Book picks similar to
Virginia Plantation Homes by David King Gleason


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We Lived in a Little Cabin in the Yard: Personal Accounts of Slavery in Virginia


Belinda Hurmence - 1994
    Those ex-slaves were in their declining years by the time of the Great Depression, but Elizabeth Sparks, Elige Davison, and others like them nonetheless provided a priceless record of life under the yoke: where slaves lived, how they were treated, what they ate, how they worked, how they adjusted to freedom. Here, Belinda Hurmence presents the interviews of 21 former Virginia slaves. This is a companion volume to Hurmence's popular collections of North Carolina and South Carolina slave narratives, My Folks Don't Want Me to Talk About Slaveryand Before Freedom, When I Just Can Remember.

The Day the Music Died: The Last Tour of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens


Larry Lehmer - 1997
    Drawing on new documentary information, the author recreates the often grueling conditions of an early rock and roll tour, and provides new facts about "the day the music died." With 50 photos.

Ten Restaurants That Changed America


Paul Freedman - 2016
    Whether charting the rise of our love affair with Chinese food through San Francisco’s fabled The Mandarin, evoking the richness of Italian food through Mamma Leone’s, or chronicling the rise and fall of French haute cuisine through Henri Soulé’s Le Pavillon, food historian Paul Freedman uses each restaurant to tell a wider story of race and class, immigration and assimilation. Freedman also treats us to a scintillating history of the then-revolutionary Schrafft’s, a chain of convivial lunch spots that catered to women, and that bygone favorite, Howard Johnson’s, which pioneered midcentury, on-the-road dining, only to be swept aside by McDonald's. Lavishly designed with more than 100 photographs and images, including original menus, Ten Restaurants That Changed America is a significant and highly entertaining social history.

The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design


Roman Mars - 2020
    The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.Now, in The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to Hidden World of Everyday Design, host Roman Mars and coauthor Kurt Kohlstedt zoom in on the various elements that make our cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. With deeply researched entries and beautiful line drawings throughout, The 99% Invisible City will captivate devoted fans of the show and anyone curious about design, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.

I Promise I Won't Kill You: A Hitchhiking Adventure


Nate Damm - 2014
    The people who chose to give him a lift along the way proved to be every bit as interesting and strange as he had hoped they would, sharing their stories, unique nuggets of wisdom, and heartfelt thoughts on life as they shared their passenger seats. Along the way, Nate experienced extreme boredom, run-ins with the law, drunk drivers, handsy truckers, and more, finding the spirit of America and coming to some important personal realizations in the process.

The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House Between the Wars


Adrian Tinniswood - 2015
    And there has never been a summer quite like that Indian summer between the two world wars, a period of gentle decline in which the sun set slowly on the British Empire and the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes.Real life in the country house during the 1920s and 1930s was not always so sunny. By turns opulent and ordinary, noble and vicious, its shadows were darker. In The Long Weekend, Adrian Tinniswood uncovers the truth about a world half-forgotten, draped in myth and hidden behind stiff upper lips and film-star smiles. Drawing on hundreds of memoirs, on unpublished letters and diaries, on the eye-witness testimonies of belted earls and unhappy heiresses and bullying butlers, The Long Weekend gives a voice to the people who inhabited this world. In a definitive social history which combines anecdote and narrative with scholarship, it brings the stately homes of England to life, giving readers an insight into the guilt and the gingerbread, and showing how the image of the country house was carefully protected by its occupants above and below stairs, and how the reality was so much more interesting than the dream.

Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places


Leeana Tankersley - 2009
    After a whirlwind courtship, a move across the world, and the unexpectedly difficult re-entry from a year overseas, Leeana finds her life (and her soul) has been changed forever.With an artist’s eye, Tankersley uses each chapter to piece together moments and memories from her journey—a handwritten note from Kuwait, a braid of fringe from a Persian rug, an original poem, a bit of basting thread, a swatch of black silk from a borrowed abaya, a mesquite leaf, a Navy SEAL trident, a receipt from the Russian-Georgian restaurant on Louisiana Street—to create a work of unexpected beauty.Found art emerges … a literary collage created from salvaged stories of loss, hope, and belief that just might change your soul, too.

New York Then and Now (Compact)


Marcia Reiss - 2006
    Today, it is America's densest urban environment and most vital city, boasting one of the most recognizable skylines in the world.• New York Then and Now places today's post 9/11 cityscape within the context of history, reflecting the changing and enduring aspects of life in the Big Apple.• Remarkable past-and-present photographs showcase Manhattan's development and the amazing architecture that defines the city. See side-by-side images of the lavish Waldorf-Astoria, Radio City Music Hall, Union Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Penn Station, Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.• The Twin Towers, part of the World Trade Center, redefined the Manhattan skyline when they opened in 1976. After the tragedies of 9/11, the skyline is defined as much by their absence.• New York continues to be one of the most popular destinations in the world-everyone who has experienced the energy and magic of the Big Apple will want this compact edition of New York Then and Now. It's the perfect souvenir or gift!

Cabin Porn: Inspiration for Your Quiet Place Somewhere


Zach Klein - 2015
    As the collection grew, the site attracted a following, which is now a huge and obsessive audience.The site features photos of the most remarkable handmade homes in the backcountry of America and all over the world. It has had over 10 million unique visitors, with 350,000 followers on Tumblr. Now Zach Klein, the creator of the site (and a co-founder of Vimeo) goes further into the most alluring images from the site and new getaways, including more interior photography and how-to advice for setting up a quiet place somewhere. With their idyllic settings, unique architecture and cozy interiors, the Cabin Porn photographs, are an invitation to slow down, take a deep breath, and feel the beauty and serenity that nature and simple construction can create.

An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake


Tom Horton - 1996
    They are exquisitely attuned to the habits of blue crab, oyster, and waterfowl. And they know that on any given day their lives literally depend on which way the wind is blowing.Tom Horton spent three years living among Smith Island's watermen and their families and has emerged with this marvelously intimate portrait of a deeply traditional community and its vanishing way of life. Whether he is following the crab harvest or attending a service at the local church, eavesdropping on bawdy kitchen-table gossip or chronicling the islanders' disputes with seafood inspectors, Horton tells his stories with wonderful specificity even as he considers what they can teach us about living within nature and at a healthy distance from the rest of the world.

Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love


David Talbot - 2012
    Season of the Witch is the first book to fully capture the dark magic of San Francisco in this breathtaking period, when the city radically changed itself & then revolutionized the world. The cool gray city of love was the epicenter of the 60s cultural revolution. But by the early 70s, San Francisco’s ecstatic experiment came crashing down from its starry heights. The city was rocked by savage murder sprees, mysterious terror campaigns, political assassinations, street riots & finally a terrifying sexual epidemic. No other city endured so many calamities in such a short time span. Talbot goes deep into the riveting story of his city’s ascent, decline & heroic recovery. He draws intimate portraits of San Francisco’s legendary demons & saviors: Charles Manson, Patty Hearst & the Symbionese Liberation Army, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bill Graham, Herb Caen, the Cockettes, Harvey Milk, Jim Jones & the Peoples Temple, Joe Montana & the Super Bowl 49ers. He reveals how the city emerged from the trials of this period with a new brand of “San Francisco values,” including gay marriage, medical marijuana, immigration sanctuary, universal health care, recycling, renewable energy, consumer safety & a living wage mandate. Considered radical when they were first introduced, these ideas have become the bedrock of decent society in many parts of the country & exemplify the ways that the city now inspires a live-and-let-live tolerance, a shared sense of humanity & an openness to change. As a new generation of activists & dreamers seeks its own path to a more enlightened future, Season of the Witch—with its epic tale of the wild & bloody birth of San Francisco values—offers both inspiration & cautionary wisdom.

Museum Without Walls


Jonathan Meades - 2012
    Places" Jonathan Meades has an obsessive preoccupation with places. He has spent thirty years constructing sixty films, two novels and hundreds of pieces of journalism that explore an extraordinary range of them, from natural landscapes to man-made buildings and 'the gaps between them', drawing attention to what he calls 'the rich oddness of what we take for granted'. This book collects 54 pieces and six film scripts that dissolve the barriers between high and low culture, good and bad taste, deep seriousness and black comedy. Meades delivers 'heavy entertainment' - strong opinions backed up by an astonishing depth of knowledge. To read Meades on places, buildings, politics, or cultural history is an exhilarating workout for the mind. He leaves you better informed, more alert, less gullible. "Everything is fantastical if you stare at it for long enough. Everything is interesting."

Discover Peru (Lonely Planet Discover)


Carolina A. Miranda - 2011
    Take in the spectacle of Machu Picchu at sunrise, treat your taste buds to Lima's famous ceviche, or try to solve the mystery of the Nazca Lines; all with your trusted travel companion. Discover the best of Peru and begin your journey now!Inside Lonely Planet Discover Peru: Full-color maps and images throughoutHighlights and itineraries show you the simplest way to tailor your trip to your own personal needs and interestsInsider tips save you time and money and help you get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spotsEssential info at your fingertips - including hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, and pricesHonest reviews for all budgets - including eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, and hidden gems that most guidebooks missCultural insights give you a richer and more rewarding travel experience - including customs, history, art, literature, music, landscapes, outdoor activities, wildlife, food, drink, and moreOver 50 color local mapsUseful features - including Walking Tours, Month-by-Month (annual festival calendar), and Travel with KidsCoverage of Iquitos, the Amazon, Huaraz, Trujillo, the North, Cuzco, Machu Picchu, Lima, Lake Titicaca, Nazca, Arequipa, the South, and moreThe Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Discover Peru, our easy-to-use guide, is perfect for travelers who seek the most popular attractions a destination has to offer. Filled with inspiring and colorful photos, this guide focuses on the best of the best.Looking for a comprehensive guide that recommends a wide range of experiences, both popular and offbeat, and extensively covers all the country has to offer? Check out Lonely Planet's Peru guide. Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Carolina A Miranda, Carolyn McCarthy, Kevin Raub, Brendan Sainsbury, and Luke Waterson.About Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveler community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travelers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places they find themselves in.TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards 2012 and 2013 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia)

Wildboy


Brando Yelavich - 2015
    He needed a mission. He was going to walk around New Zealand.Brando reached Cape Reinga on 23 August 2014 after a gruelling journey of over 8000 kilometres, traversed almost completely on foot over 600 days – the first time it had ever been done.It was an outlandish odyssey of physical and mental fortitude. He slept under the stars and lived off the land. He almost drowned on several occasions and experienced near-hypothermia. He gained 20 kilograms. But the transformation ran much deeper.As much for fans of Bear Grylls or Cheryl Strayed's Wild as it is for those of the off-the-grid outdoors Kiwi experience, Wildboy is a ripping adventure story with an inspiring life change at its heart.

Welcome to Utopia: Notes from a Small Town


Karen Valby - 2010
    But Karen Valby discovered the tiny town of Utopia tucked away in the Texas Hill Country. There are no movie theaters for sixty miles in any direction, no book or music stores. But cable television and the Internet have recently thrown wide the doors of Utopia.  Valby follows the lives of four Utopians—Ralph, the retired owner of the general store; Kathy, the waitress who waits in terror for three of her boys to return from war; Colter, the son of a cowboy with the soul of a hipster; and Kelli, an aspiring rock star and one of the only black people in town—as they reckon, on an intensely human scale, with war and race, class and culture, and the way time’s passage can change the ground beneath our feet.  Utopia is the kind of place we still think of as the “real America,” a place of cowboys and farmers and high-school sweethearts who stay together till they die. But its dramatic stories show us what happens when the old tensions of small-town life confront a new reality: that no town, no matter how small and isolated, can escape the liberating and disruptive forces of the larger world.  Welcome to Utopia is a moving elegy for a proud American way of life and a celebration of our relentless impulse toward rebirth.