First and Last: How I Made European History With Hibs is the fascinating autobiography of Jackie Plenderleith, the only surviving player from the first British side to compete in the European Cup. A graceful yet tough-tackling defender, Jackie takes us back to 1955 and describes what it was like for a 17-year-old coal miner's son to witness first-hand the awkward birth of the global phenomenon now known as the Champions League and his role in helping Hibernian reach the semi-final...

With a total of more than 500 goals in careers that saw them turn out for the likes of Hibernian, St Mirren, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Torino, Joe and Gerry Baker are two of the greatest strikers Scotland never had. While Liverpool-born Hibs legend Joe became the first man to make his England debut having never played in the English league, his US-born brother Gerry, a hero of St Mirren's Scottish Cup-winning side of 1959, was the first top-flight European footballer to turn ou...

“Showers of blood, however dreadful, were not news. Pliny, Cicero, Livy, and Plutarch mentioned rains of blood and flesh. Zeus makes it rain blood, ‘as a portent of slaughter,’ in Homer’s Iliad.”This article appears in the Spring 2012 issue of Southern Cultures. The full issue is also available as an ebook.Southern Cultures is published quarterly (spring, summer, fall, winter) by the University of North Carolina Press. The journal is sponsored by the University of ...

*****A FINALIST FOR THE 2025 SOUTHERN BOOK PRIZE***THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE THRIVING AND INFLUENTIAL ROCK SCENE IN CHAPEL HILL, WHICH GAVE THE WORLD ARTISTS LIKE BEN FOLDS FIVE, SUPERCHUNK, AND SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS**North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music of every description. But the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and early ’90s brought the state most fully into the public consciousness, while the subsequent post-grunge free-for-all bestowed its greates...

The first biography of the thriving and influential rock scene in Chapel Hill, which gave the world artists like Ben Folds Five, Superchunk, and Squirrel Nut ZippersNorth Carolina has always produced extraordinary music of every description. But the indie-rock boom of the late 1980s and early ‘90s brought the state most fully into the public consciousness, while the subsequent post-Grunge free-for-all bestowed its greatest commercial successes. In addition to the c...

In "The Confessions of Nat Turner," the eponymous protagonist recounts the harrowing journey that culminated in the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia. Written in a deeply confessional style, the text oscillates between a stark realism and poignant introspection, capturing the psychological turmoil of enslaved individuals and their struggle for dignity and autonomy. The narrative stands as both a historical document and a piece of creative literature, inviting readers into the complexities o...

From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s daughter, Dr. Bernice A. King: “My father’s dream continues to live on from generation to generation, and this beautiful and powerful illustrated edition of his world-changing "I Have a Dream" speech brings his inspiring message of freedom, equality, and peace to the youngest among us—those who will one day carry his dream forward for everyone.”On August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, Martin Luther K...

Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance is a short volume, published by Sheldon in 1871, is Mark Twain's third book. It consists of two stories - First Romance, which had originally appeared in The Express in 1870, and A Burlesque Autobiography (bearing no relationship to Twain's actual life), which first appeared in Twain's Memoranda contributions to the Galaxy. Rather, the content consists of a few short stories of fictional characters who are supposedly part of Twain's ...

The odds were stacked against her in just about every possible way, but thousands and thousands of people called her their leader. Why? Because they could not escape the power of the Law of Respect.

Discover the amazing true story of how one Native American's suffering, generosity, and friendship led to the first Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, by New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas.In 1608, traders came to Massachusetts, captured a Patuxet boy named Squanto, and sold him into slavery. He was later cared for by Christians, taught faith in God, and learned to speak English. Ten years after his capture, he returned to America and learned an epidemic h...

In 1773, the slave Phillis Wheatley literally wrote her way to freedom. The first person of African descent to publish a book of poems in English, she was emancipated by her owners in recognition of her literary achievement. For a time, Wheatley was the most famous black woman in the West. But Thomas Jefferson, unlike his contemporaries Ben Franklin and George Washington, refused to acknowledge her gifts as a writer -- a repudiation that eventually inspired generations of black writers to ...

This valiant story of how young George Washington was drawn into his country's struggle for independence gives readers a vivid perspective on a crucial era in American history--and on the life of a revolutionary hero.