Excelsior Editions

Showing 1-100 of 280 titles.
Sort by:

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

Edited by Craig Kridel
Foreword by Leon Botstein
Subjects: General Interest
Series: Excelsior Editions

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

Edited by Rick Barram
Subjects: New York/regional
Series: Excelsior Editions

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

Edited by Edward P. Kohn
Subjects: History
Series: Excelsior Editions

Encompasses key years and important events in Theodore Roosevelt’s early life and career.

What Remains

Text by Ilan Stavans
Photographs by Jon Crispin
Subjects: New York/regional
Series: Excelsior Editions

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

By Maurice Kenny
Edited by Derek C. Maus
Introduction by Derek C. Maus
Subjects: General Interest
Series: Excelsior Editions

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

Edited by Elizabeth L. Fox
Notes by Elizabeth L. Fox
Subjects: History
Series: Excelsior Editions

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.