The Roaring Twenties in New York was a time of exuberant ambition, free-flowing optimism, an explosion of artistic expression in the age of Prohibition. New York was the city that embodied the spirit and strength of a newly powerful America.
In 1924, in the vibrant heart of Manhattan, a fierce rivalry was born. Two architects, William Van Alen and Craig Severance (former friends and successful partners, but now bitter adversaries), set out to imprint their individual marks on the greatest canvas in the world--the rapidly evolving skyline of New York City. Each man desired to build the city's tallest building, or 'skyscraper.' Each would stop at nothing to outdo his rival.
Van Alen was a creative genius who envisioned a bold, contemporary building that would move beyond the tired architecture of the previous century. By a stroke of good fortune he found a larger-than-life patron in automobile magnate Walter Chrysler, and they set out to build the legendary Chrysler building. Severance, by comparison, was a brilliant businessman, and he tapped his circle of downtown, old-money investors to begin construction on the Manhattan Company Building at 40 Wall Street.
From ground-breaking to bricklaying, Van Alen and Severance fought a cunning duel of wills. Each man was forced to revamp his architectural design in an attempt to push higher, to overcome his rival in mid-construction, as the structures rose, floor by floor, in record time. Yet just as the battle was underway, a third party entered the arena and announced plans to build an even larger building. This project would be overseen by one of Chrysler's principal rivals--a representative of the General Motors group--and the building ultimately became known as The Empire State Building.
Infused with narrative thrills and perfectly rendered historical and engineering detail, " Higher" brings to life a sensational episode in American history. Author Neal Bascomb interweaves characters such as Al Smith and Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, leading up to an astonishing climax that illustrates one of the most ingenious (and secret) architectural achievements of all time.

Between 1816 and 1823 Stephen Harriman Long headed five expeditions that traveled 26,000 miles from the Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains and from the headwaters of the Canadian River in New Mexico to Lake Winnipeg in Canada. This book deals with two of his northern journeys--the only two for which the explorer's personal journals are known to have survived. The 1817 journal describes Long's trip up the Mississippi River to the Falls of St. Anthony at present-day Minneapolis and back down the river to Fort Belle Fontaine on the Missouri. The 1823 journal covers Long's last major exploration, from Philadelphia west across present-day Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and back along fur trade routes in Manitoba and Ontario, through the Great Lakes and newly opened parts of the Erie Canal. The journals reveal the writer's classical education and scientific knowledge. They also reflect the man himself--efficient, logical, concise, meticulous, persevering--a man cheerful in the face of physical discomfort but intolerant of incompetence or irresponsibility on the part of his men.

This book vividly reconstructs the social world of upper middle-class Belfast during the time of the city's greatest growth, between the 1830s and the 1880s. Using extensive primary material including personal correspondence, memoirs, diaries and newspapers, the author draws a rich portrait of Belfast society and explores both the public and inner lives of Victorian bourgeois families. Leading business families like the Corrys and the Workmans, alongside their professional counterparts, dominated Victorian Belfast's civic affairs, taking pride in their locale and investing their time and money in improving it. This social group displayed a strong work ethic, a business-oriented attitude and religious commitment, and its female members led active lives in the domains of family, church and philanthropy. While the Belfast bourgeoisie had parallels with other British urban elites, they inhabited a unique place and time: 'Linenopolis' was the only industrial city in Ireland, a city that was neither fully Irish nor fully British, and at the very time that its industry boomed, an unusually violent form of sectarianism emerged. Middle-Class Life in Victorian Belfast provides a fresh examination of familiar themes such as civic activism, working lives, philanthropy, associational culture, evangelicalism, recreation, marriage and family life, and represents a substantial and important contribution to Irish social history.

'Whitstable is a stirring little town, with strong business proclivities, and a history stretching far back into the remote past.' So wrote a Kentish Gazette correspondent in 1873, although he could have been describing the north Kent seaside town today. Over the years, the lives of townspeople have been sustained by sea salt production, diving, smuggling, shipbuilding and fishing, along with copperas mining and tourism. In this pocket-sized guide, author Kerry Mayo takes readers on a fascinating tour around Whitstable's streets and buildings, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they have changed over the years, as well as exploring some of its lesser-known sights and hidden corners. With the help of a handy location map, readers are invited to discover for themselves the history and the changing face of the town.

A delightful romp through America's Golden Age of Cocktails The decades following the American Civil War burst with invention-they saw the dawn of the telephone, the motor car, electric lights, the airplane-but no innovation was more welcome than the beverage heralded as the "cocktail." The Gilded Age, as it came to be known, was the Golden Age of Cocktails, giving birth to the classic Manhattan and martini that can be ordered at any bar to this day. Scores of whiskey drinks, cooled with ice chips or cubes that chimed against the glass, proved doubly pleasing when mixed, shaken, or stirred with special flavorings, juices, and fruits. The dazzling new drinks flourished coast to coast at sporting events, luncheons, and balls, on ocean liners and yachts, in barrooms, summer resorts, hotels, railroad train club cars, and private homes. From New York to San Francisco, celebrity bartenders rose to fame, inventing drinks for exclusive universities and exotic locales. Bartenders poured their liquid secrets for dancing girls and such industry tycoons as the newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst and the railroad king "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt. Cecelia Tichi offers a tour of the cocktail hours of the Gilded Age, in which industry, innovation, and progress all take a break to enjoy the signature beverage of the age. Gilded Age Cocktails reveals the fascinating history behind each drink as well as bartenders' formerly secret recipes. Though the Gilded Age cocktail went "underground" during the Prohibition era, it launched the first of many generations whose palates thrilled to a panoply of artistically mixed drinks.

Jonathan Carver's Travels through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768 became a bestseller in London in the 1780s, and arguments over its author's accuracy and honesty have raged ever since. This book published for the first time the well-known explorer's original account of his expedition. Editor John Parker compares and interweaves the four manuscript versions of Carver's journals discovered in the twentieth century in the British Museum to form the text of this book. Also included are the hitherto unpublished journal of veteran fur trader James Stanley Goddard, who accompanied Carver; related correspondence; a Dakota dictionary; commissions and other records; and a bibliography of major editions of the Travels. In this volume John Parker explains the alleged plagiarism, examines Carver's early life, and offers new information on the land swindle in the Midwest known as the "Carver grant." Editor John Parker was curator of the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota, a collection specializing in early travel and exploration.

This is the charming story, based on fact, of the love of a Skye terrier called Bobby for his master in nineteenth-century Edinburgh. Bobby and his master 'Auld Jock', a Pentland Hills farmer, were inseparable and for fourteen years after Auld Jock's death little Bobby made his home near the old man's grave in the cemetery in Greyfriars Kirkyard. He was loved and cared for by the local people who were touched by the bond between the dog and his master. A life-size statue of Bobby still stands in Edinburgh, commemorating his devotion and loyalty near Greyfriars.

The fame of French scientist and geographer Joseph N. Nicollet rests upon his monumental map and report of the Upper Mississippi Valley. The map, published by the United States government in 1843, remained the foundation of Upper Mississippi cartography until the era of modern surveys. Nicollet's journals illuminate the 1836 trip to the source of the Mississippi and a journey up the St. Croix River in 1837. His day-by-day accounts include careful notes on geographical features, flora and fauna, and the aurora borealis. But above all, his keen observations on the customs and culture of the Ojibwe Indians provide the first systematic recording and a remarkably sympathetic depiction of the people of the area. Martha Bray's introduction and annotation to this translation by Andre Fertey provide a brief biography of one of the fathers of American science.

Progressivism, one of the most important political and social trends of the early twentieth century, focused the nation's attention on attempts to reform its political and economic systems. Against this backdrop of national and international events, historian Carl H Chrislock records the rise and decline of the movement in Minnesota, where Progressivism had many links with earlier Granger, Farm-ers Alliance, and Populist traditions. Clearly written and thought provoking, this book also tells the stories of the Bull Moose campaign of 1912, strikes on the Mesabi Range, and the painful divisions of loyalty before and during World War I.

Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Southport takes the reader on a sinister journey through centuries of local crime and conspiracy, meeting villains of all sorts along the way - cut-throats and poisoners, murderous lovers, baby-farmers and baby-killers, burglars, fraudsters and the so-called 'doctor of death'. The book records crime and punishment in Southport in all its shocking variety. Among the many acts of wickedness Geoff Wright describes are the shoemaker murder, the disappearance of Alfred Brewer, the unsolved murder of William Rhodes, the drugging of Councillor Fletcher, the wife-killing Dr Clements and the baffling murder of businessman Harry Baker. His chronicle of Southport's hidden history - the history this Victorian seaside resort would prefer to forget - will be compelling reading for anyone who is interested in the dark side of human nature.

J. Fletcher Williams' "History of St. Paul," first published in 1876, is a thoroughly charming, intimate chronicle of the city's earliest years. The author spins tales of villains, heroes, dark deeds, and progress with wit, irony, and relish. Sprinkled among the careful descriptions of pioneers, city fathers, and important events is a healthy dose of trivia, oddities, and "firsts." Lucile M. Kane's introduction to this edition suggests that the book "to an unusual degree mirrors the man--with all his learning, passion for patient investigation, interest in people, exuberance, dramatic sense, humor, and affection for his adopted city." Minnesota residents, visitors, and students of history will enjoy this insider's view of small-town St. Paul in the 19th century.

This is a fascinating portrait of royal life at Sandringham, from the early life of Albert Edward to the modern day. Drawing on letters, diaries and contemporary reports, it is a rich exploration of the private lives of Britain's royal family. From family life at the estate to the first visit of Queen Victoria, the glittering parties of the early twentieth century and all the way up to the death of King George V, the reigns of his sons and the Sandringham of today, it will delight anyone with an interest in the lives of the British royal family.

Well written and entertaining, A Canoe Voyage up the Minnay Sotor, describes the extensive travels of George William Featherstonhaugh in Wisconsin, Minnesota and various southern states in 1835 and 1837. Featherstonhaugh, an Englishman by birth, was a geologist by profession and well qualified to comment on the American scene. By the time of his travels in the 1830s, he had lived in the United States for nearly thirty years. He was also a linguist with an attentive ear for speech. In performing his duties as a geologist for the United States, he visited remote sections of the frontier that few other trained observers had yet an opportunity to see. In these two volumes Featherstonhaugh chronicles two separate expeditions--a geological expedition in 1835 of the area from Lake Michigan west to the Coteau des Prairies at the headwaters of the Minnesota River, and a tour in 1837 of the mineral lands of Wisconsin, Missouri, Georgia, and the western Carolinas.

With the days of the great buffalo herds as his focal point, the author looks at the Northern Plains through the lenses of geology, paleontology, biology, and especially history. He describes how the land was formed, chronicles the fantastic prehistoric animals that came and went, and tells the stories of the humans--natives and settlers alike--who have lived on this land.

This is a catalogue of the pre-Gothic Revival stained glass found at 50 sites in Cheshire. Many of these are churches, but there are also domestic residences and other buildings. Highlights include an important 14th-century regional workshop, probably based in Chester, whose output survives at 9 sites in the county; 16th-century armorials and donors; a fascinating window of 1581 at High Legh which demonstrates the Elizabethan religious settlement; a unique window commemorating the English Civil War; and a plethora of 17th-century quarries depicting a wide range of subjects such as English monarchs, classical sibyls, military drill and menial occupations. The county's outstanding collections of foreign panels are also catalogued.
The stained glass of the neighbouring county of Lancashire appears in CVMA, Great Britain, Summary Catalogue 8, The Medieval Stained Glass of Lancashire. The introduction discusses many aspects of the stained glass of both counties: documentary sources, donors and heraldry, condition, iconography, as well as examining the style and techniques used by the glass-painters. This catalogue will be essential for scholars and students of the history of medieval and early modern art, and for all those interested in the social and religious history of Tudor and Stuart Cheshire.

Geoffrey Fletcher's London was not the big landmarks, but rather 'the tawdry, extravagant and eccentric'. He wrote about parts of the city no-one ever had before. This could be an art nouveau pub, a Victorian music hall, a Hawksmoor church or even a public toilet in Holborn in which the attendant kept goldfish in the cisterns. He was drawn to the corners of the city where 'the kids swarm like ants and there are dogs everywhere'. This classic book was originally published in 1962 and has been in and out of print ever since. In 1967 it was turned into an acclaimed documentary film starring James Mason. Following a series of sold out screenings at the Barbican and the ICA, the film was re-released on DVD in 2008. This book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in London, and will surprise even those who think they know it well.

People love hearing about a grisly murder; gasping at the gory details, wondering about the motives, deducing who did it. This macabre fascination is nothing new. In the past racehorses, greyhounds and even a ship have been named after some of the most notorious murderers, and it doesn't look like our interest is waning any time soon. London Murders is a unique guidebook that explores the darker side of London's history, pinpointing the exact locations of the bloodiest, most intriguing and sinister murders. It describes in detail the events, the characters involved and the eventual fates of the perpetrators, which include playwrights and politicians, celebrities and spies, royalty, aristocrats and, of course, countless ordinary Joes. Featuring infamous names such as Crippen, Kray, Haigh, Christie and Ellis, whose terrible crimes shocked the world, London Murders matches crimes to locations as David Long walks the reader through the city's streets, whilst revealing their tragic and awful histories.

For the devotee of Irish heritage, mythology or folklore, County Sligo has everything. From the Curlew mountains in the south, where Aodh Ruadh O Domhnaill defeated an English army under Sir Conyers Clifford, to Benbulben's slopes in the north, where St Colmcille battled the High King of Ireland, every hill and valley is linked by the gossamer threads of myth, folklore and legend. These stories, some age-old legends and fantastical myths, some amusing anecdotes and cautionary tales, are a heady mix of the bloodthirsty, funny and passionate and a selection of the best are retold here by writer and local historian Joe McGowan. In these pages you will find little-known anecdotes of the traditional ways of Sligo's residents, their customs and superstitions; you will find stories of epic battles and heroic deeds; and you will also hear the fantastical accounts of mythical creatures, faeries, witches and the ghosts of Connacht itself.

How We Got to Coney Island is the definitive history of mass transportation in Brooklyn. Covering 150 years of extraordinary growth, Cudahy tells the complete story of the trolleys, street cars, steamboats, and railways that helped create New York's largest borough---and the remarkable system that grew to connect the world's most famous seaside resort with Brooklyn, New York City across the river, and, ultimately, the rest of the world. Includes tables, charts, photographs, and maps.

Norwich is not only one of the most attractive cities in England, it is also one of the most historically significant, with a proud heritage dating all the way back to the Iceni, who bravely fought the Roman invasion. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Norwich was the largest city in England after London and until the Industrial Revolution was the capital of the most populous county in the country. Much of this rich and vibrant past is still in evidence today. Author Michael Chandler takes the reader on their very own A-Z tour around the city's history, exploring the nooks and crannies that have made Norwich what it is today, and relating many a fascinating tale of the most interesting people and places. Fully illustrated with stunning photographs from the past and present, this new guide to the town's history will appeal to residents and visitors alike.

The Little Book of The East End 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 (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the original home of the Cockney which is now far more diverse. A wonderful package and essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Ipswich lies on the estuary of the River Orwell in East Anglia. The town has a rich and varied histroy with continued human habitation dating back to at least the fifth century. As a result, it has grown up with England from its earliest beginnings and has witnessed untold changes from the Norman Conquest - when the town's name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Gepeswiz' - to the Industrial Revolution, which saw the re-emergence of the town as a thriving port. Ipswich History Tour is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this Suffolk town. Complete with a map of some of the town's most notable places, readers are invited to follow a tour of some of the stories and characters that make up the history of Ipswich as author Caleb Howgego guides us through the local streets.

Everybody knows about Virginia and Vanessa, but did you realise that Sussex is (and always has been) the birthplace, home or workplace for many more inspiring, intriguing and formidable women - from royal mistresses to pioneering women doctors, and from educators and philanthropists to Brighton 'dippers' and cross-dressing music-hall stars? There's an impressively large pool of Sussex sisters who have been doing it for themselves over the centuries; Ann Kramer has selected 30 of the best and brings them to vibrant life in a browsable collection of concise, informative and entertaining essays designed to make you want to find out more. This work offers 30 brief but entertainingly informative biographies of inspiring Sussex women. It offers tips and pointers on where you can find out more about the women and their work. It is written by a Sussex woman and published author of feminist history.

How We Got to Coney Island is the definitive history of mass transportation in Brooklyn. Covering 150 years of extraordinary growth, Cudahy tells the complete story of the trolleys, street cars, steamboats, and railways that helped create New York's largest borough---and the remarkable system that grew to connect the world's most famous seaside resort with Brooklyn, New York City across the river, and, ultimately, the rest of the world. Includes tables, charts, photographs, and maps.