Books

A fascinating look at life during pioneer times in western Pennsylvania. Describes the hardship, danger and drudgery of day-to-day life on the frontier. Topics include cabin raising, crop harvests, tanning, weaving, disease, religion, and superstition. Also follows the progression from pioneer life to industrial society.

A succinct account of the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 in Western Pennsylvania, recalling the economic and sociological factors that led to this historic uprising.

Council Fires on the Upper Ohio is a unique account of the Indian-white relations during the second half of the eighteenth century. Told from the point of view of the Indians, it details how the Indians maintained a precarious hold of Western Pennsylvania by playing one white faction off against another.

The essays in this volume represent trends in social stratification studies undertaken in major culture areas of the world. The empirical data of the chapters are set with special reference to the dynamics of processes within these diverse traditions and heritages as sources of comparison with one another and with the experiences of western societies.

C.D. Wright has described Roberson’s work as “lyric poetry of meticulous design and lasting emotional significance,” comparing its musical qualities to the work of saxophonist Steve Lacy, jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

This first full-scale treatment of the early prose of Dylan Thomas demonstrates the unity of his total work. Pratt argues that the inward journey of the poetic imagination which is implicit in poetry is often explicit in prose. Her study of Thomas’ early prose alongside his early poetry helps to elucidate all of his writing.

The standard history of Pittsburgh tells the city’s story from its violent days as an eighteenth-century outpost of empire to the onset of its great age of industrial expansion.

The first book-length analysis of the Bolivian revolution by an American political scientist explains the events of 1952 as a Latin American case study, and links the theme of the revolution with other contemporary insurrection in underdeveloped countries.

In this collection, Shelton’s first, he moves backward and forward through time but always in the same landscape, the desert-mountains of southern Arizona, which foster his surrealistic view of his interior conflict. He is followed by peculiarly insistent voices from the past.

A compelling portrayal of U.S.-Cuban relations during the Batista and Castro regimes, and the major events leading to the cessation of diplomatic ties between the nations, as told by former Ambassador to Cuba, Philip W. Bonsal.Bonsal also offers insights into future relations between the two countries.

An International Poetry Forum Selection, translated from the Swedish by May Swenson with Leif Sjoberg.

Tomas Transtromer 2011 Nobel Laureate in Literature

“Tomas Transtromer, who is today one of Sweden’s most distinguished poets . . . can compare Lake Malar at dawn with a blue lamp, the islands creeping over the grass like nocturnal butterflies.”—New York Times

This book profiles the events, laws, utilities and dominant industry and political players that shaped the development of national power policies during a period when the federal government sought to make affordable electricity available to all Americans.

“The editors have merged work from two disciplines, economics and political science; in a summary conclusion, a sociologist suggests possible extensions in the comparison of socialist systems for the future. . . . contributes generously to the field.”—Slavic Review

A new and incisive rexamination of Alexander’s life including his economic as well as military achievements.

The Axion Esti is probably the most widely read volume of verse to have appeared in Greece since World War II and remains a classic today. Those who follow the music of Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis have been especially drawn to Odysseus Elytis’s work, his prose is widely considered a mirror to the revolutionary music of Theodorakis. The “autobiographical” elements are constantly colored by allusion to the history of Greece, thus, the poems express a contemporary consciousness fully resonant with those echoes of the past that have served most to shape the modern Greek experience.