Local History

Drawing from a wealth of historic documents and personal papers, William Warren Rogers, Jr., provides a fascinating and detailed political, economic, social, and commercial history of Montgomery from 1860 to 1865. His account begins with an examination of daily life in the city before the war began - how slaves outnumbered whites, how an unvarnished frontier atmosphere prevailed on the streets despite citizens' claims to refinement, how lush crops of corn and cotton grew in fields right up to the city limits, and how class divisions were distinct and immovable.

Eyewitness to the Alamo is the actual account of the siege and Battle of the Alamo by those who were present during the attack. This book is the first complete accounting of the Battle of the Alamo by one of our country's foremost authorities on the event. Contains over 100 descriptions of the Battle of the Alamo by people who were witnesses or who claimed to have witnessed the event. These accounts are the basis for all of the histories, traditions, myths, and legends of this famous battle.

There were, Peter Thompson notes, some 150 synonyms for inebriation in common use in colonial Philadelphia and, on the eve of the Revolution, just as many licensed drinking establishments. Clearly, 18th-century Philadelphians were drawn to the tavern. In addition to the obvious lure of the liquor, taverns offered overnight accommodations, meals, and stabling for visitors. They also served as places to gossip, gamble, find work, make trades, and gather news.

In 1893, the 27.5 million visitors to the Chicago World’s Fair feasted their eyes on the impressive architecture of the White City, lit at night by thousands of electric lights. In addition to marveling at the revolutionary exhibits, most visitors discovered something else: beyond the fair’s 633 acres lay a modern metropolis that rivaled the world’s greatest cities. The Columbian Exposition marked Chicago’s arrival on the world stage, but even without the splendor of the fair, 1893 would still have been Chicago’s greatest year.

On the afternoon of December 30, 1903, during a sold-out matinee performance, a fire broke out in Chicago's Iroquois Theatre. In the short span of twenty minutes, more than six hundred people were asphyxiated, burned, or trampled to death in a panicked mob's failed attempt to escape. In Chicago Death Trap: The Iroquois Theatre Fire of 1903, Nat Brandt provides a detailed chronicle of this horrific event to assess not only the titanic tragedy of the fire itself but also the municipal corruption and greed that kindled the flames beforehand and the political cover-ups hidden in the smoke and ash afterwards.

On 15 March 1781, the armies of Nathanael Greene and Lord Charles Cornwallis fought one of the bloodiest and most intense engagements of the American Revolution at the Guilford Courthouse in piedmont North Carolina. Although victorious, Cornwallis declared the conquest of the Carolinas impossible. He made the fateful decision to march into Virginia, eventually leading his army to the Yorktown surrender and clearing the way for American independence.

At the dawn of the 19th century, the great powers of Western Europe treated the United States like a disobedient child. America's complaints were ignored, until President James Madison declared a second war on Great Britain. British forces would descend on the United States, but America rallied and survived. With stunning detail on land and naval battles, the role Native Americans played in the hostilities, and the larger backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, this is the story of the turning points of this strange conflict, which inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".

In The Browns of California, journalist and scholar Miriam Pawel weaves a narrative history that spans four generations, from August Schuckman, the Prussian immigrant who crossed the Plains in 1852 and settled on a northern California ranch, to his great-grandson Jerry Brown, who reclaimed the family homestead 140 years later. Through the prism of their lives, we gain an essential understanding of California and an appreciation of its importance.

Die Kinder des Kapitäns Grant, einer der längsten Jules Verne-Romane, ist zugleich eines der spannendsten und vielschichtigsten Werke des "Vaters der Science Fiction". Die atemberaubende Suche Lord Glenarvans nach dem verschollenen Kapitän Grant ist eine Weltreise voller Abenteuer, dramatischer Wendungen und wunderbarer Rettungen. Wie so oft in Jules Vernes Werken erfahren wir aber auch hier eine ganze Menge über die Flora und Fauna Patagoniens, Südamerikas und Australiens.

In four words - "the capital of everything" - Duke Ellington captured Manhattan during one of the most exciting and celebrated eras in our history: The Jazz Age. Radio, tabloid newspapers, and movies with sound appeared. The silver screen took over Times Square as Broadway became America's movie mecca. Tremendous new skyscrapers were built in Midtown in one of the greatest building booms in history.

An old farmer boasts that he has used the same ax his whole life -- he's only had to replace the handle three times and the head twice. In an eclectic, insightful meditation on the powerful impulse to preserve and restore, Howard Mansfield explores the myriad ways in which we attempt to reconnect with and recover the past -- to use the same ax twice.

The most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to Texas historiography of the past quarter-century, this volume of original essays will be an invaluable resource and definitive reference for teachers, students, and researchers of Texas history. Discovering Texas History focuses on the major trends in the study of Texas history since 1990.

Poet, novelist, and historian John Myers Myers gives us a fascinating account of an American symbol. With exhaustive research and obvious passion for his subject, Myers evokes the situation and characters of the legendary siege, bringing to life such figures as Bowie, Travis, Crockett, and Santa Ana with authentic details and great gusto. Here is the "master tale of the American frontier" with all the facts behind the genuine heroism that has made the story immortal.

For eight centuries, the Texas frontier has seen conquest, exploration, immigration, revolution, and innovation, leaving to history a cast of fascinating characters and captivating tales. Its historic period began in 1519 with Spanish exploration, but there was a prehistory long before, nearly fifteen thousand years earlier, with the arrival of people to Texas. Each story pulls a new perspective from this long history by examining nearly all angles—from archaeology to ethnography, astronomy, agriculture, and more.

When people think of Kentucky, three things usually come to mind: bourbon, Colonel Sanders's secret chicken recipe, and the glamorous Kentucky Derby. Add college basketball to that list, and you have yourself a superfecta. Looking beyond these time-honored traditions, however, visitors will find in Kentucky a diverse patchwork of faces and places, each as unique as the state's geography. Kentucky, Y'all is an entertaining and informative compilation of the state's favorite oddities, cultural quirks, traditions, and rites of passage.

Nestled amid California's High Sierra Peaks, two valleys have captured the imaginations of mountaineers and winter-sports enthusiasts since the 1930s. Squaw Valley, discovered by Wayne Poulsen and developed by Poulsen and Alex Cushing, made a name for itself on the world stage as the site of the legendary 1960 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, just over a high ridge, Alpine Meadows was developed by John Reily, Bay Area families and local skiers.

Wyoming may call itself the Equality State, but its history is anything but straightforward. Beneath the wide skies and cowboy swagger lies a story of contradictions: pioneers chasing dreams while leaving grave markers in wagon ruts, cattle barons hiring mercenaries to crush small ranchers, outlaws turning into tourist mascots, and politicians railing against federal overreach while cashing federal checks. And let’s not forget Yellowstone, where bears once begged for marshmallows and tourists still try to pet bison.

Within this audiobook, the listener will meet a 19-year-old Texas Ranger figuratively dying to shoot his gun. He does get to shoot at people, but soon realizes what he thought was a bargain, exacted a steep price. Another tale is of an old-school cowman who shut down illicit traffic in stolen livestock that had existed for years on the Llano Estacado. He was tough, salty, and had no quarter for cow thieves, or sympathy for any mealy-mouthed politicians. He cleaned house, maybe not too nicely, but he was unarguably successful.

The Settlers' Empire traces the first federal endeavor to build states wholesale out of the Northwest Territory, a process that relied on overlapping colonial rule over Euro-American settlers and the multiple Indian nations in the territory. In the Northwest Territory, diverse populations of newcomers and natives struggled over the region's geographical and cultural definition in areas such as religion, marriage, family, gender roles, and economy.

Maine Acadia National Park is one of the most visited national parks in the United States. It is an adventure seeker's paradise. Hiking, climbing, snowshoeing, back-country skiing, and ice-climbing are among the activities pursued there; as well as the less extreme sight seeing along the park road and Atlantic coast. Death in Acadia gathers the stories of fatalities that have occurred in the park, from falls to exposure to cardiac arrest - even getting swept out to sea - and presents dozens of misadventures.