiasm of a man who looks back on scenes to which distance and intervening success combine to lend enchantment. His treatment is singularly vivid and interesting, even when the picture appears somewhat more highly coloured than is quite consistent with absolute truth to nature. The illustrations consist mainly of shawl patterns. Their execution is admirable, and the striking effect which they produce might almost be expected to bring our grandmothers' favourite Paisley shawls into fashion again." - The Glasgow Herald."

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