Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is still more than a month away, but we’re already celebrating. Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. Honest Abe turns 200 this February 12, which is certainly a milestone worth celebrating. In addition, Lincoln, Nebraska, is the home of the University of Nebraska Press, and we thought it would be nice to honor our community's namesake. Today through February 28, all Abraham Lincoln titles are on 25 percent off – including The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln: Six Months at the White House. Author F. B. Carpenter was a painter who struck up a friendship with … Continue reading Happy (early) birthday, Abraham Lincoln!

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press: West Virginia Politics and Government, second edition. West Virginia Politics and Government offers the only recent study of politics in the Mountain State. Combining new empirical information about political behavior with a close examination of the capacity of the state’s government, this second edition is a comprehensive and pointed study of the ability of the state’s government to respond to the needs of a largely rural and relatively low-income population. The book also examines the nature of the state’s constitution and the role of governmental institutions, including the state legislature, the … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: January 15, 2009

During his lifetime, Wyatt Earp wore many hats: buffalo hunter, bodyguard, detective, bounty hunter, gambler, boxing referee, prospector, saloon keeper, Dodge City lawman, and, most notably, participant in the famed 1881 shootout at O.K. Corral. Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends, new this month from the University of Nebraska Press, explains how Earp lived a life (at times embellished) that became the stuff movies are made of.  And in fact, a movie was made about Earp in 1994. And Earp had a link to Hollywood long before that movie was made. In his later years, Earp lived in Los … Continue reading Tuesday Trivia: January 13, 2009

Today’s Lincoln Journal Star features a story about Paul Swan, a dancer known for as much for his physical beauty as for his talent. Swan was also the subject of a 2006 biography, The Most Beautiful Man in the World: Paul Swan, from Wilde to Warhol, written by Janis and Richard Londraville and published by the University of Nebraska Press. In addition to being a dancer, Swan was a gifted artist who painted portraits of Willa Cather, Charles Lindbergh and Benito Mussolini, among others. In 1922, he painted a portrait of a woman believed to have been his lover. But the … Continue reading The Most Beautiful Man in the World

The first full week in January is always the official week of buckling down, returning to pre-holiday routines and hunkering down for another few months of winter (let’s hope we don’t see a return to the sub-zero temps we had here in Nebraska in the weeks before the holidays). January may not be as crazy as December, but over the years many important events have still happened this month. Let’s take a look, shall we? January 5, 1972 – President Richard Nixon orders the development of an organized space shuttle program. Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story, by David Hitt, Owen … Continue reading This Week in History: January 5-9, 2009

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press:Narrative Beginnings: Theories and Practices, edited by Brian Richardson. This is a book about beginnings, an appropriate topic as we begin a new year. But specifically, Narrative Beginnings is about the beginnings of stories – sometimes descriptions of people or places, sometimes interruptions of actions, sometimes bold, unforgettable statements that stick with a reader long after he or she has finished the book. Yet for as powerful as beginnings can often be, they’re a little-studied topic. In Narrative Beginnings, sixteen essays shed some light on this important element of any story. This … Continue reading Linking in Lincoln: January 8, 2009