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Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 1b

Jefferson Davis
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881) is written by Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Davis wrote the book as a straightforward history of the Confederate States of America and as an apologia for the causes that he believed led to and justified the American Civil War.

Davis spared little detail in describing every aspect of the Confederate constitution and government, in addition to which he retold in detail numerous military campaigns. Far more compelling in the views of Davis' contemporaries and to modern scholars were Davis' thoughtfully constructed arguments as to the constitutional and moral justification of the formation of the Confederacy and of the Civil War. Davis cited numerous constitutional passages, constitutional scholars, and American political leaders to prove his thesis that secession was justified.

This project contains the second half of Volume 1 (of 2). (Intro modified from Wikipedia)

Proof-listening done by Nadya Gaganova and Lucretia B.
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 1a

Jefferson Davis
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881) is written by Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Davis wrote the book as a straightforward history of the Confederate States of America and as an apologia for the causes that he believed led to and justified the American Civil War.

Davis spared little detail in describing every aspect of the Confederate constitution and government, in addition to which he retold in detail numerous military campaigns. Far more compelling in the views of Davis' contemporaries and to modern scholars were Davis' thoughtfully constructed arguments as to the constitutional and moral justification of the formation of the Confederacy and of the Civil War. Davis cited numerous constitutional passages, constitutional scholars, and American political leaders to prove his thesis that secession was justified.

This project contains the first half of Volume 1 (of 2). (Intro modified from Wikipedia)
Mark Twain: A Biography - Volume 1

Albert Bigelow Paine
Until recently, this work has been considered the "go-to" bio of Mark Twain. Albert Bigelow Paine (July 10, 1861 – April 9, 1937) was an American author and biographer best known for his work with Mark Twain. This recording of Paine's exhaustive biography covers Twain's personal and literary life in detail, heretofore unapproached.
History of Mary Prince

Mary Prince
Mary Prince was born into slavery in the West Indies. As a free woman in England she wrote her memoirs, which sold well and supported and publicised the anti-slavery movement.

NB This book contains racial vocabulary and refers to physical and sexual abuse that some listeners may find offensive or distressing. (Newgatenovelist)
Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, Volume 1

W. E. B. Du Bois
The question of the suppression of the slave-trade is so intimately connected with the questions as to its rise, the system of American slavery, and the whole colonial policy of the eighteenth century, that it is difficult to isolate it, and at the same time to avoid superficiality on the one hand, and unscientific narrowness of view on the other. While I could not hope entirely to overcome such a difficulty, I nevertheless trust that I have succeeded in rendering this monograph a small contribution to the scientific study of slavery and the American Negro.
Queen Victoria

Lytton Strachey, Giles
Lytton Strachey’s first great success, and his most famous achievement, was "Eminent Victorians" (1918), a collection of four short biographies of Victorian heroes. With a dry wit, he exposed the human failings of his subjects and what he saw as the hypocrisy at the centre of Victorian morality. This work was followed in the same style by "Queen Victoria" (1921).
Naval War of 1812

Theodore Roosevelt
Somewhat detailed history of naval engagements between the United States and England during the War of 1812, from a decidedly American perspective. Completed by the author as a young man at age 24. After 120 years, it remains a standard study of the war.
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Kentucky's Famous Feuds and Tragedies

Charles G. Mutzenberg
As this book will show, there have been a variety of clashes and feuds which have taken place in and near Kentucky over the years, primarily in the 19th century. The most renowned of these was that between the Hatfield and McCoy clans, which is delved into with great detail herein. This is not to downplay some of the other family feuds which occurred however, most of which have not attained the notoriety of the aforementioned. Take a ride through some of Kentucky's Famous Feuds and Tragedies, and begin with the Hatfields and the McCoys.
Revolution and Counter-Revolution, or: Germany in 1848

Friedrich Engels
Revolution and Counter-Revolution is an account of what happened in Prussia, Austria and other German states during 1848, describing the impact on both middle-class and working-class aspirations and on the idea of German unification. Events in Austria and Prussia are discussed, along with the role of the Poles and Czechs and Panslavism, which Engels was against.
Famous Adventures And Prison Escapes Of The Civil War

Various
Seven narratives published in the late nineteenth century and assembled in this 1913 collection.
Story of the Thirteen Colonies

H. A. Guerber
These short vignettes of American history are written for the young reader. Each one is a little capsule of a person or event. They run from the pre-Columbian era through the end of the American War of Independence. Some of the expressions and language reflect attitudes of the 18th century that seem out of place from the vantage of the 21st century, but these nuggets of history give a glimpse into that era.
Poems of American History, Volume 4, The Civil War

Various
This volume is a fascinating reflection on the Civil War years from a perspective in 1908, when many Civil War veterans were still alive, when the wounds to North and South were still fresh, and when no event more cataclysmic had struck the Republic than a Civil War that began less than 100 years after the Revolution for Independence. Poets in this volume include: John Greenleaf Whittier, William Cullen Bryant, Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bret Harte, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, and Julia Ward Howe.
Poems of American History, Volume 5, The Period of Expansion

Various
The final section of Poems of American History covers The Reconstruction after the Civil War, the First Centennial, the continued expansion westward, the assasination of Garfield, The Spanish American War, and World War I. Poets in this volume include: John Greenleaf Whittier, Bret Harte, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William Cullen Bryant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Wallace Rice, Vachel Lindsay, Joyce Kilmer, and many more.
Lives of the Presidents Told in Words of One Syllable

Jean S. Remy
Lives of the Presidents Told in Words of One Syllable is a halting account in presidential history - quite literally! From Washington to Jackson to Cleveland to McKinley, Jean S. Remy details the lives of the presidents in as few syllables as possible.
Women of the American Revolution Volume 1

Elizabeth F. Ellet
Excerpt from Preface: Their patriotic sacrifices were made with an enthusiasm that showed the earnest spirit ready on every occasion to appear in generous acts. Some gave their own property, and went from house to house to solicit contributions for the army. Colors were embroidered by fair hands, and presented with the charge never to desert them; and arms and ammunition were provided by the same liberal zeal. They formed themselves into associations renouncing the use of teas, and other imported luxuries, and engaging to card, spin, and weave their own clothing.
Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Volume 2

Jefferson Davis
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881) is written by Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Davis wrote the book as a straightforward history of the Confederate States of America and as an apologia for the causes that he believed led to and justified the American Civil War. (Intro modified from Wikipedia)

"The most painful pages of this work are those which . . . present the subjugation of the State governments by the Government of the United States. The patriot, the lover of his country and of the liberties of mankind, can not contemplate these facts without a feeling of grief which will not be comforted. That the work of the fathers of the republic, that the most magnificent system of constitutional government which the wisdom of man has devised, should be turned from its object, changed from its order, rendered powerless to protect the unalienable rights and sovereignty of the people, and made the instrument by which to establish and maintain imperialism, is a revolution unlike any other that may be found in the history of mankind. The result established the truthfulness of the assertion . . . that the Northern people, by their unconstitutional warfare to gain the freedom of certain negro slaves, would lose their own liberties." (from chapter 42)

This project contains Volume 2 (of 2).

Proof-Listened by TriciaG & denisedee
Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause and Consequences, The

Barrow, Sir John
The mutiny on the Bounty occurred aboard a British Royal Navy ship on 28 April 1789. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the commanding officer, William Bligh.
On 4 April 1789, after five months in Tahiti, the Bounty set sail with its breadfruit cargo. On 28 April 1789, some 1,300 miles west of Tahiti, near Tonga, mutiny broke out. From all accounts, Fletcher Christian and several of his followers entered Bligh's cabin, which he always left unlocked, awakened him, and pushed him on deck wearing only his nightshirt, where he was guarded by Christian holding a bayonet. When Bligh entreated with Christian to be reasonable, Christian would only reply, "I am in hell, I am in hell!"
The mutineers ordered Bligh, the ship's master, two midshipmen, the surgeon's mate, and the ship's clerk into Bounty's launch. Several more men voluntarily joined Bligh rather than remaining aboard, as they knew that those who remained on board would be considered de facto mutineers under the Articles of War.
Life, Crime, and Capture of John Wilkes Booth

George Alfred Townsend
A series of articles by the New York World newspaper's special correspondent covering the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, its background and subsequent events. It should be noted that some statements in this contemporaneous account have since been shown to be inaccurate
Life and Adventures of Frank and Jesse James

Joseph. A. Dacus
Biographies of Frank and Jesse James, detailed accounts of all their significant escapades, and the final outcomes.
Lord Clive

Thomas Babington Macaulay
Robert Clive was, in Macaulay’s view, the real founder of British power in India. Macaulay himself served on the Governor’s Council in India from 1834 to 1838, working on legal and educational changes in that country. In his view, the establishment of British control and influence in India was part of a great civilizing mission, helping to rid India of its backwardness, superstitions, and corruption by replacing them with an advanced English culture, scientific and literary. That view comes through very clearly both in this essay and that of his on Warren Hastings as well. Needless to say many Indians have and have had a rather different outlook. ( Nicholas Clifford)
Reminiscences of Captain Gronow

Gronow, R. H.
A collection of memoirs about the Peninsular War, the Battle of Waterloo, and society and personalities of Regency London and 19th century Paris, by a sometime Grenadier Guards officer, unsuccessful parliamentarian, and dandy. Gronow displays some social attitudes of the day which would now be regarded as unacceptable, but is a clever raconteur who brings to life both the horrors of war and the gaiety of high society.
Tales Of The Trail; Short Stories Of Western Life

Henry Inman
This 1898 collection of thirteen previously published articles exhibits the acute perception of one of the most popular writers of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. “These "Tales of the Trail" are based upon actual facts which came under the personal observation of the author… and will form another interesting series of stories of that era of great adventures, when the country west of the Missouri was unknown except to the trappers, hunters, and army officers.” Henry Inman (1837 – 1899) was an American soldier, frontiersman, and author. He served in the military during the Indian campaigns and the American Civil War, having earned distinction for gallantry on the battlefield. He was commissioned lieutenant general during the Indian wars. He settled in Kansas and worked as a journalist and author of short stories and books of the plains and western frontier.
Old Rail Fence Corners

Lucy Leavenworth Wilder Morris
Old Rail Fence Corners is an historical treasure trove containing the stories of the first significant waves of European-American settlers in the now state of Minnesota (United States of America). This book has direct accounts of mid-19th century lives and experiences on the frontier, recounted by the frontiersmen and women when many of them were in their mid-90s. A group of volunteer women -- the Book Committee -- sought to record these recollections before they were lost with the passing of these remarkable adventurers. Experience a wild, dangerous Minnesota full of mosquitoes, threatening wildlife, difficult roads, dirt floors, food scarcity, and Native American neighbors. Interactions with Native Americans are a major theme throughout the book; settlers relate their experiences in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, their outsider accounts of interactions between Minnesota's Native American tribes, and the settlers' impressions of the Native American inhabitants with whom they share the land, which range from outright fear to acceptance to friendship and respect. Listen to the amazing stories of the Minnesota settlers as they come back to life through the voices of our talented readers! These are the stories of Minnesota's adventurous, resourceful, and brave pioneers that you won't soon forget.
Great White North

Helen S. Wright
Sketches of those who braved the 'Great White North' in exploration and adventure.
Witchcraft of New England Explained by Modern Spiritualism

Allen Putnam
"It is not our purpose to write history, but to give new explanation of old events. The long and widely tolerated theory that New England witchcraft was exclusively but out-workings of mundane fraud, imposture, cunning, trickery, malice, and the like, has never adequately met the reasonable demand of common sense, which always asks that specified agents and forces shall be probably competent to produce all such effects as are distinctly ascribed to them."
Chronicles of Canada Volume 29 - The Day of Sir John Macdonald: A Chronicle of the First Prime Minister of the Dominion

Sir Joseph Pope
A biography of Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada. It was written by the man who served as Macdonald's private secretary from 1882 to 1891.
Chronicles of Canada Volume 22 - Pioneers of the Pacific Coast: A Chronicle of Sea Rovers and Fur Hunters

Agnes C. Laut
This, volume 22 of the Chronicles of Canada series, describes the exploration of the Canadian Pacific coast, British Columbia, and Alaska. It includes accounts of Bering, Cook, Vancouver, Mackenzie, Fraser, and Thompson.
History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 2

Charles E. Flandrau
A series of stories written by Judge Charles E. Flandrau "at different times during his long residence in the Northwest, which embrace historical events, personal adventures, and amusing incidents." This book of tales is the companion to the author's book on the history of the founding of the state of Minnesota, and together they make up the volume The History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier. In this part, Judge Flandrau describes the adventures and perils faced by early Minnesotans, and also gives his often-humorous observations about living in parts further west during the settlement of the frontier in the middle part of the 19th century.
History of Minnesota and Tales of the Frontier, Part 1

Charles E. Flandrau
"It has been a little over fifty years since the organization of the Territory of Minnesota, which at its birth was a very small and unimportant creation, but which in its half century of growth has expanded into one of the most brilliant and promising stars upon the union of our flag; so that its history must cover every subject, moral, physical and social, that enters into the composition of a first-class progressive Western state, which presents a pretty extensive field; but there is also to be considered a period anterior to civilization, which may be called the aboriginal and legendary era, which abounds with interesting matter, and to the general reader is much more attractive than the prosy subjects of agriculture, finance and commerce."

"Having lived in the state through nearly the whole period of Minnesota's political existence, and having taken part in most of the leading events in her history, both savage and civilized, I propose to treat the various subjects that compose her history in a narrative and colloquial manner that may not rise to the dignity of history, but which, I think, while giving facts, will not detract from the interest or pleasure of the reader. If I should in the course of my narrative so far forget myself as to indulge in a joke, or relate an illustrative anecdote, the reader must put up with it."
Figures of Several Centuries

Arthur Symons
Arthur Symons talks through the histories and works of poets, playwrights, scholars and scribes. He provides both personal experience and critical wonder to the worlds of his subjects; Donne, Ibsen, Baudelaire and Emily Brontë among them
Apache Campaign In The Sierra Madre

John Gregory Bourke
An account of the expedition [of the U.S. Army] in pursuit of the hostile Chiricahua Apaches in the spring of 1883. (Book subtitle) Bourke was a Medal of Honor awardee in the American Civil War whose subsequent Army career included several campaigns in the Indian wars of the mid to late 19th century in the American West. He wrote prolifically. He was mostly free of the unfortunate disdain for Native Americans common in 19th century America. He was quite admiring of many aspects of the Native American. “… Bourke had the opportunity to witness every facet of life in the Old West—the battles, wildlife, the internal squabbling among the military, the Indian Agency, settlers, and Native Americans.”
Reminiscences Of A Workhouse Medical Officer

Joseph Rogers
Joseph Rogers (1821-1889) was an English physician, medical officer, and health care reformer in London. The system of poor-law dispensaries and separate sick wards, with proper staffs of medical attendants and nurses, was due to the efforts of Rogers and his colleagues. His memoir, published in 1889, contains an informative biography written by his brother. His career was not without conflict as his zeal sometimes offended governing boards.
Complete Works of Brann, the Iconoclast, Volume 1

William Cowper Brann
William Cowper Brann earned the nickname “The Iconoclast” by fearlessly attacking established beliefs and institutions which he thought to be pompous and self-serving. He settled in the wild and wooly West Texas town of Waco in the late 1800s as a newspaper man - first as a writer and then as owner of newspaper he named “The Iconoclast”. During this period, Catholics and Protestants were duking it out over the soul of Texas and there was even further sectarian strife among Protestants. Brann wrote prolifically and aired his Politically Incorrect views with vigor and colorful language.Described as a “slouch-hatted, gun-toting, beer-drinking, woman-worshiping man,” he assailed Baptists, Prohibition, blacks and universities as though engaged in a life-or-death gunfight; and actually he was killed in a gunfight at age 43. After he was shot in the back, drew his own gun and killed the man who had bushwacked him AND THEN walked directly to the jail before dying the next morning.He wrote entertaining, elevated prose; but occasionally colored his stories with barnyard terminology. Despite his blatant chauvinism, his voice was a reaction against many of the societal extremes of the day. ( William Jones )
Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881

James B. Gillett
James Gillet recounts his adventures with the Texas Rangers 1856-1937. In a very entertaining style he recounts personal stories of wars, feuds, battles with the Apache nation and pursuing robbers and murderers. From these stories, and others like them, arose the many legends of courage and daring among the Texas Rangers.“The Texas Rangers, as an organization, dates from the spring of 1836. When the Alamo had fallen before the onslaught of the Mexican troops and the frightful massacre had occurred, General Sam Houston organized among the Texan settlers in the territory a troop of 1600 mounted riflemen. This company, formed for the defense of the Texan borders, was the original Texas Ranger unit. . .” from chapter 2
Handbook of Home Rule: Being Articles on the Irish Question

James Bryce
The issue of Irish home rule was the dominant political question of British and Irish politics in the late 1800s to early 1900s. Published in 1887, this work contains articles in favour of the measure. (Irish home rule was finally approved in 1914 but implementation was suspended until after WWI.)
"The object of the writers has been to treat the difficult questions connected with the Government of Ireland in a dispassionate spirit; and the volume is offered to the public in the hope that it may, at a time of warm controversy over passing events, help to lead thoughtful men back to the consideration of the principles which underlie those questions, and which it seeks to elucidate by calm discussion and by references to history."
Trial of Susan B. Anthony

Anonymous
In 1872, after the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, the women’s suffrage movement in the United States adopted a new strategy. Arguing that the right to vote was one of the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed to every citizen by that amendment, the women were inspired to put this interpretation to the test in practice by attempting to register and vote in the November election. In Rochester, NY, fourteen women, including Susan B. Anthony, were successful. Within days after having cast their votes, however, they were arrested, as were the three election inspectors who had received their votes. Suspecting that a Rochester jury might be sympathetic to Miss Anthony, the prosecution requested a change of venue to the nearby city of Canandaigua, where trials were held in June 1873. Intense public interest in the proceedings led the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle to publish this pamphlet in 1874. Here is the transcript of Miss Anthony’s trial, including (in section 9) her justly famous remarks at her sentencing. Here also is the transcript of the election inspectors’ trial, as well as addresses given by Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage, and an analysis by John Hooker critical of the trial’s irregularities.
History of the Jews in Russia and Poland, Volume II, From the Death of Alexander I until the Death of Alexander III (1825 - 1894)

Simon Dubnow
Simon Dubnow was born in 1860 to a poor Jewish family in Belarussian town of Mstsislaw and later became an authority of Jewish history and an activist. Due to his Jewish origin, he had to move to St. Petersburg, Odessa, Vilna (Lithuania), St. Petersburg (2nd time), Kaunas (Lithuania), Berlin and finally Riga (Latvia) after Hitler came to power. When Nazi troops occupied Latvia 1941, he was moved with thousands of other Jews to the Riga ghetto and was eventually killed. His life is a symbol of Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe in the first half of 20 century. Jews have been migrating from Germany and other European countries to Poland since the late middle ages where they were protected by Polish kings mainly for their economic contribution, but frequently persecuted by Christians whenever there was a pretext or the king's power was not strong enough. After Poland was annexed by Russia in the late 18th century, they became the object of systematic persecution by Russian government. This tragedy is parallel to the life of the author culminating in the Nazi Holocaust.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume 12: American Leaders

John Lord
A continuation of United States history, Volume 12 discusses key US leaders in the time up to and including the Civil War. In this volume are presented Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee. As noted in the Publisher's Preface, the discussion regarding Lee was written by Dr. E. Benjamin Andrews from the University of Nebraska.
Chronicles of Canada Volume 26 - The Tribune of Nova Scotia: A Chronicle of Joseph Howe

William Lawson Grant
Joseph Howe (1804-1873) was one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians. He was instrumental in helping Nova Scotia become the first British colony to win responsible government in 1848. A Liberal, he fought against Canadian Confederation. This work highlights his life and causes.
Chronicles of Canada Volume 30 - The Day of Sir Wilfrid Laurier: A Chronicle of Our Own Time

Oscar D. Skelton
In conformity with its title, this volume, save for the earlier chapters, is history rather than biography, is of the day, more than of the man. The aim has been to review the more significant events and tendencies in the recent political life of Canada. (from the Preface)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was a member of parliament for 45 years (1874-1919) and Prime Minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. He was Canada's first French-speaking prime minister and did much to reconcile English and French Canada. (TriciaG)
Four American Indians: King Philip, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Osceola

Frances M. Perry
Four American Indians by Edson L. Whitney and Frances M. Perry, gives a short history of King Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags; Pontiac, an Ottawan chief; Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief; and Osceola, a Seminole chief. Along with the history of each leader, insights on daily living among these different tribes is given.
County Regiment, The

Vaill, Dudley Landon
A sketch of the second regiment of Connecticut volunteer heavy artillery, originally the Nineteenth Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War.
South American Republics, Part I

Thomas Cleland Dawson
The question most frequently asked me since I began my stay in South America has been: "Why do they have so many revolutions there?" Possibly the events recounted in the following pages may help the reader to answer this for himself. I hope that he will share my conviction that militarism has already definitely disappeared from more than half the continent and is slowly becoming less powerful in the remainder. Constitutional traditions, inherited from Spain and Portugal, implanted a tendency toward disintegration; Spanish and Portuguese tyranny bred in the people a distrust of all rulers and governments; the war of independence brought to the front military adventurers; civil disorders were inevitable, and the search for forms of government that should be final and stable has been very painful. On the other hand, the generous impulse that prompted the movement toward independence has grown into an earnest desire for ordered liberty, which is steadily spreading among all classes. Civic capacity is increasing among the body of South Americans and immigration is raising the industrial level. They are slowly evolving among themselves the best form of government for their special needs and conditions.

It is hard to secure from the tangle of events called South American history a clearly defined picture. At the risk of repetition I have tried to tell separately the story of each country, because each has its special history and its peculiar characteristics. All of these states have, however, had much in common and it is only in the case of the larger nations that social and political conditions have been described in detail. (Fragment of the Preface)

See the original text for the bibliography and numerous illustrations.
Use Of The Dead To The Living

Thomas Southwood Smith
In 1827 Thomas Southwood-Smith published The Use of the Dead to the Living, a pamphlet which argued that the current system of burial in the United Kingdom was a wasteful use of bodies that could otherwise be used for dissection by the medical profession. "If, by any appropriation of the dead, I can promote the happiness of the living, then it is my duty to conquer the reluctance I may feel to such a disposition of the dead, however well-founded or strong that reluctance may be". Southwood-Smith's lobbying helped lead to the 1832 Anatomy Act, the legislation which allowed the state to seize unclaimed corpses from workhouses and sell them to surgical schools. While this act is credited with ending the practice of grave robbery, it has also been condemned as discriminatory against the poor. Thomas Southwood- Smith (1788 – 1861) was an English physician and sanitary reformer.
In The Footprints Of The Padres

Charles Warren Stoddard
The American Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909) wrote travel books quite popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This third enlarged edition (1912) of his book more about California in general, in historia, and in memoria rather than her missions contains essays not included in the previous editions. “Charles Warren Stoddard was possessed of unique literary gifts that were all his own. These gifts shine out in the pages of this book. Here we find that mustang humor of his forever kicking its silver heels with the most upsetting suddenness into the honeyed sweetness of his flowing poetry. Here, too, we find that gift of word-painting which makes all his writings a brilliant gallery of rich-hued and soft-lighted wonder…. But no, the old California that Stoddard loved lives on, and will, because he caught and preserved its spirit and its coloring, its light and life and music. As the redwood thicket holds the sunlight, so do Stoddard's words keep bright and living, though viewed through a mist of tears, the California of other days.” ( Book Introduction and David Wales)
Famous Missions of California

William Henry Hudson
Naturalist William Henry Hudson was born in Argentina of immigrant parents from England, and later settled there. He published books on ornithology and novels, and other books of far ranging interest. This is a short overview, which he calls a sketch, of the California Missions starting with the first travels of Father Junipero Serra to their time of declining influence
My Hunt After 'The Captain'

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Holmes describes his frantic search through Civil War torn landscapes for his wounded son, the future Supreme Court Justice. Originally published in The Atlantic Magazine, 1862. Holmes, Sr. (1809 -1894) was an American physician, poet, professor, lecturer, and author. He was regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast Table" series, which began with The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1858). He is also recognized as an important medical reformer.
Fifty Years Ago

Walter Besant
Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901) was a prolific novelist and historian. He wrote Fifty Years Ago to present a picture of life, manners, and society in Great Britain as it was when Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. In 1837, the seeds of new technology and new ideas were present and monumental changes from the ways of the 1700's were about to be felt. Starting first in London and over several decades, the progress moved outwards to the country towns of the British Isles.
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg

Abner Doubleday
Abner Doubleday began the Civil War as a Union officer and aimed the first cannon shot in response to the bombardment opened on Ft. Sumter in 1861. Two years later, after a series of battles (including Antietam, where he was wounded), Doubleday took over a division in the Army of the Potomac's 1st Corps.

These are his memoirs of service in two of the War's great campaigns. At Chancellorsville, a very promising start made by General Hooker against Lee's Confederate forces fell to a defeat when, in Doubleday's estimation, normal and prudent precautions against surprise in the heavily-wooded battlefield were not carried out; he also seemingly apologizes for Hooker's lack of leadership during the battle as a result of his having been stunned by a cannon ball hitting the post against which he was leaning.

After Chancellorsville, Hooker was replaced as Army Commander by General George Meade. Doubleday describes the curious circumstances that led the two opposing armies to meet at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. When Doubleday's superior, General John Reynolds, was killed by a sharpshooter on the first day's battle, he took over the 1st Corps and fought it well against converging Confederate divisions that badly outnumbered him. The Corps was forced by battle losses to retire, but its desperate fight bought the time needed for Union reinforcements to pour into Gettysburg and thus prevent a defeat in detail.

General Howard of the XIth Corps replaced Doubleday as the senior commander on the field, and mistakenly wrote to Meade that 1st Corps had routed after practically no fighting. Thus, when Meade arrived, he removed Doubleday from command of 1st Corps, replacing him with a more junior general from another Corps. The snub would embitter Doubleday against Meade. This book is in part Doubleday's revenge, as he picks apart Meade's indecision after the battle was essentially won, with the repulse of the famous Pickett's Charge. In his view, Meade could have won the war at that moment.
American Postal Service, Second Edition

Louis Melius
The history of the postal service in the United States goes back to the colonial period, but was established more formally with the issuing of postage stamps and regular delivery. Through small vignettes, this history is traced with attention to some of the more obscure, but fascinating aspects of the postal service and related topics, as well as the major aspects of the service.
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