In 1994, when the National Air and Space Museum announced plans to display the Enola Gay, the B-29 sent to destroy Hiroshima with an atomic bomb, the ensuing political uproar caught the museum's parent Smithsonian Institution entirely unprepared. As the largest such complex in the world, the Smithsonian cares for millions of objects and has displayed everything from George Washington's sword to moon rocks to Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Why did this particular object arouse such controversy? From an insider's perspective, Robert C. Post's Who Owns America's Past? offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like illustrations in a book. Even more recently, the trend is to show artifacts along with props, sound effects, and interactive elements in order to create an immersive environment. Rather than looking at history, visitors are invited to experience it. Who Owns America's Past? examines the different ways that the Smithsonian's exhibitions have been conceived and designed-whether to educate visitors, celebrate an important historical moment, or satisfy donor demands or partisan agendas. Combining information from hitherto-untapped archival sources, extensive interviews, a thorough review of the secondary literature, and considerable personal experience, Post gives the reader a behind-the-scenes view of disputes among curators, academics, and stakeholders that were sometimes private and at other times burst into headline news.

Rivers host vibrant multispecies communities in their waters and along their banks, and, according to queer-trans-feminist river scientist Cleo Woelfle Hazard, their future vitality requires centering the values of justice, sovereignty, and dynamism. At the intersection of river sciences, queer and trans theory, and environmental justice, Underflows explores river cultures and politics at five sites of water conflict and restoration in California, Oregon, and Washington. Incorporating work with salmon, beaver, and floodplain recovery projects, Woelfle Hazard weaves narratives about innovative field research practices with an affectively oriented queer and trans focus on love and grief for rivers and fish. Drawing on the idea of underflows-the parts of a river's flow that can't be seen, the underground currents that seep through soil or rise from aquifers through cracks in bedrock-Woelfle Hazard elucidates the underflows in river cultures, sciences, and politics where Native nations and marginalized communities fight to protect rivers. The result is a deeply moving account of why rivers matter for queer and trans life, offering critical insights that point to innovative ways of doing science that disrupt settler colonialism and new visions for justice in river governance.

Reflections' is an intimate and joyful portrait of life in Trevignano Romano, a village on the shores of the glimmering Italian lake whose waters spurt from Rome's fountains. Along this Roman Riviera, only an hour from the Colosseum, are the remains of the largest Stone Age village ever found in Europe, plus ruins of summer palaces built by ancient Roman Emperors and one of Italy's most splendid castles. Judith Harris, journalist and former diplomat, introduces you to many of the remarkable citizens who have left their imprint upon the town: the medieval saint whose miracle fish haul fed a starving town, the Orsini prince accused of murdering his wife, the blind postman who delivered the mail on foot, the pioneer teacher of the hearing impaired, the retired international bureaucrat who is 108 years of age. What is now modern Italy's prizewinning, cosmopolitan resort town has also seen barbarian invaders, Renaissance warfare, German military occupation, and an amazing cast of past and contemporary residents. She explores local dialects and shares gastronomical secrets and the finer points of the coffee shop culture.

* A social history of one of Ireland's most famous sites* Richly illustrated with color photos and maps throughout* Demonstrates why the site is far more than just the Blarney Stone Blarney Castle in County Cork is one of Ireland's oldest and most historic castles, an ancient stronghold of the McCarthys, Lords of Muskerry, and one of the strongest fortresses in Munster. It is also one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions-over 300,000 people visit Blarney Castle each year.This new book sets the castle in a wider context which includes aspects of social, architectural and local history with particular focus on County Cork, including the history of the area around Blarney, the Gaelic society which built the castle, the function of the castle and the gradual development of the property from a well-defended family seat to a major tourist attraction. At the same time it sets the castle within a wider context of national history and events. Since the site controlled a natural route to Cork City and was at the very edge of English Rule in Ireland, there is a relative wealth of extant documentation. Thus the book uses the evidence of both the building itself and of historical material to interpret the castle. A new survey of the castle has been carried out and there is a fresh examination of the evidence it provides and how this illuminates the documentary accounts. The authors draw on their own archaeological expertise to pull together for the first time the historical material from a variety of published sources.

In the early twentieth century, Miami cultivated an image of itself as a destination for leisure and sunshine free from labor strife. Thomas A. Castillo unpacks this idea of class harmony and the language that articulated its presence by delving into the conflicts, repression, and progressive grassroots politics of the time. Castillo pays particular attention to how class and race relations reflected and reinforced the nature of power in Miami. Class harmony argued against the existence of labor conflict, but in reality obscured how workers struggled within the city's service-oriented seasonal economy. Castillo shows how and why such an ideal thrived in Miami's atmosphere of growth and boosterism and amidst the political economy of tourism. His analysis also presents class harmony as a theoretical framework that broadens our definitions of class conflict and class consciousness.

Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University. In the late nineteenth century, at a time when Americans were becoming more removed from nature than ever before, U.S. soldiers were uniquely positioned to understand and construct nature's ongoing significance for their work and for the nation as a whole. American ideas and debates about nature evolved alongside discussions about the meaning of frontiers, about what kind of empire the United States should have, and about what it meant to be modern or to make "progress." Soldiers stationed in the field were at the center of these debates, and military action in the expanding empire brought new environments into play. In Taking the Field Amy Kohout draws on the experiences of U.S. soldiers in both the Indian Wars and the Philippine-American War to explore the interconnected ideas about nature and empire circulating at the time. By tracking the variety of ways American soldiers interacted with the natural world, Kohout argues that soldiers, through their words and their work, shaped Progressive Era ideas about both American and Philippine environments. Studying soldiers on multiple frontiers allows Kohout to inject a transnational perspective into the environmental history of the Progressive Era, and an environmental perspective into the period's transnational history. Kohout shows us how soldiers-through their writing, their labor, and all that they collected-played a critical role in shaping American ideas about both nature and empire, ideas that persist to the present.

A hundred years ain't such a very long time on the Eastern Shore, local farmers and watermen used to say, and that is a telling refrain. Past and present mix easily on the Shore, and, in this respect, as well as in certain local customs and habits of language, the region is very much still an old-fashioned English society. Until fairly recently, the peninsula was one of the most geographically isolated regions on the Atlantic coast. In this isolated society, the most important factors have been agriculture, seafaring, and race-a blend of soil, sea, and soul. In his attempt to convey the special character of the region-before accelerating change affects its transformation-John Wennersten has used these themes as a framework for an absorbing narrative. His insights into how these elements affected the development of the area and its current character take the story of the Eastern Shore beyond mere facts and into the realm of socio-cultural history. This is a fascinating overview of an unusual-and perhaps vanishing-lifestyle.

Friday nights were bath nights. Immediately after tea we were given a good scrub with the brushes the girls used on the floor. No fancy smelling soaps, just carbolic and should this get into your eyes it really was painful. Then we were given a flannel nightshirt each. Some only just covered our knees because they had already been cut down to repair other nightshirts. Then we were lined up in front of the Matron who gave us a dose of brimstone and treacle then off to bed. Such was the fear and dread of 'ending one's days in the workhouse' that even in recent years older people could recall the feelings of horror that such a threat conjured up. That a system introduced to help the poor and a destitute could become such a reviled and feared institution is a mystery to most of us today but a study of it can repay with a better understanding of a broader social, political, economic and eve architectural history of Britain. Increasingly today little remains of these great and gloomy edifices, although some found new uses and survive. People are often surprised to discover that a former workhouse building still exists in the locality. This book takes a look at both surviving and lost examples of workhouse buildings in the North of England, covering the old counties of Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, Westmorland, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Family, local and social historians will all find it a source of useful reference and for the general reader it will provide an interesting account of an institution that few were sorry to see the end of.

The Shropshire market town of Shrewsbury, lying on the River Severn, was an important centre of the wool trade in medieval England and its prosperity continued up until the Industrial Revolution, with a wealth of ancient and historical buildings still standing in the town centre. Although Shrewsbury was not heavily industrialised, it was the home of the railway locomotive and lorry manufacturer Sentinel. Shrewsbury and its suburbs lost many of their buildings during the 1950s and 1960s, and life in the town has significantly changed over the decades, with the rise of new retail developments and the evolution of work and leisure. Lost Shrewsbury presents a portrait of a town and a way of life that has radically changed or disappeared today, showing not just the industries, buildings, people and street scenes that have gone, but also many of the popular places of entertainment and much more. This fascinating photographic history of lost Shrewsbury will appeal to all those who live in the town or know it well, as well as those who remember it from previous decades.

This fascinating selection of over 180 old photographs and postcards depicts Windsor and Eton over the last one hundred years. Windsor's Royal connections and monuments and Eton College are world famous and need no introduction. Perhaps less well known, but no less important, are the streets, people and events of everyday life in and around such internationally renowned landmarks. Street parties, schools, Dr Barnardo's boys, breweries, amateur dramatics, pubs, butchers selling ice cream alongside joints and cuts of meat, evacuees, Boy Scouts, floods, charabanc outings, football teams and the fire brigade are all remembered in this evocative collection. The Thames has always played an important part in the life and development of the town, whether for business or pleasure, as shown by images of boat builders, bridges, steamer trips, the Empress of India, the Windsor Belle and College boys rowing on the river. The author, Mike Stiles, not only spent his formative years in Windsor, but also worked at Windsor Great Park and on many of the buildings in the town. Most of the material in his book has been drawn either from his own extensive collection or from family sources. The result is an informative, affectionate recollection that will appeal to all those who know and love this historic area.

How the places in Brooklyn got their names--complete with vivid photographs and maps From Bedford-Stuyvesant to Williamsburg, Brooklyn's historic names are emblems of American culture and history. Uncovering the remarkable stories behind the landmarks, Brooklyn By Name takes readers on a stroll through the streets and places of this thriving metropolis to reveal the borough's textured past. Listing more than 500 of Brooklyn's most prominent place names, organized alphabetically by region, and richly illustrated with photographs and current maps the book captures the diverse threads of American history. We learn about the Canarsie Indians, the region's first settlers, whose language survives in daily traffic reports about the Gowanus Expressway. The arrival of the Dutch West India Company in 1620 brought the first wave of European names, from Boswijck ("town in the woods," later Bushwick) to Bedford-Stuyvesant, after the controversial administrator of the Dutch colony, to numerous places named after prominent Dutch families like the Bergens. The English takeover of the area in 1664 led to the Anglicization of Dutch names, (vlackebos, meaning "wooded plain," became Flatbush) and the introduction of distinctively English names (Kensington, Brighton Beach). A century later the American Revolution swept away most Tory monikers, replacing them with signers of the Declaration of Independence and international figures who supported the revolution such as Lafayette (France), De Kalb (Germany), and Kosciuszko (Poland). We learn too of the dark corners of Brooklyn"s past, encountering over 70 streets named for prominent slaveholders like Lefferts and Lott but none for its most famous abolitionist, Walt Whitman. From the earliest settlements to recent commemorations such as Malcolm X Boulevard, Brooklyn By Name tells the tales of the poets, philosophers, baseball heroes, diplomats, warriors, and saints who have left their imprint on this polyethnic borough that was once almost disastrously renamed "New York East." Ideal for all Brooklynites, newcomers, and visitors, this book includes: *Over 500 entries explaining the colorful history of Brooklyn's most prominent place names *Over 100 vivid photographs of Brooklyn past and present *9 easy to follow and up-to-date maps of the neighborhoods *Informative sidebars covering topics like Ebbets Field, Lindsay Triangle, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge *Covers all neighborhoods, easily find the street you're on

In 1994, when the National Air and Space Museum announced plans to display the Enola Gay, the B-29 sent to destroy Hiroshima with an atomic bomb, the ensuing political uproar caught the museum's parent Smithsonian Institution entirely unprepared. As the largest such complex in the world, the Smithsonian cares for millions of objects and has displayed everything from George Washington's sword to moon rocks to Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Why did this particular object arouse such controversy? From an insider's perspective, Robert C. Post's Who Owns America's Past? offers insight into the politics of display and the interpretation of history. Never before has a book about the Smithsonian detailed the recent and dramatic shift from collection-driven shows, with artifacts meant to speak for themselves, to concept-driven exhibitions, in which objects aim to tell a story, displayed like illustrations in a book. Even more recently, the trend is to show artifacts along with props, sound effects, and interactive elements in order to create an immersive environment. Rather than looking at history, visitors are invited to experience it. Who Owns America's Past? examines the different ways that the Smithsonian's exhibitions have been conceived and designed-whether to educate visitors, celebrate an important historical moment, or satisfy donor demands or partisan agendas. Combining information from hitherto-untapped archival sources, extensive interviews, a thorough review of the secondary literature, and considerable personal experience, Post gives the reader a behind-the-scenes view of disputes among curators, academics, and stakeholders that were sometimes private and at other times burst into headline news.

This book celebrates one of Oxford's most distinctive areas, close to the city centre. Previously a slum of workers' cottages, plenty of pubs, and even some brothels, today it is vibrant and developing. Jericho was Oxford's first planned suburb, given particular distinctiveness by its canalside location, and was thoroughly working class until the latter 20th century. Yet it was also the cradle of the Pre-Raphaelites, source of the very first copies of Alice in Wonderland, the catalyst for Inspector Morse, a nursery of the Oxford music scene, and the literary inspiration for authors such as Thomas Hardy, R. D. Blackmore, John Betjeman, and Sir Philip Pullman. This book is a visual celebration with new pictures, paintings, and illustrations, plus an accessible guide to the history of Greater Jericho and a nod to its bright future as a centre for culture.

Oregon's landscape boasts brilliant waterfalls, towering volcanoes, productive river valleys, and far-reaching high deserts. People have lived in the region for at least twelve thousand years, during which they established communities; named places; harvested fish, timber, and agricultural products; and made laws and choices that both protected and threatened the land and its inhabitants. William G. Robbins traces the state's history of commodification and conservation, despair and hope, progress and tradition. This revised and updated edition features a new introduction and epilogue with discussion of climate change, racial disparity, immigration, and discrimination. Revealing Oregon's rich social, economic, cultural, and ecological complexities, Robbins upholds the historian's commitment to critical inquiry, approaching the state's past with both open-mindedness and a healthy dose of skepticism about the claims of Oregon's boosters.

In the four provinces of Ireland there are thirty-two counties. Each county and its people have their own traditions, beliefs and folklore - and each one is also inhabited by the Sidhe: an ancient and magical race. Some believe they are descended from fallen angels, whilst others say they are the progeny of Celtic deities. They go by many names: the good folk, the wee folk, the gentle people and the fey, but are most commonly known as 'the fairies'. These are not the whimsical fairies of Victorian and Edwardian picture books. They are feared and revered in equal measure, and even in the twenty-first century are spoken of in hushed tones. The fairies are always listening. Storyteller Steve Lally and his wife singer-songwriter Paula Flynn Lally have compiled this magnificent collection of magical fairy stories from every county in Ireland. Filled with unique illustrations that bring these tales to life, Irish Gothic Fairy Stories will both enthral and terrify readers for generations to come.

The structure of the book is chronological, with digressions. From Roman and then Norman London, we move on to Chaucer's London - the city of the Peasants Revolt, Dick Whittington and the great Livery Companies. In Tudor and Stuart London many believed the city was being wrecked by over-population, over-building and the greed of speculators. Eighteenth-century London witnessed the South Sea Bubble, gin, highwaymen and the Gordon riots; but also banking, hospitals, and the elegant design of everyday things. In the nineteenth century, expanding vigorously, the city resisted any overall make-over. With Queen Victoria came the Railway Age, which made and unmade the city. Chartism, anti-semitism, overcrowding and cholera. But engineering triumphs too. If the First World War was a nightmare happening elsewhere, the amazing six years of 1939-45 were the city's finest hour. Post-1945, property developers took over, with disastrous results. The author celebrates the cosmopolitan city that mobility and immigration have created, while deploring the moronization' of the city, exemplified by the Millennium

The Little Book of Edinburgh 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. Geoff Holder's new book contains historic and contemporary trivia on Edinburgh. 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. Discover the real story of Greyfriars Bobby (he was a publicity stunt), meet the nineteenth-century counterparts of our favourite modern detectives, from Jackson Brodie to John Rebus, seek out historical sites from the distant past to the Second World War, and tangle with the Tattoo and freak out with the Festival. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

Although the impact of the Great War on Brighton was profound, the seaside town was spared any direct attack by the enemy. The fear of spies and sabotage, however, was widespread at first and aliens were an issue which had to be swiftly resolved under new legislation. Allies, of course, were warmly welcomed, and accommodation was swiftly found for those fleeing the catastrophic events in Belgium.Between 1914 and 1918, Brighton made major contributions to the war effort in many ways: by responding readily to the call to arms, by caring for great numbers of wounded (the story of the exotic Royal Pavilion being used as a hospital for Indian casualties is widely known locally) and by simply being itself - an open and welcoming resort that offered sanctuary, respite and entertainment to besieged Londoners and to other visitors, from every stratum of society. The book looks at the fascinating wartime roles of Brighton's women, who quietly played a vital part in transport services, industrial output and food production. Non-combatant menfolk also kept the wheels turning under very trying circumstances. When the meat shortage became acute, the mayor himself took direct action, requisitioning ninety sheep at Brighton Station for the town which were destined for butchers' shops in London.The names of no fewer than 2,597 men and three women who made the supreme sacrifice were inscribed on the town's memorial, which was unveiled at the Old Steine on 7 October 1922 by Earl Beatty. At the ceremony, the earl acknowledged that 'it was by duty and self-sacrifice that the war was won.' It remained, he said, for those who had survived the conflict to ensure that the great sacrifices of the past, both by the dead and the living, should not have been made in vain. We remember them in this book.

London's shadowed alleyways, ancient buildings and misty open spaces simply swarm with phantoms - spirits of the famous and the forgotten, the lovelorn, the loveless, the damned, and the damnable. Paranormal London takes the bold ghost seeker on a hair-raising journey to visit and explore some of the capital's spookiest places. We visit the haunts of murderers and sail on a phantom boat. There are close encounters with chilling manifestations at infamous No. 50 Berkeley Square and you can hear wails and tormented screams from Jack the Ripper's eternally restless victims as they roam the East End's cobbled streets. You can find a headless duke, visit the graves of plague victims and come into contact with an unseen force that tries to push you downstairs. Many of the city's most famous landmarks are haunted, but hundreds of lesser-known sites claim paranormal happenings - pubs, hotels, parks and tunnels, churches, roads, Underground stations, banks, cinemas, council estates and the lake in St James's Park. If you are not a true believer in the paranormal when you start to read this book, you will be by the end.

A collection of Eleanor Crow's beautiful watercolours of classic shopfronts. Published in partnership with Spitalfields Life Books, this timely volume celebrates the small neighbourhood shops of London. As our high streets decline into generic monotony, we cherish these independent shops and family businesses that enrich the city with their characterful frontages and distinctive typography. This collection includes more than 100 of Eleanor Crow's fine illustrations of the capital's bakers, cafes, butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers, chemists, launderettes, hardware stores, eel & pie shops, bookshops and stationers. The pictures are accompanied by the stories of the shops, their history and their shopkeepers - stretching all the way from Chelsea in the west to Bethnal Green, Clerkenwell and Walthamstow in the east. As well as beloved old and lost shopfronts, there are some recent examples of new shops that have been beautifully designed too - from cheesemongers to chippies. At a time of momentous change in the high street, this witty and fascinating personal survey champions the enduring culture of Britain's small shops.