Pennsylvania Books

PETROLIA recently was awarded the Giddens Prize as the best new writing on oil history, 1996-2000.

Never before have I read such an eloquent and informative journey through the oil boom of Pennsylvania. The photographic images that Dr. Black has chosen for his book are as captivating and clear as his text. An outstanding and brilliantly written book.

The Phenomenon of Torture: Readings and Commentary is an anthology of essays by learned authors discussing the widespread human rights crime that is torture, practiced in more than one hundred countries - now including the United States. Why is something so cruel and brutal so entrenched? Can anyone become a torturer? Are certain societies more prone to use torture? Are there any circumstances under which torture is justified? How can torture be stopped, or at least reduced? The readings seek to better understand this hot-button issue, and cover the history, experience, and dynamics of torture, who the torturers are, and what experience has shown ultimately can bring an end to torture and healing to victims. A sober, astutely assembled compilation and a much-needed contribution to modern-day discussions of government policy.

So says the current administration, and so say most Americans--which is precisely why William Schulz's collection is so timely and important. Surely one of the explanations for why so many people deny that waterboarding or sensory deprivation is torture is lack of clarity on what the phenomenon of torture actually is. The essays in this anthology go a long way to clear up the confusion.

Probably the single most important section of the book is Chapter IV, "The Dynamics of Torture." It's there that the phenomenon of torture is explored. Torture isn't merely a set of physical techniques for inflicting pain. More fundamentally, it's an intentional set of actions, as this section's authors point out, that destroy the self, the very identity, of the torture victim and intimidate the rest of society. Moreover, as the essays in Chapter III, "Who Are the Torturers?" make pretty clear, torture also morally and spiritually destroys the torturer's identity as well as the identity of the society that condones torture. Given this understanding of torture, debates about whether it's ever morally justifiable take on much greater weight than they typically have in the last five years or so.

Absolutely essential reading. Recommended without reservation.

For all of you in the Philadelphia area who love watching the weather reports and read your own dopplers online, this is your book! It begins with a history of weather forcasting and describes the difficulties in the early days of our nation of predicting the weather. It also educates those with little weather knowledge on the tools used in weather forcasting and how to read different weather maps, radars and dopplers. Peppered throughout the book are side-bars of clarifying information and stories of forcasts-gone-wrong as well as old storms you might remember from growing up.

Also included are charts in the back that go month-by-month listing the highs, lows, and precipitation for any given day in the Philadelphia area since they started recording such things. After borrowing this book from the library several times and occasionally owing overdue fees, I've decided to get my own copy. I live in the Valley Forge area and enjoy having a resource to look up the historical details on weather oddities. When folks say, "It's never been colder . . ." I can look it up and say, "yes, it has. On this day back in 1933 . . ."

The most comprehensive book dealing with the Philadelphia area's weather. This book is excellent for the average person interested in the weather, and for advanced meteorologists. It is simply fascinating. The highlights are the "Stories From The Trenches." These stories describe specific events and what life was like as a forecaster at the time. I've met Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz several times and the man knows his weather! If you are interested in the weather, whether you're an expert or not, this book is for you!

Written by award-winning "Philadelphia Inquirer" restaurant critic Craig LeBan, The Philadelphia Inquirer Restaurant Guide is a compendium of 76 in-depth reviews of the most enticing restaurants in and around Philadelphia, as well as over 600 capsule reviews of additional quality food joints, and special features on coffee shops, food trucks, retail shopping, dining at the Jersey Store, and more. The in-depth reviews include a list of menu highlights, lunch or dinner hours, notes on prices, parking, and whether credit cards are accepted, a brief history, and of course, a succinct summary of the restaurant's ambiance and highlights. The capsule reviews tend to be only one or two sentences plus the restaurant's address, phone number, and website, but a simple four-star rating system (with the stars replaced by liberty bells) immediately highlights the best of the best. A wide variety of ethnic eateries are among the many profiled in this "must-have" for epicureans visiting or living in the Philadelphia area.

Craig LaBan's guide is an essential read not only for those who enjoy exploring the Philadelphia restaurant scene but also for those who appreciate good food writing. As you would expect, the book provides you with all of the utility you want in a restaurant guide, including indices that organize the restaurants by various categories. But LaBan serves up much more. The guide reads like literature. And LaBan is the consummate storyteller, treating you to a level of depth and expertise about the Philadelphia restaurant scene that only he can deliver.

LaBan feeds you detailed, eloquent reviews of his 76 favorite Philadelphia restaurants, all of which have been updated for the new book. LaBan's prose will vividly transport you to his dinner table, his sensory details so crisp and engaging you'll be convinced you shared the meal with him. In the margins of each of these 76 reviews, LaBan fleshes out the scene even further by delivering bullet point highlights about the menu, the wine list, the weekend noise level and even parking options, among other things. In addition to his 76 favorites, you'll also find concise capsule reviews of over 600 more area restaurants.

But, as a guide, what sets this book apart from the others are LaBan's essays. Peppered throughout the book are nine densely informative and richly entertaining essays about features unique to the Philadelphia restaurant scene, including the BYOB phenomenon, truck fare and (of course) cheesesteaks. Digest these and you'll feel like you own the city.

Edward Colimore's The Philadelphia Inquirer's Guide To Historic Philadelphia takes the reader on twelve walking tours through city neighborhoods that have preserve history and culture through the generations. Walkers can visit buildings, streets, gardens, and parks that date back to the colonial period and the Victorian era. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Guide To Historic Philadelphia is arranged in a logical, easy-to-follow format, and includes maps, touring and public transportation information, parking tips, recommendations for nearby restaurants, and more. Enthusiastically recommended for armchair travelers or walking tourists - for anyone who either vicariously or personally wants to follow the footsteps of Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin!

This book is divided into 12 chapters, each proposing a different walking tour of Philadelphia. The tours included are "The Nation's Most Historic Square Mile," "North of Market," "Society Hill," "Penn's Landing," "Southwark: A Stroll Through Time," "Washington Square West," "Around City Hall," "Rittenhouse Square: The Good Life," "University City and West Philadelphia," "The Ben Franklin Parkway," "Philadelphia's Backyard: Fairmount Park," and "Germantown and Chestnut Hill." The book may be of interest to tourists, but it is particularly valuable to Philadelphia residents desiring to learn more about their neighborhood. While the tours will get you to the major tourist sights like Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and Betsy Ross's House, the true value of the reference is that it uncovers some of the city's treasures that may have escaped the resident's notice. I was surprised to learn that General George Meade, commander of the Union troops during the Battle of Gettysburg, had a house in Philadelphia that still stands. I was even more surprised to learn that I had been passing by it on a regular basis for years without realizing what it was. If you are a civil war buff and you want to see Meade's House, this book will lead you there. Check the index, and it will direct to you his field uniform or his gravesite if you like. Philadelphia is rich in history, much of it hidden, and this reference can help you ferret out some of the city's treasures. While it is not totally comprehensive (some of my favorite historical sites are not in any of the tours and a walking tour of Broad Street is noticeably missing), its division into easily manageable tours lends itself to pleasant Sunday afternoon strolls for the motivated. The author even includes some of the prominent restaurants around each of the walks.

If you are looking to read about Philadelphia history, this clearly is not the book for you. Many better and more comprehensive books are available. However, if you are looking to get out and see some of the history of the city for yourself, I recommend this reference without reservations.

Growing up on the outskirts of Phoenixville in the 1970s and 1980s, I had a great time seeing how Phoenixville evolved over the years. Completely enjoyable!

I found this book to be very interesting and informative.
I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in history. I'm looking forward to Mr. Martino's "then and now" book on Phoenixville, which is scheduled to be out sometime in September 2005.

-ML

Our bookstore, like many others across the nation, participates in the weekly reporting of our bestsellers. While we do sell our share of Stephenie Meyer and John Grisham, our report of top sellers is as different from the New York Times bestseller list as the Bronx is from Galeton. The main reason for this is not that we are Ridgerunners as opposed to Manhattanites; and, anyway, our bestseller list is compiled from books purchased by tourists and locals alike. Strangely enough, these are often the same books. We sell a disproportionate amount of our books from one section of our store - the shelf labeled "local interest, local history, local authors."

When people travel, they want souvenirs that they can't get somewhere else. Tourists seek out the "local color" books because they genuinely want to learn the history and flavors of our beautiful area. At first, I found this surprising; now I find it heartening. But this is a "secret" that Arcadia Press has known all along.

In the short review I wrote for the July issue of "Mountain Home" magazine, I mentioned the excellent work that Arcadia Press does with the series of books they produce, focusing on the history of small towns or of city neighborhoods. Arcadia Press finds local writers and researchers who have a passion for working with historical preservation. Arcadia Press understands that the true history of America is told through the stories and pictures of individual places; this makes reviewing their books for "Mountain Home" such an excellent match.

Just as tourists enjoy buying books celebrating local flavor, the people from an area want books that describe their roots. I still hate disappointing those searching for increasingly rare and hard to find local histories that only had a limited number of copies printed. One such book is Bill Pippin's thoroughly researched, amusingly told history of Galeton, entitled Wood Hick, Pigs-Ear & Murphy. This book was published in 1976, and owners of the book still jealously guard their copies. Whether you are one of those Wood Hick owners or are just waiting for someone to die so you can have their copy, I've got good news for you: in late June of this year, Arcadia Press published Around Galeton and Coudersport, by Ronald W. Dingle. Since this new book is part of Arcadia's "Postcard History Series", it features more photos than Pippin's book, which is a treat, since many of the images come from the author's private collection.

I found Ron Dingle's book a welcome addition to information available on Potter County history. Ron himself obviously loves the area, since he has been coming here since the mid-1960's, moving here permanently upon his retirement from the Chef Boy-Ar-Dee plant in Milton. Ron is currently a member of four historical societies in north and central Pennsylvania, giving him access to the people and information necessary to creating this book.

Dovetailing into the stories illuminated by the "Postcard History" of Galeton and Coudersport is another new Arcadia publication, Pine Creek Villages, by David Ira Kagan. This collection, which just became available at the end of July, chronicles the historic buildings, inns, stores, houses, train stations, and businesses up and down the Pine Creek watershed. Featuring separate chapters on Torbert and Tombs Run, Ramsey, Waterville, Jersey Mills, Cammal, Slate Run, Cedar Run, Leetonia, and Blackwell, delighted readers will be able to revisit places they thought they knew, to see what they were like at various stages from the late 1800's to the 1960's.

All railroad enthusiasts, be sure to take note of Kagan's book, since much of the history of the Pine Creek Villages focuses on the logging railroads that went up into the mountains, the locomotives that brought down the virgin timber, and the people who came here to work in what was the frontier. The photos and stories in this book remind us that in order to "manifest destiny" in the United States, settlers often had to go through the Appalachians. Some stayed, but in many cases, this area of the country remained unsettled, wild, pristine, long after places farther west had bustling cities and towns. Reading this made me appreciate again the rugged beauty, the quiet, the pace of life we enjoy in this part of Pennsylvania.


Kasey Cox is the manager of From My Shelf books, Wellsboro's independent bookstore. Both Ron Dingle and David Kagan will be visiting the bookstore in September. See their website for details, at [...]

I love this book. Anyone who rides the rail trail or ever spent time in the Pine Creek Valley will enjoy this book.

This is a wonderful book and it offers a wonderful first hand account of what it was like to live the life of a pioneer in Pennsylvania's wilds. His accounts of Cornplanter are wonderful. It truly is a great piece of social history; one of those great stories that tends to get lost in the greater picture. Of course, I am probably a little biased because Philip Tome is my great great great great uncle. I highly recommend his book.

Great book on the frontier life in early Pennsylvania. Some of his doings are a little hard to believe, but who am I to say different. There are still area up Pine Creek that bear his name.

It is finally here! This book includes everything you could want to know about the Pirates. It rates the Top 100 players in Pirates history, Top 10 teams, and 10 worst teams. It includes info on all of the Pirates managers, general managers, and owners. It provides a year-by-year season recap. It has info on each of the ballparks the Bucs have called home. If you want one book for reference on Pirates history, this is the one.

By far the best book on the Pittsburgh Pirates that I've seen, complete with season-by-season recaps and stats galore. The highlight: Lifelong baseball fans Finoli and Ranier offer their picks for the 100 best players in the history of the storied franchise. It's sure to start an argument or two among fans of the black-and-gold, but that's what a good book should do. Well-researched and written, this is a must reference guide for any self-respecting Pirates fan. (And you know who you are.)

Growing up around the three rivers I was not aware of how much of Americas history flowed past their banks. This book helped to illuminate such moments. The pictures and the captions bring life to an era where steel was king and the rivers its mistress. You will not be disappointed. Buy it!

Not only do the images in this book portray an important city's life, growth and development along its three rivers, but the captions are replete with fascinating facts (and some surprises) about the region. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in Pittsburgh's history.