Pennsylvania Books

Good book about something my US history teacher failed to mention or did not dwell on. This book is a must buy for those interested in the founding of this country,and a historical perspective of tax and monetary policy.

Richards' book on the Shays's Rebellion (or the "Regulation", as the rebels referred to it) is absolutely first rate. Six stars!

During the course of other research in the Massachusetts state archives, Richards came across a list of 4000 people who, upon participating in and losing the Shays Rebellion, had signed an oath of loyalty to the state of Massachusetts in order to be given clemency. Apparently, this list was in barely legible handwriting and had never been translated. The amazing breakthrough came when Richards decided to take this list, decipher the names, and find out who all the participants were, person by person. What he produces is a tremendously revealing and much more accurate account of the rebellion.

Through what must have been months of painstaking, dogged research Richards attempts to prove that we, today, have many misconceptions about the rebellion. Particularly, Richards makes a point that the rebels were more upset by very understandable abuses by the Boston-centered Massachusetts state government than by poverty. He also shows that the most important factor in recruiting rebels was their clan association. People joined almost exclusively as part of a clan, and this explains why some towns had widespread participation and others had minimal. He does a great job of fleshing out who the leaders and opponents were. A true local history project.

Richards also does a nice job of relating how the rebellion fit in with the national movement to form a stronger union among the states. This occurred in Philadelphia the next year at the Constitutional Convention. The rebellion played a very important part in our history that many today do not fully appreciate, and Richards does a fantastic job of putting it all together.

Last, three things. One, after reading this book I have a much better understanding of why the rural parts of the new nation feared Hamilton and his drive to strengthen Federal control. I also have a much better understanding for Hamilton's genius. You will, too. Two, I think it helps tremendously that Richards himself is a history professor based in Amherst, Massachusetts, in the heart of Shays country. You get the feeling that telling this story accurately is a labor of love for Richards, close to his heart. And three, apparently the possessive form of Shays in all the places I've seen it written is spelled "Shays's". That's right, "s's". It seems wrong, but that's how professor Richards and everyone else spell it. Go figure.

Do you hold dear, the Constitution of the United States? If you do, then you can thank the farmers involved in the Shay's Rebellion. This pivotal piece of early American history has been revisited by Professor Leonard L. Richards of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, in his book SHAY'S REBELLION: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONS FINAL BATTLE, and has brilliantly clarified some of the misconceptions revolving around the event, particularly its cause.

In previous popular belief, it has been widely held that the farmers revolted due to their being dragged into a global market, which forced them into debt. This rather simplistic view misses many crucial elements, to which Dr. Richards superbly lends enlightment. The principle causes ran much deeper than that. Primarily, the farmers were being overtaxed and forced to pay creditors at the benefit of Revolutionary War bondholders, who were typically, either members of the Massachusetts Legislature or closely related to someone who was.

Ultimately, their revolt ended up helping in the ratification of the Constitution that we enjoy today. Richard's book also gives a slant contrary to popular thought, that the farmers of the Shay's Rebellion did in fact gain victory. Though they opposed the Constitution and their rebellion was squashed, it did result in substantial tax relief from the legislature.

I was also delighted to find a cameo appearance in the book of Mumbet, aka Elizabeth Freeman, the slave who sued for her freedom. Upon the outcome of her successful lawsuit, all slaves in Massachusetts were emancipated. Her story appears in Richard's book for her part in protecting from the Regulators, the valuables of Theodore Sedgwick, for whom she worked and had also served as her legal counsel.

At just over 200 pages, this is a quick and easy read, with no fluff added to fill more pages. Richard's writes succinctly and has done a brilliant job of shedding new light on the Shay's Rebellion.

Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com

The revolutionary war was won leaving America the victory and states burdened with the debt to pay for the war. War notes were issued by each state to pay military men for their service. Most of these men were farmers. Because legal tender was scarce, the men exchanged their notes for hard currency with speculators willing to pay cents on the dollar. In Massachusetts, these speculators were Boston merchants; merchants, who maintained a significant influence on the political machinery and helped, formulate tax policy requiring the citizen to pay tax money used to shed state debt and interesting the notes would be paid back at original issued value.

In 1780, the notes debt were consolidated and 6 percent bonds secured against the debt and L265,000 paid to make good on the interest with the state making four installment payments. Consolidation worked to the advantage of the Boston merchants capitalized on incredible buying leverage gaining 1/40 depreciation value of the note, it was a bonanza for the speculators.

One possibility explaining Shay's rebellion was the rebels were protest unfair tax policy. When the legislature decided to pay the original value of the note rather than the purchase price, the people of Massachusetts insisted they only receive the purchase value of the note. This cry went unheard as the state earmarked L1,250,000 for the holder, L270,000 for the holders of the original note; 80 percent of the state debt made it into the hands of the speculators, who were gambling on the future; 35 men held 40 percent of the state debt; the future did not look bleak because the new tax system benefited the speculators, by 1786 the increased tax burden impacted the farmer five to six times the preexisting tax burden providing the state a property tax and a poll tax on all male 16 year olds.

The farmers wanted the state to provide more money for debt relief: the back country was in bad shape, creditors wanted the farmers to pay their debts with hard currency; the court systems had numerous layers and fees and the people felt that it needed restructuring and additionally they wanted the state constitution to be revised or a new constitution formed; the people questioned why there was a state senate claiming the existing senate was a bastion for the privileged of Boston and the political machinery being influence by the merchants to pay back the war debt.

What were the laws of debt? The confession act of 1782 required debtors to go before a justice of the peace and acknowledge their debt and avoid court costs and 790 men made 4,000 confessions. In 1654, an outgrowth of the English Common law, Debtors could be arrested for debt: 1. confined to reveal hidden debt or force relatives to pay the debt 2. Seizure of the debtor's property 3. or liquidation at "auction" price rather than fair market value to generate hard currency. The creditor paid for the debtor's jail time.

Farmers owning money got the screws as they were harassed by creditors for immediate payment of their debt. A chain of debt prevailed with almost everyone owning debt of one sort. Farmers did not expect to pay in full their debt immediately. Boston Merchants pressed for local merchants to pay. The reason for the panic was result of England closing their West Indies trade. Now, wholesalers had no way to trade out their debt. Wholesalers imported English goods and sold these goods to local merchants extending an immense credit. In 1787, the wholesalers sued the back country, who sued the farmers. In 1786, Connecticut creditor filed 60,000 suites. 1/3 of the men in court were involved in a credit dispute and 20 percent of the tax payers were taken to court. The credit pressure caused a revolt to revise or redo the state constitution and restore the republic.

Farmers were facing new taxes; notes IOUs for service that could not be used as collateral to buy land, pay debts, or be used as currency; shortages of legal tender; and a government restructuring. The state constitution was in question, the people was to abolish the upper house of the state legislature and revise the lower house to force re election of government officials each year and the lower house to set the salaries. Included in the people's demands were the abolishment of the "Court of Common Pleas" and the "General Session of Peace".

Shay's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle by Leonard L. Richards (Professor of History, University of Massachusetts) provides a detailed and scholarly look at the farmer's revolt in 1786-87 that drew General George Washington out of retirement, and ultimately forced the Articles of Confederation of a fledgling nation to be scrapped in exchange for what was to become the American Constitution. A meticulous, thoroughly researched, deftly written study of a pivotal point in American political and military history, Shays's Rebellion is very highly recommended reading for students and scholars of American History.

I am an avid western reader, (L'amour, Will Henry, Zane Grey, Frank Bonham) and this book is a "Must Read" for anyone that likes western novels!! I thoroughly have enjoyed Six Notch Road!! A great story!! Can't wait for the other 2 books!!

This book has a unique plot line and is a good read even for those who do not like the Western genru. I have checked the factual setting and find that the writer does a fine job of being historically accurate. I would recommend this book to all who love Western fiction and those who simply enjoy a good, well told story. Malcolm

Mr. Santee transported me to the actual place and time of this great adventure. I was spellbound for two straight days. The only thing that could have possibly made it better... is to have been sitting around a campfire listening to Mr. Santee tell the story in person. Keep up the great writing. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the other two books.

This is without a doubt the best book I have ever read.I couldnt put it down.The writer is very good.Hope the other two will be out real soon.Just cant wait to read them.Please tell the author to hurry,hurry.A fan in waiting.....

This is a great book ! I'm not a western fan but it was suggested I read this book -- I could hardly put it down ! My girlfriend read it & had the same reaction---she read it in one sitting! The scenery descriptions & insights into the lives of the miners, coal & gold, were beautifully written. The emotional feelings of the characters were powerfully portrayed ------ I feel like I personally know each & every one of them & am anxious for the sequels----HURRY UP Mr. Santee !! What happens next? P.S. ( work on the punctuation )

This is a story that needed to be told. Ms Boogio's writing style makes you feel like you are sitting around the kitchen table sharing her life. A family's life who's outcome was determined by our very own government's greed. Many Kudos to Jean Boggio!

Stolen Fields was a book that caught my attention and kept it throughout the whole story. It contained historical facts which I was not aware of and also many personal elements about the Cole family that were not presented in a long, drawnout manner. Personal history can sometimes be very boring.

Jean Boggio has a very delightful style of writing that is easy to follow and kept my attention. It also left me wanting to know more about the Island and the Cole family.

For 22 years I looked out my living room window at Neville Island. I also traveled over Neville Island to go to work and took my children to the roller skating rink there. I had no idea that its history included farming and being the "breadbasket" of Pittsburgh. I just knew its industrial side.

The Cole family's history should be included in Allegheny County's history. I am going to do some research into that. There are many elements of the family that fascinated me. I felt their sorrow and anger when they had to move off the Island and start anew in a different place and environment. To me, the grandchildren sound like strong survivors and who have overcome any impediments that had put before them, either from family members or society. Congratulations to them and best wishes for a strong happy future!
I hope that Jean will continue writing. I would enjoy reading more of her work in the future. She will probably be a good novelist, also.
Jean,good luck with this book and any that you may write in the future.

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (4/08)

"Stolen Fields" is a story of the American Dream gone wrong. It is a story of hatred, bitterness, ambition, and greed. It is also a story of "What If" and "If only." What if eminent domain had not taken the Cole property? If only Grandfather Cole had been able to build his prosperous ventures?

Jean tells of growing up as a descendant of the strong-willed and vibrant Cole family. In the first few chapters she gives the reader a glimpse into the historic heritage and of the hard working Coles and the economic success of the fertile farm on Neville Island near Pittsburg. The Cole farm on Neville Island was known as "The Market Basket of Pittsburgh."

Jean Boggio consistently and fairly shared two sides of a story. I felt bonded to the family as I listened as Jean shared lighthearted gossip through the stories handed down from one generation to the next, fairly reporting on two completely different perspectives of the perceived facts.

During the years of 1918 and 1919 toward the end of WWI, the United States government came up with a plan to rival the German Krupps Works that provided munitions for the German juggernaut. Neville Island was selected to be the site for the project. The government officials invoked the process of eminent domain to seize the property for public use. The project had only begun when the Armistice was signed. The government no longer needed the land. It was put it up for public auction.

The Cole family, distraught by loss of the home that had been in the family for over a hundred years, held out in an attempt to negotiate a fair market price. After a great deal of harassment and the fear of arson they were forced to accept the government-determined price.

Family accounts, newspaper research, and historical sources, as well as her own memories provided Jean Boggio with the material for this remarkable account of the Cole's of Neville Island and the impact of eminent domain on the dreams of her parents, their children, and ultimately on the generations that follow. Although there were feelings of hatred, and bitterness by members of the Cole family, theirs is a journey that resonates with a sense of accomplishment, pride, and promise.

This is more than a leisurely nostalgic stroll down memory lane. Jean's vivid descriptions draw the reader into the experience of being a part of her childhood at the Sandy Lake farm. She has the amazing ability to turn everyday circumstances and events into entertaining, often humorous, stories that resound with simplicity, warmth, and reality. Jean uses flashbacks depicting scenes from her childhood. She reveals details of her relationships with her sister, her parents, her grandparents, Aunt Gladys, Uncle Robert, Uncle Ned, and her cousins. These colorful characters provide dramatic word pictures bringing an excitement to the otherwise routine life for the Cole's from Neville Island. Family photos are included throughout the book to illustrate the events. These pictures add another dimension and a sense of relationship to the Cole family.

I especially enjoyed Jean's openness in relating college relationships and her early experiences in New York City. As an aspiring actress she was sympathetic to the beatnik culture. I appreciated her positive writing even in light of romances gone awry, family relationships gone amok and personal goals unattained. Jean gained a broad range of work experiences in corporate offices, in the field of education, and ultimately in the medical field as a nurse.

Strong writing, thorough research, and an objective look into the avarice that often accompanies the process of eminent domain make "Stolen Fields" a significant contribution to the history and future restructuring of a process often misunderstood and abused.

As a memoir writer Jean Boggio is a gifted storyteller. Her vivid descriptions and characterizations insure that the enjoyment of her writing will linger long after reading the final chapter. "Stolen Fields" is a rich and entertaining reading experience.

The family farm, providing sustenance and income for their legacy and kin for generations upon generation - is no more. "Stolen Fields: A Story of Eminent Domain and the Death of the American Dream" is the story of author Jean Boggio and her ancestors and their former farm on Neville Island in Pennsylvania. A somber and somewhat depressing story about losing ones livelihood to circumstances beyond their control - the construction of a munitions factory for World War I, claimed by the government by eminent domain. It becomes more tragically pointless as the factory is simply never built and the land is auctioned off to the highest bidder, Boggio's family helpless against a financial juggernaut of Carnegie steel. Not completely living in the depressive past, Boggio tells the tale of her family moving on and doing what they can to succeed in life. "Stolen Fields: A Story of Eminent Domain and the Death of the American Dream" is highly recommended for any biography collection and for anyone who wants a look at the shadier practices of the government against its own citizens.

This book grabbed me from the first page. I felt like I was sitting at the kitchen table listening to the saga unfold in front of me. Boggio is an exceptional story teller. I can't wait for her next book.
Terry Walsh

Liam Quinn and his ten-year-old brother Paddy both work with their father in the coal mine of St.Claire, Pennsylvania, hoping that someday they will have enough money for their sisters to come and live with them and be a complete family again. Paddy is a breaker but then gets hired as a trapper boy, a better job. Paddy is sick with a bad cough. It's bad for him to work in the mines, but if he takes some time off to get well, he'll lose his job. Rory Hamilton, the Quinns' landlady's daughter, wants to help Paddy keep his job and to earn some money for her family, so she disguises herself as a trapper boy. But when a cave-in occurs, she, Liam and the other miners get trapped. Will they survive? Read this book and find out!

Rory Hamilton and Liam Quinn both live in the coal mining town of St. Claire, Pennsylvania, in 1859. Liam works with his father and sickly little brother Paddy in a coal mine. Ever since her father and older brother died in a cave-in at the mine, Rory has helped her widowed mother run a boardinghouse and worked at a local bakery. When Paddy is sick and can't work, he might lose his job. Rory is dreadfully afraid of the mines, but she volunteers to take Paddy's place for a few days. What she doesn't expect is a cave-in that threatens to trap her and Liam in the dust-filled, suffocating darkness of the mine. Can they escape before it is too late? Read this latest book in the action packed Survival! series by Kathleen Duey and Karen A. Bale to find out!

I recommend this book to any one who likes to read and have a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter or two. Also, anyone who likes historical fiction would like this book. One example is when the Coal mine collapsed in Pennsylvania in 1859. Also, I recommend this book to any one who used to work in the mines because it is very realistic. The main character, Liam, said, "You should never light a match in a mine because the coal dust is very flammable." Also, I recommend it for anyone who thinks that girls can't work in the mine, because they can do the same amount of work that the men do only they do it more efficiently. Liam said "he saw a little bit of mischief in Rory's eyes." Rory is a girl who subbed for Paddy, Liam's brother. I learned that the mine could be a dangerous place to work, not because it could cave in, but rather that your boss might abuse you, such as hitting you with a broomstick.

This is a great adventure story with non-stop action. Being trapped in a cave is for some their worst nightmare. This is as close as most will ever want to be to going into a cave. For more underground adventure stories don't miss Steward's, "Tales of Dirt, Danger, and Darkness."

Rory Hamilton hates the mines that took her father and brother away from her, never to return. Now she and her mother make ends meet by running a boardinghouse for miners. Rory is friends with a boy her age named Liam Quinn who, along with his younger brother, Paddy, and widowed father, works in the mines saving money for his sisters to come to America from Ireland. One day Liam's brother gets sick and is in danger of losing his job if he stays home. Even though she is terribly afraid of going in the mine, Rory disguises herself as a boy so she can take Paddy's place until he is better. Rory picks the worst possible day to enter the mine, since it's the day of a terrible cave in that traps Rory and Liam underground. If she is to survive, Rory must face her worst fears. A great survival/adventure story set against a historical background.

I love this book with all my heart. It always makes me smile and laff. It is like magic.

Mrs. Bean's daughter grows to be tall and strong like the vegetables in her garden, and her efforts in her garden produce wonders which become a family affair in this story of gardening delights and a small girl's special talents.

I just read this book to my son's 3 year old nursery school class and everyone loved it - the children, the teachers and myself. The teacher even asked for the title so she could get it to read to the kids. It is fun to see all of the veggies in such big proportions - the boys respond to the forklifts, chain saws etc.

I have been looking for a book on gardening and growing things for young children and this is just the thing. Adding magic to a child's love of gardening works because gardens can be magical. I'm using this in a storyhour for 3 - 5 year old children.

Good folksy fairy tale where the protagonist is a girl not scared to get her magical green fingers dirty. My two year old immediately loved the story of a young baby growing into a little girl and "doing something wonderful." I like that there are lots of opportunities to identify and name vegetables in the exciting if not overly refined illustrations. Also, I really recommend this book for its sense of community -- when the village comes together to harvest and eat Scarlette's giant vegetables, it's great to notice that women drive forklifts, priests sit down to eat with tattooed bikers and neighbors come in all shapes and colors. These details are not at issue in the content of the story, but added for discovery in the ilustrations.

As a native of industrialized Pennsylvania I'm perplexed by how little is known of the tragedy of Centralia. I was unfamiliar myself until some years ago when I innocently passed through the area on route 61. I found a ghost town with an orderly street grid, with city blocks completely devoid of all but one or two lonely buildings, and vast abandoned fields covering what could have been orderly neighborhoods. I thought, what in the world is this? I also witnessed what I thought was a natural hot spring emitting steam from a hillside. Only over time did I learn that the hot spring was really smoke from the underground mine fire that wiped out what was once a normal small town.

DeKok's book is probably the most extensive investigation of the Centralia tragedy, especially with his coverage of the political ineptitude over decades that made a minor problem into a major disaster. Dekok reveals that the town started the fire itself in 1962 by burning trash in a landfill that had an unknown connection to an old mine shaft, which ignited the slow-burning coal in the mines beneath the town. For 19 years the slow fire affected more and more people with toxic fumes, until by 1981 tragedy struck when a gentleman had to be hospitalized and a boy fell through a flaming cave-in behind his house. DeKok covers the years and years of political and bureaucratic ineptitude that merely led to "studies" of the fire rather than action, as the people of Centralia were pawns in a game between apathetic agencies with overlapping jurisdictions, plus buck-passing between the state and the Feds. Even the citizens were torn apart by divisiveness caused by stress and anger. Eventually most of the residents chose to be relocated to other towns by the government, and DeKok's most moving coverage concerns the social agony caused by this final abandonment of the town.

As an update since this book, the fire is still slowly burning beneath much of the area. For their own strange reasons, a few residents are still hanging on in their lonely houses and still dealing with fumes and cave-ins. St. Ignatius church was demolished recently and route 61 has been permanently re-routed around the section that kept collapsing. This is the legacy of uncaring politicians and bureaucrats.

The title of my review says it all. A good read but one that will get your dander up about how this was handled.

This is a great book! I recomend it to anyone who likes learning new things and to people who enjoy nonfiction.

This is a fascinating book, and a very easy read for one that delves into the mires of local and state government officials dropping the ball. DeKok's attention to detail paints a picture comparable to a Stephen Soderburg film. And despite the clarity he brings to a tragic situation, he never strays far from the real story: Real everyday folks caught in a quagmire of safety issues, home ownership, health and politics.

I first found out about the underground coal mine fire at Centralia PA and the devastation of the town above it while surfing the Web, looking for information about urban ruins. The photos I saw on various websites were eerie: where a small town once stood there was now only streets and sidewalks. A sliver of a dwelling that had once been part of a string of row houses stood alone, propped up on either side by brick chimney-like buttresses that provided the support that other dwellings, now torn down, once gave. Steam rose from cracks in a twisted and abandoned highway or from patches of scorched earth surrounded by dead vegetation. While these photos were very creepy and intriguing, I didn't stop to read much about the story of Centralia; I was on a quest to find out more about abandoned sites closer to my home in New York State's Hudson Valley region that I have seen for myself and visited: the Lente house, Bannerman's Island Arsenal, and the Cornish Estate.

Years later but a few weeks ago I happened across the last five minutes of a segment on C-SPAN's Book TV that caught my attention. Joan Quigley, author of "The Day the Earth Caved In" was talking about the Centralia mine fire. From the little bit I saw of the show it was clear that there was much more to the Centralia story than what I gathered from the photos on the Web. I eagerly wrote down the name of the book and its author so that the next time I visited Amazon I could order it. After adding the book to my shopping cart, Amazon suggested that I also might want to check out David DeKok's "Unseen Danger", an earlier volume on the same subject. I ordered both.

As chance would have it, "Unseen Danger" arrived about a week before "The Day the Earth Caved In" and now, having read both books, I'm glad it did. I have a busy life and don't have a lot of time to read but I found Mr. DeKok's telling of the story so compelling that I neglected a lot of my duties around the house to make time for it. I took it to work and read it on my lunch and dinner breaks. I stayed up into the early morning hours, far longer than I should have, to finish it in a couple of days instead of the weeks it usually takes me to read a book.

As the blurb quoted on the cover from the New York Times Book Review states, there are "enough bureaucratic villains [in this story] to fill a Dickens novel." I would add that there were some Centralian citizens (especially one infuriatingly obnoxious homeowner in particular who I kept hoping would disappear into a subsidence) and the local Catholic church (who should have also suffered the same fate) who deserved to be included in that category as well. This is a story of missed opportunities, inter-governmental squabbles, denial of the present realities and local feuds all working together to turn the lives of the residents of this beleaguered town into a living hell. Mr. DeKok does a fine job of telling the story and it is obvious that he put a tremendous amount of effort into researching it and a lot of detective work into trying to separate fact from fiction, especially when it comes to the matter of how the mine fire got started in the first place. He paints a clear and terrifying picture of what the residents who were most effected by the danger had to go through before they got some relief, and the unconscionable indifference that government officials showed to the plight of their constituents in order to protect their own political behinds. The cast of characters in "Unseen Danger" is large and varied and includes the above mentioned villains and a few heroes too. The attention to detail is astounding and makes for extremely compelling reading.

However, in my opinion, the book is not without its flaws. While the above mentioned attention to detail is most welcome, at times it can be confusing, especially when trying to picture the relative locations of the events. Three small maps are included in the paperback edition that I read; one showing where Centralia is located in relation to large East Coast cities, a local map indicating local landmarks and some street names along with the locations of the fire's origin and the site of one especially scary event, and a third map that indicates where the fire hot spots were located in 1983. These graphics are only helpful in a minimal way and don't go far enough toward clarification.

Photographs appear at the start of each chapter and there are a few in the bodies of the chapters. In terms of graphic clarity (not subject matter) all leave much to be desired and in many cases they are of such poor quality as to be useless. They have the appearance of being photocopies of photocopies of photocopies and are of such high contrast that the very features that they were intended to illustrate have become invisible. I do not blame Mr. DeKok for this - his publisher should have done a better job. As for the type of photos included, there are many of Centralians effected by the fire, some of the government workers who had to deal with the situation on almost a daily basis, one of the fire itself, and many of the government figures involved. However there is one glaring omission: aside from the cover photo which is obscured by the bold lettering of the book's title there are no pictures of the town, either as it was at the beginning of the story, during, or after. For those, one must go to the various websites dedicated to the subject.

Ms. Quigley's book generally does not suffer from these kind of setbacks. Even before her Prologue we are provided with a nearly full page map which clearly indicates street names, locations of local landmarks, locations of the principal character's homes, indications of the sites and scope of efforts to stop the fires, and a distance scale to help us better grasp the relative proximities of the places and events described. I wish I had this map while I was reading "Unseen Danger", it would have increased my appreciation of that book all the more. "The Day the Earth Caved In" contains eight pages of black and white photographs, all well reproduced, including one of the authors' grandparents row home from 1984, and one taken in 2000 of a tourist observing a cloud of vapor emanating from a non-descript area in the woods, as well as photos of mine workings from the 1880's and pictures of some of the people central to her telling of the story. As with "Unseen Danger" wide angle photos of the town before and after are absent and their inclusion would have helped drive home the immense scope of this catastrophe. Again, one has to search the Internet to find those kind of pictures.

While David DeKok relates the Centralia story by presenting an almost day by day account of the events that occurred he does not get inside the heads of the principals too deeply. He doesn't have to - anyone who has an atom of imagination can empathize or sympathize with the horrors that these people must have been through. But what left me scratching my head in bewilderment after I finished his book was why the Centralians were so reluctant to leave their homes and flee the danger. I suppose this is because I was born and raised in New York City and have moved to new homes five times since I left my parents house - once because the dangers of living in a loft on NY's Lower East Side became too much to bear. It wasn't until a few days ago while discussing the matter with a co-worker who grew up in a small town in upstate New York (population about 2000) that I really began to understand what made Centralians want to cling to their homesteads so tenaciously. Joan Quigley, by telling her version of the story through the eyes, histories and emotions of a few of the key players attempts to explain that sense of attachment, but is only partially successful. Ironically enough, it is DeKok's sparse explanation that comes closest to what my co-worker told me and what I've observed since moving from NYC to a small town: that many people living in small towns are fearful of the outside world and are much more likely to cling to surroundings that are much more familiar and therefore comforting.

Quigley's device of presenting the story by delving into the personal histories and feelings of her selected subjects is a welcome supplement to the mine fire disaster story as told by DeKok but ultimately it falls short in conveying just how desperately dangerous their situation was. At times I got the impression that she feels that the personal relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children or neighbors and neighbors is the interesting part of the story and the mine fire and its dangers were just a backdrop to that soap opera. Major events, like one man's close encounter with death by carbon monoxide poisoning while asleep in his bedroom and the circumstances leading up to it are described in great detail in "Unseen Danger" while Ms. Quigley mentions it almost in passing, preferring to more often dwell on what clothes a person was wearing. (What bearing does who wore what color pants suit on a particular day have on the story at hand? Inexplicably, these kind of observations appear far too frequently.) This is generally indicative of both authors approach to their subjects.

Similarly, Mr. DeKok tends to speak with authority and presumably understanding on technical matters while Ms. Quigley shows some lack of comprehension. For example, at one point she states that oxygen was the fuel that kept the mine fires burning. Just for the record: coal is the fuel that is consumed by the fire while oxygen needs to be present for oxidation - burning - to occur; oxygen in and of itself does not burn. This is elementary Junior High school science. While I realize that the point Ms. Quigley was trying to make was that some scientists proposed that if the mine fire were to be deprived of oxygen then it might go out, it is this misunderstanding of basic physics that influences me to trust Mr. DeKok's opinions over hers.

One rare instance where Ms. Quigley's narrative excels over Mr. DeKok's is in her scathing indictment of the Reagan administration and of the local Catholic church, an institution highly revered and trusted in Centralia, who let their parishioners down as shamefully and grievously as the government had. Mr. DeKok also criticizes these institutions, but instead mostly relies on the method he employs when dealing with other facets of the story, that of letting the facts speak for themselves. Ms. Quigley does this as well, however, she goes one step further on this one point by including examples of government official's blunders not cited in "Unseen Danger", in particular those of the lunatic James Watt (who was Secretary of the Interior near the end of the story) whose public statements were so insane that President Reagan gladly accepted his resignation, and none too soon: after Watt left office he was indicted on charges of influence peddling. None of this information about Watt was in "Unseen Danger" and I strongly feel it should have been.

Both books tell pretty much the same story (though from different perspectives and not equally as well), but one disagreement between the two is about how the fire started in the first place. In my opinion Mr. DeKok presents a far more plausible explanation, citing specific evidence in chapter 3 of his book while Ms. Quigley covers the subject in an author's note at the end of hers. While she states that her research provides strong evidence for her version of the events, she reveals very few specifics of it and appears to rely heavily on the testimony of residents living near the ignition site, claiming that they had no reason to lie. I view this claim with a lot of skepticism. Her own depiction of the character of the Centralia residents (especially some who lived near the dump) leads me to conclude otherwise. Also, Ms. Quigley seems to overlook one gigantic 500 pound gorilla in the room: Why would the town dump be set on fire if it was already burning? It seems painfully obvious to me that they wouldn't. In any case, the cause of the fire is only one part of the story and either scenario would have led to the same result.

If one is interested in reading about this subject my advice is to get both of these books. Read "Unseen Fire" first (it is by far the better of the two because in part it tells the horrific story in much more frightening detail) but keep "The Day The Earth Caved In" handy so you can refer to its superior map. Then read Ms. Quigley's book as a supplement, to flesh out some of the characters involved and to learn a handful of interesting but not necessarily essential facts that were left out of Mr. DeKok's. Some may find her more personally intimate and emotional method of storytelling preferable to DeKok's somewhat dry, fact based delivery but I for one did not. For as much as I enjoyed "The Day The Earth Caved In" on a certain level I think I did so because I already knew the facts ahead of time. Much to her credit, Ms. Quigley invoked in me even more sympathy for the people she chose to focus on than I had before, (at least those who were deserving of it,) especially one young couple's story of being pulled apart because of wanting different things out of life, which paralleled my own personal experience. However, I feel that this concentration on the private lives of a select few takes too much attention away from exploring and understanding the broader picture of governmental incompetence that any one of us could fall victim to under similar unfortunate circumstances.

Hope that nothing like this ever happens in your town.

Having been a resident of the Perkiomen Valley all of my life I found Jerry's book to be entertaining, informative and nostalgic. Highly recommended

reminded my husband of many of the places of his childhood - a number of friends have bought the well documented and thought out book

As a native-born Pennsylvanian who grew up near the Perkiomen, it is my opinion that this author has truly created a "virtual walking tour" "Along the Perkiomen." It's a fascinating step back in time to a period when suburban lifestyles along the Perkiomen seemed less hectic and surrounded by the natural beauty of its environment. In addition to magnificent churches, schools, hotels/restaurants, and a strong industrial base in this valley, this author illustrates the many forms of transportation consisting of horse and buggy, vintage automobiles, and the Perkiomen Railroad. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to take a walk down memory lane and enjoy seeing what life was like in the 1900s "Along the Perkiomen." A must buy! Pure Americana at its best!

This book is the best in the Arcadia series to date. The author writes with a perspicuity that thinly disguises what appears to have been a large volume of research and knowledge. The images are wonderful beyond description. I grew up along the Perkiomen and many of my long dormant and fond memories were awakened once more while reading this book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, postcards or in learning something new.

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

It is the best book to be fowarded to the students all over the world

This is an extremely entertaining, compulsively readable book. Doerksen mounts a compelling case for his view that early radio involved much much more than the non-commercial high-brow recordings of the national networks. But the great joy of reading this book is in the stories. Doerksen gives us robust, full-bodied descriptions of the people who filled the airwaves of the 1920s, of the (sometimes craven, sometimes wacky) things they cared about and how they tried to use radio to promote then. Whether or not you think you're interested in early twentieth century broadcast history per se, I can guarantee you'll be enthralled by the outsized on-air personalities Doerksen brings to life.

Doerksen uncovers the fascinating yet neglected histories of the independent stations that operated in the dawn of radio broadcasting. He details their (sometimes) humorous battles with the corporate players and the Federal Radio Commission and the ultimate demise of these stations under re-written rules and "consolidation". I was surprised to learn that it was the populist stations -broadcasting hillbilly music or vaudeville acts or ultraconservative diatribes or "smutty jazz"-- who pushed broadcast advertising, not the "Big Four" corporations or the advertising industry. A concise and easy read.

This was an interesting book about how the medium of radio was perceived when it was brand new. Essentially middle-class people attributed all sorts of miraculous potentialities to broadcasting, and expected it to bring universal culture, prosperity & wisdom. In other words, this was the Twenties version of the Internet bubble of the 90s. I kept expecting the author to refer to the obvious historical parallels between the two mediums but he never does. I actually found it distracting as I got closer to the end of the book, wondering when he was going to acknowledge the 9,000 pound elephant standing in his foyer. Maybe the author is so old that he hasn't heard of the Internet or something. Anyway, other than that, it tells an interesting story.

Anyone interested in radio history or the 1920s in general would enjoy this book, which tells the stories of forgotten pioneers of radio from the days before the networks took over the airwaves. A lot of the radio personalities profiled were kind of crazy and the book is often quite funny. It's very well written and I read it cover to cover in two sittings.

Very informative book on the history of many amusement parks in the state of Pennsylvania. Many brought back memories; from all the historic photos. Alot of informative websites and locations are included with lots of information.

This book rocks. There was more information than I could possibly imagine. The author is obviously impassioned by his subject--this had to have been a labor of love. And what better muse than the romantic coasters of Pennsylvania.

Great new book on amusement parks of PA. This book show the interest in amusement parks and rides that has been growing ever since the 90's. There is a nice balance between the history of the parks and current conditions. In one book the reader learns a wealth of material about past and now defunct parks (where is the mention of the park that used to be in Mt. Gretna - carousel and all??) as well as information on parks that are up and running. Good summary of each park as well as current information on admission, directions, etc. I was disappointed that there was little emphasis on memorabilia or good trivia. The old photos/postcards really help. That would really help this work out. What about all those great tokens. Even Leap the Dips put our a coaster token to push the coaster. The book is a good read and recommended for the enthusiast.

As most roller coaster enthusiasts know, there are very few books that go beyond pretty full-color photographs and into the history of a particular park. It is even more difficult to find information on parks not owned by major corporations (e.g. Disney, Paramount, Vivendi Universal).

Futrell's book captures the unique history of 13 different amusement parks in Pennsylvania. You are given a rare glimpse into these parks that date back to the origins of the American amusement park industry. Having recently visited Kennywood and Idlewild for the first time, I have realized how much of the charm and atmosphere has faded from the latest generation of parks.

Buy this book before the print run ends! You won't regret it.