General Interest

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The Historic Woodstock Art Colony

Explores the remarkable range of artists who have worked in Woodstock, New York for over a century.

Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me, Second Edition

The classic work on African American toasts, the predecessor of rap.

Jazz with a Beat

The neglected small group swing sound of the 1940s–60s takes its place in the pantheon of jazz literature.

Sun, Sea, Soil, Wine

Long Island's longest-tenured winemaker weighs in on what makes the North Fork so unique for fine wine production.

Growing Up Roosevelt

A granddaughter's intimate portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt at her longtime home of Val-Kill as well as on a diplomatic trip to Europe and the Middle East.

Downstate New York Rock Walks

An explorer’s walking guide to downstate New York’s awesome boulders and rock formations.

Nooks and Corners of Old New York

A detailed, historic guide to the rich physical history of New York City, from its founding by Dutch settlers to the turn of the twentieth century.

Walking as Artistic Practice

Accessible to a wide range of readers, from artists to commuters to nature lovers and beyond, who wish to expand their understanding of walking.

Pepper Adams

A compelling biography of virtuoso, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams and how his life intersected with some of the greatest poets, writers, painters, and musicians of his time.

Made in New York

How New Yorkers transformed the world!

Portraits of Public Service

Reveals the often-untold stories of front-line public servants.

Haight-Ashbury, Psychedelics, and the Birth of Acid Rock

Illuminates the beginnings, downfall, and legacy of the acid-inspired, spontaneous, and playful approach to life and music in Haight-Ashbury from 1964–1967.

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.

The Eight

The personal and legal struggle of eight enslaved people for freedom in New York in the period just before the Civil War.

Bush League, Big City

The saga of New York’s push to build two minor-league baseball stadiums, colored by dollars, politics, and dreams.

New York

A classic work on the history of New York City written by one of America's greatest politicians.

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.

Louise Blanchard Bethune

The trailblazing story of the life and career of Louise Blanchard Bethune, America’s first professional woman architect.

Truth and Politics

Endorses the pursuit of paradigm shifts in our understandings of faith, truth, and nature to remedy the "underside" of modernity and thus to inaugurate a post-modern (but not anti-modern) and post-secular (but not anti-secular) view of the world.

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

Feminists Reclaim Mentorship

Feminists revisit their mixed experiences of mentoring and being mentored to reclaim mentorship as a project for new generations.

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.

Bronx Epitaph

The first book to comprehensively examine Lou Gehrig's famous "Luckiest Man" speech.

Blues on Stage

Tells the story of classic blues singers from Ma Rainey to Bessie Smith.

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!

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.

Frank Costello

Provides a reimagined but historically accurate account of the life of the notorious gangster Frank Costello through his own words.

Hopewell Junction: A Railroader's Town

Reveals the life and lore of a vanished era of railroad history.

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.

Making the Public Service Millennial

Examines how the new wave of Generation Y public service employees are affecting the dynamics of continuity and change in public management ethics.

Weber and Fields

The first and best biography of this pioneering comic duo and Broadway Stars--in a new edition!

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

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.

Free Jazz

A new and accessible introduction to this exciting, controversial, and often misunderstood music, drawing on extensive research, close listening, and the author’s experience as a performer.

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.

Voices from Death Row, Second Edition

A searing, personal look at conditions on Texas's Death Row—told in the words of the prisoners themselves.

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.

The Story Is True, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded

By Bruce Jackson
Subjects: Literature

Delves into the meaning of stories, their tellers, and those who experience them.

Stories, Streets, and Saints

A time capsule of a classic Italian American neighborhood, told in the voices of its inhabitants.

New York's Great Lost Ballparks

Tells the story of New York's playing grounds, teams, and ballparks of yesteryear.

In the Brightness of Place

Drawing on a range of sources in philosophy and literature, but with particular reference to the work of Heidegger, makes a compelling case for the importance of place in philosophical discourse.

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.

Addiction Recovery and Resilience

Analyzes the tensions and triumphs of a unique, faith-based, addiction recovery organization in a high poverty neighborhood.

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.

Punk Rock

Shows how punk rock shaped modern culture around the world.

Democracy at the Ballpark

Examines how the national pastime of baseball has the capacity to shape politics and American democracy.

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.

Gilbert and Sullivan

By Kurt Gänzl
Subjects: Literature

Highlights the original cast members—both the well-known and the (until now) wholly unknown—who staged the duo's comic operas in Britain and in America.

From Pariah to Priority

Incorporates a unique diplomatic, insider perspective to explain the unexpected incorporation of LGBTI rights into American and Swedish foreign policies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Haunted History of Pelham, New York

A fascinating fusion of New York history and local folklore sure to send shivers up your spine!

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.

Lionel Jobert and the American Civil War

Tells the exciting tale of a highly ambitious Frenchman who commanded a New York Regiment during the American Civil War.

The Musical, Second Edition

A complete introduction to musical theater from its roots in the eighteenth century through today, written by a master historian.

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.

Doghiker

A comprehensive guidebook for dog owners that includes seventy-seven great hikes from the Adirondacks through the Catskills.

Mystery 101

Delineates the knowable from the unknowable in philosophy, science, and theology.

Poor Joshua

Tells the story of a tragic Supreme Court decision involving child abuse and what might be done to rectify it.

We Have Not Stopped Trembling Yet

A father’s personal and intimate account of his Filipino and Alaska Native family’s experiences, and his search for how to help his children overcome the effects of historical and contemporary oppression.

Tales of an Ecotourist

Combining humor and memorable anecdotes, five famous ecotourist destinations offer a breathtaking backdrop to better understanding climate change.

The Bitter Taste of Hope

Essays that critically evaluate America's domestic and foreign policy landscape since President Obama took office.

Elder Care Journey

Combining expert knowledge and first-hand experience, a noted elder care researcher confronts the long-distance care of her own mother.

The Senator from New England

Chronicles JFK’s growing confidence and ambition while a member of the US Senate.

How to Escape

Passionate and rollicking personal and intellectual essays by philosopher Crispin Sartwell.

PhanFood

A cookbook for—and by—fans of the rock band Phish.

In the Hamptons Too

Tales of the sometimes rich, sometimes famous, but always quirky residents of one of America’s best-known summer colonies, as told by the editor and publisher of Dan’s Papers, the area’s free weekly newspaper.

Going Blind

Memoir and meditation on blindness.

Set - Hudson Valley Voyage AND Hudson River Valley Calendar 2009

Photographs by Ted Spiegel
By Reed Sparling
Subjects: General Interest
Series: Excelsior Editions

A beautiful tribute to the Hudson River and the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage

New York and Slavery

Challenges readers to rethink the way we view the nation’s past and race relations in the present.

A Diary of Gastric Bypass Surgery

The story of one African American woman’s decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery.

Critical Intellectuals on Writing

A fascinating look at how some of the world's most eminent scholars conceive of their own relationship with writing and with the work of being a critical intellectual.

To the Extreme

Insider and outsider narratives on the essence of modern “extreme” sports.

Ethical Vegetarianism

Edited by Kerry S. Walters & Lisa Portmess
Subjects: Philosophy

For vegetarians seeking the historical roots of vegetarianism, for animal rights activists and the environmentally concerned, and for those questioning their consumption of meat, here's a book that provides ...

The Phantom of the Cinema

The first book to focus on the representation of character in film, encompassing the art cinema, popular movies, and documentaries.

The American Presidency Under Siege

Attributes the failure of the modern presidency to the development of a political system that inherently impedes creative leadership, and offers prescriptive measures to restore the governing capacity of the president.