PA Books: “Looking Up: From the ABA to the NBA, the WNBA to the NCAA”

In April 2003, Jim O’Brien was the first Pittsburgher inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame. This book is a celebration of 60th anniversary of a career as a professional sports writer. O’Brien was the founding editor of Street & Smith’s Basketball Yearbook in 1970 and continued to be associated with the magazine […]

“Prohibition Pittsburgh”

When Prohibition hit the Steel City, it created a level of violence and corruption residents had never witnessed. Illegal producers ran stills in kitchens, basements, bathroom tubs, warehouses and even abandoned distilleries. War between gangs of bootleggers resulted in a number of murders and bombings that placed Pittsburgh on the same level as New York […]

PA Books: The Fearless Benjamin Lay

In The Fearless Benjamin Lay, renowned historian Marcus Rediker chronicles the transatlantic life and times of a singular man—a Quaker dwarf who demanded the total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved Africans around the world. Mocked and scorned by his contemporaries, Lay was unflinching in his opposition to slavery, often performing colorful guerrilla theater to shame […]

PA Books: The Senate Will Come To Order!

Sen. Robert Jubelirer was first elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in 1974. Watergate was a deep wound on voter psyche, and Jubelirer was the lone Republican freshman Senator elected. Until his loss in a primary election in 2006, Jubelirer would serve skillfully and energetically, making a political career out of his willingness to fight in the […]

“The Whiskey Rebellion And The Rebirth of Rye: A Pittsburgh Story”

“The Whiskey Rebellion and the Rebirth of Rye” takes readers on a tour of the spirit’s founding, floundering, and current flourishing. Authors Mark Meyer and Meredith Meyer Grelli explore rye whiskey’s revolutionary origins in Western Pennsylvania, the role of Gilded Age robber barons in developing the rye industry and the reemergence of craft distilling in […]

PA Books: “Charles Sheeler: Fashion, Photography, and Sculptural Form”

Philadelphia native Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) is recognized as one of the founding figures of American modernism. Initially trained in impressionist landscape painting, he experimented early in his career with compositions inspired by European modernism before developing a linear, hard-edge style now known as Precisionism. Sheeler is best known for his powerful and compelling images of […]

PA Books: “Inside My Life Outdoors”

“Inside My Life Outdoors” is the story of one man’s love affair with Mother Nature. It might or might not help to make you a better hunter or angler, but it will make you laugh in some places and think quietly in others. Mostly it’s about all the things that aren’t supposed to happen out […]

PA Books: “How The French Saved America”

To the rebelling colonies, French assistance made the difference between looming defeat and eventual triumph. Even before the Declaration of Independence was issued, King Louis XVI and French foreign minister Vergennes were aiding the rebels. After the Declaration, that assistance broadened to include wages for our troops; guns, cannon, and ammunition; engineering expertise that enabled […]

PA Books: “Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect”

This major retrospective catalogue explores the impact of time and place on the work of beloved American painter Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009). While previous publications have mainly analyzed Wyeth’s work thematically, this publication places him fully in the context of the long 20th century, tracing his creative development from World War I through the new millennium. […]

PA Books: “Death of an Assassin”

The first volunteer killed defending Robert E. Lee’s position in battle was really a German assassin. After fleeing to the United States to escape prosecution for murder, the assassin enlisted in a German company of the Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Mexican-American War and died defending Lee’s battery at the Siege of Veracruz in 1847. Lee […]