The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes, A Novella, chronicles the true story of an enslaved man's journey to freedom during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. In 1864, in Southampton County, Virginia, Parson Sykes, enslaved on Jacob Williams' farm, secretly educates himself by salvaging newspapers from Boykins Depot. This forbidden knowledge fuels his desire for liberation, a resolve hardened by the oppressive conditions of the plantation and the distant sounds of war. After a tense c...

The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes: Enlistment in the Union Army by David J. Mason is a riveting historical fiction novel that places its protagonist at the heart of the Civil War's most challenging and transformative moments. At only seventeen, Parson Sykes is an African-American youth navigating from the oppressive "contraband of war" status to becoming a soldier in the United States Colored Troops (USCT) as a member of the XXV Army Corps. It's important to note that although The Self-Li...

Enslavement in Southampton County, Virginia, the first installment of the trilogy, takes place in 1864, near the end of the American Civil War, on the slave-holding Jacob Williams' middle-class family farm. During the Southampton Insurrection, the farm came under attack by Nat Turner and his insurgents, an event that haunts Jacob. Before the Civil War began, Parson started discussing human rights and the political implications of abolishing slavery with his two brothers. In December 1864, ...

In the Return to Southampton County, the story ends with Parson accomplishing his mission and achieving his goal. Parson Sykes will buy property to farm and live by the principles he postulated: that all members of a society have equal standing in terms of political power and influence; you judge people based on their merits as opposed to their identity, such as race, gender and age; you allow for competition and choice via a system of equal opportunity; a system that uses taxes on the ric...

An American President anxious about his re-election needs publicity. An American Indian Tribe is found who have not signed a treaty with the Government. He can't travel to the other side of the country; the Army won't help,he promotes a Midshipman to form an escort of Sailors, led by a clerk from the Dept., for Indian affairs who turns out to be the Widow of an Army Colonel......a tough cookie. A truly unusual and fascinating story.

The Self-Liberation of Parson Sykes is a trilogy that profiles Private Parson Sykes' evolution from enslavement in Southampton County, Virginia, followed by his enlistment into the Union Army, and culminating with his emancipation and return to the county. The first novel in the trilogy, subtitled Enslavement in Southampton County, Virginia, takes place in 1864 near the end of the American Civil War on the slave-holding Jacob Williams' middle class family farm in Southampton County Virgini...

FORMER COLORADO POET LAUREATEFrom the volcanic landscapes of the Pacific Rim to the mythic echoes of Greece and India, Cold Fire is a radiant meditation on memory, nature, and the enduring sparks of love and creation.David Mason’s poetry circles the globe. The urgent and beautiful poems of his new book, Cold Fire, have settings in Australia, India, Greece, Turkey and the American West. A t...

"Livewell’s lyrics, frequently set in his home city of Philadelphia, remind us that good poems are the guarantors of our pasts and of our places."—David Yezzi, author of More Things in Heaven: New and Selected PoemsDavid Livewell, whose first poetry collection Shackamaxon won the T.S. Eliot Poetry Prize, explores the difficult history of his hometown of Philadelphia and the many contradictions found in American lif...

In the late 1950s and early 1960s the drug Thalidomide (marketed in the UK by Distillers Company without sufficient testing) was a sedative and medication prescribed for morning sickness. The Thalidomide tragedy is the story of one of the worst disasters ever inflicted by medicine which led to thousands of babies worldwide being born with a range of birth defects.‘The ugly story of a good fight’Fifty years after its first publication in 1976 Routledge is now reissuing T...

Road Stop by David Mason is a suspenseful and thought-provoking story that transforms an ordinary roadside pause into a moment of unexpected tension and revelation. With sharp narrative focus and atmospheric precision, David Mason crafts a tale where a seemingly simple stop along a lonely highway becomes the gateway to something far more mysterious and unsettling.At its core, Road Stop thrives on the power of setting. A quiet roads...

These interesting short stories are specifically for youngsters with a sensed of humour. Ideal for holidays or bedtime reading. Nobody will ever become bored when reading this book, the tales are so funny, you do have to laugh.

The Complete Works of David MasonThis Complete Collection includes the following titles:--------1 - Something Will Turn Up2 - Garrity's Annuities3 - Road Stop4 - Placebo5 - The Fool6 - Rockabye, Grady7 - The long question8 - Pangborn's paradox