Today's (3/10/2010) New Book Releases on History

Egyptian hieroglyphs have long fascinated people the world over, though traditionally only specially trained scholars have been able to unlock their esoteric secrets. In Hieroglyph Detective, renowned Egyptologist Nigel Strudwick offers a historical background for the symbols as he takes the reader on a visual tour of museums around the world and provides step-by-step instructions on how to decipher inscriptions from ancient Egyptian tombs and temples. This hands-on field guide contains everything one needs to uncover age-old mysteries like a true detective!

Blount County is the 10th county formed in the state of Tennessee. It was carved out of Knox County in 1795 and named for William Blount, the governor of the Territory South of the River Ohio. Maryville is the county seat and was named for Blount's wife, Mary Grainger Blount. The abundance of natural resources that once drew hardy settlers now attracts tourists from all over the world, especially to Cades Cove, a pioneer settlement in the Blount County section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Blount County has been home to the legendary Sam Houston; U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, who also served as Tennessee's governor; and Bessie Harvey, a world-renowned folk artist.

The Cañon City area's high points have been literal, starting with the magnificent Royal Gorge. Here the Royal Gorge Bridge crosses the Arkansas River, 1,053 feet below, as the highest suspension span in the world. From the scenic and geological diversity to some of the initial oil discoveries in the United States, this Fremont County seat has been a hub of coal mining and archaeological discoveries, particularly of dinosaur remains. The temperate weather means long growing seasons, celebrated each May by the Blossom and Music Festival. Once a commerce center supplying food, lumber, and other goods to surrounding gold towns--from Cripple Creek to Leadville--Cañon City also once was a silent-film capital, the base for hundreds of motion pictures produced after the beginning of the 20th century. Prisons and their residents have always been a huge part of Cañon City history; the first territorial prison was located here and many more prisons operate here today.

In this work, Charles A. Misulia, a lifelong student of the Civil War and expert on the Battle of Columbus, provides a comprehensive study of the Easter Sunday, April 16, 1865, conflict. The struggle occurred in the dark of night, extended over a mile and half through a series of forts and earthworks, and was finally decided in an encounter on a bridge a thousand feet in length. Misulia presents the first complete account of this battle, examining and recounting in depth not only the composition and actions of the contending forces, which numbered some three thousand men on each side, but meticulously detailing the effect of the engagement on the city of Columbus and its environs. As such, this book fills in an important detail in the grand account of our cataclysmic national struggle and also adds a significant chapter to the history of an important regional city. In addition, Misulia bravely takes on the long-vexing question of which encounter should be seen as the last 'battle' of the Civil War and argues persuasively that Columbus, Georgia, qualifies for this distinction on a number of counts.

Among Colorado's fastest growing cities in the 21st century, Commerce City was settled in the 1850s, located today 8 miles northeast of Denver's capitol building. Known for hog farms, truck farms, and dairies, as well as refineries and grain elevators, Commerce City was, during World War II, the site of the enormous Rocky Mountain Arsenal, a U.S. Army weapons manufacturing facility. Incorporated in 1952 as Commerce Town, the name was changed to Commerce City in 1962, which adopted home rule in 1970. Commerce City is regionally famous and nationally recognized for parks and recreation, Buffalo Run Golf Course, Mile High Kennel Club (dog racing), and nearby Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. The new Commerce City Civic Center and Dick's Sporting Goods Park, which is home to pro soccer's Colorado Rapids, were completed in 2007. Commerce City remains a speedily changing municipality with a diverse cultural mix and generations of residents with strong community roots.

Cottage Grove is a picturesque little hometown nestled in the Willamette Valley. Pioneers following the Oregon Trail west settled in the area in the early 1800s. The Bohemia Mountains were the first major draw to the area after James "Bohemia" Johnson discovered gold in 1863. A gold rush ensued and caused several boom towns to spring up on the route to the mines. After several years, many millions in gold were blasted from the mountains. There is an estimated $14 million in gold remaining in the mountain to this day. With new settlers came the first post offices and schools. When the mining started to slow down, the lumber industry was on the upswing. With easy access to the short line and virgin timber on every hill in the valley, timber became the new boom. Mills sprung up almost overnight, and in some cases burned in a single night. At one time, there were 23 mills on Row River alone.

On March 27, 1890, a devastating storm moved over the Ohio River Valley, spawning dozens of deadly tornados. The most powerful of these twisters touched down in Louisville, carving a path of unprecedented destruction from Main Street to the end of town. In the aftermath, nearly eight hundred buildings in the city were destroyed, and over one hundred people perished. In all, the storm produced over twenty-five tornados that day, and it remains the twenty-fifth deadliest storm in U.S. history. Join local author Keven McQueen as he chronicles Louisville's most violent natural disaster, with tales of harrowing rescues and rebuilding.

In many ways, the story of the 1910 mansion The Moorings tells the story of one segment of life in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. For more than two decades, the home represented life on the lake for a typical wealthy family. It was built by Russell A. Alger Jr., the lumber baron and industrialist who cofounded the Packard Motor Car Company and helped the Wright brothers finance their first company. What makes the story of the home complete is what happened when the family no longer lived there. After 12 years as a branch of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the home fulfilled its destiny as a memorial to veterans and a center for arts and education: the Grosse Pointe War Memorial. Today it is truly a hub of activity for Grosse Pointe and the surrounding communities. Guests can still enjoy the beautiful design of the home while attending a memorial service, lecture, stage production, luncheon, or summer concert outside on the lawn. The Grosse Pointe War Memorial today is a testament to the generosity of its original owners and their desire to share the beauty of their home with generations to come.

With its pristine waterways, abundant forests, and teeming wildlife, Haywood County is referred to as a kind of Eden in Cherokee mythology. All natural water flowing through the county originates within its borders. More than a dozen of its peaks rise above 6,000 feet, including Cold Mountain, made famous by the best-selling Charles Frazier novel. Established in 1808, Haywood County developed into a series of farming communities. Waynesville, the county seat, was the site of the last shot of the Civil War east of the Mississippi River and later grew into a popular tourist destination after rail lines were laid through the county in the early 1880s. On the eastern end, Canton thrived with one of the largest paper mills in the nation, still in operation after more than a century. The county is also home to sections of the Appalachian Trail, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

It is likely that most fans of bluegrass music would concede that no state should be more associated with bluegrass music than Kentucky--and rightly so. Bluegrass music draws its name from the band that Kentuckian Bill Monroe formed during the late 1930s and 1940s. Bill named his band Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys to honor his home state. Eventually, the music these bands and others like them were playing came to be known as bluegrass music. Later, another Kentuckian, Ebo Walker, while playing with the Bowling Green-based bluegrass band, New Grass Revival, coined the phrase "newgrass" to describe the band's progressive style of music. Other Kentuckians such as Bobby and Sonny Osborne, J. D. Crowe, Ricky Skaggs, and Dale Ann Bradley have become bluegrass stars. Some of the musicians from Kentucky covered in this book are quite famous--some are not. Famous or not, all of them have a deep-rooted passion for the music they play.

The Reynolds tobacco family was an American dynasty like the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors. R.J. "Dick" Reynolds Jr. was born into privilege and decadence, but his disastrous personal life eventually destroyed almost every relationship he cherished and stole his health at a relatively young age.
Dick Reynolds was dubbed "Kid Carolina" when as a teenager, he ran away from home and stowed away as part of the crew on a freighter. For the rest of his life he'd turn to the sea, instead of his friends and family, for comfort. Dick disappeared for months at a time, leading the dual life of a business mogul and troubled soul, both of which became legendary.
Despite his personal demons, Dick played a pivotal role in shaping twentieth-century America through his business savvy and politics. He developed Delta and Eastern Airlines, single handedly secured FDR's third term election, and served as mayor of Winston-Salem, where his tobacco fortune was built. Yet below the gilded surface lay a turbulent life of alcoholism, infidelity, and loneliness. His chaotic existence culminated in a surprise fourth marriage and was shortly followed by a strange death, the end of a life every bit as awe-inspiring as it was disturbing.
(2009)

New Spirits: Americans in the "Gilded Age," 1865-1905 provides a fascinating look at one of the most crucial chapters in U.S. history. Rejecting the stereotype of a "Gilded Age" dominated by "robber barons," author Rebecca Edwards invites us to look more closely at the period when the United States became a modern industrial nation and asserted its place as a leader on the world stage.

In a concise, engaging narrative, Edwards recounts the contradictions of the era, including stories of tragedy and injustice alongside tales of humor, endurance, and triumph. She offers a balanced perspective that considers many viewpoints, including those of native-born whites, Native Americans, African Americans, and an array of Asian, Mexican, and European immigrants.

Newtown Creek is a tributary of New York's East River that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. Before the mid-1800s, this three-and-a-half-mile-long meandering creek flowed through wetlands and marshes rich in herbs, grasses, fish, waterfowl, and oysters. During the Industrial Revolution, when its volume of commercial shipping traffic exceeded that of the Mississippi River, the creek was widened, deepened, and bulkheaded to accommodate bigger barges, destroying all its freshwater sources. As one of the oldest continuous industrial areas in the nation, it is now one of the most polluted. The creek water contains hundreds of years of discarded toxins; an estimated thirty million gallons of spilled oil; raw sewage; and a fifteen-foot-thick layer of congealed sludge on its bottom. It is a dead waterway—desolate in spots, disgusting in others, but far from abandoned. At the heart of the city's industrial backyard, Newtown Creek hosts many uses critical to the functioning of an enormous metropolis—sewage treatment, waste transfer, scrap yards, tow pounds, warehousing, manufacturing, and acres of heavy infrastructure. Yet, despite its role in the functioning of New York's complex urban machinery, its waterfront is largely unknown to residents and visitors alike.

Newtown Creek is the first extensive documentation of this forgotten landscape. Anthony Hamboussi's five-year photographic survey captures the creek at a critical moment when gentrification and revitalization are just starting to change the area. From the ruins of Morgan Oil Company and the Newtown Metal Corporation to the footprints of the former Maspeth gasholders, Newtown Creek is a lost chapter in the visual history of industrial New York framed at the moment of its disappearance and transformation. An insightful essay by urban planner Paul Parkhill puts Hamboussi's work into context.

Originally called Deer Creek, Roseburg was the creation of entrepreneur Aaron Rose. After becoming county seat for Douglas County in 1854, the city's growth was assured. Roseburg became the bridge between the populated Willamette Valley and the mining districts of Southern Oregon. Situated in a panoramic valley created by the North and South Umpqua Rivers, Roseburg's population increased dramatically over the next 155 years. In 1872, the Oregon and California Railroad arrived and the city became a major center of commerce in Oregon. Today Roseburg continues to present a serene and picturesque face to cars rushing by on I-5.

Upper Saucon Township was established in 1753. Often called "the Crossroads" because of its connections to the areas around it, the tracks of the North Pennsylvania Railroad awakened the small town of Center Valley in 1856. From there, the Liberty Bell trolley line was added, making transportation of goods and people even easier within the township. Milk trolleys ran daily, and mills lined the creeks running through the predominantly agricultural township. As the connections grew, so did the needs of one of Upper Saucon Township's towns: Coopersburg. With the needs of a burgeoning town, Coopersburg petitioned to become a distinct borough in 1879. Coopersburg brought attention to the area with its industries and annual cattle sale. It was dubbed "the town of possibilities" for all it had to offer.

By comparing traditional narratives concerning archaic colonists and tyrants, Ogden shows that monarchic rulers in archaic Greece were often paradoxically conceptualized as deformed scapegoats or as evil malformed babies of sinister birth. This way of thinking helped to explain their extraordinary power, for they embodied in their twisted limbs a terrible pollution that enabled them to overthrow their communities. The author considers a diverse range of related themes, including the myth of Oedipus, the fables of Aesop, the meanings attached to monkeys, pigs and mice, demonic cooks, the characters of early farce, Spartan hairstyles, and the beginnings of Greek democracy and ostracism at Athens.

Handel ranks with Monteverdi, Mozart and Verdi among the supreme masters of opera, yet between 1754 (when Handel was still living) and 1920 not one of his operas was performed anywhere. Their revival in the modern theatre has been among the most remarkable phenomena in the history of the art. But they are still too little understood, or studied, and until recently no reliable modern editions existed. This long-awaited book is the sequel to l>Handel's Operas 1704-1726/l>, published in 1987. It is the first study in depth of Handel's last twenty-two operas, including major masterpieces such as l>Orlando/l>, l>Ariodante/l> and l>Alcina/l> and the brilliant lighter works l>Partenope/l>, l>Serse/l> and l>Imeneo/l>. Each chapter contains a full synopsis and study of the libretto, a detailed assessment of the opera's musical and (often misunderstood) dramatic qualities, a performance history, and comparison of the different versions. Much new material has been incorporated. In addition four general chapters throw a vivid light on the historical background. Two Epilogues touch on Handel's dramatic vision, the revival of his operas in the twentieth century, and their performance today. There are a number of valuable Appendices. Together with its predecessor, the book provides the first complete overview of these works. WINTON DEAN is the most distinguished British authority on the life and work of Handel; he has also written extensively on opera in general.

Thanks to its Viking heritage and strong historical links with Britain since 1066, Normandy is one of the French provinces that is most accessible to British students. Although the cultural unity of Normandy has survived into the modern era, politically it is now less easy to speak of a united province. Normandy now consists of two separate regions on the administrative map of modern France, Haute-Normandie and Basse-Normandie. Nevertheless, while still deriving much of its economic strength from traditional sources such as maritime trade, Normandy as a whole is increasingly in a position to exploit its proximity to Paris and European centres of decision making and economic power. It contains chapters on the history, identity, economy, politics and culture of the region, as well as its relationship with the rest of France.

The world of the nineteenth-century woman was extremely narrow. Quiet, uncomplaining, and of delicate constitution, she spent her days at home with her family - the vagaries and demands of commerce were quite beyond her. Or so the story goes...History has not remembered these nine women. They came from a variety of backgrounds but the thing that links them is that they were financially able. They survived abusive husbands, bankruptcy, impecunious relatives and heart-breaking personal tragedies to achieve surprising levels of success, and every one of them was a Staffordshire woman.