Local History

Few cities are so dramatically identified with their environment as San Francisco—the landscape of hills, the expansive bay, the engulfing fog, and even the deadly fault line shifting below. Yet most residents think of the city itself as separate from the natural environment on which it depends. In Our Better Nature, Philip J. Dreyfus recounts the history of San Francisco from Indian village to world-class metropolis, focusing on the interactions between the city and the land and on the generations of people who have transformed them both.

Decades of cuts to local government amidst rising concentrations of poverty have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Forty years after the anti-tax revolution began protecting wealthy taxpayers and their cities, our high-poverty cities and counties have run out of services to cut, properties to sell, bills to defer, and risky loans to take. In The Fight to Save the Town, urban law expert and author Michelle Wilde Anderson offers unsparing, humanistic portraits of the hardships left behind in four such places.

Texas may well be America’s most controversial state. Evangelicals dominate the halls of power, millions of its people live in poverty, and its death row is the busiest in the country. Skeptical outsiders have found much to be offended by in the state’s politics and attitude, and yet, according to journalist and Texan Erica Grieder, the United States has a great deal to learn from Texas. In Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right, Grieder traces the political history of a state that was always larger than life. From its rowdy beginnings, Texas has combined a long-standing suspicion of government intrusion with a passion for business.

Anthony Bourdain chases the fumigation truck in Bergen County, New Jersey. Dave Eggers tells it straight: Illinois is Number 1. Louise Erdrich loses her bikini top in North Dakota. Jonathan Franzen gets waylaid by New York's publicist...and personal attorney...and historian...and geologist. John Hodgman explains why there is no such thing as a "Massachusettsean."

11. september 2001 forsvandt tvillingetårnene i New York sammen med verden, som vi kendte den. En ny global tidsalder begyndte: krigen mod terror. Siden da har Danmark og resten af Vesten jagtet jihadister på tværs af kloden – fra Tora Bora i Afghanistan til Brabrand i Østjylland.

Die Brandstifter zeichnet die Geschichte der Republikanischen Partei nach und stellt ihre wichtigsten Akteure vor. Dabei wird deutlich, wie porös die Brandmauer zwischen Rechtsextremismus und Konservatismus in den USA schon immer war, nicht erst seit Trump. Brockschmidt erzählt packend, wie historische Entwicklungen und Machtkämpfe die Partei geprägt und radikalisiert haben – und warum das Ergebnis der Präsidentschaftswahl 2024 nicht nur für die USA von entscheidender Bedeutung sein wird.

When both levees and governments failed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, an organization calling itself the Common Ground Collective formed to become the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history. In solidarity with people in New Orleans, Common Ground built medical clinics, distributed aid, formed neighborhood assemblies and created food security through community gardens. The group also defied unjust laws by resisting home demolitions, and defended communities from white militias and police brutality.

Steel City is the story of the 1890s golden age of Pittsburgh when its technological innovations and wealth creation made it the Silicon Valley of its day. Pittsburgh was first in steel, food processing, and electricity, and the leaders of those industries—Carnegie, Frick, Heinz, and Westinghouse—are names we still know today.

This book tells the story of a time when society was divided and Harvard was becoming what it is today. It is not an exhaustive biography, but it has family information which puts things in perspective, and tells how he and Mather, who were about the same age, lived through the Salem witch trials. Leverett was busy writing logic textbooks in Latin at the time, but didn't dare speak out against the leader of the colony.

This book includes new heartbreaking stories, such as the seven canyoneers in 2015 who all died in a flash flood in Keyhole Canyon, two separate BASE jumping deaths, rock climbing, and flash flood deaths in the Narrows. Zion National Park is home to majestic and wondrous canyons, cliffs, crags, mesas, rivers, and slot canyons. World travelers remain in awe as they drive, walk, hike, and climb into such a unique place that is filled with vibrant, sacred, and mystical energy.

Just after midnight on October 9, 2017, as one of the nation's deadliest firestorms swept over California's Wine Country, hundreds of elderly residents from two posh senior living facilities were caught in its path. The frailest were blind, in wheelchairs, or diagnosed with dementia, and their community quickly transformed from a palatial complex that pledged to care for them to one that threatened to entomb them. The rescue of the final 105 seniors left behind on an inflamed hillside depended not on employees, but strangers whose lives intersected in a riveting tale of terror and heroism.

The University of California, Berkeley—widely known as "Cal"—is admired worldwide as a bastion of innovation and a hub for progressive thought. Far less known are the university's roots in plunder, warfare, and the promotion of white supremacy. As Tony Platt shows in The Scandal of Cal, these original sins sit at the center of UC Berkeley's history.

Freedom, Land & Community: A History of McLean County Illinois, 1730-1900 tells the story of the diverse peoples and events of this county. Using sources contemporary with the events described, it relates the struggles to build communities and secure freedom - or a freedom as each community defined it. Native peoples, women and men, African Americans, Irish and German immigrants all sought and contested for their freedom. People whose voices have not been heard in previous works about central Illinois are included here.

Wyoming, a state often overshadowed by its majestic neighbors, holds secrets and stories that have remained untold for too long. But why, despite its significant role in the fabric of America, has Wyoming’s intricate history been left in the shadows? Unraveling the tales of this state requires a dive into its rich past, from the footsteps of Native Americans to the booming industries of the 21st century. And now, in this comprehensive history audiobook, you will journey through the heart of Wyoming and uncover the stories that have shaped its identity.

Our lives are built around businesses that connect far-flung rural places to urban centers and global destinations. This "country capitalism" that proved successful in the US South has made it possible to satisfy our demands at the click of a button, but each click comes with hidden environmental costs.

An oral history of Dr. Evelyn Antonetty, Kingsbridge Vignettes, Allerton in the 1940s and 1950s, and more!

Delve into the rich history and culture of the Tunican-speaking peoples who once thrived in the Mississippi River Valley. "The Tunican Tribes of Mississippi" offers a comprehensive exploration of their social structures, spiritual beliefs, artistic traditions, and interactions with neighboring tribes and European settlers. This meticulously researched book sheds light on a vital yet often overlooked chapter in Native American history.

What happens when you take a professor and sprinkle on some old salt seafarer? It’s a recipe for an engrossing narrative of the sea and those who have made it their lives work. Welcome aboard as we hit the decks, load the cargo, sail out, and bring back sea stories full of adventure and glory.

The notorious conflict between the Hatfield and the McCoy families of West Virginia and Kentucky is often remembered as America's most famous feud, but it was relatively brief and subdued compared to the violence in Breathitt County, Kentucky. From the Reconstruction period until the early 20th century, Breathitt's 500 square miles of rugged upcountry land was known as "the darkest and bloodiest of all the dark and bloody feud counties" due to its considerable number of homicides, which were not always related to the factional conflicts that swept the region.

Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, Bicentennial Edition is a comprehensive narrative account of the state from its earliest days to the present. This edition, updated to celebrate the state's bicentennial year, offers a detailed survey of the colorful, dramatic, and often controversial turns in Alabama's evolution.