Once touted as the �West Point of the air� in the pre�Air Force Academy years, Randolph Field/Air Force Base is famous for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, its iconic Administration Building (nicknamed the �Taj Mahal�), and its rectangular layout. Allowed by the Army hierarchy to design its own installation from the ground up, the Army Air Corps hit a home run in design uniqueness and functionality. When the Corps of Engineers built the base, working from 1928 to 1931, it was its...

A Dan Josselyn Memorial PublicationDiscover the stories, structures, and spirit that shaped life along America’s greatest river.Specialists from archaeology, ethnohistory, physical anthropology, and cultural anthropology bring their varied points of view to this subject in an attempt to answer basic questions about the nature and extent of social change within the time period. The scholars' overriding concerns include presentation ...

Written by 43 Squadron's intelligence officer, Hector Bolitho, Finest of the Few revolves around Bolitho's friend, fighter ace John W.C. Simpson, who shot down 13 German aircraft during the Battle of Britain. The book was written in 1941 and was based on John Simpsons Combat Reports, his personal letters and papers together with Hectors own recollections of the heady days of the summer of 1940.Contains 80 black and white illustrations

Tormented girls writhing in agony, stern judges meting out harsh verdicts, nineteen bodies swinging on Gallows Hill.The stark immediacy of what happened in 1692 has obscured the complex web of human passion, individual and organized, which had been growing for more than a generation before the witch trials. Salem Possessed explores the lives of the men and women who helped spin that web and who in the end found themselves entangled in it.From rich and varied source...

The growth in size, lethality, and technology of the German Luftwaffe was of concern to some defense planners in the United States before American entry into the war.Learning about the Luftwaffe became a significant effort once the conflict broke out in Europe. From defectors with German aircraft to battlefield trophies and combat crew reports, the race to understand German aero technology took on sometimes heroic proportions.After the war, German technolog...

From Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War through the disputed election of George W. Bush and beyond, the Republican Party has been at the dramatic center of American politics for 150 years. In Grand Old Party, the first comprehensive history of the Republicans in 40 years, Lewis L. Gould traces the evolution of the Grand Old Party from its emergence as an antislavery coalition in the 1850s to its current role as the champion of political and social conservatism. Here, Gould brings t...

Designed by illusionist Jasper Maskelyne, RAF Tempsford was constructed to give overflying enemy aircraft the impression it was disused. Nothing could be further from the truth - just after dusk on moonlit nights either side of the full moon, planes from the 138 and 161 Squadrons would take off on top secret missions to the heart of the war-torn Continent. They had to fly low and without lights in order to identify drop zones and deliver the supplies and secret agents that would help the r...

The Avro Shackleton was a formidable machine with its Griffon engines producing the characteristic grumble that gave the aircraft one of its nicknames, the Growler. This book contains stories from the men for whom the aircraft became a way of life. Combining memories and anecdotes from crew members with archive material (including rare and previously unseen photographs) Growling over the Oceans is an intimate and vivid introduction to the world of the Shack.In the last days of Worl...

American history is more than just what you read in your high school textbooks.There's a wild and weird side to America's past, filled with strange creatures, bizarre happenings, and fantastical figures. Researcher and writer Robert Damon Schneck has spent more than a decade devoted to sleuthing out these forgotten weird, grotesque, and mysterious gems of American history, like:• The man who preached good health through blood-drinking.• The California family driven ...

Eighteen self-guided walking tours down city streets that will take you back in time, with colorful stories about the buildings along the way and the people associated with them. Easy-to-follow maps, and dozens of historic photographs.You will read tales about such well-known figures as Jack London, Mark Twain, Ulysses S. Grant, the Emperor Norton, Lenny Bruce, and Janis Joplin, all of who played roles in San Francisco's vibrant history.

In 1877, the U.S. Navy purchased the fast steam yacht Stiletto from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, for "automobile" torpedo experiments in Narragansett Bay. The submarine service was in its infancy, and interest in the self-propelled torpedo as an undersea weapon flourished. Herreshoff's fast, steam-powered boats were the first of the delivery platforms accepted by the U.S. Navy Department for experiments at the Newport Naval Torpedo Station and service duri...

In this landmark guide, nearly two dozen essays by scholars, educators, and museum leaders suggest the next steps in the interpretation of African American history and culture from the colonial period to the twentieth century at history museums and historic sites. This diverse anthology addresses both historical research and interpretive methodologies, including investigating church and legal records, using social media, navigating sensitive or difficult topics, preserving historic places,...