In a moving account of strength in the face of adversity, Ralston presents the full story behind the 2003 event that became worldwide news: his self-amputation of his right arm after it was caught between a boulder and a canyon wall during what began as a routine day hike in the Utah Canyons. An experienced climber, Ralston, 28, effectively shows he wasn't a risk-taker, and alternates between describing how his jaunt turned into a nightmare when a huge stone suddenly came unstuck as he used it to climb down a ledge, and recalling early experiences that changed his novice attitudes toward hiking, which he admits "were not intrinsically safe." Ralston candidly renders the details of six days of entrapment, using transcribed monologues from videotapes he made while trapped, including his increasingly exhausted thoughts as well as poignant farewells to his family. But his best writing details his self-amputation and his subsequent march to safety, in which he rappelled one-armed down a hill and then hiked six miles before someone found him. Ralston's prose is never gruesome, nor is it used to shock, even as he describes first breaking his forearm, and then slipping "into some sort of autopilot" as he cuts through muscle fibers to detach the arm. It's truly thrilling when he finishes and is free: "A crystalline moment shatters and the world is a different place."

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Joel N. Shurkin - Broken Genius, The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Ag e (2006).jpg

When William Shockley invented the transistor, the world was changed forever and he was awarded the Nobel Prize. But today Shockley is often remembered only for his incendiary campaigning about race, intelligence, and genetics. His dubious research led him to donate to the Nobel Prize sperm bank and preach his inflammatory ideas widely, making shocking pronouncements on the uselessness of remedial education and the sterilization of individuals with IQs below 100. Ultimately his crusade destroyed his reputation and saw him vilified on national television, yet he died proclaiming his work on race as his greatest accomplishment. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joel N. Shurkin offers the first biography of this contradictory and controversial man. With unique access to the private Shockley archives, Shurkin gives an unflinching account of how such promise ended in such ignominy.

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Joel N. Shurkin - Broken Genius, The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Ag e (2006).pdf

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C.O.D. Technical Branch - Guns, Machine, Cal .30, Browning, M1919A4 Fixed and Flexible. Illustrated Identification List (1942).jpg

USA Books1 - C.O.D. Technical Branch - Guns, Machine, Cal .30, Brow...ed and Flexible. Illustrated Identification List 1942.jpg

The M1919 Browning is a .30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century. It was used as a light infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft, and anti-aircraft machine gun by the U.S. and many other countries, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although it began to be superseded by newer designs in the later half of the century (such as by the M60 machine gun), it remained in use in many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries and elsewhere for much longer. It is very similar in design to the larger .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Machine Gun, which is also a Browning-designed weapon and is still in NATO service.

Many M1919s were rechambered for the new 7.62 × 51 mm NATO round and served into the 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. The United States Navy also converted many to 7.62 mm NATO, and designated them Mk 21 Mod 0; they were commonly used on river craft in the 1960s and 1970s in Vietnam.

The M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I, the Browning M1917, as designed by John M. Browning.

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C.O.D. Technical Branch - Guns, Machine, Cal .30, Browning, M1919A4 Fixed and Flexible. Illustrated Identification List (1942).pdf

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Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, Janet Podell - Famous First Facts, A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History ( 1997).jpg

USA Books1 - Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, Janet Podell - Fa... Discoveries, and Inventions in American History 1997.jpg

The 5th edition of "Famous First Facts" is a virtually complete make over of a classic reference work. Joseph Nathan Kane, who published the first edition over 65 years ago, has been joined by Steven Anzovin and Janet Podell in compiling the information (Mr. Kane was born in 1898, so he's entitled). Some features in the new edition seem confusing at first, but are not a major hindrance to finding information. The first thing an experienced user will notice is that all entries are assigned a 4-digit number, beginning with the first entry on page 1, # 1001, through the last entry, # 8155, on page 629. The five indexes (which take up almost 500 additional pages) use these reference numbers to guide the reader to information. The main change involves the organization of categories, which have been rearranged to be more topical, rather than strictly alphabetical as in previous editions. Broad categories are divided into one or two subcategories. The problem is that not all the entries in the 4th edition have been retained in the current volume. In the 4th edition, for example, the first five entries under the main category FOOTBALL PLAYER list the first (a) Athlete enshrined in 2 Halls of Fame [with a cross-reference to the category Hall of Famer]; (b) Black football player to win the Heisman Memorial Trophy; (c) Football player to punt 98 yeards; (d) Football player to score 50 points in 1 game; and (e) Woman football player (professional). In the new edition, item (a) which refers to Cal Hubbard, is missing. His name is not in the index. Hubbard is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (as a player) and the Baseball Hall of Fame (as an umpire). Item (b) is now under AWARDS-SPORTS-BASEBALL. Steve O'Neal's 98-yard punt (item (c)) has been dropped. Item (d) is under SPORTS AND RECREATION-FOOTBALL. Item (e) can be found under SPORTS AND RECREATION-FOOTBALL-GAMES, with the heading "Professional football game in which a woman participated." Some updating of language is to be expected ("African-American" has replaced "Black"), but other changes might be seen as examples of political correctness. Under WOMAN, the 4th edition lists the first "Heroine publicly rewarded was Hannah Duston." The new edition states, under POPULATION-SETTLEMENT the first "Settler heroine publicly rewarded was Hannah Duston." Two changes in the new edition detract in some measure from its usefulness. Previous editions had references to published source materials at the end of many entries. Older editions also used full personal names wherever possible, with nicknames in quotation marks. In the 4th edition, for example, the entry on Hanna Duston (see previous paragraph) referred the reader to "George Wingate Chase -- The History of Haverhill."

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Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, Janet Podell - Famous First Facts, A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History ( 1997).pdf

The 4th edition tells us the first "Baseball player (major league) killed in a game was Raymond Johnson ("Ray") Chapman ... who was accidentally hit on the left side of his head by pitcher Carl William ("Willie") Mays ... in a game at the Polo Grounds, New York City, on August 16, 1920." The new edition says the first "Major league baseball player killed in a game was Raymond Johnson Chapman ... who was accidentally hit on the left side of his head by a pitch thrown by Willie Mays[.]" A youngster reading this entry might think that this Willie Mays is the same Willie Mays who played outfield for the New York/San Francisco Giants in the 1950s and '60s. There is at least one item of misinformation from the 4th edition that has not been corrected. The first postage stamp depicting a Jew was NOT the 3-cent commemorative honoring Samuel Gompers, issued January 27, 1950. It was, in fact, the Four Chaplains 3-cent stamp issued May 28, 1948. The stamp was a tribute to the four military clergymen who went down with the S.S. Dorchester, so that others could take seats in lifeboats. One of the chaplains pictured is Rabbi Alexander D. Goode. I found the following entry a bit puzzling: The first "Pope to visit the White House in Washington, DC, was Pope John Paul II, who flew across the Atlantic in Shepherd 1, landing in Boston, MA, on October 1, 1979. In six days he visited Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Urbandale, IA, Chicago, and Washington. He returned to Rome from Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington, on October 6." Here's a question: On which date did Pope John Paul II visit the White House? The entry doesn't say. One thing I found interesting was that entries within a category or subcategory are arranged chronologically, rather than alphabetically. So, under NEWS, the first four items are "Opinion poll" (1824), "News dispatch by telegraph" (1844), "News dispatch by commercial telegraph" (1844), and "Press censorship by military authorities" (1861). When items are read in order, the reader follows a timeline of the innovations in a given subject. Although I might sound like a nitpicker, I do recommend this book.

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E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil - The N ew Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, What Every Ame rican Needs to Know (2002).jpg

USA Books1 - E. D. Hirsch, Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil - The New D...ural Literacy, What Every American Needs to Know 2002.jpg

Initially published in 1988 and revised in 1993, this book is given an exciting update whose 6900 entries include 1000 revised entries and 500 new ones, 200 of which are in science and technology alone. Given the book's aim to define "common cultural knowledge rather than to present a lexicon of words or topics," a revision was sorely needed; when the second edition appeared, almost no one knew what a web page was. The text is divided into sections by subject-e.g., fine arts, world politics, life sciences-each with a brief introduction; access is also aided by a thorough index. The entries themselves are complete, concise, and clearly written as well as extensively and effectively cross-referenced. All that need be said about this first-rate reference is that it is well written, well researched, and well worth the money. Students, general readers, trivia buffs, and those who like to have a great reference work at their fingertips will find it informative, useful, and just plain fun. Highly recommended.

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Alexander Hamilton- The Federalist (2005).jpg

By identifying all the historical references and literary allusions by which the Founders sought to amplify their arguments and convince their readersÂ—and by clarifying those important concepts (such as sovereignty, contract, separation of powers) which influenced the thinking of both the Founders and their opponentsÂ—renowned historian J. R. Pole here sets The Federalist in the intellectual world inhabited by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. In reading PoleÂ’s annotation alongside the main text, students and scholars alike will gain a deeper understanding of the papersÂ—and of the time, needs, and circumstances that shaped them.

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Caroline A. Williams - Bridging the Early Modern A tlantic World (2009).jpg

"Bridging the Early Modern Atlantic World" brings together ten original essays by an international group of scholars exploring the complex outcomes of the intermingling of people, circulation of goods, exchange of information, and exposure to new ideas that are the hallmark of the early modern Atlantic. Spanning the period from the earliest French crossings to Newfoundland at the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the wars of independence in Spanish South America, c. 1830, and encompassing a range of disciplinary approaches, the contributors direct particular attention to regions, communities, and groups whose activities in, and responses to, an ever-more closely bound Atlantic world remain relatively under-represented in the literature. Some of the chapters focus on the experience of Europeans, including French consumers of Newfoundland cod, English merchants forming families in Spanish Seville, and Jewish refugees from Dutch Brazil making the Caribbean island of Nevis their home. Others focus on the ways in which the populations with whom Europeans came into contact, enslaved, or among whom they settled - the Tupi peoples of Brazil, the Kriston women of the west African port of Cacheu, among others - adapted to and were changed by their interactions with previously unknown peoples, goods, institutions, and ideas. Together with the substantial Introduction by the editor which reviews the significance of the field as a whole, these essays capture the complexity and variety of experience of the countless men and women who came into contact during the period, whilst highlighting and illustrating the porous and fluid nature, in practice, of the Early Modern Atlantic World.

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David L. Holmes - The Faiths of the Founding Fathe rs (2006)(1).jpg

It is not uncommon to hear Christians argue that America was founded as a Christian nation. But how true is this claim?In this compact book, David L. Holmes offers a clear, concise and illuminating look at the spiritual beliefs of our founding fathers. He begins with an informative account of the religious culture of the late colonial era, surveying the religious groups in each colony. In particular, he sheds light on the various forms of Deism that flourished in America, highlighting the profound influence this intellectual movement had on the founding generation. Holmes then examines the individual beliefs of a variety of men and women who loom large in our national history. He finds that some, like Martha Washington, Samuel Adams, John Jay, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson's daughters, held orthodox Christian views.But many of the most influential figures, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John and Abigail Adams, Jefferson, James and Dolley Madison, and James Monroe, were believers of a different stripe. Respectful of Christianity, they admired the ethics of Jesus, and believed that religion could play a beneficial role in society. But they tended to deny the divinity of Christ, and a few seem to have been agnostic about the very existence of God. Although the founding fathers were religious men, Holmes shows that it was a faith quite unlike the Christianity of today's evangelicals. Holmes concludes by examining the role of religion in the lives of the presidents since World War II and by reflecting on the evangelical resurgence that helped fuel the reelection of George W. Bush.An intriguing look at a neglected aspect of our history, the book will appeal to American history buffs as well as to anyone concerned about the role of religion in American culture.

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Stanley South - Historical Archaeology in Wachovia , Excavating Eighteenth Century Bethabara and Mora vian Pottery (1999).jpg

USA Books1 - Stanley South - Historical Archaeology in Wachovia, E...ighteenth Century Bethabara and Moravian Pottery 1999.jpg

Originally distributed with a different title as a very limited edition of twelve in 1975, Historical Archaeology in Wachovia presents a unique record of the 1753 Moravian town of Bethabara, near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Stanley South, who led the site's excavation in 1966, fully describes such discoveries as fortifications from the French and Indian War and twenty ruins of various shops and dwellings in the town. He also illustrates methods of ruin excavation and stabilization, including the replacement of palisade posts in the original fort ditch as part of the site's development as Historic Bethabara Park. Some of the most interesting of South's finds concern the confluence of two traditions of pottery and stoneware production. One of these is represented by forty pottery wheel-thrown types and forms made by the master German potter Gottfried Aust between 1755 and 1771, excavated from the ruin of his shop and kiln waster dump. Additional work at both Bethabara and Salem recovered the waster dumps of Aust's journeyman potter Rudolph Christ, who had also studied with the Staffordshire potter William Ellis. Christ's wares, which demonstrate both German and English influences, are discussed in detail. Extensively documented and heavily illustrated with over 320 photographs, drawings, and maps, this volume -- a classic example of the process of historical archaeology as demonstrated by one of its foremost practitioners in America -- is a valuable resource for avocational archaeologists, particularly those living in the Southeast, as well as historical archaeologists, historians, ceramicists, ceramics collectors, students of colonial culture, and museologists.

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Stanley South - Historical Archaeology in Wachovia , Excavating Eighteenth Century Bethabara and Mora vian Pottery (1999).pdf

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Vivian Perlis, Libby Van Cleve - Composers, Voices from Ives to Ellington, An Oral History of Americ an Music (2005).jpg

USA Books1 - Vivian Perlis, Libby Van Cleve - Composers, Voices fr... to Ellington, An Oral History of American Music 2005.jpg

The first decades of the twentieth century were a fertile and fascinating period in American musical history. This book and the two CDs that accompany it present an exceptional collection of interviews with and about the most significant musical figures of the era. Tapping the unparalleled materials contained in the Oral History American Music archive at Yale University, Composers’ Voices from Ives to Ellington is a unique account of what it was like for musicians and composers to live and work in those years. It is also the story of the making of the archive, as told by Vivian Perlis, who personally conducted many of the interviews.

Music aficionados can now hear Eubie Blake describe the birth of ragtime or listen to a firsthand account of how Ira Gershwin came to write those famous lines in “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” In-depth interviews with such figures as Henry Cowell, Virgil Thomson, Aaron Copland, and Duke Ellington are included in the book, which also features chapter introductions and fascinating sidebars, illustrations, and anecdotes throughout. Two CDs complete the set, enabling today’s listener to enjoy the remarkablen experience of hearing the actual voices and the music of American composers of the early twentieth century.

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Vivian Perlis, Libby Van Cleve - Composers, Voices from Ives to Ellington, An Oral History of Americ an Music (2005).pdf

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Osprey - Fortress 49 - Rene Chartrand - The Spanis h Main. 1492-1800 (2006).jpg

Following Columbus's arrival in the Bahamas in 1492, the lands of the 'new world' were divided between Spain and Portugal. The riches gained by the Spaniards soon aroused the interest of the French and the English, eager to exploit the area they called the 'Spanish Main' (an area broadly encompassing the West Indies and the Central American and Mexican coast). In response, the Spanish fortified their new territories. The earliest examples were very much based on medieval styles of fortification, but over the following three centuries the fortifications were updated, modernized and improved according the latest European principles. This book describes the evolution of the fortifications and their fate.

Contents
Introduction · Chronology · Administrative organization of the Spanish Main · Castles in America · Corsairs, pirates and convoys · The fortification plan of 1588 · Declining fortunes 1600-70 · Defending the Spanish Main 1670-1763 · Renewal of the fortification system from 1763 · The garrisons · The forts today · Glossary of fortification terms · Select bibliography · Index

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John McMillian - Smoking Typewriters, The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Medi a in America (2011).jpg

USA Books1 - John McMillian - Smoking Typewriters, The Sixties Und...ess and the Rise of Alternative Media in America 2011.jpg

How did the New Left uprising of the 1960s happen? What caused millions of young people-many of them affluent and college educated-to suddenly decide that American society needed to be completely overhauled?

In Smoking Typewriters, historian John McMillian shows that one answer to these questions can be found in the emergence of a dynamic underground press in the 1960s. Following the lead of papers like the Los Angeles Free Press, the East Village Other, and the Berkeley Barb, young people across the country launched hundreds of mimeographed pamphlets and flyers, small press magazines, and underground newspapers. New, cheaper printing technologies democratized the publishing process and by the decade's end the combined circulation of underground papers stretched into the millions. Though not technically illegal, these papers were often genuinely subversive, and many of those who produced and sold them-on street-corners, at poetry readings, gallery openings, and coffeehouses-became targets of harassment from local and federal authorities. With writers who actively participated in the events they described, underground newspapers captured the zeitgeist of the '60s, speaking directly to their readers, and reflecting and magnifying the spirit of cultural and political protest. McMillian pays special attention to the ways underground newspapers fostered a sense of community and played a vital role in shaping the New Left's highly democratic "movement culture."

Deeply researched and eloquently written, Smoking Typewriters captures all the youthful idealism and vibrant tumult of the 1960s as it delivers a brilliant reappraisal of the origins and development of the New Left rebellion.

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Stan Winer - Between the Lies, Rise of the Media-m ilitary-industrial Complex (2004).jpg

The Between the Lies by Stan Winer gives a devastating analysis of some key military and intelligence operations of modern times. On the basis of convincing research and first-hand observation, Winer identifies the replication in "peacetime" of wartime methods of news and information management. With unnerving clarity, the book unravels the story of how the management of public perceptions has served to transport many people into a safe moral universe of Good v Evil, uncomplicated by the moral dilemmas of the real world. Between the Lies shows that this real world is actually a morally questionable world. Various axes of evil straddle this morally questionable world, the exact centres of which depend entirely on where you are standing at any given time. And where you are standing is largely determined by the symbiotic relationship that exists between the media and the military-industrial complex. Between the Lies is concerned with the remarkable historical and institutional continuity of that relationship, and the way it feeds off prevailing heroic myths about war. If more British and American people knew about that relationship, they might not have supported their countries' infamous rush to invade Iraq. The book forces a reassessment of where humanity has been, where it is heading, and the role of media in allowing history to unfold in the certain way it has. To that end, Between the Lies shows how the British and American secret services went in for "news" management in a big way during World War II and the Cold War, and continues to do so in the "war against terrorism". Disinformation is a large part of their strategic capability, while official information agencies, functioning with almost limitless funds, are left to do as they please, against friend and foe alike - just so long as their leaders are free to deny it. If there are dark secrets to be kept or dirty deeds to be done, most lawmakers do not even want to know about them. Parliamentary and congressional oversight are essentially non-existent, and many reporters are more willing to collaborate with the secret services than expose their secrets.

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Stan Winer - Between the Lies, Rise of the Media-m ilitary-industrial Complex (2004).pdf

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Osprey - Fortress 08 - Glen Williford - Defenses o f Pearl Harbor and Oahu 1907-50 (2003).jpg

At the beginning of the 20th century, the military importance of the Hawaiian Islands became clear. Oahu in particular was a key bastion in projecting America's military power in the Pacific. The island was turned into a military fortress - and yet it also became the site of one of America's greatest defensive failures, the Japanese attack of December 7, 1941. By the end of World War II, the harbor itself was the most heavily defended in the world, and the island had earned the sobriquet "Fortress Oahu". This title documents the development of the coastal, air and land defense systems that served to protect Pearl Harbor and Honolulu from 1907 to 1950, and seeks to understand why these failed at a critical point.

About the Author
Terrance McGovern has been an avid student of fortifications for many years, with a particular interest in American coastal defenses in overseas territories. He has published articles in the CDSG Journal, Fort, Casemate, and several other fortification publications. A former Chairman of the Coast Defense Study Group, Terrance lives in McClean, Viriginia, with his wife and three daughters.
Glen Williford is a member of the CDSG, and has also contributed numerous articles to fortification journals, notably on coastal artillery.

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Osprey - Battle Orders 05 - Clayton Chun - US Army in the Plains Indian Wars 1865–1891 (2004).jpg

The Plains Indian War was one of the most controversial conflicts in American military history, as the US Army faced a tough opponent that challenged it for decades following the end of the Civil War. The Army leadership endured a severe lack of resources, political constraints, an indifferent public, tough environmental conditions, and other problems of the frontier. Army officers and men had to adapt to these constraints, and this period also proved to be a trial of the ability and endurance of the common soldier. This title details the organization, development, training, tactics and command structures of the US Army during its subjugation of the Plains Indian tribes.

Contents
* Introduction
* Combat Organization and Missions
* Indian Warfare, Doctrine and Training
* Unit Organization
* Tactics
* Weapons and Equipment
* Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence
* Unit Status

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Osprey - Fortress 04 - Mark A. Berhow - American D efenses Of Corregidor & Manila Bay 1898-1945 (2003 ).jpg

The Philippines were declared an American Territory on January 4, 1899, and fortification construction soon began on the islands in the mouth of Manila Bay. Among the sites built were Fort Mills (Corregidor), Fort Frank, and the formidable concrete battleship of Fort Drum. The defenses suffered constant Japanese bombardment during World War II, leading to the surrender of American forces. In 1945 the forts were manned by Japanese soldiers determined to hold out to the bitter end. This title details the fortifications of this key strategic location, and considers both their effectiveness and historical importance.

Contents
Introduction · Chronology · Design and Development · Tour of the Sites · The Principles of Defense · The Living Sites · Operational History · Aftermath · The Sites Today · Bibliography and Further Reading · Glossary · Index

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James Green - Death in the Haymarket, A Story of C hicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (2006).jpg

USA Books1 - James Green - Death in the Haymarket, A Story of Chica... and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America 2006.jpg

On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded at a Chicago labor rally, wounding dozens of policemen, seven of whom eventually died. Coming in the midst of the largest national strike Americans had ever seen, the bombing created mass hysteria and led to a sensational trial, which culminated in four controversial executions. The trial seized headlines across the country, created the nation’s first red scare and dealt a blow to the labor movement from which it would take decades to recover.

Death in the Haymarket brings these remarkable events to life, re-creating a tempestuous moment in American social history. James Green recounts the rise of the first great labor movement in the wake of the Civil War and brings to life the epic twenty-year battle for the eight-hour workday. He shows how the movement overcame numerous setbacks to orchestrate a series of strikes that swept the country in 1886, positioning the unions for a hard-won victory on the eve of the Haymarket tragedy.

As he captures the frustrations, tensions and heady victories, Green also gives us a rich portrait of Chicago, the Midwestern powerhouse of the Gilded Age. We see the great factories and their wealthy owners, including men such as George Pullman, and we get an intimate view of the communities of immigrant employees who worked for them. Throughout, we are reminded of the increasing power of newspapers as, led by the legendary Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill, they stirred up popular fears of the immigrants and radicals who led the unions.

Blending a gripping narrative, outsized characters and a panoramic portrait of a major social movement, Death in the Haymarket is an important addition to the history of American capitalism and a moving story about the class tensions at the heart of Gilded Age America.

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James Green - Death in the Haymarket, A Story of C hicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America (2006).epub

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Deborah Cadbury - Chocolate Wars, From Cadbury to Kraft, 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rival ry (2010).jpeg

USA Books1 - Deborah Cadbury - Chocolate Wars, From Cadbury to Kraf..., 200 Years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry 2010.jpeg

The delicious true story of the world's most famous chocolate firms by award-winning writer and a descendant of the Cadbury chocolate dynasty, Deborah Cadbury In 'Chocolate Wars' bestselling historian and award-winning documentary maker Deborah Cadbury takes a journey into her own family history to uncover the rivalries that have driven 250 years of chocolate empire-building. In the early nineteenth century Richard Tapper Cadbury sent his son, John, to London to study a new and exotic commodity: cocoa. Within a generation, John's sons, Richard and George, had created a chocolate company to rival the great English firms of Fry and Rowntree, and their European competitors Lindt and Nestle. The major English firms were all Quaker family enterprises, and their business aims were infused with religious idealism. In America, Milton Hershey and Forrest Mars proved that they had the appetite for business on a huge scale, and successfully resisted the English companies' attempts to master the American market. As chocolate companies raced to compete around the globe, Quaker capitalism met a challenge that would eventually defeat it. At the turn of the millennium Cadbury, the sole independent survivor of England's chocolate dynasties, became the world's largest confectionary company. But before long it too faced a threat to its very survival, and the chocolate wars culminated in a multi-billion pound showdown pitting independence and Quaker tradition against the cut-throat tactics of a corporate leviathan. Featuring a colourful cast of savvy entrepreneurs, brilliant eccentrics and resourceful visionaries, 'Chocolate Wars' is the story of a uniquely alluring product and of the evolution, for better and worse, of modern business.

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Mickey Hess - Is Hip Hop Dead, The Past, Present, and Future of America's Most Wanted Music (2007).jpg

Hip hop is remarkably self-critical as a genre. In lyrics, rappers continue to debate the definition of hip hop and question where the line between underground artist and mainstream crossover is drawn, who owns the culture and who runs the industry, and most importantly, how to remain true to the culture's roots while also seeking fame and fortune. The tension between the desires to preserve hip hop's original culture and to create commercially successful music promotes a lyrical war of words between mainstream and underground artists that keeps hip hop very much alive today. In response to criticisms that hip hop has suffered or died in its transition to the mainstream, this book seeks to highlight and examine the ongoing dialogue among rap artists whose work describes their own careers.

Proclamations of hip hop's death have flooded the airwaves. The issue may have reached its boiling point in Nas's 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead. Nas's album is driven by nostalgia for a mythically pure moment in hip hop's history, when the music was motivated by artistic passion, instead of base commercialism. In the course of this same album, however, Nas himself brags about making money for his particular record label. These and similar contradictions are emblematic of the complex forces underlying the dialogue that keeps hip hop a vital element of our culture. Is Hip Hop Dead? seeks to illuminate the origins of hip hop nostalgia and examine how artists maintain control of their music and culture in the face of corporate record companies, government censorship, and the standardization of the rap image.

Many hip hop artists, both mainstream and underground, use their lyrics to engage in a complex dialogue about rhyme skills versus record sales, and commercialism versus culture. This ongoing dialogue invigorates hip hop and provides a common ground upon which we can reconsider many of the developments in the industry over the past 20 years. Building from black traditions that value knowledge gained from personal experience, rappers emphasize the importance of street knowledge and its role in forging a career in the music business. Lyrics adopt models of the self-made man narrative, yet reject the trajectories of white Americans like Benjamin Franklin who espoused values of prudence, diligence, and delayed gratification. Hip hop's narratives instead promote a more immediately viable gratification through crime and extend this criminal mentality to their work in the music business. Through the lens of hip hop, and the threats to hip hop culture, author Mickey Hess is able to confront a range of important issues, including race, class, criminality, authenticity, the media, and personal identity.

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Mickey Hess - Is Hip Hop Dead, The Past, Present, and Future of America's Most Wanted Music (2007).pdf

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14 paź 24 19:51

Stephen Puleo - Dark Tide, The Great Boston Molass es Flood of 1919 (2003).jpg

In this volume, Puleo, a contributor to American History magazine, sets out to determine whether the collapse of a molasses tank that sent a tidal wave of 2.3 million gallons of the sticky liquid through Boston's North End and killed 21 people was the work of Italian anarchists or due to negligence by the tank's owner, United States Industrial Alcohol. Getting into the minds of the major players in the disaster-USIA suits, victims, witnesses, North End residents, politicians-he re-creates not only the scene but also the social, political and economic environments of the time that made the disaster more than just an industrial accident. While the collapse's aftermath is tragic, the story itself is not exactly gripping. More interesting are the tidbits of Boston's and America's history, such as the importance of molasses to all U.S. war efforts up to and including WWI, which Puleo uses to put the tank collapse in the context of a very complex time in U.S. history. The most striking aspect of this tale is the timeliness of the topics it touches on. Describing Americans being persecuted because of their ethnicity, a sagging economy boosted by war, and terrorism on U.S. soil that results in anti-immigration laws and deportations, Puleo could just as easily be writing about current events as about events in 1919. Overall, this is another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that is Boston's long and rich history.

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14 paź 24 19:51

Stephen Puleo - Dark Tide, The Great Boston Molass es Flood of 1919 (2003).epub

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14 paź 24 19:51

Bill Bryson - I'm a Stranger Here Myself, Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years (1999).jpg

In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods, often emerges as a major contender for King of Crankiness. Granted, he complains well and humorously, but between every line of his travel books you can almost hear the tinny echo: "I wanna go home, I miss my wife."
Happily, I'm a Stranger Here Myself unleashes a new Bryson, more contemplative and less likely to toss daggers. After two decades in England, he's relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire. In this collection (drawn from dispatches for London's Night & Day magazine), he's writing from home, in close proximity to wife and family. We find a happy marriage between humor and reflection as he assesses life both in New England and in the contemporary United States. With the telescopic perspective of one who's stepped out of the American mainstream and come back after 20 years, Bryson aptly holds the mirror up to U.S. culture, capturing its absurdities--such as hotlines for dental floss, the cult of the lawsuit, and strange American injuries such as those sustained from pillows and beds. "In the time it takes you to read this," he writes, "four of my fellow citizens will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding."
The book also reflects the sweet side of small-town USA, with columns about post-office parties, dining at diners, and Thanksgiving--when the only goal is to "get your stomach into the approximate shape of a beach ball" and be grateful. And grateful we are that the previously peripatetic Bryson has returned to the U.S., turning his eye to this land--while living at home and near his wife. Under her benevolent influence, he entertains through thoughtful insights, not sarcastic stabs.

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