Pennsylvania Books

This book brings back the memories of this wonderful amusement park. Sixty years ago PPG in Creighton, Pa. would have a train especially for their annual picnic at Kennywood. From the towns along the Allegheny River picked up the employees to spend a wonderful day at the park. The train stopped and it was a long walk up a steep hill to enter Kennywood. What a worthwhile climb! Happiness was spending a full day there. PPG gave out prizes at drawings for their employees at a designated area.
Many different ethnic groups had their day at Kennywood. There were great picnic areas. The grounds were always clean. The landscaping crew had flowers everywhere. Buy Rick Sebak's DVD on Kennywood.
It was great seeing all of the recorded (photographs) and narration on a part of personal memories at a wonderful setting that many of us will never forget and cherish forever.

This was a very interesting book, especially for one that went to Kennywood while growing up - school picnincs, family visits, band trips for Fall Fantasy parades, dates, etc. to see the history of Kennywood.

I would recommend this book to anybody that grew up in the 'burgh & went to Kennywood.

THE PICTURES ALONE ARE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE PRICE OF THE BOOK-HAVING BEEN TAKEN BY A SHUTTER BUG--MR. HAGAN. THE BUILDING
OF THE HOUSE IS DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN WORDS AND PHOTOS-FROM BARE
LAND ON A KNOB TO THE FINISHED PRODUCT. GREAT READ IN ALL PHASES.

Kentuck Knob: Frank Lloyd Wright's House For I.N. and Bernardine Hagan is the author's personal and detailed story of what it was like to be a client of and to work with the legendary Wisconsin architect to build the home known as "Kentuck Knob" and her life in this rural and idyllic location. Kentuck Knob is replete with stories, more than 150 b/w photos, 8 pages of color photos, insightful correspondence, and informative observations. Written by one of the last people still living who actually knew Frank Lloyd Wright and the experience of being a client of the great and controversial American architect, Bernardine Hagan's Kentuck Knob is "must" reading for devotees of Wright's work, as well as a seminal contribution to professional and academic Architectural Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This is an essential book for anyone planning to paddle Pennsylvania's rivers. It literally describes EVERY river, stream, or creek in Pennsylvania and gives a nice description and overview of each. In addition there are great maps and descriptions of put-in and take-out points as well as parking areas. He also describes which USGS guages to check for each stream and at what levels the guage needs to be in order to get through without dragging. It is a little money very well spent.

A good guide that covers everything you need to know to canoe or kayak in rivers and streams in Eastern PA. Hundreds of streams and rivers covered.

Kingdom of Coal is a very well done telling of the history of anthracite coal. The book tells the story from the days when stone coal was first discovered in the wilderness of Eastern PA, through its development as a major energy source, and into the labor struggle. Closely associated is the development of canals, known as the anthracite canals to bring the coal to market and later the development of railroads. Still later the railroads, known as the anthracite railroads owned most of the mines.

The book also covers the close association between coal and the iron industry. Anthracite was first used by blacksmiths. It soon replaced charcoal in blast furnaces to reduce iron ore to iron. Iron rails for the railroads, previously imported from England, were an early product.

Missing in the book is the story of the gaslight industry. Processes for the manufacture of gas from coal were invented in 1815. Nearly every city of any size had a gas plant to supply gaslights. This was an early user of coal--originally imported from Europe. The industry continued until World War II when transcontinental pipelines brought natural gas to the distribution systems originally built for manufactured gas.

This is the definitive history of the birth, rise and fall of the anthracite coal industry in three northeastern Pennsylvania fields: Schulykill, Lackawana and Wyoming. Written in narrative form with copious references, it details the everyday trials and tribulations of the immigrants who worked the fields and the coal companies who exploited them. This is must reading for anyone wanting an insight into the lives of their ancestors who immigrated and worked these fields between 1800 and 1970,

Written by one of the truest exponents of this martial philosophy, this book stands out amongst others in its clarity. Geoffroi De Charny was a veteran of the Hundred Years War, he died in battle at Poitier. Although a tragic end, De Charny most certainly perceived this the idealized conclusion to a life in arms. To his contemporaries, De Charny was the embodiment of the code of conduct upon which he expounded so thoroughly in these pages.
In this manual of Chivalry, De Charny begins by defining a "scale of valor", a standard for prowess in battle. We receive an insight into the Medieval perception of what combat experiences warranted the greatest honor, beginning with demonstation of one's skill at Tournament, in local wars, in wars abroad, and ultimately in search of the most honorable course of action.
Divided into a succession of brief articles on various subjects of morality, good and bad virtues, and responsible conduct, this text is not only an historical insight into Medieval ideals, but a worthy guideline for our own age.

A serious student of military history realizes that not all warriors adhered to the commonly held idealized higher standards of their profession, for their time and place. Real people are more complex than that. Some did indeed make such achievement. Some sincerely tried, ...but failed. Comparing the known record of deeds long ago, with more recent events, we will always find examples where our ancestors surpassed us, ...and where we have surpassed our ancestors. We need a revival of Chivalric conduct in our own time. A fighting-man without honor is often capable of any action, ...except the right action.

I am currently reading this book for a Graduate seminar in gender and sexuality in the middle ages. The topic bores me to death, yet, this source is entertaining in a variety of ways. First, its a primary source so it is not riddled with feminist/activist arguments. It is simply a handbook from a medieval knight on how a perfect knight or men-at-arms should act. Though several pieces have insight into gender issues in the middle ages, it certainly gives the modern audience of what medieval (at least 1) knights viewed as proper behavior. Charny also speaks on how a ruler (king, lord, etc) should work within society. If your interested in medieval thought this is certainly a good book to read. If your into medieval military history this source may be helpful, yet I will warn you that it is nothing like The Art of War by Machiavelli. Your not going to find pages of military thought and strategic theories. However, if you are interested in the subject I advise you to read it, if anything you will grasp a little understanding of the individual knight or warrior through De Charny's eyes.

I haven't cooked from this book yet but looked at it carefully and will comment that it seems very good to excellent for its category or type of cooking offered: old fashioned, daily cooking, with lots of casseroles (vegetable and meat and spaghetti) with items likely to be on hand from any grocery store. This is not a health food cookbook although one could substitute healthier ingredients for some used. The chapter on potatoes looks excellent with several good recipes for scalloped potatoes. If you are reforming your diet you should eat more raw foods than cooked for better health, alhtough some cooked vegetables are better for you than fresh or should be eaten in conjunction with fresh. And a lot of baked dishes with tons of butter, white flour, pasta as in this book is not recommended but, as I say, you can modify recipes and many are easy, good, daily recipes to use. Beyond the daily ease, what's especially nice about this book is it easy-to-read format. Recipes are in black print, nicely spaced, and stand out so you can follow them well. Really a great cookbook overall.

Louis Stotzfus was also involved in putting together a A Quilter's Cookbook which is equally as good as this one. I bought the Quilter's cookbook first and was so impressed that when I found out about the Lancaster County Cookbook I had to have it in my library at once. This purchase is for a friend. The recipes in both books use what most people have in their kitchen on a weekly basis and the family loves them. Each have their own favorite. The Chocolate Bash is to die for!! This book is like having a 1000 grandma's bring their best recipe to your pot luck! Roxane Hepker, Milton, WA

Do not let the stale title fool you here. Foley employs some wonderful ethnographic, qualitative research methods in this piece of work. Foley disobeys the old, archaic rules of the social sciences, in that he leaves his objectivitiy behind and immerses himself into the city of North Town (a mythical name). Texas is much more than Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. The author shows us another side of the state. Foley focuses on the South Texas region and its much too often ignored Mexican American population. Many people do not realize the old, colonized treatment that Mexican Americans are still subjugated to and Foley makes a point of writing about this in his text. In addition to being an ethnographic account of the socially inequities that exist between the dominant Anglo population and the subordinate Mexican American population in North Town, this book is also an analysis and critique of an educational system. Foley demonstrates how the educational system in North Town perpetuates inequality and tracks its young people to take their assigned role in society according to their socioeconomic status and their ethnic background. Learning Capitalist Culture is a book for those not only interested in the social sciences, but those of us interested in research techniques and methodological approaches that are new, exciting, and part of a new kind of social science model.

Doug Foley wrote a very food account of a small town in this book. It is an ethnographic, and fuliflls that part. Mostyl the book discusess the race relation of the poor town, and delves into the politics that make such a racial divide possible. I highly recommend it!

This is the first Carrie Bender book that I ever read. It was a great book and I am looking forward to buying all the books in the series. I read some books written by Beverly Lewis but these are the best. I recommend these books to any body interested in the Amish.

This is the first Carrie Bender book that I have ever read. I was not disappointed! I grew up in Amish country in Ohio, and have always been interested in the Amish. I learned a few things that I never knew about the Amish. Carries books are fantastic! I read several Beverly Lewis books and they could not hold my interest. I am looking forward to buying the other books in series and the Miriams journal series.

The Lincoln Highway across Pennsylvania has something for almost every visitor. Brian Butko has seen, and describes, it all.

The Lincoln enters Pennsylvania from Trenton, NJ across a fragile 19th-century bridge, then approaches Philadelphia on historic Roosevelt Boulevard. From Philadelphia to Lancaster it follows the 18th-century Lancaster Pike, whose mileposts still sit almost unnoticed on the shoulder. Robert E. Lee's troops marched along the Lincoln en route to the Battle of Gettysburg.

From Chambersburg to Ligonier (with the glaring exception of Breezewood), the Lincoln is a driver's road: two lanes, winding up and down hills and through small towns in which time stopped a half-century ago. Many views from 75-year-old postcards still look the same today. Further west, the route traverses some of Pittsburgh's oldest suburbs, then promenades through downtown Pittsburgh en route to nicking the West Virginia panhandle at Chester.

This second, revised and updated edition of Brian Butko's guide masterfully recounts the history of the Lincoln Highway across Pennsylvania. Those driving the road will learn the history of every significant site they pass...as well as those, like Bill's Place and the Ship Hotel, which no longer remain.

I-80 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike are two of the dullest drives in the eastern United States. Take a little extra time and follow the Lincoln Highway instead -- and do it with this readable but comprehensive guide.

I greatly enjoyed the first edition of this book. The first edition seems to have piqued interest in the Lincoln in Pennsylvania. The second edition includes many more vintage pictures of scenes from the Lincoln and interviews from people connected with the highway. If you've ever driven a section of the Lincoln, Brian's writing will have you visualizing the journey in your minds eye. The new information and pictures made a second edition not only necessary but also welcome!

Though the Jewish population of Westmoreland County is spread more thinly than it would be in Brooklyn or Miami Beach, anthropologist Mark Gruber sees the same themes repeated here he would associate with large Jewish settlements in urban areas -- themes that include "skills on how to live as a minority and how to do so with a dignified and decent kind of life. How to cope with the pressures of people who are anti-Semitic or who are ignorant. I just see such a marvelous ethnic heritage being passed on," he said. "I am strangely proud to be a son of the soil from which these storytelles have come," writes Gruber, a Benedictine monk, in his introductory notes to the book. "My people also figure in this narrative: we are `bit players' in their drama."

The subjects of the book range in age from their 50s to their 90s, representing the collective experience of several generations who arrived in Westmoreland County in three distinct waves: during the Civil War, at the turn of the 20th century and as mid-century refugees. Mostly of Russian and Lithuanian descent, they built several communities clustered around synagogues in Greensburg, Jeannette, Latrobe and Mount Pleasant. Many of the original settlers were Pittsburgh based peddlers who sought customers among the county's coal miners and farmers. They went on to develop a number of well-known mercantile fortunes. They took active roles in the civic organizations of the wider community. Most individual accounts reflect a common lifestyle built around Judaic law and tradition: the temple as central institution; the family name as sacrosanct; the male as leader and provider. Education, often not far below having food on the table and clothes to wear, was a paramount goal.----Diane McMullin, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh East, Wednesday, November 12, 1997