University of New Hampshire Books

In the contemporary professional world of academic writing current history professors have unfortunately succumbed to falling back on the traditional stereotypical role of pretentious writing, utilization of uncommon vocabulary, complicated imagery relating to their historical subject, and hard to understand primary evidence that the general public can not relate to in their own lives and era.
However, Jonathan Earle effectively demonstrates in his book with superlative ease how past U.S. politics, its parties, and the era in which they were at it's apex, can indeed be interesting to the general public again. Jonathan Earle counter poses the traditional stereotypical role by using interesting primary evidence through out his book, in which he makes you feel like you were actually participating in the events and conversations that took place almost 182 years ago.
Earle uses fascinating historical imagery that not only correlates to what he writes about, but makes you want to explore the images away from the fascinating and important emergence of the Free Soil Party, which defied the traditional system of U.S. politics up to that point in our brief history as a nation. With just a brief emergence of a new century this book shows that our young nation was already facing dire dilemmas that would eventually divide a nation into half for four bloody years. With more men, women, and children who were murdered on both the Union and Confederate sides, then both World Wars and contemporary wars that the U.S. has been involved in to this day.
This is an outstanding read that will take your imagination on a wild adventure back to a time period and political party that is too often negated in U.S. history. In my view Jonathan Earle's book and his writing has triumphantly pounced the traditional stereotypical role. That historical subjects and academic writing can not only appeal to the general public again, but more importantly Earle's book shows just how significant past key historical events and U.S. politics have shaped our lives to this very day.
Erica Hare

Jonathan Earle's deftly written, lively account of the Free Soil Democrats' role in the antislavery effort challenges traditional interpretations of the movement, showing these politicians played a critical role in this country's push toward equality. But more than that, Earle makes you feel like you were at the dinner table with these folks as they debated the central issue of the day, and that's worth the price of the book alone.

I picked up this pounder in hopes of gardening on the cheap, but little did I know what pleasure I would find delving into this well-written account of a fertile time in our nation's history that doesn't get much play in the schools. And, so informative for any one interested in history, and history of the US. Even the garderner in me was gratified: I never knew that hickory needed a split to thrive. What's the sequel?

This book is written by the mother of the Late Christa McAullife.It was a wonderful book!Interesting and a inside look at the excitement they felt being chosen then the tradgedy they felt after the Loss of her.It basicly is a bio about Christa.

Unlike most books about Christa McAuliffe this one discuses Christa's life before the selection as teacher in space as well as after the selection process and it is written by the person who knew her like no one else, her mother. We learn of Christa's childhood and her spirt and joy that stayed with her during the course of her whole life. Nothing could take this away from her and with it she enriched and touched the lives of every student she had. Corrigan's book using letters and family history paints a touching portrait of Christa no one else could. Everyone should read this book and it will uplift you farther than you ever thought possible and give you a whole new out look on teachers and what the power they have to uplift. No matter what your backround is you will benefit from having read this book.

This book is honest and touching. Rarely do we receive the privelege of being allowed into the heart of a mother who has lost a son or daughter. So much is learned from Corrigan's novel.

This is a very important book. It is very well organized and shows the entire spectrum of this treasured corner of NH. From geologic history through the Paleo Indians, and up to Fort Number 4, we learn the background of this region. When it gets to Thoreau climbing and staying around the summit for a while, we are camping out with him. Later visitors show us all aspects of this important mountain and lead us through the eras that follow. The mill period with its inherent waterpower and young girls coming from the farms into these buildings is an important cultural aspect of NH's development. When the group that put this book together features the North Country's background and authentic aura in its next edition, I want my brother Tom Eastman and his expertise on the skiing history of the White Mountains included as well as they constructed and edited this book. I made sure I bought it for him as a Christmas present.

The sense and importance of "place" so present in all Howard Mansfield's work goes a step further in Where the Mountain Stands Alone. A compilation of stories, essays, historical documents, illustration and accounts by locals, this book allows the reader to embark on a journey not only through the history of Mount Monadnock, but through the hearts and souls of the people whose lives in the shadow of the mountain are as important as the mountain itself. Much like the mountain, the people are often mysterious, hard on the surface yet soft in nature, inspired and misunderstood. In this wonderful compilation the reader is invited to dive in and experience the Monadnock region as never before. From its history, through numerous failed economical enterprises, all the way to the present times, the mountain has remained the same. So are the people, towns and villages spread around its base. Unchanged, yet evolving, never giving up and always trying to swim up the stream. From quarries and stone walls, to barns, mills and farms, the region is rich in history and human perseverance, inspiring many great writers and artist, both past and present and Mr. Mansfield did an amazing job to capture it all in this exceptionally well made book.

Dr. Stephen Monfort Vail, my great great great grandfather, wrote this book. Dr. Stephen Monfort Vail was a prestigious minister and a renound abolitionist. The book is a great intellectual and enlightening book that tells how God disapproves of Slavery. Dr. Vail displays examples of his proof of God's disapproval of slavery in the Bible. If you are interested in the abolitionist movement in the late nineteenth century, this greatly written book, I recommend to you.

Very interesting look at the the makeup of the New Hampshire primary and interesting facts and history.

Abigail Bailey keeps a diary of her thoughts and feelings relating to her abusive marriage. Abigail's perspective is historic, as she lived in New England in the early foundations of America, but also contemporary, as she writes of the pains, hopes, and struggles of living with an abusive husband. Abigail Bailey's faith played an integral part of her decision-making process, and anyone who wants to understand how Christianity and spirituality contributes to the plight of the abused wife is urged to read this book. It gives a birds-eye view of the inner dynamics of the abusive relationship and Christianity's relationship to those dynamics. While the memoirs stand on their own, the editor does a thourough job of explaining the social, political, and historical contexts of Abigail's life. The only downfall is that it is "heavy" reading, as the language Abigail used is old-English, and one may need to labor more than usual in reading and interpeting it. It is well worth it, though!

Renda proves to have a keen understanding of Civil War era politics in New Hampshire.He is able to show that the production of the politicians actually mattered as opposed to the "what are you going to do for me " attitude of today. A fine piece of scholarly writing.

From Journal of American History, March 2008

Singing for Freedom: The Hutchinson Family Singers and the Nineteenth-Century Culture of Reform. By Scott Gac. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. xiv, 312 pp. $45.00, ISBN 978-0-300-11198-9.)

Scott Gac's Singing for Freedom is a well-crafted study of one of the greatest musical acts in American history. The book provides a meticulous account of the rise and fall of the Hutchinson family singers, their role in antebellum reforms, and their creation of commercially viable protest music. The book would be a smashing success if it had accomplished only this, but it does so much more. It also provides a fresh look at the market revolution of the decades before the Civil War, sheds new light on the spread of the antislavery movement, and explains the emergence of a new and enduring form of protest.

Gac is a gifted narrator. The book transports the reader to the time and place of Hutchinson performances. His accounts of the family's early performances in Boston, Albany, and New York City are particularly vivid, providing a wonderful feel for the cultural vibrancy of the 1840s. Singing for Freedom beautifully captures the dynamic relationship between city and country, and the role of popular entertainment in an emerging consumer culture. Gac explains well the market space that the Hutchinson singers carved out: a space bounded on one side by morally suspect blackface minstrelsy and on the other by noncommercial church music. The key to holding this space was the simultaneously pious and provocative reform messages of the family's music. Going to hear the "Tribe of Jessie" was an exciting event that members of a religious middle class, uncomfortable with city entertainments, could genuinely justify as an act of moral reform.

Gac's book tells a paradoxical story of how the family's identification with the wildly controversial cause of immediate abolitionism was instrumental to the act's commercial success, and how the immense popularity of their music worked to bridge the divide between hostile antislavery factions. His careful chronicle of the Hutchinsons' rising star in the early 1840s illuminates how antislavery sentiments grew stronger in the North even as the organizational coherence of the abolitionist movement fell apart. Through it all, Gac reveals something very important about the ability of protest songs to resonate well beyond their social movement source. Singing for Freedom provides the beginning of a history of the invention of a new technology in American protest.

The career of Hutchinson family singers was not all triumphant. There were painful contradictions throughout. These temperance advocates came from a family farm that featured hops as its most profitable crop. They sang that they came from the mountains of the Granite State but did not actually visit the White Mountains until well after their initial success. They were staunch abolitionists but serenaded Henry Clay. All the members of the group struggled to balance commercial success with authenticity as reformers and performers. The disappointing end to the group's career mirrored the fate of the egalitarian dreams of the early immediate abolitionists.

This excellent book is a must read for historians of antebellum America, antislavery, temperance, and popular music. It should also be read by anyone interested in the relationship between music and social movements and the history of the American protest song.

Michael P. Young
University of Texas
Austin, Texas

I've been looking for something like this about UNH and I can't believe I found it. This book is so great because it showed me what the school is like better than my campus visit did. I got the lowdown on academics, safety and security, and even on nightlife. I think even current students should pick this up (perhaps freshman moreso than upperclassmen) because it has info on restaurants and off-campus housing, etc. that is helpful to all.

Great book for any college sports fan, ice hockey or not.

A "must have" for any Hockey fan especially UNH or Hockey East fans.