Modern-day Cambridgeshire is a county of diverse landscapes: from the elegance of the university city and the rural delights of the old county of Huntingdonshire Isle of Ely, each district has its own identity and its own stories. Explore the antics of the inhabitants of the past, including Hereward the Saxon hero; the Fenland giant Tom Hickathrift; the pious Bricstan of Chatteris; the raconteur and skater Chaffe Legge; and Mr Leech, who was carried off by the Devil. You will also discover the hidden history of the area, including how the secret Brotherhood of the Grey Goose Feather helped King Charles I, and what really happened to King John's treasure. These entertaining tales will delight readers both within Cambridgeshire and elsewhere.

'A wonderful memoir, written with great linguistic brio. Candid, shrewd and moving - a classic of its kind,' William Boyd Howard Jacobson's funny, revealing and tender memoir of his path to becoming a writer. It's my theory that only the unhappy, the uncomfortable, the gauche, the badly put together, aspire to make art. Why would you seek to reshape the world unless you were ill-at-ease in it? And I came out of the womb in every sense the wrong way round. In Mother's Boy, Booker-Prize winner Howard Jacobson reveals how he became a writer. It is an exploration of belonging and not-belonging, of being an insider and outsider, both English and Jewish. Born to a working-class family in 1940s Manchester, the great-grandson of Lithuanian and Russian immigrants, Jacobson was raised by his mother, grandmother and aunt Joyce. His father was a regimental tailor, as well as an upholsterer, a market-stall holder, a taxi driver, a balloonist, and a magician. Grappling always with his family's history and his Jewish identity, Jacobson takes us from the growing pains of childhood to studying at Cambridge under F.R. Leavis, and landing in Sydney as a maverick young professor on campus, through to his first marriage, the birth of his son and beyond. Full of Jacobson's trademark humour and infused with bittersweet memories of his parents, this is the story of a writer's beginnings. 'Laugh-out-loud glorious and uproarious of course - but don't let the self-ribbing fool you; this is deep and poignant,' Simon Schama

A charming guide to the story of the English village, celebrating this beloved heart of the countryside. The village remains a quintessential and much-loved treasure that is often representative of England. This rural idyll has inspired generations of great poets, novelists and artists including the likes of Constable, Hardy and Wordsworth. The English Village champions all that is unique and loved about a typical village - the pub, the green, the school, the church, the pond, the local shop and more - as well as exploring how the village has changed over the centuries, and how it has adjusted to modern-day life. A fascinating compendium of interesting details, facts, customs and lore, this is an unabashed toast to the English village, as well as a record of a disappearing world.

Seattle was recently named the best bike city in the United States by Bicycling magazine. How did this notoriously hilly and rainy city become so inviting to bicyclists? And what challenges lie ahead for Puget Sound bike advocates? Tom Fucoloro, a leading voice on bike issues in the region, blends his longtime reporting with new interviews and archival research to tell the story of how a flourishing bike culture emerged despite the obstacles of climate, topography, and—most importantly—an entrenched, car-centric urban landscape and culture. From the arrival of the first bicycles in the late nineteenth century to the bike-share entrepreneurs of the present day, the result is a unique perspective on Seattle's history and its future. Advocates, policy makers, city planners, and bike enthusiasts around the world can learn plenty from the successes and failures of this city's past 130 years. More than just a mode of transportation, the bicycle has been used by generations of Seattleites as a tool for social change. Biking Uphill in the Rain documents the people and projects that made a difference and reveals just how deeply intertwined transportation is with politics, public health, climate change, and racial justice.

Zen and the Art of Local History is an engaging, interactive conversation that conveys the exciting nature of local history. Divided into six major themes the book covers the scope and breadth of local history: * Being a Local Historian * Topics and Sources * Staying Relevant * Getting it Right * Writing History * History Organizations Each chapter features one of Carol Kammen's memorable editorials from History News. Her editorial is a "call." Each is followed by a response from one of more than five dozen prominent players in state and local history. These Respondents include local and public historians, archivists, volunteers, and history professionals across the kaleidoscopic spectrum of local history. Among this group are Katherine Kane, Robert "Bob" Richmond, Charlie Bryan, and Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko. The result is a series of dialogues on important topics in the field of local history. This interactivity of these conversations makes Zen and the Art of Local History a unique offering in the public history field.

Zen and the Art of Local History is an engaging, interactive conversation that conveys the exciting nature of local history. Divided into six major themes the book covers the scope and breadth of local history: * Being a Local Historian * Topics and Sources * Staying Relevant * Getting it Right * Writing History * History Organizations Each chapter features one of Carol Kammen's memorable editorials from History News. Her editorial is a "call." Each is followed by a response from one of more than five dozen prominent players in state and local history. These Respondents include local and public historians, archivists, volunteers, and history professionals across the kaleidoscopic spectrum of local history. Among this group are Katherine Kane, Robert "Bob" Richmond, Charlie Bryan, and Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko. The result is a series of dialogues on important topics in the field of local history. This interactivity of these conversations makes Zen and the Art of Local History a unique offering in the public history field.

This volume presents the rich history of the old amusement parks and beach resorts frequented by Baltimoreans beginning in the 1870s and stretching into the late 20th century. Readers may recognise such popular amusement parks as Gwynn Oak, Carlin's, and Tolchester Beach, and will learn about some of the more obscure places like Frederick Road Park and Hollywood Park. Each of the major parks is documented here, complete with a detailed history of the sites they were built on, the creative owners behind the parks' inceptions, the individuals and companies who provided the rides and attractions, and, the people that happily travelled by boat, streetcar, train and automobile to reach their favourite park or resort. Like many sizable cities across the U.S. in the early 1900s, Baltimore offered numerous amusement parks and beach resorts for city residents to attend. Some sprang up along the trolley lines, others were beachside resorts typically reached by steamers departing from Baltimore harbor. Sadly, Baltimore is no longer home to a major amusement park. Most of the traditional amusement parks built in the early part of 20th century have disappeared, many falling victim to fire, changing social habits and rising land values.

Presents the story of a small fishing village in the shadow of Portsmouth which developed to become a major naval and military base in its own right. This book shows the ways in which Gosport has sometimes stood still and sometimes altered almost beyond recognition.

" ""Serving as tour guide, Fox invites his audience to go with him log rafting down the Kentucky River, bass fishing in the Cumberland Mountains, rabbit hunting in the Bluegrass, and chasing outlaws in the border country of Kentucky and Virginia. Along the route we meet Old South colonels and their ladies, lawless moonshiners and their shy daughters, bloodthirsty preachers, and educated young gentlemen visitors who explore the southern mountains for fun and profit. These sketches offer a delightful blend of macho adventure and sage observation by an erudite young writer who had lived in the two worlds that provide his subject matter-the elegant society of the Bluegrass aristocracy and the hardscrabble feuding clans of mountaineers.""

The largest inland city in Florida, Orlando, also known as the City Beautiful, stands proudly among the great lakes of central Florida. This is a colorful reminder of Orlando's past, from 1902 to 1950, with 351 color postcards that show Orlando prior to Walt Disney World, from orange groves and cattle farms to popular tourist destination. The neighboring city of Winter Park is explored in over 60 historic postcards, and Sanford, Kissimee, Altamonte Springs and others are also portrayed. Historians and tourists alike will treasure this wonderful souvenir, and postcard collectors will find it a great resource.

Live by the sword, die by the sword. Pittsburgh was built on steel-and almost destroyed by it. Pittsburgh's vertically integrated steel industry was foundational in the growth of America, and it returned economic prosperity to the region for over a century. But when a myriad of domestic and global factors unsettled the local industry's competitiveness, the city suffered through economic turmoil. The city of Pittsburgh found unlikely heroes in their traditionally also-ran professional football team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Reflecting the city's tough, hard-nosed, working class citizens, the Steelers rose to prominence and galvanized the community to persevere against the challenges of its deindustrialization transformation. Built of steel, then crippled by steel, Pittsburgh was eventually saved by the Steelers. Immaculate: How the Steelers Saved Pittsburgh weaves together the historical stories of Pittsburgh and its beloved professional football team like the linear strands of DNA-antiparallel, twisting throughout, and irrevocably connected together. Beginning with the history of the region, Immaculate weaves together the area's early history with the Steelers' origins, tracing the rise of the Steelers against the contextual backdrop of the steel industry's collapse and the city's unfolding crisis. The Steelers provided the foundational inflection point for Pittsburgh's "New Economy" to emerge and prosper. Immaculate brings to life the colorful stories and people that shaped a city and a team over the rich tapestry of profoundly different eras.