Millville had always been known for its glassmaking, but with the outbreak of World War II, the community's identity was primed to change forever. A private civilian airfield gave way to the creation of America's first defense airport, the training ground for the U.S. Army's Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilots. Bright and brave young men from across the country converged on Millville in the early 1940s to learn to fly and fight for freedom. Some died in training; others flew into history as heroes. While in Millville, they lived the average lives of the country's military men, playing baseball, flirting with the girls at the local USO dances, and attending Sunday night dinners with local families, creating lifelong friendships in a time when a young man's life expectancy was in the hands of America's enemies.

During the 1950s, the Cinchett Neon Sign Company came to be Tampa's best-known sign maker. When the city planned to build a zoo, the mayor asked Cinchett to design the new sign. Fried chicken king Colonel Sanders had the sign company create all the neon work for his first two Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Central Florida, and soon after, other reputable businesses came calling.

PRIMARY COVERAGE AREA: Rutherford County, Forest City

Can a song change a nation? In 1964, Marvin Gaye, record producer William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Motown songwriter Ivy Jo Hunter wrote "Dancing in the Street." The song was recorded at Motown's Hitsville USA Studio by Martha and the Vandellas, with lead singer Martha Reeves arranging her own vocals. Released on July 31, the song was supposed to be an upbeat dance recording--a precursor to disco, and a song about the joyousness of dance. But events overtook it, and the song became one of the icons of American pop culture. The Beatles had landed in the U.S. in early 1964. By the summer, the sixties were in full swing. The summer of 1964 was the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, the beginning of the Vietnam War, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, and the lead-up to a dramatic election. As the country grew more radicalized in those few months, "Dancing in the Street" gained currency as an activist anthem. The song took on new meanings, multiple meanings, for many different groups that were all changing as the country changed. Told by the writer who is legendary for finding the big story in unlikely places, "Ready for a Brand New Beat "chronicles that extraordinary summer of 1964 and showcases the momentous role that a simple song about dancing played in history.

A history of the Armenian massacres of the 1890s and the genocide of 1915 also traces America's effort to assist the Armenian people, citing the contributions of such figures as Julia Ward Howe, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, and Clara Barton.

In 1964, the battle for Civil Rights in the United States reached a climactic moment, sparking a new wave of activism by politicians, thinkers, writers, preachers, and citizens that would challenge the nation to live up to the principles of its founding fathers. The movement remains a cultural touchstone for those who were part of it, for those who teach it, and for those who have been given opportunity because of it. And it remains an active struggle, the subject of Congressional legislation and Supreme Court decisions. Now, through oral history, exclusive photographs and commentary by Presidential biographer Jon Meacham and other eminent writers, TIME celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights movement and the many trailblazers who helped to re-shape America.

This is the story of the friendships that defined one of America's most beloved Presidents. Chris Matthews, who has been following and studying the Kennedys most of his life, has interviewed President Kennedy's closest confidants - family, friends, and those who served with him--to create a moving portrait of a man many loved but few really understood. These friends were with Jack Kennedy as he took surprising risks, struggled with chronic illness, and repeatedly confronted "the thin membrane between life and death." As Matthews describes it, Jack Kennedy was a rebel, an adventurer, and a great enjoyer of life precisely because he understood its fragility. Being with Jack Kennedy was great fun for his friends. Now readers will share in that experience.

Growing up in frigid Buffalo, New York, Laura Pederson's family feared rising gas prices and energy costs. But by high school graduation, she was prepared to seek her fortune on Wall Street--a became a millionaire by age 21. Combining laugh-out-loud humor with a slice of social history, Pederson paints a vivid portrait of her journey.

At the height of the Cold War, the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations made removing Fidel Castro's regime one of their highest foreign policy priorities. "The Castro Obsession" provides new insight into the bold U.S. covert war against Cuba that lasted from 1959 until 1965. Eisenhower and Kennedy's fervent desire to get rid of Castro led to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, but the efforts to oust his regime did not end there. It became an obsession. Primarily through the CIA and the military, the United States resorted to economic and political destabilization, propaganda, sabotage, hit-and-run raids, and assassination plots to try to topple the regime. This secret war was one of the most wide-ranging, sustained, expensive, and ultimately futile covert action campaigns in history. Was this secret war wise, and did it ultimately promote U.S. interests? Don Bohning says no. Even if the details were murky, the extreme American pressure on Cuba was apparent to all, and this heavy-handedness severely damaged the U.S. image in Latin America and much of the Third World. Instead of ridding the hemisphere of a dictator, these efforts increased his international political fame and provided him the excuse for more repression in Cuba. U.S. attempts to overthrow Castro also had dire unintended consequences, such as contributing to the Soviet decision to install nuclear missiles in Cuba, which produced the most dangerous crisis of the Cold War. Bohning sheds new light on this covert war, revealing that it was even more extensive, risky, and long-lived than previously thought.

Esteemed journalism historian James Startt has crafted an intriguing case study of the relationship between political leadership and the mass media during its early days, using the political ascendancy of Woodrow Wilson as its focus. Wilson's emergence as a major political figure coincided with the arrival of a real mass media and a more independent, less partisan style of political coverage. While most nineteenth-century presidents remained aloof from the press, Wilson understood it could no longer be ignored: "The public man who fights the daily press won't be a public man very long."

In the summer of 1936, James Agee and Walker Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event when in 1941 LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN was first published to enormous critical acclaim. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land, and of the rhythm of their lives was called intensely moving and unrelentingly honest, and is "renowned for its fusion of social conscience and artistic radicality" (New York Times). Today it stands as a poetic tract of its time, recognized by the New York Public Library as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century. With an elegant new design as well as a sixty-four-page photographic prologue of Evans's classic images, reproduced from archival negatives, this sixtieth anniversary edition reintroduces the legendary author and photographer to a new generation.

Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as more recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behaviour by the American oil industry. In this synthesis of cultural, business, gender and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was created -and how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals or reformers and the public interest. By turning a critical eye on sources that have often been accepted at face value and examining the self-interests of oil industry critics, the authors seek to produce a more balanced, complex picture of the industry. Their case study of the impact of technology offers an example of how business must be understood through its cultural context and offers an approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform.

A study of Eisenhower's policies during the second Berlin Crisis. The Soviet Berlin initiative marks an important epoch in the history of the Cold War. In 1958, it plunged the world into a crisis which at times evoked the danger of a global nuclear conflict. The author studies the diplomatic relationships with the American allies and the Soviet Union, together with the Western allies secret military contingency plans. The comparative approach allows the analysis to surmount the traditional barrier between military and diplomatic history and affords insights into the function of political and administrative institutions in the American government's decision-making process.

The December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor has been portrayed by historians as a dazzling success, brilliantly conceived and meticulously planned. With most American historians concentrating on command errors and the story of participants experiences, the Japanese attack operation has never been subjected to a comprehensive critical analysis of the military side of the operation. This book presents a detailed evaluation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the operational and tactical level. It examines such questions as: Was the strategy underlying the attack sound? Were there flaws in planning or execution? How did Japanese military culture influence the planning? How risky was the attack? What did the Japanese expect to achieve, balanced against what they did achieve? Were there Japanese blunders? What were their consequences? What might have been the results if the attack had not benefited from the mistakes of the American commanders?The book also addresses the body of folklore about the attack, supporting or challenging many contentious issues such as the skill level of the Japanese aircrew, whether midget submarines torpedoed Oklahoma and Arizona, as has been recently claimed, whether the Japanese ever really considered launching a third wave attack, and the consequences of a 3rd wave attack against the Naval Shipyard and the fuel storage tanks if it had been executed. In addition, the analysis has detected for the first time a body of deceptions that a prominent Japanese participant in the attack placed into the historical record, most likely to conceal his blunders and enhance his reputation. The centerpiece of the book is an analysis using modern Operations Research methods and computer simulations, as well as combat models developed between 1922 and 1946 at the U.S. Naval War College. The analysis puts a new light on the strategy and tactics employed by Yamamoto to open the Pacific War, and a dramatically different appraisal of the effectiveness of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.Dr. Alan D. Zimm is a member of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he heads a section in the Aviation Systems and Advanced Concepts Group. He is a former officer in the US Navy, completing his service as a Commander, and holds degrees in Physics, Operations Research, and Public Administration with a concentration on Policy Analysis and Strategic Planning.REVIEWS proves an engrossing study, particularly for those considering themselves well-read on the topic . it is even more interesting for those with ample knowledge of events in World War II's Pacific Theater of Operations leading up to, on, and following December 7, 1941. For a variety of reasons, including the provocative nature of many of Zimm's fact-built arguments, this reviewer does not hesitate to recommend Globe at War, 7/10/2011 very thorough as an analysis of the raid from the Japanese point of reference it is very intriguing and goes far to display the old axiom every plan changes (or falls apart) once the enemy is encountered .IPMS, July 31, 2011 Zimm's conclusions will remain definitive for the foreseeable future So, by all means, reread Gordon Prange's At Dawn We Slept, but definitely read Alan Zimm's Attack on Pearl Harbor for a fuller and more up-to-date understanding of an event that changed history and continues to fascinate. Michigan War Studies Review, 09/2011 It is not often that one can say that an outstanding book transforms our knowledge of a well known event but this can be said of Alan Zimm s Attack on Pearl Harbor .groundbreaking sets straight the record of a key historical event essential reading Dr. Eric Grove, Navy News uses modern methods of operational analysis to determine exactly how the Japanese planned and executed the great raid a worthy, useful analysis Naval History Magazine Dr. Zimm provides a solid analysis, and at the same time knows how to maintain a healthy critical distance vis-a-vis the literature (historical records, autobiographical accounts, official reports) which he puts to good use. Politique Etrangere (France) An interesting analysis of the strategy and tactics involved. Instead of the most daring and brilliant naval operations of all time, Zimm demonstrates that the Japanese carrier strike force did not plan the attack very well, nor did they train effectively for it an interesting new look at this opening gambit in the Pacific Theater of World War II.The Past in Review For seven decades, conventional wisdom has extolled the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as brilliant in its planning and execution masterful analysis topples that pillar of Pacific War history... with its amazing depth of meticulous research and analysis, this forceful book is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in Pearl Harbor. World War II Magazine nothing previously published has offered such a close examination of Japanese strategy an in depth study of the Japanese planning, preparation and execution of the attack with particular focus on factors not thoroughly considered by other historians, if at all full of revelations that counter common perceptions detailed analyses that lead to a much better understanding of what the Japanese did, why they did it and especially how the attack was very nearly an abject failure instead of a stunning success. Proceedings, 07/2011 ... essential reading for anyone interested in the operation or the opening phases of the Pacific War Strategy Page Anyone with a serious interest in understanding the Pearl Harbor attack in its many aspects, both for what actually happened and for what might have happened under alternative circumstances, should read this new book for the invaluable analytical rigor and intellectual exploration that it brings to the subject. Warship International, Vol 49, No 1 the first militarily professional description of the Pearl Harbor attack, and for those who are serious about military history and operations, it is a joy to read