Abbey In America

More than twenty-five years after his death, iconic writer and nature activist Edward Abbey (1927-1989) remains an influential presence in the American environmental movement. Abbey's best known works continue to be widely read and inspire discourse on the key issues facing contemporary American society, particularly with respect to urbanization and technology. Abbey in America, published forty years after Abbey's popular novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, features an all-star list of contributors, including journalists, authors, scholars, and two of Abbey's best friends as they explore Abbey's ideas and legacy through their unique literary, personal, and scholarly perspectives.

From the Shakers to the Branch Davidians, America's communal utopians have captured the popular imagination. Seventeen original essays here demonstrate the relevance of such groups to the mainstream of American social, religious, and economic life. The contributors examine the beliefs and practices of the most prominent utopian communities founded before 1965, including the long-overlooked Catholic monastic communities and Jewish agricultural colonies. Also featured are the Ephrata Baptists, Moravians, Shakers, Harmonists, Hutterites, Inspirationists of Amana, Mormons, Owenites, Fourierists, Icarians, Janssonists, Theosophists, Cyrus Teed's Koreshans, and Father Divine's Peace Mission. Based on a new conceptual framework known as developmental communalism, the book examines these utopian movements throughout the course of their development--before, during, and after their communal period. Each chapter includes a brief chronology, giving basic information about the group discussed. An appendix presents the most complete list of American utopian communities ever published. The contributors are Jonathan G. Andelson, Karl J. R. Arndt, Pearl W. Bartelt, Priscilla J. Brewer, Donald F. Durnbaugh, Lawrence Foster, Carl J. Guarneri, Robert V. Hine, Gertrude E. Huntington, James E. Landing, Dean L. May, Lawrence J. McCrank, J. Gordon Melton, Donald E. Pitzer, Robert P. Sutton, Jon Wagner, and Robert S. Weisbrot.

Studies on the influence of the middle ages, and in particular the Arthurian legends, on the culture of North America. Fifteen essays trace North America's enthusiastic engagement with the middle ages from the Revolution to Disney. There are eight studies of the American reception of Arthur: in art (Abbey, Rosenthal), literature (Canadian writers, John Ciardi), scholarship (R.S. Loomis), politics (JFK), and popular culture (Arthurian youth groups, Disneyland, the Excalibur Casino). Other topics include Tom Paine, Elbertus Hubbard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, C.B. DeMille, popular treatments of Villon, the roots of the New Mexican cuento, and the rhetoric of the Gulf War. Contributors: ROGER WOOD, KYMBERLEY N. PINDER, ERICA E. HIRSHLER, ALAN LUPACK, CHARLOTTE OBERG, RAYMOND H. THOMPSON, STAN GALLOWAY, ROBIN BLAETZ, ROBERT D. PECKHAM, JEFF RIDER, KLAUS P. JANKOFSKY, MARY MORSE, PAMELA S. MORGAN, SUSAN ARONSTEIN, NANCY COINER, JONATHAN M. ELUKIN

Both an appreciation of an architectural masterpiece and an exploration of the building’s shifting meanings, Jenkyns captures the voices of those who have described Westminster Abbey’s forms, moods, and ceremonies, from Shakespeare and Voltaire to Dickens and Henry James; we see how rulers have made used it, from kings to prime ministers.

Essays on the touring of Irish theatre, at home and abroad.

 The BBC television series Downton Abbey (2010–2016), highly rated in the UK, achieved cult status among American viewers, harking back to the days when serial dramas ruled the airwaves. The show’s finale was one of the most watched in all of television history. This collection of new essays by British and American contributors explores how a series about life in an early 20th century English manor home resonated with American audiences. Topics include the role of the house in literature and film, the changing roles of women and the servant class, the influence of jazz and fashion, and attitudes regarding education and the class system.

Who are the pivotal figures in American history, the men and women who have helped shape us as a people and have influenced how we perceive ourselves as Americans? In this companion to his popular 1001 Events That Made America, Alan Axelrod looks into all areas of our collective past and highlights the famous as well as the infamous, the virtuous as well as the notorious, from the nation’s earliest days to the present. Serving up history in lively, accessible bites, the book presents a Who’s Who in American politics, arts, science, business, religion, and pop culture, along with concise explanations of each figure’s historical significance. Featured personalities range from Jesse James to Al Capone, Harriet Beecher Stowe to Betty Friedan, George Washington to George W. Bush, Harriet Tubman to Martin Luther King, Jr., Stephen Foster to Elvis, John L. Sullivan to Muhammad Ali, Edwin Booth to Marlon Brando, Washington Irving to Thomas Pynchon, and John Jacob Astor to Bill Gates. Packed with information and insight, 1001 People Who Made America gives readers a deeper understanding of what it means to be an American. The appealing design and easy-to-read format invite browsing and sharing.