Sandy Hook, New Jersey, as well as its historical significance to world events, oddly remains a mystery to many of the tourists who come to its beaches and explore its ruins. The oldest structure, the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, was erected in 1764. Today, thousands of people climb the steps of this national historic landmark to reach the highest point on the peninsula. Many others roam through some of the open buildings and ruins of Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground where soldiers...

The historic Raritan Bay stretches from Staten Island to Sandy Hook, including the beach communities of Monmouth County. With its proximity to New York City and Jersey shore attractions, the bay region has been the setting for compelling moments throughout American history. The native Lenapes harvested oysters and fished the waters along the bayshore generations before Dutch and English colonists reached their coasts. Local slave Titus Cornelius, or Colonel Tye, escaped from bondage and le...

In 1972-73, Barney Childs embarked on an ambitious attempt to survey the landscape of new American concert music. He recorded freewheeling conversations with fellow composers, most of them under forty, all of them important but most not yet famous. Though unable to publish the interviews in his lifetime, Childs had gathered invaluable dialogues with the likes of Robert Ashley, Olly Wilson, Harold Budd, Christian Wolff, and others.Virginia Anderson edits the first published collecti...

The Contemporary Guitar traces the extraordinary rise of the instrument in concert music over the past century. Though recognized worldwide as a popular music icon, the all-to-recent time when the guitar was looked down upon as a second-class citizen in the world of “serious” music is finally past, and it can now be found in the scores of the most important composers. The guitar’s rightful place in chamber music, orchestral music, or as a solo instrument is now without question, whether in...

Winner • Pulitzer Prize for HistoryWinner • Kirkus Prize for NonfictionFinalist • National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction)A New York Times Notable Book of the YearNamed one of the Best Books of the Year by the Washington Post, NPR, Library Journal, and gCaptainBooklist Editors’ Choice (History)Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for ExcellenceIn this “cri de coeur abou...

What is music in the age of the cloud? Today, we can listen to nearly anything, at any time. It is possible to flit instantly across genres and generations, from 1980s Detroit techno to 1890s Viennese neo-romanticism. This new age of listening brings with it astonishing new possibilities--as well as dangers.In Every Song Ever, the veteran New York Times music critic Ben Ratliff reimagines the very idea of music appreciation for our times. In the age of the cloud, t...

**Instant BestsellerWinner of the 2024 Willie Morris Award for Southern Nonfiction • A Chicago Public Library Must-Read Book of 2024 • A Booklist Editors' ChoiceA sweeping history of the Mississippi River—and the centuries of human meddling that have transformed both it and America.**The Mississippi River lies at the heart of America, an undeniable life force that is intertwined with the nation’s culture and history. Its watershed spans almost half the coun...

A landmark in jazz studies, Thinking in Jazz reveals as never before how musicians, both individually and collectively, learn to improvise. Chronicling leading musicians from their first encounters with jazz to the development of a unique improvisatory voice, Paul Berliner documents the lifetime of preparation that lies behind the skilled improviser's every idea.The product of more than fifteen years of immersion in the jazz world, Thinking in Jazz combines partici...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERDiscover 365 reasons to love America as you read the storied history of the United States.The fife and drum of history mark the time of each passing day. And within their cadence, personalities, conflicts, discoveries, ideas, and nations peal and fade. American history is no different. Best-selling author and educator Dr. William J. Bennett is a master of the story that is the United States...

“A thorough and engaging history of Maine’s rocky coast and its tough-minded people.”—Boston Herald“[A] well-researched and well-written cultural and ecological history of stubborn perseverance.”—USA TodayFor more than four hundred years the people of coastal Maine have clung to their rocky, wind-swept lands, resisting outsiders’ attempts to control them while harvesting the astonishing bounty of the Gulf of Maine. Today’s...

America, the land of the free and home of the brave. How much do you know of the history of modern-day America? From its discovery by Columbus to its participation in World War 1 and 2 we can see that America has left its mark on the world. It hasn't all been plain sailing and nobody should dare say otherwise, but has it been a success? Jump into this concise retelling of American history and judge for yourself as we attempt to take a neutral approach to the annals of history.

There is more to sound recording than just recording sound. Far from being simply a tool for the preservation of music, the technology is a catalyst. In this award-winning text, Mark Katz provides a wide-ranging, deeply informative, consistently entertaining history of recording's profound impact on the musical life of the past century, from Edison to the Internet. Fully revised and updated, this new edition adds coverage of mashups and Auto-Tune, explores recent developments in file-shari...