Elliott (English, U. of Kansas) examines how novels and other literary texts portray women in the middle and upper classes taking an active part in endeavors that were perceived to have important soci
Melvin Patrick Ely unveils a tale of America's shifting color line, in which two professional directors of blackface minstrel shows manage to produce a series so rich and complex that it wins admirers
Although the friendship between George Washington and James Madison was eclipsed in the early 1790s by the alliances of Madison with Jefferson and Washington with Hamilton, their collaboration remains
Refuting the contention that slavery was neither the reason for secession nor the catalyst for the beginning of the American Civil War, Dew (social sciences, Williams College) argues that slavery was
Now available in paperback, Tracy K'Meyer's book is a thoughtful and engaging portrait of Koinonia Farm, an interracial Christian cooperative founded in 1942 by two white Baptist ministers in southwes
Jeannie M. Whayne traces the emergence of a transformed southern plantation system in the Arkansas delta decades after the end of the Civil War. By manipulating laws and federal and state agencies to
In Preserving the White Man’s Republic, Joshua Lynn reveals how the national Democratic Party rebranded majoritarian democracy and liberal individualism as conservative means for white men in the Sou
"The story of an Irish Catholic immigrant family who came to Richmond, Virginia, in the nineteenth century and established a large hat manufacturing enterprise, becoming leaders in business, education
Before the French Revolution, tens of thousands of foreigners served in France’s army. They included troops from not only all parts of Europe but also places as far away as Madagascar, West Africa, an
In Raving at Usurers, Dwight Codr explores the complex intersection of religion, economics, ethics, and literature in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England. Codr offers an alternative to th
Shares the remarkable story of how the author came to James Madison University, a former teachers college, and built from scratch a men's basketball team that would make numerous trips to the NCAA Tou
Author Armin Mattes presents students, academics, researchers, and general interest readers with an examination of the emergence of new concepts of both democracy and the state in Europe and the Weste
Thomas Jefferson had a radical dream for higher education. Designed to become the first modern public university, the University of Virginia was envisioned as a liberal campus with no religious affili
Successful Boston lawyer, active member of the Sons of Liberty, and noted political essayist, Josiah Quincy Junior (1744–1775) left a lasting impression on those he met--for his passion in the courtro
Tom Paine’s America explores the vibrant, transatlantic traffic in people, ideas, and texts that profoundly shaped American political debate in the 1790s. In 1789, when the Federal Constitution was ra
To Pass On a Good Earth is the candid and compelling new biography of one of the twentieth century’s most distinctive and influential scholars. The legendary "Great God beyond the Sierras,&am
With antecedents dating back to the Middle Ages, the community garden is more popular than ever as a means of procuring the freshest food possible and instilling community cohesion. But as Micheline N
Examining the wave of radical writings emanating from revolutionary Europe in the 1790s, Cotlar, a professor of history at Willamette University, presents this discussion of key radical democratic pri
Shalev (history, Haifa U.) contends that the political choices and claims made by American revolutionaries in the 18th century can only be understood by recognizing that they found the ancient Mediter
Evans (history emeritus, U. of Maryland-College Park) traces the persistence of 21 elite families across what many celebrated or decried as a democratic disjuncture. Members of the families served in
Escott (history, Wake Forest U.) uses newspapers, magazines, books, Army records and government documents from the Civil War era to examine attitudes about "the future of African-Americans after the e
Liddle (English, Augsburg College) traces the influence of mid-Victorian journalistic genre forms on contemporary writers of poetry, the novel, and serious expository prose. He applies the genre theor
The Norfolk museum that would one day bear the Chrysler name was always a good museum of its kind, home to a respectable collection serving a smallish city. But when Norfolk native Jean Outland marrie
Badger presents a natural and human history of the swamps and wetlands of the mid-Atlantic coast, with a focus on the Pocomoke River and the Great Dismal Swamp. He guides readers through their ecology
Drawing on personal letters, business and government documents, and numerous oral histories of older Richmonders - both black and white - O'Leary examines the parallel and divergent viewpoints of serv
Early industrial capitalism and escalating sectional conflict over slavery provide the backdrop for Glickstein's (history, U. of California-Santa Barbara) account of work, competition, and social just
Fuller (history, Virginia Commonwealth U.) traces the impact of movies on small-town audiences in the US from the 1890's to the 1920's. She compiled her research from movie trade journals, collections
Examines Auden's commentaries written for documentary films, photographs he published in his documentary travelogues, and his juxtapositions of poetry, prose, and photographs, in the context of the in
Perkins (philosophy, U. of Maryland-College Park) explores Jane Austen's revision and reversal of sexual stereotypes and argues that her first published novel embodies her most sustained effort at cor
In Performatively Speaking, Debra Rosenthal draws on speech act theory to open up the current critical conversation about antebellum American fiction and culture and to explore what happens when write
The first thoroughly interdisciplinary study to examine how thetransatlantic relationship between the United States and Britain helped shape the conflicts between North and South in the decade before
The first thoroughly interdisciplinary study to examine how thetransatlantic relationship between the United States and Britain helped shape the conflicts between North and South in the decade before
Unveiling the nearly lost world of the court fools of eighteenth-century Germany, Dorinda Outram shows that laughter was an essential instrument of power. Whether jovial or cruel, mirth altered social
On the morning of May 24, 1921, a force of eight hundred white policemen and soldiers confronted an African prophet, Enoch Mgijima, and some three thousand of his followers. Called the Israelites, the
In this powerful memoir, Charles Dew, one of America’s most respected historians of the South--and particularly its history of slavery--turns the focus on his own life, which began not in the halls of
Crossing the Line examines a group of early nineteenth-century novels by white creoles, writers whose identities and perspectives were shaped by their experiences in Britain’s Caribbean colonies. Colo
"Crossing the Line examines a group of novels by white creoles -- white writers whose identities and perspectives were shaped by their experiences in Britain's Caribbean colonies. Four novels anchor t
Matsui examines the Civil War mainly through the lens of individual soldier's and general's political party affiliations. Focusing on the Army of Virginia and its political opposite, the Army of th
The late nineteenth and early twentieth century were a brutal time for American wildlife, with many species pushed to the brink of extinction. (Some are endangered to this day.) And yet these decades
