In the years before the Civil War, Boston's black leaders helped fight slavery from a vibrant African-American community on Beacon Hill.

The Rider has no memory of who he is, where he is, or how he came to be lying--dying-- in the brutal heat of the North African desert. Rescued by a band of deserters, the Rider begins to piece together his identity, based on shards of recollection and the letters in his mailbag. The Letter Bearer is unlike any other novel of World War Two. In the midst of profound trauma, terrible warfare, and the nameless experience of desertion, this gripping story asks us to consider how men build hope when they have nothing left--not even a name. When first published last year in London, Robert Allison's debut novel was met with wide praise and was nominated for the Desmond Elliott Prize, described by one of its judges as "'An excellent and elegant novel written with patience and authority . . ." Readers of Michael Ondaatje and Paul Bowles will find the landscape familiar, but no reader will ever forget the haunting and haunted story of this remarkable victim.

An eminent historian sheds light on the serial killings that terrorized Boston in the early 1960s, the man arrested for them, and the brash young lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, who defended him.

A concise history of the controversial 1920 murder trial in suburban Boston, which saw two Italian immigrants executed for killings they may not have committed.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

One of the best-known Boston politicians of our times recalls the life of the controversial but beloved mayor, congressman, and governor James Michael Curley. Curley was the greatest Irish-American politician in Boston history before John F. Kennedy, who actually won Curley's seat in Congress. As the voice of working Boston, Curley was loved to the point of adoration, even as he was being hustled off to jail for what he called "taking care of constituents." Bulger, who was growing up in Boston just as Curley's career and life were winding down, explains how such a "rascal" could have been an inspiration to him and so many others.

A gripping description of New England's storm of the century.

Part riot, part slaughter, the Boston Massacre of March 1770 was a political cause celebre and one of the key events leading to the American Revolution.

In the years following World War II many multi-national energy firms, bolstered by outdated U.S. federal laws, turned their attention to the abundant resources buried beneath Native American reservations. By the 1970s, however, a coalition of Native Americans in the Northern Plains had successfully blocked the efforts of powerful energy corporations to develop coal reserves on sovereign Indian land. This challenge to corporate and federal authorities, initiated by the Crow and Northern Cheyenne nations, changed the laws of the land to expand Native American sovereignty while simultaneously reshaping Native identities and Indian Country itself. James Allison makes an important contribution to ethnic, environmental, and energy studies with this unique exploration of the influence of America's indigenous peoples on energy policy and development. Allison's fascinating history documents how certain federally supported, often environmentally damaging, energy projects were perceived by American Indians as potentially disruptive to indigenous lifeways. These perceived threats sparked a pan-tribal resistance movement that ultimately increased Native American autonomy over reservation lands and enabled an unprecedented boom in tribal entrepreneurship. At the same time, the author demonstrates how this movement generated great controversy within Native American communities, inspiring intense debates over culturally authentic forms of indigenous governance and the proper management of tribal lands.

From the beginning of the colonial period to the recent conflicts in the Middle East, encounters with the Muslim world have helped Americans define national identity and purpose. Focusing on America's encounter with the Barbary states of North Africa from 1776 to 1815, Robert Allison traces the perceptions and mis-perceptions of Islam in the American mind as the new nation constructed its ideology and system of government.
"A powerful ending that explains how the experience with the Barbary states compelled many Americans to look inward . . . with increasing doubts about the institution of slavery." --David W. Lesch, "Middle East Journal"
"Allison's incisive and informative account of the fledgling republic's encounter with the Muslim world is a revelation with a special pertinence to today's international scene." --Richard W. Bulliet, "Journal of Interdisciplinary History"
"This book should be widely read. . . . Allison's study provides a context for understanding more recent developments, such as America's tendency to demonize figures like Iran's Khumaini, Libya's Qaddafi, and Iraq's Saddam." --Richard M. Eaton, "Eighteenth Century Studies"

Third in a series that began with Allison's "A Short History of Boston," this concise narrative covers four colorful centuries. Here are the key events in Cape Cod history, with over twenty personal profiles of historic figures, more than 100 black-and-white photographs, a detailed chronology, and an index. There's enough detail here to fascinate the historian and enough stories to fill an enjoyable day at the beach. Discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602 and visited by the Mayflower on its way to Plymouth, Cape Cod has been the site of confrontations between Pilgrims and natives, between Patriots and Tories. Salt works and windmills, lighthouses and shipwrecks, and characters as varied as radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi and playwright Eugene O'Neill have given Cape Cod a unique landscape and a fascinating human community. "Men once set out to hunt whales from Provincetown Harbor," Allison writes. "Today boats go to watch the whales and study them. The land remains though it continues to change, as the relentless tide and wind reshape the land and remove all evidence that any of us-Native people or Vikings, Pilgrims or Presidents, explorers, warriors, poets, painters, or entrepreneurs-ever set foot on this sandy beach."

A gripping narrative of the worst nightclub fire in American history, which killed 492 people in World War II Boston.

A leading Boston historian continues his series on the American Revolution with the lead-up, the action, and the complex aftermath of what contemporaries called "the destruction of the tea.

Lizzie Borden took an axe. Or did she? Chaney looks behind the myth at one of the most grisly and controversial murders in New England history.