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Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Local history
Lawman or outlaw? Black-hatted "villains" and white-hatted "good
guys" of the Old West walk the streets of our imagination.
Hollywood draws a convenient line in the Western dirt,
differentiating between the two. But in reality, at times it was
difficult, if not impossible to distinguish who was who. Shadowy
faces roamed the West. When Outlaws Wore Badges explores the world
of lawman and outlaw wrapped into one person. At times the badge
speaks, other times-the gun. Living in the Old West was not easy.
Often, law and justice were left behind in the east, when men
migrated to the open lands of the West. Some men took advantage of
fluid regulations while others found themselves helping to invent
and enforce law and order. A few men did both.
A history of Reading's iconic gaol: architectural landmark,
cultural emblem and symbol for a community determined to cherish
the town's heritage. Layers of history and art are carefully peeled
back as Peter Stoneley reveals its past as architectural showcase
for Sir George Gilbert Scott's decorative (and expensive!) style,
location for experiments in prison reform, training ground for the
leaders of the Irish Independence movement and, of course, the
inspiration for Oscar Wilde's famous Ballad of Reading Gaol.
Bringing the narrative right up to the present day with the
discussions over its future use, the impact of the ArtAngel
exhibition and Banksy's graffiti, this book is a timely platform
for the building to tell us its story.
An invaluable primary resource for understanding nineteenth-century
America. As a Georgetown resident for nearly a century, Britannia
Wellington Peter Kennon (1815 - 1911) was close to the key
political events of her time. Born into the prominent Peter family,
Kennon came into contact with the many notable historical figures
of the day who often visited Tudor Place, her home for over ninety
years. Now published for the first time, the record of her
experiences offers a unique insight into nineteenth-century
American history. Housed in the Tudor Place archives, "The
Reminiscences of Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon" is a collection
of Kennon's memories solicited and recorded by her grandchildren in
the 1890s. The text includes Kennon's memories of her mother Martha
Custis Peter and spending time at Mount Vernon with her
grandparents George and Martha Washington. It also includes her
recollections of childhood in Georgetown, life during the Civil
War, the people enslaved at Tudor Place, and daily life in
Washington, DC. Edited by Grant Quertermous, this richly
illustrated and annotated edition gives readers a greater
appreciation of life in early Georgetown. It includes a guide to
the city's streets then and now, a detailed family tree, and an
appendix of the many people Britannia encountered-a who's who of
the period. Readers will also find Britannia's narrative an
essential companion to the incredible collection of objects
preserved at Tudor Place. Notable for both its breadth and level of
detail, A Georgetown Life brings a new dimension to the study of
nineteenth-century America.
This new edition of Statehood and Union: A History of the Northwest
Ordinance, originally published in 1987, is an authoritative
account of the origins and early history of American policy for
territorial government, land distribution, and the admission of new
states in the Old Northwest. In a new preface, Peter S. Onuf
reviews important new work on the progress of colonization and
territorial expansion in the rising American empire.
I felt like we had failed, said director of grid operations Jim
Detmers in a pained voice. In my mind, I pictured people stranded
in elevators. I pictured people stranded in stores and checkout
lines. All I could think of was the Inconvenience, and I'm sitting
here thinking...thinking, what rock did we not look under to maybe
prevent this? As the focal point of an unprecedented power crisis
that has tarnished the Golden State, the California Independent
System Operator (California ISO) carries the mixed burden of being
a disaster survivor. Established to maintain electrical system
reliability for the world's fifth-largest economy, California ISO
has been both praised and vilified for its efforts amidst the chaos
of blackouts, price volatility, political backlash, and market
manipulations by Enron and other ruthless competitors. This book
chronicles how the California ISO came to be and what happened
during its first five years. More importantly, though, this is the
story of the people who make up California ISO and give it an
identifiable character and culture--its soul. regulatory record or
media accounts of California's unparalleled power emergency.
On the 31st of October 1964 a very British institution took its
final bow. That was the night of the Windmill's farewell
performance and when the curtain fell for the last time on London's
world famous little theatre, and the stage door locked shut behind
its keeper, the Windmill's heart stopped beating. All that was left
was the lingering smell of a good cigar, the ghost of a fan dancer,
the last faint echoes of laughter and applause, and then darkness.
After 32 years the Windmill had breathed its last breath. Or had
it? No one could have predicted that half a century later, in the
year 2014, the world would still remember with affection the
Windmill Theatre with its famous comedians and its legendary
Windmill Girls. Fifty years on, in the public's heart, this
particular British institution "Never Closed."This full colour
hardback special edition book commemorates the Windmill on the
fifty year anniversary of the theatre's closure. With over 600
illustrations (photographs and ephemera), stories and contributions
from ex Windmillite Barry Cryer OBE, Windmill girls and boys who
danced on through the blitz and many more, this book will remind
those who were there of the phenomenon that was the Windmill, and
give those who weren't the feeling of having visited the theatre
that famously never closed.
"Having written about New Mexico history for more than forty
years," explains the author, "it was perhaps inevitable that in
time I should publish a few articles on Billy the Kid. After all,
he is the one figure from this state's past whose name is known
around the world. The Kid's career, although astonishingly short,
nonetheless, left an indelible mark in the annals of the Old West.
And his name, William H. Bonney, alias Billy the Kid, seems locked
forever into the consciousness of the starry-eyed public. "Upon
request," the author continues, "I was able to assemble a
collection of my varied writings pertaining to some of Billy's real
or imagined deeds. Each section opens a small window on an aspect
of his tumultuous life, or casts light upon others whose fortunes
intersected with his. In this book, I have stalked Billy in an
erratic rather than a systematic way, taking pleasure merely in
adding a few new and unusual fragments to his biography. I trust
that readers who have a fascination with the history and legend of
Billy the Kid will find in these pages something of interest and
value. As Eugene Cunningham wrote more than seventy years ago, 'in
our imagination the Kid still lives--the Kid still rides.'" Marc
Simmons is a professional author and historian who has published
more than forty books on New Mexico and the American Southwest. His
popular "Trail Dust" column is syndicated in several regional
newspapers. In 1993, King Juan Carlos of Spain admitted him to the
knightly Order of Isabel la Catolica for his contributions to
Spanish colonial history.
Originally published over 100 years ago, LIFE AMONG THE APACHES is
John Cremony's absorbing eyewitness description of pre-reservation
Apache life and culture. Through his years in the military Cremony
fought in the war with Mexico and participated in many Indian
campaigns in the southwest deserts. In 1848 he served as Spanish
interpreter for the U. S. ? Mexico Boundary Commission where he
learned to speak Apache and subsequently wrote a glossary and
grammar of the language. Although he wrote this book with the
intent to encourage more effective military suppression of the
intimidating Apaches, this historical document has all of the
fast-paced action and excitement of a Wild West novel.
Highlights a little-known expedition of General George Custer to
the Black Hills of South Dakota, showing how it set the stage for
later conflict with the Sioux and the Battle of Little Bighorn.
This fascinating narrative history tells the story of General
George Armstrong Custer's 1874 expedition into the Black Hills of
South Dakota and reveals how it set the stage for the climactic
Battle of the Little Bighorn two years later. What is the
significance of this obscure foray into the Black Hills? The short
answer, as the author explains, is that Custer found gold. This
discovery in the context of the worst economic depression the
country had yet experienced spurred a gold rush that brought hordes
of white prospectors to the Sioux's sacred grounds. The result was
the trampling of an 1868 treaty that had granted the Black Hills to
the Sioux and their inevitable retaliation against the white
invasion. The author brings the era of the Grant administration to
life, with its "peace policy" of settling the Indians on
reservations, corrupt federal Indian Bureau, Gilded Age excesses,
the building of the western railroads, the white settlements that
followed the tracks, the Crash of 1873, mining ventures, and the
clash of white and Indian cultures with diametrically opposed
values. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills was the beginning
of the end of Sioux territorial independence. By the end of the
book it is clear why the Sioux leader Fast Bear called the trail
cut by Custer to the Black Hills "thieves' road."
A unique six-year compilation of British rural news, interspersed
with the author's own observations on birds, mammals, fish, and
aspects of Britain's countryside today. Most rural subjects are
covered in a comprehensive snapshot of country life at the start of
the new Millenium. From December 1999 to February 2006, scores of
different issues are compressed into hundreds of bite-sized, easily
digested articles. From angling to animal rights campaigns,
foxhunting to farming, game shooting to wildlife conservation, a
diverse collection of views, comment and advice is presented. The
batty and the bizarre also get a look-in, as do the controversial
and the downright crazy. With its packed pages, A Country Pillow
Book could become a bedside companion for the rural researcher or a
useful tool for the country-loving insomniac.
2013 Award of Superior Achievement from the Illinois State
Historical Society. In the antebellum Midwest, Americans looked to
the law, and specifically to the jury, to navigate the uncertain
terrain of a rapidly changing society. During this formative era of
American law, the jury served as the most visible connector between
law and society. Through an analysis of the composition of grand
and trial juries and an examination of their courtroom experiences,
Stacy Pratt McDermott demonstrates how central the law was for
people who lived in Abraham Lincoln's America. McDermott focuses on
the status of the jury as a democratic institution as well as on
the status of those who served as jurors. According to the 1860
census, the juries in Springfield and Sangamon County, Illinois,
comprised an ethnically and racially diverse population of settlers
from northern and southern states, representing both urban and
rural mid-nineteenth-century America. It was in these counties that
Lincoln developed his law practice, handling more than 5,200 cases
in a legal career that spanned nearly twenty-five years. Drawing
from a rich collection of legal records, docket books, county
histories, and surviving newspapers, McDermott reveals the enormous
power jurors wielded over the litigants and the character of their
communities.
Montana Curiosities brings to the reader with humor and
affection-and a healthy dose of attitude-the oddest, quirkiest, and
most outlandish places, personalities, events, and phenomena found
within the state's borders and in the chronicles of its history. A
fun, accessible read, Montana Curiosities is a who's who of unusual
and unsung heroes. This compendium of the state's quirks and
characters will amuse Montana's residents and visitors alike.
If parks could speak, what would they say? Historic Acadia National
Park is a vibrant collection of true stories that share different
aspects of Acadia National Park's history. From its glacial
origins, to its rising peaks near the tourist-town Bar Harbor,
Acadia has a unique and fascinating history for Down Easters and
tourists alike. Many of the tales focus on some of Maine's most
famous land formations including Pulpit Rock, Sargent Mountain
Pond, Mount Desert Rock, Otter Creek, and even the Trenton Bridge.
Learn about the people who first walked these woods and how Acadia
National Park evolved into the national treasure it is today.
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