Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth (Keystone Books) - Tapa dura

"With suggested readings and a bibliography, this thoroughly enjoyable work will appeal to both lay readers and specialists. Highly recommended for area academic, public, and high school libraries."-Charles L. Lumpkins, Pennsylvania State University "Fresh perspectives for the Keystone State for a modern account of Pennsylvania's past."-Foreword Reviews "This fresh, interpretive history is highly recommended for its attention paid to the people of Pennsylvania and the process of historical inquiry and methodology."-Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography "Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth provides the first definitive history of the Keystone state in nearly 30 years."-Gazette News "Edited by Randall M. Miller and William Pencak, the book is a user-friendly, in-depth look at the significant people, places, institutions and events in the state's history."-Mary O. Bradley, Harrisburg Patriot News "This fresh, interpretive history is highly recommended for its attention paid to the people of Pennsylvania and the process of historical inquiry and methodology. The book compels reassessment of one's understanding of Pennsylvania history."-Roger C. Henderson, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography "This comprehensive history of Pennsylvania is truly the new social history. Essential for students and educators, anyone interested in understanding the community where they live will enjoy this book." -Mary Dabney, Germantown Crier "Edited by Randall M. Miller and William Pencak, Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth combines an innovative format, perceptive scholarship, and a compelling literary style."-Ed Voves, Reading Eagle "The editors have chosen a way to present ourselves to ourselves and do it painlessly. If you are worried about being pummeled with names and dates, rest assured there's more to Pennsylvania than that, as the parade of pages proves."-David Sallinger, McKeesport Daily News "The editors, authors and publishers are to be congratulated for producing such a challenging and handsome product. This volume should find a home in schools, colleges, universities and public libraries. It could be useful to the scholar and layperson alike. Miller and Pencak have performed a signal service to anyone who wants a starting place to learn about Pennsylvania."-Jack Susskind, PCSS Newsletter "Pennsylvania offers a rich array of people and events to consider. It is quite simply a magnificent book, worthy of the Keystone State's past and of vital importance to its future. In its pages, the quiet, industrious heroes and heroines of Pennsylvania-who did indeed make William Penn's colony `the seed of a nation'-come alive once more. . . . Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth combines a innovative format, perceptive scholarship, and a compelling literary style."-Ed Voves, Philadelphia Inquirer "Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth is literate and informative, but it is not a dry encyclopedia. It is readable, reader-friendly and worth reading, whether from start to finish (a great snowy day adventure) or by randomly selecting chapters. In other words, it's meant to educate, enlighten and entertain today's people (to whom it's dedicated) because it's about yesterday's people from whence we came."-Mary O. Bradley, Harrisburg Patriot News "Nearly a decade in the making, this weighty tome is one for which historians-avocational and professional-have been waiting! Essays by contributors representing various disciplines and fields make Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth well worth the wait."-Pennsylvania Heritage "No need to wonder when you'll have time to plow through the book. . . . Each chapter makes for a satisfying read in itself."-Sunday News "An honest and engaging portrait of Pennsylvania's path to the present. At some point in the distant past-I think it was the Antepaterno Era-I sat through a required high school course in Pennsylvania history. All I remember is that the teacher was a pimply faced, overweight young man from Shippensburg State Teachers College, as it was called in those days. Or was it Bloomsburg? His teaching, however, made no impression on me. The glories of the commonwealth remained as dull and uninteresting as a map of Sullivan County. For all I cared, Philadelphia was in western New Jersey, Pittsburghers thought about Harrisburg only when their driver's license expired and the rest of the state was just a colder version of Georgia. And the state bird is not the mascot of the Eagles, but the ruffed grouse. Enter the Penn State University Press and its handsome new 600-page history of the Keystone State, aided by the state's Historical and Museums Commission. Unlike the usual texts, of which my unremarkable high school volume was a part, this one endeavors to engage readers so that they can experience the state's past in their own ways. That's the intent of Part II, "Ways to Pennsylvania's Past," as explained in the preface. This section views the state by its various physical and cultural characteristics, including a chapter on Pennsylvania's literature by Dave Demarest of Carnegie Mellon University. It provides raw material for historical sleuths to start their own investigations. Part I-"The History"-has straightforward chapters beginning with the earliest residents who even then were denied not only lottery sales, but the chance to buy wine on Sunday. Concluding Part I is an essay, `The Making and Unmaking of the Pennsylvania Empire,' by Michael Zuckerman of the University of Pennsylvania. He infuses his commentary with the observation that: 'To the end of the 19th century, the Commonwealth gave America the icons that bespoke its soul, such as the log cabin . . . as it gave the nation the sinews that were its substance like . . . the vast preponderance of its coal and iron and steel. At the end of the 20th century, Pennsylvania led the nation in the production of mushrooms.' The state's decline to near irrelevance is painful to read and certainly unusual in a history book published by our major state university and a state agency. And, while Zuckerman does end on a muted positive note-he believes that the core of Pennsylvanians embrace the authenticity of the place-it is a strong dose of sour medicine. There is much here to feel good about, however, including abundant examples of art, architecture and photography that form the centerpiece of the book. And, William Penn knows, we could use it." -Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "A new history that inspires readers to uncover their own stories. With suggested readings and a bibliography, this thoroughly enjoyable work will appeal to both lay readers and specialists. Highly recommended for area academic, public and high school libraries."-Charles L. Lumpkins, Library Journal "This book is not like any other history of Pennsylvania you have ever seen. This is an engagingly-written, profusely-illustrated presentation of the latest academic thinking about the history of the Keystone State, as viewed within the expanded perspective of the nation's history."-Jack Brubaker, Lancaster New Era "From Quaker rule to the devastating decline of the steel industry, Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth chronicles political, cultural, and economic developments that have shaped the Keystone State. Edited by Saint Joseph's University history professor Randall M. Miller and William Pencak, a historian at Pennsylvania State University, this lucid and comprehensive history includes contributions from archivists, historians and other academics on such subjects as the state's role in the Underground Railroad and the folklore of the Pennsylvania Dutch. The first part of the handsomely illustrated volume is a straightforward chronological history, while the second is divided into thematic chapters on such subjects as the geography, archaeology and literature of the state."-Publishers Weekly

The Keystone State, so nicknamed because it was geographically situated in the middle of the thirteen original colonies and played a crucial role in the founding of the United States, has remained at the heart of American history. Created partly as a safe haven for people from all walks of life, Pennsylvania is today the home of diverse cultures, religions, ethnic groups, social classes, and occupations. Many ideas, institutions, and interests that were first formed or tested in Pennsylvania spread across America and beyond, and continue to inform American culture, society, and politics. This book tells that story-and more. It recenters Pennsylvania in the American historical narrative. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth offers fresh perspectives on the Keystone State from an array of distinguished scholars who view the history of this Commonwealth critically and honestly, using the latest and best scholarship to give a modern account of Pennsylvania's past. They do so by emphasizing the evolution of Pennsylvania as a place and an idea. The book, the first comprehensive history of Pennsylvania in almost three decades, sets the Pennsylvania story in the larger context of national social, cultural, economic, and political development. Without sacrificing treatment of the influential leaders who made Pennsylvania history, the book focuses especially on the lives of everyday people over the centuries. It also magnifies historical events by examining the experiences of local communities throughout the state. Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth is divided into two parts. Part I offers a narrative history of the Commonwealth, paying special attention to the peopling process (the movement of people into, around, and out from the state); the ways people defined and defended communities; the forms of economic production; the means of transportation and communication; the character, content, and consequences of people's values; and the political cultures that emerged from the kinds of society, economy, and culture each period formed and sustained. Part II offers a series of "Ways to Pennsylvania's Past"-nine concise guides designed to enable readers to discover Pennsylvania's heritage for themselves. Geography, architecture, archaeology, folklore and folklife, genealogy, photography, art, oral history, and literature are all discussed as methods of uncovering and understanding the past. Each chapter is especially attuned to Pennsylvania's place in the larger American context, and a Foreword, Introduction, and Epilogue to Part I explore general themes throughout the state's history. An important feature of the book is the large selection of illustrations-more than 400 prints, maps, photographs, and paintings carefully chosen from repositories across the state and beyond, to show how Pennsylvanians have lived, worked, and played through the centuries. This book is the result of a unique collaboration between Penn State Press and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Together they gathered scholars from all over the Commonwealth to envision a new history of the Keystone State and commit their resources to make imagining and writing a new history possible.