In the early nineteenth century, a young man belonging to the prominent Byrd family of Virginia, the grandson of William Byrd III, took up residence in the Shaker community at Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Over the next two years, 1826–1828, he wrote a series of letters to his father, a federal judge in Ohio, describing his experiences and his impressions of the United Society of Believers, as the Shakers were formally called. Eventually, William S. Byrd became a convert to the society and an a...

This is a story of a man-child in God's Promised Land who grew under His protection and favor while in complete ignorance of His dominion, power, and authority. It is the biography of a young man who came of age during the Civil Rights era who rose from a working class upbringing, skirting drugs and violence to become the first African-American optometrist, O.D. (Doctor of Optometry), in the state of Delaware. This is the odyssey of one man's ascent to the upper echelons of black society o...

After catastrophic earthquakes occur along all the world's major fault lines and fault zones, some kind of new world appears to be forming. Governments and news agencies are unable to describe it. This is where the adventure begins

This theoretical and empirical study of market-oriented reforms in Chinese industry since the late 1970s focuses on the expansion of the market mechanism in the allocation of industrial products and the concurrent decline of directive planning - a strategy that is a crucial component of the ambitious overall reform "package" that Chinese reformers are trying to implement. The expanding role of Chinese industrial goods has had major implications for the functioning and importance of plannin...

A short memoir of a father introducing his daughter to backpacking on the Appalachian Trail.

A smaller version of the harpsichord, the virginal enjoyed wide popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries. Based upon a 1591 manuscript of keyboard works, this collection features 42 pieces in modern notation — a vast amount of neglected concert material for modern pianists and harpsichordists — plus historic and analytic notes.

Elyria is named for Heman Ely, who in 1817 settled in a strategically located area close to Lake Erie along the picturesque Black River. Historically, Elyria, which became the seat of Lorain County, has been a center of commerce and government while also serving as a market and source of supplies for the surrounding agricultural community. Industrial development has included steel mills, quarries, automobile-related firms, and a wide variety of other manufacturing facilities. Over the year...

Strengthening the banking system and expanding its role in resource mobilization and allocation have been key components of recent economic reform policies in the People's Republic of China. This study of China's financial system focuses on new policies and reforms undertaken since 1976, including institutional restoration, proliferation, and decen

The Byrd Williams Collection at the University of North Texas contains more than 10,000 prints and 300,000 negatives, accumulated by four generations of Texas photographers, all named Byrd Moore Williams. Beginning in the 1880s in Gainesville, the four Byrds photographed customers in their studios, urban landscapes, crime scenes, Pancho Villa’s soldiers, televangelists, and whatever aroused their unpredictable and wide-ranging curiosity. When Byrd IV sat down to choose a selection from thi...

Our journey of love began long before either of us realized that we were being groomed for one another. We've experienced many pivotal points prior to being brought together, to make this dream a reality. We knew we needed an extraordinary love to withstand past relationship experiences, everyday bad choices and our past hurts. From the very beginning, our relationship was predisposed to twists and turns, unthinkable for most couples. Suffice it to say, growing up, we've traveled very diff...

American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith is the companion volume to an exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that celebrates the bold and radical experiment to test a wholly new form of government. Democracy is still a work in progress, but it is at the core of our nation's political, economic, and social life. This lavishly illustrated book explores democracy from the Revolution to the present using objects from the museum's collection, such as the po...

Answering a woman’s desperate call for help, young Navy widow Helen Devries opens her Whidbey Island home as a refuge to Choi Eunhee. As they bond over common losses and a delicate, potentially devastating secret, their friendship spans the remainder of their lives.After losing her mother, Cassidy Quinn spent her childhood summers with her gran, Helen, at her farmhouse. Nourished by her grandmother’s love and encouragement, Cassidy discovers a passion that she hopes will bloom into...