Excelsior Editions
Ducktails, Drive-ins, and Broken Hearts
An unflinching look at the triumphs and tragedies of '50s rock and roll, from the biggest stars, like Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins, to those who barely grabbed the spotlight.
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State, Second Edition
The compelling chronicle of 120 years of motorcycle making in the Empire State.
Bush League, Big City
The saga of New York’s push to build two minor-league baseball stadiums, colored by dollars, politics, and dreams.
The Eight
The personal and legal struggle of eight enslaved people for freedom in New York in the period just before the Civil War.
Louise Blanchard Bethune
The trailblazing story of the life and career of Louise Blanchard Bethune, America’s first professional woman architect.
Perfect Pitch, Third Revised Edition
The autobiography of one of the 20th century’s most innovative and wittiest composers/performers/authors who witnessed the birth of modern music.
New York
A classic work on the history of New York City written by one of America's greatest politicians.
The Manors and Historic Homes of the Hudson Valley
A classic guide to the history and architecture of the historic manors and homes of the Hudson River Valley
The Camp Abilities Story
The uplifting story of how one camp gave children with visual impairment new confidence in their own abilities.
Tommy, Trauma, and Postwar Youth Culture
The cultural history of one of rock's greatest masterpieces told through the eyes of its creator.
Blues on Stage
Tells the story of classic blues singers from Ma Rainey to Bessie Smith.
Bronx Epitaph
The first book to comprehensively examine Lou Gehrig's famous "Luckiest Man" speech.
Frank Costello
Provides a reimagined but historically accurate account of the life of the notorious gangster Frank Costello through his own words.
From Binghamton to the Battlefield
An annotated collection of over one hundred Civil War letters that trace a Union soldier's transformation from eager recruit to war-weary, battle-tested veteran.
The Stork Club Cookbook and Bar Book
Relive the glory days of New York's poshest night spot with recipes and drinks you can prepare at your own home!
Harold Taylor and Sarah Lawrence College
The engaging memoir of a college president and public intellectual who became one of America's leading mid-twentieth-century social and educational activists.
Weber and Fields
The first and best biography of this pioneering comic duo and Broadway Stars--in a new edition!
Bob Dylan's New York
A walking tour and history of Bob Dylan's life and time in New York, from Greenwich Village to Woodstock.
The Best of the Adirondack Tales
The best of W.H.H. Murray’s 19th century Adirondack stories, selected by Murray’s biographer and great, great grandson, Randall S. Beach
Hopewell Junction: A Railroader's Town
Reveals the life and lore of a vanished era of railroad history.
Notable Civil War Veterans of Oswego County, New York
Recounts the compelling stories of Civil War soldiers and sailors who lived in Oswego County, New York.
Ways of the Hand
A visual and narrative memoir of a lifetime's encounters with 112 trendsetters, musicians, politicians, writers, and ordinary people by a noted folklorist-photographer.
New York's Great Lost Ballparks
Tells the story of New York's playing grounds, teams, and ballparks of yesteryear.
Stories, Streets, and Saints
A time capsule of a classic Italian American neighborhood, told in the voices of its inhabitants.
Dear Uncles
A New York soldier's eyewitness account of life in the first year of the Civil War, from the campgrounds to the battlefields.
A Passionate Life
The first full biography of W. H. H. Murray (1849-1904), a Boston preacher often described as the father of the American outdoor movement and the modern vacation.
The Letchworth State Park Atlas
A visitor's companion to New York's Letchworth State Park, richly illustrated with ninety maps and thirty-five photographs.
Out-Doors at Idlewild; or, The Shaping of a Home on the Banks of the Hudson
Chronicles the creation of a picturesque home and landscape on the Hudson River by one of the nineteenth century's leading authors.
History of Delaware County and Border Wars of New York
A classic history of Delaware County and the border wars written by none other than prominent Gilded Age "Robber Baron" Jay Gould.
In the Catskills and My Boyhood
Classic works by naturalist John Burroughs on his beloved Catskill region.
History of Wyoming County, N.Y.
A county history book that includes town histories, biographical sketches, and lithographs of pioneers and homesteads, as well as their Civil War military service.
Signs of Distinction
Fifty-one unique New York towns with great stories to tell, from L. Frank Baum's and Jello's hometowns to the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement.
Truly Blessed and Highly Favored
An intimate and moving account of how the author rose from poverty to become a major Black political figure in New York State.
Lichen Tufts, from the Alleghanies
An important and prescient early example of US environmental writing with a profound sense of consciousness and appreciation for the natural world.
The Toltec Cup
A gripping tale of conspiracy and a love triangle set against the background of 19th century New York City.
The Crucible of Public Policy
Relates the dramatic role of New York courts in shaping public policy on key reform legislation in the progressive era.
Confessions of a Hayseed DA
An idealistic, occasionally naïve and somewhat irreverent young attorney becomes the District Attorney of Rockland County, New York, in the 1960s and faces the challenges of fighting crime in a rapidly changing world.
Sharkey
The incredible, true story of the twentieth century's greatest performing sea lion and the man who trained him.
The Jews of Long Island
The first comprehensive history of the development of early Jewish life on Long Island.
The Haunted History of Pelham, New York
A fascinating fusion of New York history and local folklore sure to send shivers up your spine!
Inside the Green Lobby
A veteran environmental lobbyist reveals the behind-the-scenes struggles to address threats to the future of New York's Adirondack Park.
The Spirit of New York, Second Edition
A celebration of New York State's history through 19 key events from the state's founding to today.
Unruly Catholic Feminists
Third- and fourth-wave feminists write about their experiences with Catholicism and their visions for the future of women in the Church.
Meander
Draws on the author's own experiences as a watershed planner, teacher, and activist to tell the story of the Great Lakes region's experiment in restoring a complicated natural system of flowing water.
The Impeachment of Governor Sulzer
Brings to life the dramatic and colorful career of William Sulzer (1863–1941), former governor of New York State.
An Unfinished Revolution
The story of the suffrage movement and the ongoing struggle for women’s rights through the lens of one family’s history.
Hundred-Mile Home
A creative travelogue of landscape and memory.
In Security
Part airport thriller, part family drama, part love story, In Security explores how those who strive to protect us are often unable to protect themselves.
Niagaras of Ink
Makes literature of Niagara Falls available to readers with a variety of interests in literature, culture, and place.
City on the Edge
Explores why people stay in vulnerable cities by looking at Syracuse, New York, through the contemporary experiences of five citizens.
Blows to the Head
A provocative tale of an unlikely contender and her midlife transformation through boxing.
Beyond the Xs and Os
Inside account of the negotiations between the football Bills, New York State, and Erie County to sign a long-term stadium lease and thereby keep the team in Buffalo.
The Art of the Watchdog
Expert advice on how any citizen can fight government fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption.
A Most Glorious Ride
Encompasses key years and important events in Theodore Roosevelt’s early life and career.
What Remains
Combining photography and essay, presents a speculative portrait of a Jewish immigrant living out the end of his days in New York's midcentury mental health system.
Restless Spirits
A collection of plays by American Indian playwright William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
Fearless
Biography of the early years of A. Bartlett Giamatti, who would become Yale University’s first non-Anglo-Saxon Protestant president and commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Birth Chart
A collection of poems weaving together astrology, motherhood, music, and literary history.
Enterprising Waters
Chronicles the story of the Erie Canal from its inception to today.
Doghiker
A comprehensive guidebook for dog owners that includes seventy-seven great hikes from the Adirondacks through the Catskills.
Ghost Fleet Awakened
Chronicles the history and archaeological study of Lake George, New York’s sunken bateaux of 1758.
When I Am Italian
Can a person born outside of Italy be considered Italian?
Colonizing Southampton
A study of the times and life in Southampton, New York between 1870 and 1900.
Everything Worthy of Observation
Offers a firsthand account into early-nineteenth-century New York State and Lower Canada during a time of enormous growth and change.
Judith S. Kaye in Her Own Words
A memoir and selected writings by the former Chief Judge of New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
I'll Be Home
Editorials, op-eds, and other writings by a memorable newspaperman.
Something's Happening Here
The decade comes alive in this whirlwind ride through the Sixties that begins in Brooklyn and ends at Woodstock.
Forest and Crag
A compelling story of our ever-evolving relationship with mountains and wilderness.
The Full Pomegranate
Translations of selected poems by the Yiddish writer, covering the entire breadth of his career.
Battling Editor
Recounts the transformation of two daily newspapers in the face of economic downturns and sweeping technological change.
Popovers and Candlelight
Recounts the true story of an entrepreneurial woman who succeeded in a male-dominated industry in the twentieth century.
Years I Walked at Your Side
The first book-length collection in English of this major Israeli poet.
Bootlegger of the Soul
A celebration of the Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who put Albany on the world’s literary map.
Angry Rain
Reveals the development of Maurice Kenny’s growing artistic consciousness, while attesting to both the beauty and brutality of the world in which he lived.
Hell Gate
Depicts a man's exploration of the landscape, history, and toponymy of Hell Gate, a notorious stretch of water in New York City's East River.
The Moving of the Water
Stories anchored in the Welsh American immigrant experience.
We Are Going to Be Lucky
Tells the story of a young couple in love during World War II, and the difficulties they faced both at war and on the home front.
Finding True North
An evocative and personal history of a unique historic place in the Adirondacks.
Adriaen van der Donck
The first comprehensive biography of an important yet understudied figure in the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
The Mystery of the Albany Mummies
From the Nile to the Hudson, the story of how two Egyptian mummies joined an American museum collection.
Dancing with Ophelia
Uses real-life episodes of psychosis and recovery to show how poetic paradigms for thinking about psychiatric symptoms can enlarge contemporary understandings of mental illness and improve long-term treatment outcome.
The History of Here
How the Pine Hills neighborhood in Albany, New York, changed and grew, as reflected in the history of one house and the lives of its residents.
Over a Barrel
How a small family company in the Finger Lakes became one of the most important wine producers in the United States, only to be taken down by corporate greed and mismanagement.
A Spirit of Sacrifice
Focuses on the posters of World War I as a medium to interpret the tremendous role played by New York State and its citizens in the war effort.
Tales of an Ecotourist
Combining humor and memorable anecdotes, five famous ecotourist destinations offer a breathtaking backdrop to better understanding climate change.
Rebels on the Niagara
Offers a detailed account of the political and military history of the Irish American Fenian Brotherhood in the nineteenth century.
Reluctant Reformer
Tells the untold story of the life and career of Nathan Sanford, a New York State lawyer-politician who capitalized on opportunities created by the new politics of the early Republic to achieve social mobility.
Votes for Women
Chronicles the history of the women’s rights and suffrage movements in New York State and examines the important role the state played in the national suffrage movement.
Unruly Catholic Nuns
Explores the voices of current and former Catholic nuns as they share their lived experiences with Catholicism, both in accordance and in conflict with the institutional Church.
Beauty in the City
Presents a major new interpretation of the Ashcan School of Art, arguing that these artists made the working class city at the turn of the century a subject for beautiful art.
The Suffragents
The story of how and why a group of prominent and influential men in New York City and beyond came together to help women gain the right to vote.
National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
Explores the rich history, collections, and significance of the only museum in the United States dedicated solely to the art form of dance.
From Italy to the North End
Documents the arc of the Italian American immigrant experience on both sides of the Atlantic.
Flash Points
A compelling, intimate account of how US foreign assistance in war zones and developing countries does not achieve its intended goals.
The Adirondack Architecture Guide, Southern-Central Region
Explores the architectural treasures of the Southern-Central region of New York's Adirondack Park and places them in the context of Adirondack history and culture.
Still Speaking of Nature
An engaging and accessible introduction to the natural world in New England and upstate New York.
New York Art Deco
The first guidebook devoted exclusively to New York City’s Art Deco treasures.
An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman
A rare nineteenth-century journal of an everyday woman richly infused with the minutiae of antebellum daily life and work.
Upstate Uncovered
An exciting travel guide for Upstate New York road warriors, history lovers, and tourists.
Failed State
Shines a light on the dark corners of New York’s legislature and points the way to much-needed reform.