Since the eager stallion Messenger trotted off a boat from Europe in 1788, harness racing in America has been a popular sport, and nowhere is this truer than New York State. In the nineteenth century, harness racing attracted spectators from all walks of life. An 1823 race was so popular that businesses adjourned for the day to watch it. The sport reached its peak when the spectacular Roosevelt Raceway opened in 1957. Dean Hoffman offers an in-depth history of the sport's evolution in the ...

**Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeFeaturing a foreword by Battle Cry of Freedom author James McPhersonA vibrant portrait of Civil War-era Washington, D.C. that is “packed and running over with the anecdotes, scandals, personalities, and tragi-comedies of the day”—from the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for History (The New Yorker)**1860: The American capital is sprawling, fractured, squalid, colored by patriotism and treason, and deeply divided a...

New York City boasts a higher rate of unionization than any other major U.S. city—roughly double the national average—but the city's unions have suffered steady and relentless decline, especially in the private sector. With higher levels of income inequality than any other large city in the nation, New York today is home to a large and growing precariat—workers with little or no employment security who are often excluded from the basic legal protections that unions struggl...

Originally known as Ruthenians, Ukrainians began to immigrate to western Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. Attracted by the region�s growing importance as an industrial center, they settled in cities and towns close to their work. Like other immigrants, they faced many economic and social hardships, but they were proud to call themselves Americans as they firmly preserved and celebrated their ethnic heritage. Their dispersion among the hills and valleys of western Pennsylvania prevented the ...

At The Plaza is a pictorial record and an anecdotal history of the world's most famous hotel: New York's Plaza. As a story, it traverses the breadth and scope of Gotham's high society during the American Century. As a photo collection, it's like no other, capturing the hotel's remarkable presence on the ever-changing New York scene.For almost one hundred years, The Plaza has mirrored the social history of Manhattan: its tastes in design, entertainment, restaurants and accom...

On September 10, 1813, the hot, still air that hung over Lake Erie was broken by the sounds of sharp conflict. Led by Oliver Hazard Perry, the American fleet met the British, and though they sustained heavy losses, Perry and his men achieved one of the most stunning victories in the War of 1812. Author Walter Rybka traces the Lake Erie Campaign from the struggle to build the fleet in Erie, Pennsylvania, during the dead of winter and the conflict between rival egos of Perry and his second i...

A storyteller examines Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and the lore that inspired it, as well as other local legends of the Hudson Valley.The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman is one of America's best-known fables, but what other stories does the Hudson Valley hold? Imps cause mischief on the Hudson River, a white lady haunts Raven Rock, Major Andre's ghost seeks redemption and real headless Hessians search for their severed skulls. These myst...

Beyond the iconic landmarks of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell is the Philadelphia the locals know. The gritty waterfront district, the vital farming suburbs and the immigrant communities of Germantown and Kensington are all part of the hometown face of Philly.From the bustling streets of the downtown of today and yesteryear to the bingo halls of Allentown and the Middletown Grange Fair, this collection takes the reader on a nostalgic journey through the cityscapes and suburbs. Sixt...

Wyoming County features postcards highlighting the history of communities nestled in the Endless Mountains. These unique images explore important industries such as the Noxen Tannery and the Lehigh Valley and Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroads. Numerous photographs depict the county seat, Tunkhannock, as well as the surrounding towns, such as the former resort areas of Lake Carey and Lake Winola; Vernon and Vose, which have almost completely disappeared; and Laceyville, which appears...

Home to the so-called big five publishers as well as hundreds of smaller presses, renowned literary agents, a vigorous arts scene, and an uncountable number of aspiring and established writers alike, New York City is widely perceived as the publishing capital of the United States and the world. This book traces the origins and early evolution of the city’s rise to literary preeminence.Through five case studies, Steven Carl Smith examines publishing in New York from the post–Revolut...

At the time of Warrington Township�s founding in 1734, few landowners lived on Bucks County�s fertile soil. The history of the township is one of gradual growth and development. From unbroken wilderness grew small clusters of families forming villages. Warrington consisted of four villages: Warrington, Neshaminy, Pleasantville, and Tradesville. In the mid-1800s, the township�s landscape was made up of family farms, with agriculture as the main industry. In the late 1920s, the first small h...

Dorothy Gallagher’s critically acclaimed memoir, How I Came Into My Inheritance, told of her childhood in 1940s New York as the daughter of left-wing Russian Jewish immigrants. Time magazine called it “a piercingly funny book . . . unsentimental, breezy, blunt.” In Strangers in the House, this brilliant stylist takes us into her adult life and tells us honest, funny, and highly distinctive stories about love, friendship, and responsibilities–stories about ordinary life told in an ...