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I Wonder as I Wander: The Life of John Jacob Niles
Louisville native John Jacob Niles (1892–1980) is considered to be one of America's most influential musicians. As a composer and balladeer, Niles drew inspiration from the deep well of traditional Appalachian and African American folk songs. At the age of 16 Niles wrote one of his most enduring tunes, “Go 'Way from My Window,” basing it on a song fragment from a black farm worker. This iconic song has been performed by folk artists ever since and may even have inspired the opening line of Bob Dylan's “It Ain't Me Babe.” This book offers a rich portrait of the musician's ...Read More
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Toward Freedom Land: The Long Struggle for Racial Equality in America
The ongoing struggle for civil rights and social justice lies at the heart of America's evolving identity. The pursuit of equal rights is often met with social and political trepidation, forcing citizens and leaders to grapple with controversial issues of race, class, and gender. This book assembles writings on twentieth–century race relations, representing some of the finest race-related historical research on record. Spanning thirty–five years of research, the collection features an in-depth examination of the Great Depression and its effects on African Americans, the intriguing story of the labor movement and its relationship to African American workers, and a discussion ...Read More
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Reconstructing Appalachia: The Civil War's Aftermath
Families, communities, and the nation itself were irretrievably altered by the Civil War and the subsequent societal transformations of the nineteenth century. The repercussions of the war incited a broad range of unique problems in Appalachia, including political dynamics, racial prejudices, and the regional economy. This book reveals life in Appalachia after the ravages of the Civil War, an unexplored area that has left a void in historical literature. Addressing a gap in the chronicles of America, this anthology explores little-known aspects of history with a particular focus on the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction periods. It features a broad geographic focus: ...Read More
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The Way of Duty, Honor, Country: The Memoir of General Charles Pelot Summerall
After graduating from West Point in 1892, Charles Pelot Summerall (1867–1955) launched a distinguished military career, fighting Filipino insurgents in 1899 and Boxers in China in 1900. His remarkable service included brigade, division, and corps commands in World War I; duty as chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1926 to 1930; and presidency of the Citadel for twenty years, where he was instrumental in establishing the school's national reputation. Previously available only in the Citadel's archives, this memoir offers an eyewitness account of a formative period in U.S. Army history. Edited and annotated, the memoir documents critical moments ...Read More
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How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws, Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders
The conflicts of the Civil War continued long after the conclusion of the war: jockeys and Thoroughbreds took up the fight on the racetrack. A border state with a shifting identity, Kentucky was scorned for its violence and lawlessness and struggled to keep up with competition from horse breeders and businessmen from New York and New Jersey. As part of this struggle, from 1865 to 1910 the social and physical landscape of Kentucky underwent a remarkable metamorphosis, resulting in the gentile, beautiful, and quintessentially southern Bluegrass region of today. This book explores the post-Civil War world of Thoroughbred racing, before ...Read More
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Clark Clifford: The Wise Man of Washington
Although not a household name, Clark Clifford (1906–1998) advised Democratic presidents from Harry S. Truman to Lyndon B. Johnson. The author, American History Professor at William Paterson University, has absorbed a mass of material and delivers an insightful if not always flattering biography. Fiercely ambitious, Clifford was a successful St. Louis lawyer when Truman, a fellow Missourian, became president in 1945. A senior colleague invited Clifford to Washington, where within a year his organizational skills won him promotion to Truman's special counsel. Happy to take credit for Truman's spectacular 1948 election upset, Clifford kept his reputation as a political genius ...Read More
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Vietnam Declassified: The CIA and Counterinsurgency
This book offers a detailed account of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) effort to help South Vietnamese authorities win the loyalty of the Vietnamese peasantry and suppress the Viet Cong. Covering the CIA engagement from 1954 to mid-1972, it provides a thorough analysis of the agency and its partners. The book comprehensively documents the CIA's role in the rural pacification of South Vietnam, drawing from secret archives to which the author had unrestricted access. In addition to a chronology of operations, the book explores the assumptions, political values, and cultural outlooks of not only the CIA and other United States ...Read More
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The Lost State of Franklin: America's First Secession
In the years following the Revolutionary War, the young American nation was in a state of chaos. Citizens pleaded with government leaders to reorganize local infrastructures and heighten regulations, but economic turmoil, Native American warfare, and political unrest persisted. By 1784, one group of North Carolina frontiersmen could no longer stand the unresponsiveness of state leaders to their growing demands. This ambitious coalition of Tennessee Valley citizens declared their region independent from North Carolina, forming the state of Franklin.
The Lost State of Franklin: America’s First Secession chronicles the history of this ill-fated movement from its origins in the early ...Read More
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Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader
The history of civil rights in the United States is usually analyzed and interpreted through the lenses of modern conservatism and progressive liberalism. This book argues that the historical record does not conveniently fit into either of these categories and that knowledge of the American classical liberal tradition is required to gain a more accurate understanding of the past, present, and future of civil liberties in the nation. By assembling and contextualizing classic documents—from the Declaration of Independence to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning school assignment by race—the book demonstrates that ...Read More
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Striking Back: Combat in Korea, March-April 1951
This is the second book in a three-volume series about the Korean War, examining the fighting that occurred during the late winter and early spring of the war's first year. By the beginning of March, UN forces shifted strategic focus from defense to offense. In April, the combination of stabilized fronts and the enemy's failed attacks made conditions ideal for launching combat offensives. The brutal nature and strategic significance of these campaigns is described in the book, which includes analysis of their profound influence on the remainder of the war. The book provides detailed battle narratives based on eyewitness accounts ...Read More
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