The archetypal Routemaster is arguably the most recognised vehicle in the world, as witnessed at the recent Beijing Olympic handover ceremony. Buses have been operating on London's streets since 1829, originally with horse-drawn omnibuses, and the London Omnibus Company was founded in 1855 to regulate the various services. The first motorised buses made an appearance in 1902 with the LGOC beginning to manufacture the buses itself two years later. For six decades London went its own way with specially designed buses. More recent innovations such as the 'bendy' bus have not been popular, but today practicality of pushchair and wheelchair access has consigned the Routemaster to a nostalgic, but much-loved, position. With full-colour photographs, this book comprehensively tells the story behind London's famous red buses.

In the early 1900s, three small-town midwestern playwrights helped shepherd American theatre into the modern era. Together, they created the renowned Provincetown Players collective, which not only launched many careers but also had the power to affect US social, cultural, and political beliefs. The philosophical and political orientations of Floyd Dell, George Cram Cook, and Susan Glaspell generated a theatre practice marked by experimentalism, collaboration, leftist cultural critique, rebellion, liberation, and community engagement. In Three Midwestern Playwrights, Marcia Noe situates the origin of the Provincetown aesthetic in Davenport, Iowa, a Mississippi River town. All three playwrights recognized that radical politics sometimes begat radical chic, and several of their plays satirize the faddish elements of the progressive political, social, and cultural movements they were active in. Three Midwestern Playwrights brings the players to life and deftly illustrates how Dell, Cook, and Glaspell joined early 20th-century midwestern radicalism with East Coast avant-garde drama, resulting in a fresh and energetic contribution to American theatre.

To paraphrase L.P. Hartley, "The past is a different country." Stan L Abbott sets out to explore the visible clues to our mysterious past from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages: stone circles. Cumbria boasts more of these monuments than any other English county. Here, our tallest mountains are ringed by almost fifty circles and henges, most of them sited in the foothills or on outlying plateaux. Were these the earliest such monuments in Britain, placing Cumbria at the heart of Neolithic society? And what traces of that society remain today in the roads we travel, the food we eat, the words we speak, our work and play? By observing and comparing many sites in Cumbria and beyond, and researching many sources, a greater understanding emerges. Were some circles built for ritualistic purposes, or perhaps astronomical? Were they burial sites? Or were they just places for people to meet? Illustrated with linocut illustrations by artist Denise Burden, Ring of Stone Circles follows the search for the hidden stories these monuments guard - and might reveal if we get to know them.

The incredible story of the man and legend who has come to symbolize the continuing pursuit of justice for Blacks in the United States Through the 1980s, the mainstream press portrayed the Reverend Al Sharpton as a buffoon, a fake minister, a hustler, an opportunist, a demagogue, a race traitor, and an anti-Semite. Today, Sharpton occupies a throne that would have shocked the white newspaper reporters who covered him forty years ago. A mesmerizing story of astounding transformation, craftiness, and survival, King Al follows Reverend Sharpton's life trajectory, from his early life as a boy preacher to his present moment as the most popular Black American activist/minister/cable news host. In the 1980s, Rev. Al created controversies that would have doomed a lesser man to the dustbin of history. Among these controversies were his work with the FBI as the agency attempted to locate Black Liberation Army leader Assata Shakur; and his involvement in the 1987 Tawana Brawley episode. Regarding the Brawley matter, a white prosecutor sued Sharpton, successfully, for falsely accusing him of having raped the then-fifteen-year-old Brawley. It was the white press, in its glory days, that created the podium from which Sharpton became both famous and infamous. Those reporters would joke that the most dangerous place in New York was between Al Sharpton and a television camera. But it was those reporters who made Sharpton the media figure he is today. Today, as host of MSNBC's PoliticsNation news program, Sharpton has more news viewers than those reporters ever had readers. The Reverend Al's rise to respectability is a testament to an endurance and boldness steeped in Black American history. Born in Brooklyn to parents from the old slave-holding South, he transformed himself into one of the most respected and politically influential Blacks in the United States. In his in-depth coverage, author Ron Howell tells the stories of Sharpton's ascendance to the throne. He tells us about the glory years of American newspapers, when Sharpton began his rise. And he tells us about the politicians who intersected with Sharpton as he climbed the ladder. King Al is an engaging read about the late-twentieth-century history of New York City politics and race relations, as well as about the remarkable staying power of the colorful, politically skillful, and enigmatic Sharpton.

Tour historic Fort Lauderdale, Florida through 276 color postcard images that depict the growth of the "Venice of America" and "Gateway to the Everglades." Be transported to earlier days before urban sprawl and renewal. From the 1900s through the 1960s, images of Seminoles, farming, tourism, the beach, buildings, and the New River will appeal to everyone interested in Florida history, architecture, and water activities.

In a little more than a hundred years, a wild and desolate barrier island in Maryland became a teeming resort city. The story began in 1875 when a group of Eastern Shore, Baltimore, and Philadelphia businessmen held a grand opening of a five-story frame building called the Atlantic Hotel, and offered surrounding lots for sale at $25 each. Skeptics observing the scene predicted disaster with the first bad storm. What follows is a narrative of shifting sands-and shifting fortunes-as the city weathered natural and economic setbacks and advances to become, every summer, Maryland's second-largest city. The narrative draws extensively on the memoirs of early resort residents and, most of all, on conservations with people who have given the town its distinctive character. This is an appealing portrait of an outstanding resort that has been a magnet to vacationers for more than a century.

This is a book about the end of childhood. Much of it is drawn directly from a diary the author kept while he was a bright but insecure freshman at Harvard in the 1950s. From these pages emerges a precise description of the raw, half-understood experience of late adolescence--the anguish and arguments, the rivalry and anxiety about sex, the facile cynicism and desperate fumblings for purpose, the bull sessions held late at night--just as Peter Prescott recorded them only hours after the event.

These diary excerpts are contained in a narrative that examines that freshman experience from a vantage point of twenty years. Thus, we are able to look at the past with a double perspective: Th e exact record, unclouded by memory or nostalgia, of what was said and done is set in a structure that reveals the form of the experience. Th e result is an ironic, witty, and often moving book.

Writing with some compassion and even more asperity, Peter S. Prescott not only captures the confl icts and emotions of a single year, but probes beneath the surface of memory to explore certain tribal customs and rites of passage as they are played out in the classrooms and living quarters of the college. A few famous people--T. S. Eliot and Edith Sitwell among them--play brief parts in this chronicle, but young Prescott's attention was primarily engaged in his struggle with his extravagant roommates and an assortment of eccentric undergraduates.

"Peter S. Prescott" was book review editor for "Newsweek." His books include "Encounters with American Culture" (Volumes 1 and 2), and "The Child Savers: Juvenile Justice Observed." His critical essays about books and other cultural phenomena have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers.

"Anne Lake Prescott" is Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor of English at Barnard College. She is a specialist in the English Renaissance and is affi liated with the comparative literature program and the medieval and Renaissance studies program at Barnard College. Her most recent book is "Renaissance Historicisms: Essays in Honor of Arthur F. Kinney."

For over a century New Englanders have taken to the slopes in search of ways to enjoy the coldest months, and skiing has deep roots in the region. In the late nineteenth century Scandinavian immigrants worked to educate snowbound locals on how to ski, make equipment, and prepare trails. Soon thereafter, colleges across the Northeast built world-class ski programs, massive jumps were constructed in Brattleboro and Berlin, and dozens of ski areas-big and small-cropped up from the 1930s through the 1980s.Traveling the Old Ski Tracks of New England offers a fascinating history of downhill, cross-country, and backcountry skiing across the region and its leading personalities. Moving from popular destinations like Stowe, Cannon, Bromley, and Mount Washington to the less intimidating hills surrounding Boston, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, E. John B. Allen also recovers the forgotten stories of ski areas that have been abandoned in the face of changing tastes and a warming climate.

Nikolaus Pevsner described Berwick-upon-Tweed as 'one of the most exciting towns in England' [Nikolaus Pevsner, Buildings of England: Northumberland (1957), 88] - a place where an absorbing historical tale can still be read in the dense fabric of its old streets and buildings. It attracts not only day-trippers and holidaymakers but also new residents who have learnt to appreciate the spirit of the place. But outsiders all too easily confine their attention to the space within the impressive Elizabethan ramparts, while local people are sometimes unaware or dismissive of the wider significance of the very things that they know so intimately. Berwick deserves to be known better, and to be celebrated not just as a vivid reminder of what many other towns were once like, but more especially as something unique and distinctive, shaped by a peculiar combination of historical and geographical circumstances. This distinctiveness is acutely apparent as one passes between Berwick and the contrasting, but historically intertwined, settlements of Tweedmouth and Spittal. This book presents something of the wealth of historic interest encapsulated in Berwick, Tweedmouth and Spittal, and explains how these places came to assume such varied and distinctive forms. Above all, it urges that a town anxious for stability and prosperity in the future must know where it has come from as well as where it is going.

West Chester, a picturesque Pennsylvania town and Chester County seat, has retained all the charm of more than two centuries of existence. This book is the perfect companion while strolling through its streets on a beautiful day. Text uncovers the history of significant sites, and accompanying photographs make the town come to life. Six tours reveal over 75 sites in 150 stunning color photographs. Maps for each tour help readers navigate this southeastern Pennsylvania town. Residents and visitors alike will cherish this volume, which is the perfect memento for lovers of history, architecture, and small-town living.

Using a 'battered medium format camera' once belonging to Fay Godwin, Alex Boyd captures the archipelago of St Kilda in a new light, from a 21st century perspective. From the crumbling Cold War military base to the wild beauty of the natural landscape, this collection of photographs is both an ode to the history of the islands and an insight into the modern day lives of those who live and work on St Kilda today.

A spectacular inland city, Indianapolis, Indiana is rich in history and charm. Over 340 vintage, hand-tinted and sepia-toned postcards dating back to the turn of the century showcase the nostalgic quality of this Hoosier city. Experience the quintessential landmark, Monument Circle, with its memorials to Civil War governor, Oliver P. Morton, and others who have died in service of their country. Go from muddy roads to bustling streets as views of Butler University and the home of President Benjamin Harrison spring to life. Consider the life of noble poet, James Whitcomb Riley, and enjoy the thrill at the great Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. It's all here in Indianapolis! Approximate dating and postcard values will aid collectors in building their own collections of these striking images.

Visit the Ocean City, Maryland, that your grandparents visited. Historic photographs preserve images from the 1900s when bonneted women wore full-length dresses on the boardwalk. Then travel to the 1970s, when the crowds stopped at 38th Street. Aerial views help trace the island's development from a remote Victorian seaside village to the advent of high-rise condos and resort hotels. Look back at the city's long-favorite attractions: the Boardwalk and the Fishing Pier. See famous landmarks like the Atlantic Hotel and the Ocean City Life-Saving Station. Venture to nearby attractions at the Ocean Downs Raceway, Frontier Town, and Assateague Island. Pictures and text beautifully summarize the history of this popular summer vacation area.

The dramatic account of a Revolutionary-era conspiracy in which a band of farmers opposed to military conscription and fearful of religious persecution plotted to kill the governor of North Carolina. Less than a year into the American Revolution, a group of North Carolina farmers hatched a plot to assassinate the colony's leading patriots, including the governor. The scheme became known as the Gourd Patch or Lewellen Conspiracy. The men called themselves the Brethren. The Brethren opposed patriot leaders' demand for militia volunteers and worried that "enlightened" deist principles would be enshrined in the state constitution, displacing their Protestant faith. The patriots' attempts to ally with Catholic France only exacerbated the Brethren's fears of looming heresy. Brendan McConville follows the Brethren as they draw up plans for violent action. After patriot militiamen threatened to arrest the Brethren as British sympathizers in the summer of 1777, the group tried to spread false rumors of a slave insurrection in hopes of winning loyalist support. But a disaffected insider denounced the movement to the authorities, and many members were put on trial. Drawing on contemporary depositions and legal petitions, McConville gives voice to the conspirators' motivations, which make clear that the Brethren did not back the Crown but saw the patriots as a grave threat to their religion. Part of a broader Southern movement of conscription resistance, the conspiracy compels us to appreciate the full complexity of public opinion surrounding the Revolution. Many colonists were neither loyalists nor patriots and came to see the Revolutionary government as coercive. The Brethren tells the dramatic story of ordinary people who came to fear that their Revolutionary leaders were trying to undermine religious freedom and individual liberty-the very causes now ascribed to the Founding generation.

The "Illustrated History of Leicester's Suburbs" shows, through a fine selection of photographs from the Leicester Mercury and Leicestershire Record Office, how the countryside, farms and villages developed into the urban streets, residential areas, shopping districts and industrial estates that are so familiar today. In the course of the last 150 years, the outskirts of the city have been transformed, and they would have expanded in a way that would astonish Leicester residents of just a few generations ago.In this detailed and fully-illustrated account of the suburbs, Christine Jordan offers a concise history of each district, but she also features local anecdotes, myths and folklore, and she remembers remarkable, sometimes bizarre, episodes and notable individuals who played their part in the story. Her survey will be essential reading and reference for everyone who takes an interest in their neighbourhood and in the complex, surprising history of the city itself.Leicester evolved over the centuries, gradually at first, then swiftly during the 19th and 20th centuries. In the space of a few generations, small villages on the periphery were absorbed by the city's expansion. But Christine Jordan shows how these villages retained an identity, and their names have lived on in the urban areas that surround the centre. The origins and development of districts as diverse as Aylestone, Braunstone, Stoneygate, Evington, Spinney Hills and Clarendon Park are recalled in her account, as are the stories of the many other communities that make up the modern city.

"The Little Book of Liverpool" is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic, or simply strange information which no one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters, and literally hundreds of wacky facts. Alex Tulloch's new book gathers together a myriad of data on this historic city. There are lots of factual chapters but also plenty of frivolous details which will amuse and surprise. A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something you never knew. For instance, did you know that the clock on the Liver Buildings was started at the precise moment that King George V was crowned on 22 June 1911? Thought not. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Hospital and Haven tells the story of an Episcopal missionary couple who lived their entire married life, from 1910 to 1938, among the Gwich’in peoples of northern Alaska, devoting themselves to the peoples’ physical, social, and spiritual well-being. The era was marked by great social disruption within Alaska Native communities and high disease and death rates, owing to the influx of non-Natives in the region, inadequate sanitation and hygiene, minimal law enforcement, and insufficient government funding for Alaska Native health care. Hospital and Haven reveals the sometimes contentious yet promising relationship between missionaries, Alaska Natives, other migrants, and Progressive Era medicine. St. Stephen’s Mission stood at the center of community life and formed a bulwark against the forces that threatened the Native peoples’ lifeways and lives. Dr. Grafton (Happy or Hap) Burke directed the Hudson Stuck Memorial Hospital, the only hospital to serve Alaska Natives within a several-hundred-mile radius. Clara Burke focused on orphaned, needy, and convalescing children, raising hundreds in St. Stephen’s Mission Home. The Gwich’in in turn embraced and engaged in the church and hospital work, making them community institutions. Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe came to recognize the hospital and orphanage work at Fort Yukon as the church’s most important work in Alaska.

Amidst the rolling land of the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York, stands the city of Ithaca. Over 250 vintage, hand-tinted and black and white postcards from the 1900s to the 1940s take readers on a nostalgic journey, showcasing Ithaca's most famous and interesting spots. Attend a concert at Ithaca College, a lecture at Cornell University, or lunch at the Clinton House. Travel outside Ithaca for a trip to the majestic Taughannock Falls, hike in Buttermilk Falls State Park, or cheer the Cornell Crew Team to victory from the shores of Cayuga Lake.

The key theme of the Hall Book remains Borough Governance. The town's charters and rights were confirmed and extended in 1664 by the Charter of Charles II. The key theme of the Hall Book remains Borough Governance. The town's charters and rights were confirmed and extended in 1664 by the Charter of Charles II. James II's Charter of 1685 led to the Alderman becoming Mayor, the First Twelve becoming Aldermen and the Second Twelve becoming Councillors. James also sought to extend his powers with more rights to interfere, as with other cities and boroughs across the country. The Quo Warranto issued in April 1688 and the removal of six Aldermen resulted in an un-sought for Charter later in 1688 but this may not have even been physically received in Grantham as the events of the Glorious Revolution intervened and governance was restored under the terms of the 1631 Charter of Charles I. The borough of Grantham was then governed in these terms until the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. Subsidiary themes include the precautions against plague in 1665; the issue and recall of the town's half-pennies in 1667-1674; references to non-conformity in 1668-69 and the lives of some of the Corporation members.

On the banks of the Severn River, two miles from the Chesapeake Bay, is the city of Annapolis, the capital of the state of Maryland, the home of the United States Naval Academy, and a host of historical buildings, many dating to before the Revolutionary War. Vintage postcards, both hand-tinted and black and white, take readers on a journey here in the 1900s through the 1950s. Tour the chambers of the State House and see where George Washington resigned his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Stand under the tree at St. John's College where the Sons of Liberty met to plot rebellion against the British Crown. Visit the historical Hammond-Harwood, Peggy Stewart, and Brice Houses. Then watch dress parades at the Naval Academy and wander to the City Docks for a ferry ride around Chesapeake Bay. The rich history of Annapolis is conveniently spread before you.

The south of Scotland has a long and turbulent geological past. Perhaps most notably, it marks the place where, 432 million years ago, an ocean, once as wide as the north Atlantic, was compressed by a convergence of ancient lands and then ceased to be. Deserts covered the land with thick layers of brick-red coloured rocks, known as the Old Red Sandstone, piled up and dumped by rivers and streams that crisscrossed the area. Around 432 million years ago, violent explosive volcanic activity gave rise to the prominent landscape features recognised today as the Eildon Hills. In later geological times, the area was blanketed with massive sand dunes, later compressed to create the building stones from which Dumfries, Glasgow and other towns and cities, were constructed. It is also the place where the modern science of geology was born. James Hutton, star of the Scottish Enlightenment, found inspiration from his study of the local rocks. Sites he described almost 250 years ago are still hailed as amongst the most historic and important rock exposures to be found anywhere in the world.