Description
Book SynopsisAs entertaining as it is informative, Maryland Wits and Baltimore Bards shows us why.
Trade ReviewLocal treasure Frank Shivers Jr. wields his prodigious knowledge of Baltimore's past in this first literary history of the region. Baltimore Magazine Baltimore, Shivers explains, with its courtly charm, crabby cuisine, and proximity to the Chesapeake Bay, lures writers for life, whether its Mencken and Poe or Barry Levinson and John Waters. Washington City Paper Is there a special quality in our Maryland way of life that is conducive to creative writing and to writers?... Frank Shivers has put together a well-researched, carefully documented, and entertaining study that focuses on these and other questions... The range of this study is extensive but well-managed. Baltimore Sun Shivers has done the Maryland literary community, and literary historians in general, a tremendous service with this book... His eye for important detail, as well as the interestingly trivial, is more than just commendable. He reveals why Baltimore is called 'Mobtown,' where the expression 'hooker' originated, and where the story of George Washington and the cherry tree can first be found... A book any serious lover of Maryland literary history must read."- -- Stephen J. Vicchio Maryland Historical Magazine
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations and Maps
Preface
Chapter 1. Sometimes Bitter Friends
Chapter 2. Recognition, Confrontation, and Coexistence
Chapter 3. Through Caesar's Eyes
Chapter 4. The Early Empire and the Barbarians: An Overview
Chapter 5. Perspectives from Pannonia
Chapter 6. The Barbarians and the "Crisis" of the Empire
Chapter 7. Barbarians and the Late Roman Empire
Epilogue
Appendix: Most Important Roman Emperors and Usurpers
Notes
Bibliography
Index
