Local History

For over three hundred years some of the world's most famous admirals, explorers, buccaneers, and aristocrats captained ships and luxury yachts whose sails were made from the exceptional Coker Canvas. This book explores the history of sailmaking in East Coker and how this global 'brand' impacted the local area.

"Born in Hong Kong, Bernie Wong moved to the United States in the early 1960s to attend college. A decade later, she cofounded the Chinese American Service League (CASL) to help meet the needs of the city's isolated Chinese immigrants. Susan Blumberg-Kason draws on extensive interviews to profile the community and social justice organization. Weaving Wong's intimate account of her own life story through the CASL's larger history, Blumberg-Kason follows the group from its origins to its emergence as a robust social network that connects Chinatown residents to everything from daycare to immigration services to culinary education. Blumberg-Kason also traces CASL activism on issues like fair housing and violence against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. At once intimate and broad in scope, When Friends Come from Afar uses one woman's life to illuminate a bedrock Chicago institution."--

A coming-of-age memoir of life on the front lines of the AIDS crisis with ACT UP New York.From the moment Ron Goldberg stumbled into his first ACT UP meeting in June 1987, the AIDS activist organization became his life. For the next eight years, he chaired committees, planned protests, led teach-ins, and facilitated their Monday night meetings. He cruised and celebrated at ACT UP parties, attended far too many AIDS memorials, and participated in more than a hundred zaps and demonstrations, becoming the group's unofficial "e;Chant Queen,"e; writing and leading chants for many of their major actions. Boy with the Bullhorn is both a memoir and an immersive history of the original New York chapter of ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, from 1987 to 1995, told with great humor, heart, and insight.Using the author's own story, "e;the activist education of a well-intentioned, if somewhat nave nice gay Jewish theater queen,"e; Boy with the Bullhorn intertwines Goldberg's experiences with the larger chronological history of ACT UP, the grassroots AIDS activist organization that confronted politicians, scientists, drug companies, religious leaders, the media, and an often uncaring public to successfully change the course of the AIDS epidemic.Diligently sourced and researched, Boy with the Bullhorn provides both an intimate look into how activist strategies are developed and deployed and a snapshot of life in New York City during the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic. On the occasions where Goldberg writes outside his personal experience, he relies on his extensive archive of original ACT UP documents, news articles, and other published material, as well as activist videos and oral histories, to help flesh out actions, events, and the background stories of key activists. Writing with great candor, Goldberg examines the group's triumphs and failures, as well as the pressures and bad behaviors that eventually tore ACT UP apart.A story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, from engaging in outrageous, media-savvy demonstrations, to navigating the intricacies of drug research and the byzantine bureaucracies of the FDA, NIH, and CDC, Boy with the Bullhorn captures the passion, smarts, and evanescent spirit of ACT UP-the anger, grief, and desperation, but also the joy, camaraderie, and sexy, campy playfulness-and the exhilarating adrenaline rush of activism.

The year 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of final demobilisation of the Women's Land Army in 1950. The employment of over 200,000 land girls on British farms, replacing male farm labourers who joined the armed forces, contributed to the nation's ultimate successes in both the world wars. WLA was, though, regarded as the 'Cinderella' service, receiving far less appreciation than other wartime organisations. Land girls received lower pay, were billeted away from home, had hard physical work to perform, suffered harsh winter weather, and often had inadequate clothing. Hampshire's contributions were substantial; it might have been the first county to embrace the need for women farm workers, to have more members per head of population, Sparsholt College devoted almost its entire curriculum to training women and girls for employment on British farms, and both First World War ministers of Agriculture came from the county.

A collection of fascinating, surprising and intriguing facts and stories about Hertfordshire

The Story of Bradford traces the city's history from earliest times to the present, concluding with comments on the issues, challenges and opportunities that the 21st century will present.

A collection of traditional folk tales, including history, folklore and nature observations about the coasts and seas of Ireland

This book illuminates the history of one of Manchester's most influential families. Charting the lives of Henry, Emily, Ernest and Shena Simon, it demonstrates their significance through tracing their work in engineering innovation, enriching Manchester's civic culture, and in shaping local government, housing and education. -- .

A history of Bury St Edmunds

Publishing to coincide with St Patrick's Day, we arrive in Dublin with the next installment in the Literary Landscapesseries.Take a photographic stroll around the bookshops, famous literary locations and authors' watering holes of Dublin's top tourist destinations.

This fascinating history of the village of Wallington in Hampshire will be of interest to all those who have lived in the village or know it well.

Explore the East London district of Whitechapel in this fully illustrated A-Z guide to its history, people and places.

Explore the West London towns of Kew and Brentford in this fully illustrated A-Z guide to their history, people and places.

An accessible history of Taunton from its beginnings to the present day highlighting the town's significant events and people

R.G. Moyles and Doug Owram explore the British idea of Canada in the heyday of empire. They discover close links between the romantic images and the British ideal of imperialism, the dream of a vast empire steeped in British tradition and Christian values.

This book treats on a board canvas one vital aspect of the German Problem in 1919: the redistribution, through territorial change, of the elements of power between Germany and the victors.

An insider's spirited history of Yale Repertory Theatre   In this serious and entertaining chronicle of the first fifty years of Yale Repertory Theatre, award-winning dramaturg James Magruder shows how dozens of theater artists have played their parts in the evolution of a sterling American institution. Each of its four chapters is dedicated to one of the Yale Rep's artistic directors to date: Robert Brustein, Lloyd Richards, Stan Wojewodski Jr., and James Bundy. Numerous sidebars-dedicated to the spaces used by the theater, the playwrights produced most often, casting, the prop shop, the costume shop, artist housing, and other topics-enliven the lavishly illustrated four-color text. This fascinating insider account, full of indelible descriptions of crucial moments in the Rep's history, is based in part on interviews with some of America's most respected actors about their experiences at the Rep, including Paul Giamatti, James Earl Jones, Frances McDormand, Meryl Streep, Courtney B. Vance, Dianne Wiest, and Henry Winkler-among many others.   More than just a valentine to an important American theater, The Play's the Thing is a story about institution-building and the force of personality; about the tug-of-war between vision and realpolitik; and about the continuous negotiation between educational needs and artistic demands.

For 15 years, from 1970 until 1985, Lancaster was one of the great centres for live rock music in the world. This superb book tells the full story of this unbelievable period, giving details of the performers and the shows, and revealing what went on backstage.

A whirlwind journey exploring the Gloucester streets that inspired the characters of Scrooge and Long John Silver, the countryside that gave us Gustav Holst's finest work and the locations where the jet engine, the vacuum cleaner and instant custard were invented.

A collection of twenty-two essays about the people and events that have largely been neglected by historians but are part of Kent's rich tapestry featuring the eccentric, bizarre and outrageous people who have lived and passed through the garden of England. This book concentrates on the strange tales surrounding these extraordinary people.

The next instalment of the Norwich City quiz book that will test your knowledge of the Canaries to its limit!

A detailed historical celebration of village halls, and the crucial role they play in rural communities.

The fascinating region of the Black Country is one of the most interesting areas in Britain. Here is a collection of strange tales and local legends from the region.

Secret Stroud explores the lesser-known history of the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.