PA Books: “Archaeology at the Site of the Museum of the American Revolution”

When the Museum of the American Revolution acquired the land at Third and Chestnut streets in Olde City, Philadelphia, it came with the condition that an archaeological investigation be conducted. The excavation that began in the summer of 2014 yielded treasures in the trash: unearthed privy pits provided remarkable finds from a mid-eighteenth-century tavern to […]

PA Books: “John James Audubon: The Nature of the American Woodsman”

John James Audubon’s “The Birds of America” stands as an unparalleled achievement in American art, a huge book that puts nature dramatically on the page. With that work, Audubon became one of the most adulated artists of his time and America’s first celebrity scientist. In this fresh approach to Audubon’s art and science, Gregory Nobles […]

“The Forgotten”

In “The Forgotten,” Ben Bradlee Jr. reports on how voters in Luzerne County, a pivotal county in a crucial swing state, came to feel like strangers in their own land – marginalized by flat or falling wages, rapid demographic change, and a liberal culture that mocks their faith and patriotism. Fundamentally rural and struggling with […]

PA Books: The Indian World of George Washington

In this new biography, Colin Calloway uses the prism of George Washington’s life to bring focus to the great Native leaders of his time–Shingas, Tanaghrisson, Bloody Fellow, Joseph Brant, Red Jacket, Little Turtle–and the tribes they represented: the Iroquois Confederacy, Lenape, Miami, Creek, Delaware; in the process, he returns them to their rightful place in […]

PA Books: “Fire on the Mountain”

Walt Koken, the founding member of the Highwoods Stringband, reminisces about traveling and playing old time music in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and the people he met while barnstorming, before and during his days in the band. Description courtesy of Mudthumper Music. Watch PA Books and more PA History and Culture on cable and the PCN Select Streaming Service.

PA Books: Valley Forge

December 1777. It is 18 months after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and some 12,000 members of America’s beleaguered Continental Army stagger into a small Pennsylvania encampment 23 miles northwest of British-occupied Philadelphia. The starving and half-naked force is reeling from a string of demoralizing defeats at the hands of King George III’s […]

“A Community Keystone”

“A Community Keystone” is a detailed history of the first 217 years of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette and the community that grew up around it from 1801-2018. The Sun-Gazette is the 12th oldest continually published newspaper in The United States of America and the 4th oldest in Pennsylvania. Bernie Oravec is the publisher of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. […]

PA Books: “Mr. All-Around: The Life of Tom Gola”

Tom Gola is a Philadelphia Big Five basketball icon. He led La Salle to the NIT championship in 1952 and the NCAA championship in 1954, and holds the NCAA record for most rebounds in a career. Gola also helped the Philadelphia Warriors win the NBA championship as a rookie in 1956 and was named an […]

PA Books: “For the Love of Beer: Pennsylvania’s Breweries”

“For the Love of Beer: Pennsylvania’s Breweries” examines Pennsylvania’s brewing history, geography, and cultural richness while highlighting over 100 of the states thriving craft breweries. It explains some of the enjoyable stories and local legends behind the naming of beers, while detailing the unique buildings and architectural treasures that contribute to the renovation of urban […]

PA Books: “Frontier Rebels”

Frontier Rebels tells story of the “Black Boys,” a rebellion on the American frontier in 1765. In 1763, the Seven Years’ War ended in a spectacular victory for the British. The French army agreed to leave North America, but many Native Americans, fearing that the British Empire would expand onto their lands and conquer them, […]