Author Events August 23 thru August 29

Because a Fire Was in My Head By Lynn StegnerSaturday, August 25, 2007 — 7:00 PMNorthshire Bookstore4869 Main StreetManchester Center, VT 05255802.362.3565Author appearance, reading and book signing with Amy Hempel, author of The Collected Stories. Crazy Horse (Second Edition)By Mari SandozWith an introduction by Vine Deloria Jr. Friday, August 24 – Monday, September 3, 2007Nebraska State FairHeritage VillageLincoln, NEThe Mari Sandoz historical biography, Crazy Horse:The Strange Man of the Oglalas has been selected as the featured book for the 2007 statewide celebration of One Book One Nebraska. Exhibit opens at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. For all author … Continue reading Author Events August 23 thru August 29

Cilvil War Books and Links

While perusing our newest additions to our list this month, The Mysterious Private Thompson by Laura Leedy Gansler caught my eye.   Private Thompson served during the American Civil War in The  First Battle of Bull Run, The Second Battle of Bull Run, the Peninsula Campaign, and The Battle of Fredericksburg.  She also claimed to have been a spy.  Yep, I used the right pronoun. That reminds me of a riddle I learned in a class years (let’s not say how many) ago: A man and his son were in a horrible car accident.  They were taken to the emergency room … Continue reading Cilvil War Books and Links

No Author Events August 16 thru August 22

Please visit our Author Events & Book Signings page for all events.  In other news: Soon, colors will swirl, links will re-direct you, and the University of Nebraska Press world you know and love–at least the UNP world online–will change.  For now, sit tight. Your faithful blog coordinator will be in and out for the next two weeks, but posts still will appear here and there.  To be sure and catch them when they do, subscribe to this blog’s feed. Have an idea for a theme for our Linking Fridays?  Then email me using the link to your right.  I’ll … Continue reading No Author Events August 16 thru August 22

Praise for Living Blue in the Red States

Living Blue in the Red States Edited by David Starkey “Among the contributors are novelists, poets, essayists, and literature professors, all with passion for their regions and elegance in expressing their anger, frustration, and longing to close—or at least understand—the political divide.”—Booklist “The red state/blue state divide, which has come to dominate poll projections, is not as well defined as election-eve pundits claim. . . . [David Starkey] shows that a sense of community often trumps politics, and the similarities between neighbors outnumber their differences.”—ForeWord “[R]eveals the sensitivity, openness, and respect which the best (blue or red) minds can offer. … Continue reading Praise for Living Blue in the Red States

More Praise for The Enigma Woman

The Enigma Woman by Kathleen A. Cairns “Cairns tells her story with considerable sociological and psychological acuity. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this tale is how the cut-and-dried, seemingly heartless justice system of the 1930s ultimately produced a punishment that was just and enlightened and would generally satisfy today’s more liberal attitudes toward spousal abuse and homicide.”—The Atlantic Read earlier praise for The Enigma Woman Continue reading More Praise for The Enigma Woman

DIY, Book Lovers!

I admit that I got the idea for this week’s list of links from this month’s Wired (the DIY diva Martha Stewart is on the cover), but who cares?  The issue didn’t speak about these fun projects to be found on the web!  Besides, these are some great projects to wile away one’s time under the air conditioner. I found this site on Japanese bookbinding from the DIY Happy blog. D.I.Y. Kids blog has all sorts of bookish projects. Learn how to make a book out of a paper bag at Daily DIY: Feeding the Desire to Make & Mod. … Continue reading DIY, Book Lovers!

Author Events August 9 thru August 15

Branch Rickey By Lee Lowenfish Saturday, August 11, 2007 — 9:00 AMEast Columbia Library6600 Cradlerock WayColumbia, MD 21045410.313.7700Author appearance and discussion. Tuesday, August 14, 2007Museum of the City of New York1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd StNew York, NY 10029212.534.1672 ext. 3395Author appearance, panel discussion: "The Glory Days of New York City Baseball 1947-1957 A Literary Panel and Book Signing." Reservations required. For all author events, please visit our Author Events & Book Signings page. Continue reading Author Events August 9 thru August 15

Background on JEB Stuart and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg

Jeb_stuart
by Warren C. Robinson

Why does one write a book? Each author and each book probably has its own separate answer. But, in the case of Jeb Stuart and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg I can honestly say I starting writing what ultimately became the book out of curiosity. I have been reading about the Civil War since I was given a book on it when I was about ten years old and the fascination has never faded. And one reason for this was that the authors and sources themselves disagreed on some important points and the innocent non-specialist was left puzzled. So, you had to become a "specialist"—that is, read everything you could find and go as far back as possible in the original source material—to decide what you thought about a given issue.

Gettysburg has always been of particular interest because I lived in Pennsylvania for many years, while I was teaching economics at Penn State, and visited the battlefield many times. JEB Stuart comes into view because my father’s family was from Virginia and JEB Stuart was his special hero.

Thus, Gettysburg and JEB Stuart came together in my reading and musing about the war and that battle in particular. I started reading the old sources again and some new ones and then, like the academic that I was (am), making notes to myself as I went along. Pretty soon I had a paper, some thirty pages long,         

Continue reading “Background on JEB Stuart and the Confederate Defeat at Gettysburg”