Books – Detail

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Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia
Peter Schmitz

A collection of stories and fascinating facets of theater history in Philadelphia.

305 pp. Hardcover - History

The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America
Aaron Robertson

A lyrical meditation on how Black Americans have envisioned utopia―and sought to transform their lives.

A New York Times Editors' Choice

382 pp. Hardcover - History

Building the Metropolis: Architecture, Construction, and Labor in New York City, 1880–1935
Alexander Wood

A sweeping history of New York that chronicles the construction of one of the world’s great cities.

474 pp. Hardcover - History

Charity, Change, and Community: Frankford's Swedenborgians and Their Circle | Volumes 1 & 2
Gail Rodgers McCormick

Spurred by a surprising family discovery, Gail McCormick embarked on an historical journey to uncover the story of a unique society of Swedenborgians, a Christian sect inspired by the works of eighteenth-century scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg.

  • Vol. 1. 1817-1875
  • Vol. 2. 1875-1971
821 pp. Hardcover - History

Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton's Legendary Ship
John Shears, Nico Vincent

This is the amazing story in words and images of the historic discovery of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, deep beneath the ice of Antarctica.

253 pp. Hardcover - History

The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World
William Dalrymple

The internationally bestselling author of The Anarchy returns with a sparkling, soaring history of ideas, tracing South Asia's under-recognized role in producing the world as we know it.

82 pp. Hardcover - History

The Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry That Brought Birth Control to America
Stephanie Gorton

A riveting history about the little-known rivalry between Margaret Sanger and Mary Ware Dennett that profoundly shaped reproductive rights in America

458 pp. Hardcover - History

Ingenious: A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist
Richard Munson

The dramatic story of an ingenious man who explained nature and created a country.

240 pp. Hardcover - History

The Inquisition's Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia
Richard L. Kagan

The first comprehensive biography of Philadelphia’s Henry C. Lea (1825–1909): historian, publisher, political activist, and reformer.

364 pp. Hardcover - History

Instrument of War: Music and the Making of America's Soldiers
David Suisman

An original history of music in the lives of American soldiers.

358 pp. Hardcover - History

Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families
Judith Giesberg

Drawing from an archive of nearly five thousand letters and advertisements, the riveting, dramatic story of formerly enslaved people who spent years searching for family members stolen away during slavery.

309 pp. Hardcover - History

Malcolm Before X
Patrick Parr

Drawing upon interviews, correspondence, and nearly 2000 pages of never-before-used prison records, Malcolm Before X is the definitive examination of the prison years of civil rights icon Malcolm X. 

362 pp. Hardcover - History

Mystery and Marvel: Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition
John Henry Hepp IV

Using narratives from fair-goers, this book examines the technological enthusiasm of Victorian society at the 1876 Philadelphia World’s Fair and the resulting transition from agricultural republic to industrial empire.

136 pp. Hardcover - History

A Nation of Refugees: Russia's Jews in World War I
Polly Zavadivker

A history of how Russia's Jews formed the largest and most influential humanitarian campaign in their history, and of their leaders and institutions that endured long past the years of war and revolution.

327 pp. Hardcover - History

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Yuval Noah Harari

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

492 pp. Hardcover - History

The Pennsylvania Genealogical Almanac
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

A new and improved guidebook to the many resources for family history in and about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania... Containing historical maps of counties, lists of communities and townships, contact information for organizations and courthouses.

302 pp. Hardcover - History

The Pennsylvania Railroad: The Long Decline, 1933–1968
Albert J. Churella

The final volume of Albert J. Churella's landmark series, The Pennsylvania Railroad, concludes the story of the iconic transportation company, covering its long decline from the 1930s to its merger with the New York Central Railroad in 1968.

905 pp. Hardcover - History

Philadelphia: A Narrative History
Paul Kahan

A comprehensive history of Philadelphia from the region’s original Lenape inhabitants to the myriad of residents in the twenty-first century.

410 pp. Hardcover - History

The Power and the Glory: Life in the English Country House Before the Great War
Adrian Tinniswood

Adrian Tinniswood reconstructs life in the country house during its golden age before the Great War, when Britain ruled over a quarter of the earth's population and its stately homes were at their most opulent. But change was on the horizon: the landed classes were being forced to grapple not only with new neighbors, but also with new social norms and expectations.

439 pp. Hardcover - History

Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers: Her Life, the Imperial Ideal, and the Politics and Turmoil That Shaped Her Extraordinary Reign
Anne Somerset

A riveting portrait of Queen Victoria and the ten prime ministers who headed British government during her sixty-three-year reign.

630 pp. Hardcover - History

Raising Philadelphia: The Making of America’s First Great City, 1750–1775
Justin McHenry

A wealth of stories showing why Philadelphia was America’s first great city in the years before the Revolution.

208 pp. Hardcover - History

Rogues and Scholars: Boom and Bust in the London Art Market, 1945–2000
James Stourton

A colorful and fast-moving account of how postwar London became the global center of the art market--a story of Impressionist masterpieces, dodgy dealers, and ground-breaking financial transactions.

424 pp. Hardcover - History

Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank
Justene Hill Edwards

A leading historian exposes how the rise and tragic failure of the Freedman’s Bank has shaped economic inequality in America.

310 pp. Hardcover - History

The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne
Kate Winkler Dawson

Acclaimed journalist, podcaster, andtrue-crime historian Kate Winkler Dawson tells the true story of the scandalous murder investigation that became the inspiration for both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and the first true-crime book published in America.

307 pp. Hardcover - History

Slavery After Slavery: Revealing the Legacy of Forced Child Apprenticeships on Black Families, from Emancipation to the Present
Mary Frances Berry

An acclaimed historian narrates the stories of newly emancipated children who were re-enslaved by white masters through apprenticeships and their parents fights to free them.

170 pp. Hardcover - History

Tinicum & Eastwick: Environmental Justice and Racial Injustice in Southwest Philadelphia
Will Caverly

When plans to overhaul Southwest Philadelphia in the 1950s scheduled both the integrated neighborhood of Eastwick and the ecologically valuable Tinicum marshes to be razed, two grassroots movements took up the cause―battling eminent domain in the name of environmental conservation and economic injustice.

298 pp. Hardcover - History

The Tyranny of the Straight Line: Mapping Modern Paris
Min Kyung Lee

A revolutionary study of nineteenth-century Parisian cartography and its role in shaping a modern conception of space.

192 pp. Hardcover - History

Viewing SEPTA's rail heritage
Beth Anne Keates, Kenneth C. Springirth

Details the history of SEPTA's acquisitions and its preservation of commuter and trolley lines in Philadelphia.

128 pp. Hardcover - History

War
Bob Woodward

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward tells the revelatory, behind-the-scenes story of three wars—Ukraine, the Middle East and the struggle for the American Presidency.

467 pp. Hardcover - History

Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis
Robert D. Kaplan

An urgent exploration of a world in constant crisis, where every regional disaster threatens to become a global conflict, with lessons from history that can stop the spiral—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography.

207 pp. Hardcover - History

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