Rhode Island Books

I read Sue Molhan's book about the murder of her son with my heart in my throat for the pain and anguish she has gone through. And the pain reaches out past her own personal heart to the hearts of all mothers who have suffered the loss of a child to such an incredibly unbelievable act as is contained in the word "murder" All of us should read this book to put our own thoughts in perspective. What ARE we thinking? For it is our thinking that is shaping our world. From the thought that it might be acceptable to murder someone for a $25.00 watch. From the thought that justice should be left in the hands of politicians. From the thought that murder is just another occurrence in our society. TO the thought of compassion for each and everyone of us. Thank you, Sue, for sharing your heart. And for being there for my daughter.

While Olive says she is not a gardener, her experiences show otherwise. She tackles each project with gusto, learning(and teaching others in the process!) as she goes about beautifying her corner of the world. It is interesting and fun watching as she solves each problem and ends with new knowledge and satisfaction. She inspires me to do more.

This book covers all of the most famous homes, I would not say that it is comprehensive, but it does a very credible job of discussing the best homes. The photographs are well conceived and the text, though not indepth, is informative. If you are someone interested in the most famous mansions of Newport and appreciate quality photography then I believe you will be pleased with this book, if you are however, looking for an indepth guide to the all of the mansions, then you may want to wait on that book, which unfortunitly, as far as I can tell, has not been written.

I purchased this book at the Newport Historical Society on a recent daytrip. If you are interested in the mansions, this book describes the interior, exterior, occupants, and how they were built. The photography is amazing, and allows you to take a closer look than the tours. If you've ever been in the breakers, the famous Vanderbilt home, it's too overwhelming to take it all in as you're inside, and the book is a helpful resource. I wish it covered some of the mansions not perserved by the socitety, but I suppose since some on Bellevue are still family homes (!!) this would explain some obvious exclusions.

Newport (now called Avondale) was founded in 1760 by a group of New Englanders moving in after the Arcadians were forced out. This book details many generations of those (20+) families, with references to additional resources. There is also a long section on the town itself, which is very interesting, in and of itself. If you have any family in the area, they will be found in this book. Before the internet, this was the only source for this data. Given the sheer volume of data, the number of corrections to what Duncanson published is minor in deed. Good work, John, we'll miss you.

This book is for anyone interested in the sea and the maritime history of Rhode Island, New England or the United States for that matter. It is a must-have for serious scholars of the age of sail and for armchair sailors alike as it examines the exciting and sometimes scandalous past. As Donald D. Breed wrote in the Providence Journal 2/13), "Do not look for this book on the coffee tables of many of Rhode Island's first families. On the one hand it is a scholarly almost dry history of a great many extended voyages by Rhode Island mariners. But it is also an expose of the nefarious activities of those seagoing men: piracy, the slave trade, running opium. To read it is to gain a new appreciation of why the colony was known as 'Rogue's Island.'... This is a hard book to put down, the subject matter is so gripping."

I bought this for my parents as they had recently moved from California to Conn. They love this book as it has allowed them to find some great bedroom communities nearby.
A true review would be from someone who knows the area, but for outsiders this was a great purchase.

This is a good book, broken up by geographic region, to some of the popular and the less-well-known Rhode Island haunts. Most of this stuff stands the test of time, so it doesn't get outdated too fast. While some quirky stores and restaurants are mentioned, the focus is really on attractions like bridges, parks, forts, museums, gardens, and other attractions.

Murphy recounts the Newport, R.I. "scandal" of World War I. The real scandal, of course, is not the fact that gay sailors were having sex but that the U.S. Navy entrapped military personnel and civilians with a series of investigatory abuses. Then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt played a key role in this witchunt - - one of the earliest documented examples of organized Navy homophobia.

It is a truly extraordinary transformation. Thirty years ago if you were brave enough to walk around downtown Providence, Rhode Island after dark it was quite concievable that you would not encounter another human being. It was really a dreary place. And if you did happen to run into someone there was a pretty fair chance that the person was up to no good and your own personal safety may have been in jeopardy. It was not a pretty picture. So just what happened in those intervening three decades to transform Providence into one of the hottest and most admired cities in the nation? "Providence: The Renaissance City" attempts to tell that story.
Author Francis J. Leazes Jr. is a professor of Political Science and Public Administration at Rhode Island College. His co-author Mark Motte is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Geography at the same school. The authors have attempted to piece together the remarkable story that is the Providence renaissance. It is a complicated story revolving around a number of key players from varied backgrounds. The truth is that the transformation of Providence could never have taken place without the commitment of powerful political leaders at all levels of government, determined civil servants, a tireless and engaged elite who truly loved their city and entrepreneurs who became convinced that investing in Providence at that moment was the wise thing to do. The story of Providence is also about vision and being willing to make adjustments and seize opportunities as they became available. You will come to understand why certain projects like the Providence Place Mall, Waterplace Park and the relocation of the railroad tracks came to fruition while other projects seemed to stall or fail altogether. There is certainly a lot to be learned from the experiences in Providence.
While I certainly enjoyed reading "Providence: The Renaissance City" I would probably not recommend it for general audiences.
The book is more a case study and as such would be appropriate reading for anyone involved in urban planning or certainly for students interested in the future of our cities. Readers who live in the area and who are familiar with many of the places and the players would also find this to be a worthwhile read. I particularly enjoyed the "before" and "after" photos of the city. Again, the changes that have been made are stunning. All in all, a very worthwhile project and I congratulate the authors for a book that will be a fixture in local libraries for decades to come.