MASSACHUSETTS—A Concise History

From the moment the first English colonists landed on the shores of Plymouth Bay, the experiences of the people of Massachusetts have been emblematic of larger themes in American history. The story of the first Pilgrim thanksgiving is commemorated as a national holiday, while the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's ride have passed into the national mythology. Even the grimmer aspects of the American experience-Indian warfare and the conquest of an ever expanding frontier-were part of the early history of Massachusetts.

This historical narrative of the Salem witch trials takes its dialogue from actual trial records but applies modern psychiatric knowledge to the witchcraft hysteria. Starkey's sense of drama also vividly recreates the atmosphere of pity and terror that fostered the evil and suffering of this human tragedy.

The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials

Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series)

Massachusetts Curiosities is your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the Bay State has to offer. Humor writers Bruce Gellerman and Erik Sherman have combed Massachusetts for one-of-a-kind gems that make their home state truly unique.

You’ll meet an association of grave rubbers, the father of the Concord grape, the real Kilroy (who was here), and Boston’s corrupt first mayor.
You’ll visit a macabre medical museum, a house made out of newspapers, the smallest church in the world, and a golf course with a cemetery on it.
You’ll discover a bridge that talks back to you, a beach that sings to you, a 38-foot seahorse, and the largest marble collection in the world

Haunted Massachusetts: Ghosts And Strange Phenomena Of The Bay State (Haunted)

"Good, old-fashioned ghost stories told with historical accuracy and respect, proving the truth is far more frightening than fiction."
--John Stimpson, writer/director of The Legend of Lucy Keyes

Back Bay (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a lively read about a wealthy family in Boston. The story is told in chapters that alternate between modern times (the late 1970s, anyway) and the past, as the family is haunted by its relationship to a Paul Revere tea set. The story is well told, but it seems obvious that the author is a historian -- the story and characters in the past, with a few exceptions, seem much more interesting.

Still, this is a fun read, particularly if you're interested in Boston's history.

A Personal Favorite!

The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance, and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day

In this lively and engaging history, Stephen Puleo tells the story of the Boston Italians from their earliest years, when a largely illiterate and impoverished people in a strange land recreated the bonds of village and region in the cramped quarters of the North End: Sicilians lived next to Sicilians, Avellinesi among Avellinesi, and so on. Focusing on this first and crucial Italian enclave in Boston, Puleo describes the experience of Boston's Italian immigrants as they battled poverty, illiteracy, and prejudice (Italians were lynched more often than members of any other ethnic group except African Americans); explains their transformation into Italian Americans during the Depression and WWII; and chronicles their rich history in Boston up to the present day. He tells much of the story from the perspective of the Italian leaders who guided and fought for their people's progress, reacquainting readers with pivotal historical figures like James V. Donnaruma, founder of the key North End newspaper La Gazetta (now the English-language Post Gazette), and politician George A. Scigliano. The book's final section is devoted to interviews with today's influential Boston Italian Americans, including Thomas M. Menino, the city's first Italian American mayor. The story of the Boston Italians is among America's most important, vibrant, and colorful sagas, and necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the heritage of this ethnic group.

A children's book for all ages, this vivid, enchanting alphabet book is packed with fascinating information about historic sites in Boston, Cambridge, and environs. (Lexington, Concord, and Salem are included, as well.)

Journey Around Boston From A to Z (Journey Around A to Z)

The Boston Irish: A Political History

The first Irish to arrive in Boston, in the early 18th century, were Protestants from Ulster and were thought of by the local gentry as "members of a barbaric, inferior, and unmanageable race." By the time of the potato famine of the 1840s, these Protestant Irish had assimilated into the population and thought much the same about the new Irish, overwhelmingly Catholic, who emigrated to avoid starvation. In 1847 alone, Boston was inundated with 37,000 immigrants and the locals were appalled by the newcomers' unsanitary practices, indolence and propensity for drink. Like California's recent Proposition 187, the prejudice shibboleth of that time read, "No Irish Need Apply," and in 1854, the Know-Nothing Party of Massachusetts promised to eliminate "Rome, Rum, and Robbery." But with the urging of Boston Bishop Fitzpatrick, Irish Catholics learned to fight bigotry with the ballot. We are introduced to the featured players: Hugh O'Brien, the first Irish-born mayor of Boston; John F. Fitzgerald and Patrick J. Kennedy, ward bosses and the grandfathers of JFK; James Michael Curley, mayor, congressman, governor and prominent rogue; and John F. Kennedy, who completed the cycle of Irish political hegemony when he defeated Brahmin Henry Cabot Lodge for senator in 1952. Viewing the Irish from the coffin ships of the famine years to the lace-curtain attitudes of today, O'Connor (South Boston, My Home Town) has written a scholarly yet colorful account of a breed he convinces us is vanishing.

Lectures delivered in a course before the Lowell Institute, in Boston / by members of the Massachusetts historical society, on subjects relating to the early history of Massachusetts.

This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program.

Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli: 1959 - Brahms/Arr. Barbirolli/Delius/Walton (1959)

VAI DVD 4304 Brahms: Symphony # 2, Walton: Partita, Delius: A Walk in the Paradise Garden, Barbirolli: Elizabethan Suite 70 min. B&W 1959 29.95 list Street date: December 7

A companion DVD slide show of 130 color photographs based upon the coffee table photography book "Chatham Views" by Christopher Seufert. Includes images not found in the hard copy book. Loops for continual play on a laptop, computer, or television. Optional soundtrack includes Cape Cod Soundscapes Vol. 1- Ocean at Chatham's Lighthouse Beach. Features 50 bonus images not found in the hard cover book.

Chatham Views- A Photographic Journal from Cape Cod, Massachusetts