Sunday Afternoons And Other Times Remembered

On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1992, Ben Ewell’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece were all murdered. While trying to make sense of this staggering tragedy, Ben can’t help but think back through his life: the hard work and the many peaceful Sunday afternoons growing up on his family farm in Ohio in a house without a bathroom or running water; his high school antics in the 1950s; his time in Haight-Ashbury while attending law school in 1960s San Francisco; and the highs and lows, both personal and professional, of life after school. Threaded throughout these reminiscences, Ben reveals the details of the investigation of his family members’ murders—and the arrest and trial of the parties involved. In this decades-long saga, there is marriage and divorce, love and loss, family and friendship; there are political campaigns and business ventures, some failed and some fruitful. Ultimately, this is a story of perseverance in the face of tragedy, of creating opportunities out of problems, and of appreciating the gift of life and the world around us—with some humor along the way.

It has appeared to many commentators that the most fundamental change in what it is meant to be working-class in twentieth-century Britain came not as a result of war or of want, but of prosperity. Social investigators documented how the relative affluence of the 1950s and 1960s improved the material conditions of life for working-class Britons whilst eroding their commitment to the shared life of ‘traditional’ communities. Utilising an oral history case study of sociability and identity in the Yorkshire town of Beverley between the end of the Second World War and the election of Margaret Thatcher’s government, Working-Class Community in the Age of Affluence challenges this influential narrative. An introductory essay outlines how sociologists and historians understood the complex social, cultural and economic changes of the post-war decades through the prism of affluence, and traces how these changes came to be seen as deleterious to the ‘traditional’ working-class community. The book then proceeds thematically, exploring change across areas of social life including family, neighbourhood, workplace and associational life. This book represents the first sustained historical analysis of change and continuity in working-class community living during the age of affluence. It suggests not only that older social practices persisted, but also that new patterns of sociability could strengthen as much as undermine community. Ultimately, Working-Class Community in the Age of Affluence asks us to rethink assumptions about the decline of local solidarities in this pivotal period, and to recognise community as a key feature of working-class life across the twentieth century.

Now in paperback, The Rural Face of White Supremacy presents a detailed study of the daily experiences of ordinary people in rural Hancock County, Georgia. Drawing on his own interviews with over two hundred black and white residents, Mark Schultz argues that the residents acted on the basis of personal rather than institutional relationships. As a result, Hancock County residents experienced more intimate face-to-face interactions, which made possible more black agency than their urban counterparts were allowed. While they were still firmly entrenched within an exploitive white supremacist culture, this relative freedom did create a space for a range of interracial relationships that included mixed housing, midwifery, church services, meals, and even common-law marriages.

"I remember more hymns than I do sermons." That's the verdict of nearly everyone, including preachers. This is a book for people who love hymns. In this book about twenty-eight of the classic and most cherished hymns, you'll find the stories behind the hymns and meditations on their meaning. You'll discover new spiritual insights into your faith and what it means to follow Christ in your daily life. Many of the greatest hymn writers in history are here--for example, Martin Luther ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"), Isaac Watts ("Our God, Our Help in Ages Past"), Charles Wesley ("O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing"), and John Newton ("Amazing Grace"). The names of some composers are forgotten, but their hymns live forever: "Now Thank We All Our God," "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," "How Firm a Foundation," "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us," "Just as I Am," "Abide with Me," "The Church's One Foundation." This is a book for your devotional reading or for group study. It will open your mind, inspire your heart, and change your life.

After her very wealthy and renowned parents are brutally murdered, five year old Anna McCrystal is left homeless and orphaned. Escaping with her from the war-torn capital city to Grand Cape Mount, a faraway western region, her determined maid will remain there with her for the next five years. When news reached Cape Mount that the peacekeepers, ECOMOG had finally secure Monrovia, the maid takes Anna and returns to the city. But this is a miscalculation. Her premature decision will prove most deadly after new hostility breaks out and she loses her life, leaving Anna without a guardian... without anyone. Anna is lost, confused, walking the streets of Monrovia buck naked until Sister Rose Gabriel finally rescues her.

Everyone has a story to tell, a legacy to leave to both living family and future generations. In his memoir, A Boy from Barnhart: Times Remembered, author Herb Taylor shares his life story and legacy, from his coming of age on large ranches and small towns in West Texas to his subsequent career as a professional army officer. Taylor writes of life and its realities during the drought years of the 1950s. He chronicles the people, places, ideas, and incidents he encountered during a twenty-eight year army career, as well as his struggle with a lifelong alcohol addiction and the death of his childhood sweetheart after a thirty-five year marriage. He writes of the good times and the not so good, the ordinary and the unusual, in a casual, personal, and informative way that captures the times and his life experiences. Equal parts genealogy, history, travelogue, and memoir, Taylors memories are the emotional account of a life well-lived, as well as an interesting and intricate record of times gone by.