Local History

On a cold day in early January 1864, Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate president Jefferson Davis "The time is at hand when, if an attempt can be made to capture the enemy's forces at New Berne, it should be done." Over the next few months, Lee's dispatch would precipitate a momentous series of events as the Confederates, threatened by a supply crisis and an emerging peace movement, sought to seize Federal bases in eastern North Carolina.

Here is the story of one of Yorkshire's prettiest villages from the earliest times to the present day. It is also the story of the famous people connected with it.

The ship 'General Carleton' was built in Whitby in 1777 and sank off the coast of Poland in 1785. When she was excavated in the 1990s a wide range of artefacts were recovered many of which, due to being coated in tar from the ship's cargo, were in a remarkable state of preservation - most notably a unique collection of sailors' clothing. It is because of the picture these objects give us about life, both aboard and ashore, for 18th-century mariners from Whitby and other coastal towns in the North-East, that 'General Carleton' has been called the 'Yorkshire Mary Rose'. This book is the story...

Among the darkest corners of Kentucky's past are the grisly feuds that tore apart the hills of Eastern Kentucky from the late 19th century until well into the 20th. Now, from the tangled threads of conflicting testimony, John Ed Pearce, Kentucky's best-known journalist, weaves engrossing accounts of six of the most notorious accounts to uncover what really happened and why. His story of those days of darkness brings to light new evidence, questions commonly held beliefs about the feuds.

Most Holocaust survivors who came to the US after WWII settled in big cities, but some chose an alternative way of life on American farms. More of these accidental farmers wound up raising chickens in southern New Jersey than anywhere else. Speaking Yiddish to Chickens is the first book to chronicle this chapter in American Jewish history when these refugees—including the author's grandparents—found an unlikely gateway to new lives in the US on poultry farms.

This engaging history pulls listeners back to a chaotic time along the lower Rio Grande in the mid-19th century. Texas Devils challenges the time-honored image of "good guys in white hats" to reveal the more complicated and sobering reality behind the Ranger Myth. Michael L. Collins demonstrates that, rather than bringing peace to the region, the Texas Rangers contributed to the violence and were often brutal in their injustices against Spanish-speaking inhabitants.

This book is based on visitor descriptions of antebellum Mobile, Alabama's physical and social environment. Mobile's foundational era is a period in which the city transformed from a struggling colonial outpost into one of the nation's most significant economic powerhouses, largely owing to the cotton trade and the labor of enslaved people. On the eve of the Civil War, the Mobile ranked as the fourth most populous community in what would soon become the Confederacy, and within the Gulf Coast region, it stood second only to New Orleans in population, wealth, and influence.

The Settlers' Empire traces the first federal endeavor to build states wholesale out of the Northwest Territory, a process that relied on overlapping colonial rule over Euro-American settlers and the multiple Indian nations in the territory. In the Northwest Territory, diverse populations of newcomers and natives struggled over the region's geographical and cultural definition in areas such as religion, marriage, family, gender roles, and economy.

This new history of Hull traces the story of the city from its beginnings as a haven for the transportation of goods to one of the main medieval harbours of England. The town was a key player in the Civil War of the seventeenth century and grew to become one of the country's major cities and ports following rapid expansion in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Alan Avery was educated in Hull and at King's College, London. He has written widely on the history of Yorkshire and is the author of 'The Story of Bradford ' and 'The Story of York' in this series.

What brought the author's family to Texas? What is it about Texas that for centuries has exerted a powerful allure for adventurers and scoundrels, dreamers and desperate souls, outlaws and outliers? In search of answers, Hodge travels across his home state - which he loves and hates in shifting measure - tracing the wanderings of his ancestors into forgotten histories along vanished roads. Here is an unsentimental, keenly insightful attempt to grapple with all that makes Texas so magical, punishing, and polarizing.

Black Snake is the story of four leaders - LaDonna Allard, Jasilyn Charger, Lisa DeVille, and Kandi White - and their fight against the pipeline. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America's natural resources.

This comprehensive account of California’s numerous and perilous natural disasters explores how a unique combination of forces has affected Californians throughout the state's history and carries a sobering message about our short disaster memories. California has more natural hazards per square mile than any other state, but this hasn’t deterred people from moving here. Entire California towns and regions frequently contend with destruction caused by earthquakes, floods, landslides and debris flows, and sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

The 'History of Beverley' begins with the story of an early settlement centred round the tomb of St John of Beverley, who died in 721. It goes on to tell of the commercial and religious importance of the medieval town (a time when the two great churches, Beverley Minster and St Mary's were built) which by 1377 was the 10th largest town in England. It then follows the town's decline in the 16th and 17th centuries and its rise to prominence in the 18th century when it became the County Town of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Today Beverly remains a thriving busy market town which retains much ...

What dark secrets lie hidden within the heart of America's Dairyland? From the shadows of Milwaukee's urban landscape to the quiet forests of the Northwoods, this captivating true-story anthology explores the more sinister sides of Wisconsin's history. Uncover the twisted tales of notorious killers, delve into the unsolved mysteries of vanished souls, and journey through the haunted halls of some historical landmarks, where restless spirits linger and ghostly apparitions roam.

Five years after the Civil War, North Carolina Republican state senator John W. Stephens was found murdered inside the Caswell County Courthouse. Stephens fought for the rights of freedpeople, and his killing by the Ku Klux Klan ultimately led to insurrection, Governor William W. Holden's impeachment, and the early unwinding of Reconstruction in North Carolina.

Pickering has a long, continuous history, reaching back to prehistoric times. This new book traces the story of the town down the ages from prehistoric times to Saxon village, the coming of the Normans and the building of the castle to modern times when the town's economy changed from serving farming to light industry and tourism. This full colour book will delight tourists and young people and anyone wanting a brief but authoritative history of Pickering.

New York City entered 1986 as a city reborn, with record profits on Wall Street sending waves of money splashing across Manhattan and bringing a once-bankrupt, reeling city back to life. But it also entered 1986 as a city divided. Nearly one-third of the city’s Black and Hispanic residents were living below the federal poverty line. Thousands of New Yorkers were sleeping in the streets—and in many cases addicted to drugs, dying of AIDS, or suffering from mental illness.

In this compelling, informative volume, Jimmie R. Hawkins walks the listener through the many forms of Black protest in American history, from pre-colonial times through the George Floyd protests of 2020, including slave ship mutinies, the abolitionist movement, the different approaches to protest, Black Lives Matter, and protests of today's Black athletes, musicians, and intellectuals. Hawkins also covers the backlash to these protests, including the Jim Crow era, the Red Summer of 1919, and modern-day wars on the Black community in the form of the War on Drugs and voter suppression.

I am a sucker for a good story and I was born into a family of great storytellers. Though I am a professional author, I am by no means the best storyteller in my family. I am not even close to the best. I also married into a family of storytellers. This makes me doubly blessed. In addition, Macon County, Tennessee is a place blessed with great stories to tell and great people willing to tell them. I lean on some of these people and their stories to provide me with entertainment and inspiration.The stories in this book, all of them bizarre in their own way, come to me from family members and...

On the day the first shots of the Civil War were fired, a mob in Richmond clambered on top of the Capitol to raise the Confederate flag. Four years later, another flag was raised in its place while the city burned below. A 13-year-old girl compared the stars and stripes to "so many bloody gashes". This richly detailed, absorbing book brings to life the years in which Richmond was the symbol of Southern independence and the theater for a drama as splendid, sordid, and tragic as the war itself.