Local History

Texas may well be America’s most controversial state. Evangelicals dominate the halls of power, millions of its people live in poverty, and its death row is the busiest in the country. Skeptical outsiders have found much to be offended by in the state’s politics and attitude, and yet, according to journalist and Texan Erica Grieder, the United States has a great deal to learn from Texas. In Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right, Grieder traces the political history of a state that was always larger than life. From its rowdy beginnings, Texas has combined a long-standing suspicion of government intrusion with a passion for business.

As gentrification encroaches on historic Harlem, Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award recipient Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts untangles the myth and meaning of its storied legacy. Drawing on Harlem’s history and her own observations, Rhodes-Pitts introduces a variety of observers who shared a common hope that Harlem would become the ground from which Blacks fully entered America’s democracy.

David E. Stuart incorporates extensive new research findings through groundbreaking archaeology to explore the rise and fall of the Chaco Anasazi and how it parallels patterns throughout modern societies in this new edition.

On December 3, 1999, the call crackled in to the men of the Worchester, Massachusetts Fire Department: a three-alarm warehouse blaze in a six-story windowless colossus of brick and mortar. What happened next - and how their lives and community were changed forever - offers an unprecedented look at these heroic men whose job it is to rush into burning buildings when everyone else just wants out.

A lively history of the Watch and Ward Society - New England's notorious literary censor for over eighty years. Banned in Boston is the first-ever history of the Watch and Ward Society - once Boston's unofficial moral guardian. An influential watchdog organization, bankrolled by society's upper crust, it actively suppressed vices like gambling and prostitution, and oversaw the mass censorship of books and plays.

The best of this year's true crime writing from master true crime authors RJ Parker, Peter Vronsky, JJ Slate, Sylvia Perrini, and Michael Newton, who give us nine new shocking case accounts of serial killers.

In this addictive true-life whodunit, author Mardi Link details all the evidence to date in the case of the Robison family murders. She crafts her book around police and court documents and historical and present-day statements and interviews, in addition to exploring the impact of the case on the community of Good Hart and the stigma that surrounds the popular summer getaway. Adding to both the sense of tragic history and the suspense, Link laces her tale with fascinating bits of local and Indian lore.

For nearly a decade, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Justin Davidson has explained the ever-changing city of New York to his readers at New York magazine, introducing new buildings, interviewing architects, tracking the way the transforming urban landscape shapes who New Yorkers are. Now, his extensive, inspiring knowledge will be available to a wide audience.

History is recorded in many ways. According to author James Deetz, the past can be seen most fully by studying the small things so often forgotten. In his completely revised and expanded edition of In Small Things Forgotten, Deetz has added new sections that more fully acknowledge the presence of women and African Americans in Colonial America.

When a cocksure father hatches a simple insurance fraud scheme, he has no idea its failure will lead his family into the maelstrom of America’s most violent prison riot. High Desert Blood takes you inside the walls of the Penitentiary of New Mexico, offering a gripping true crime journey through the heart of a system that failed its inmates, its staff, and the society it was meant to protect.

Long Island's history is filled with fascinating firsts, magnificent mansions, and captivating characters. From Glenn Curtiss, the first pilot to fly a plane on the island, to Earle Ovington, who carried the country's first airmail, the area has been known as the cradle of aviation. Millionaire William K. Vanderbilt's Long Island Motor Parkway, remnants of which still remain, was the nation's first highway. The desolate ruins of an exiled Albanian king's estate lie in the midst of the woods of the Muttontown Preserve.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Euro-American citizenry of California carried out mass genocide against the Native population of their state, using the processes and mechanisms of democracy to secure land and resources for themselves and their private interests. The murder, rape, and enslavement of thousands of Native people were legitimized by notions of democracy - in this case mob rule.

Do you know the WHOLE story of the State of New York, from the first human inhabitants to the years it was a Dutch colony? The state produced four presidents, was the first in many areas, and created its own state of mind. What made New York into the state it has become? Was there something unique about Manhattan Island? Was there something about the people that made them so successful? Why is it called the Empire State? Why was the Erie Canal so important?

Wyoming, a state often overshadowed by its majestic neighbors, holds secrets and stories that have remained untold for too long. But why, despite its significant role in the fabric of America, has Wyoming’s intricate history been left in the shadows? Unraveling the tales of this state requires a dive into its rich past, from the footsteps of Native Americans to the booming industries of the 21st century. And now, in this comprehensive history audiobook, you will journey through the heart of Wyoming and uncover the stories that have shaped its identity.

Georgia’s history is more than just peaches—it’s a story of prisoners, preachers, and presidents who rose above the status quo to help transform a nation. Georgia has been home to many influential figures in US history, including President Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King Jr. But how much do you really know about the state? Did you know, for instance, that Georgia was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be created? Or that it was the last state to be admitted into the Union after the Civil War.

Living Landmarks of Chicago goes beyond the what, when, and where to tell the how and why of 50 Chicago landmarks. More than a book about architecture, these are stories of the people who made Chicago and many of its most popular tourist attractions what they are today.

In Victory City, John Strausbaugh returns to tell the story of New York City's war years with the same richness, depth, and nuance he brought to his previous books, City of Sedition and The Village, providing listeners with a groundbreaking new look into the greatest city on earth during the most transformative - and costliest - war in human history.

Welcome to Utah, where wagon ruts meet billion-dollar malls, and sacred prophecy collides with PR campaigns. This is not the version you got in seminary. From red rock petroglyphs and Spanish explorers to polygamist raids, forged scriptures, and ski resorts, Zion in the Desert tells the strange, scrappy, and often uncomfortable history of a state that was never just one thing. The book dives headfirst into the contradictions that shaped Utah: faith and resistance, empire and exodus, miracles and cover-ups.

Black Snake is the story of four leaders - LaDonna Allard, Jasilyn Charger, Lisa DeVille, and Kandi White - and their fight against the pipeline. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America's natural resources.

This comprehensive account of California’s numerous and perilous natural disasters explores how a unique combination of forces has affected Californians throughout the state's history and carries a sobering message about our short disaster memories. California has more natural hazards per square mile than any other state, but this hasn’t deterred people from moving here. Entire California towns and regions frequently contend with destruction caused by earthquakes, floods, landslides and debris flows, and sea-level rise and coastal erosion.