Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War (New Black Studies Series)

Freeing Charles recounts the life and epic rescue of captured fugitive slave Charles Nalle of Culpeper, Virginia, who was forcibly liberated by Harriet Tubman and others in Troy, New York, on April 27, 1860. Scott Christianson follows Nalle from his enslavement by the Hansborough family in Virginia through his escape by the Underground Railroad and his experiences in the North on the eve of the Civil War. This engaging narrative represents the first in-depth historical study of this crucial incident, one of the fiercest anti-slavery riots after Harpers Ferry. Christianson also presents a richly detailed look at slavery culture in antebellum Virginia and probes the deepest political and psychological aspects of this epic tale. His account underscores fundamental questions about racial inequality, the rule of law, civil disobedience, and violent resistance to slavery in the antebellum North and South.

History

Christianson, Scott

Americas

University of Illinois Press

Freeing Charles recounts the life and epic rescue of captured fugitive slave Charles Nalle of Culpeper, Virginia, who was forcibly liberated by Harriet Tubman and others in Troy, New York, on April 27, 1860. Scott Christianson follows Nalle from his enslavement by the Hansborough family in Virginia through his escape by the Underground Railroad and his experiences in the North on the eve of the Civil War. This engaging narrative represents the first in-depth historical study of this crucial incident, one of the fiercest anti-slavery riots after Harpers Ferry. Christianson also presents a richly detailed look at slavery culture in antebellum Virginia and probes the deepest political and psychological aspects of this epic tale. His account underscores fundamental questions about racial inequality, the rule of law, civil disobedience, and violent resistance to slavery in the antebellum North and South. As seen in New York Times and on C-Span’s Book TV.

This is the first book to examine the deadly history and potential apocalyptic future of both natural and man-made lethal gases that threaten our world.
Fatal Airs: The Deadly History and Apocalyptic Future of Lethal Gases That Threaten Our World relates the fascinating―and appalling―stories of the discovery, development, applications, and occupational and public health hazards of natural and man-made gases. Some of these gases have figured in mass extinctions. Others have created havoc through their use in chemical warfare or their accidental release. 
Among the hundreds of man-made lethal gases, several have been singled out for attention, including chlorine, phosgene, mustard gas, lewisite, hydrogen cyanide, and the nerve agents tabun, sarin, soman, VX, and methyl isocyanate. The book also examines some naturally occurring gases, such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, methane, and radon. Colorful accounts capture the characteristics and history of each of these mysterious substances, focusing on key episodes in scientific discovery and exploration since World War I.
 • Offers an annotated list of resource organizations for concerned citizens and activists
• Includes a chronology and a glossary

Fatal Airs: The Deadly History and Apocalyptic Future of Lethal Gases That Threaten Our World

Science & Math

Earth Sciences

Praeger

"This handsomely designed volume makes a case for the diagrams...provoking many 'aha moments.'"—New York Times Book Review A collection of the most important ideas, theories, and concepts of all time 100 Diagrams That Changed the World is a fascinating collection of the most significant plans, sketches, drawings, and illustrations that have influenced and shaped the way we think about the world. From primitive cave paintings to Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man to the complicated DNA helix drawn by Crick and Watson to the innovation of the iPod, they chart dramatic breakthroughs in our understanding of the world and its history. Arranged chronologically, each diagram is accompanied by informative text that makes even the most scientific breakthrough accessible to all. Beautifully illustrated in full color, this book will not only inform but also entertain as it demonstrates how the power of a single drawing can enhance, change, or even revolutionize our understanding of the world. With its iconic images and powerful explanations, 100 Diagrams That Changed the World is perfect for readers of The History of the World in 100 Objects, and is the ideal gift for anyone interested in culture, history, science, or technology.

100 Diagrams That Changed the World: From the Earliest Cave Paintings to the Innovation of the iPod

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Plume

The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber

The Last Gasp takes us to the dark side of human history in the first full chronicle of the gas chamber in the United States. In page-turning detail, award-winning writer Scott Christianson tells a dreadful story that is full of surprising and provocative new findings. First constructed in Nevada in 1924, the gas chamber, a method of killing sealed off and removed from the sight and hearing of witnesses, was originally touted as a “humane” method of execution. Delving into science, war, industry, medicine, law, and politics, Christianson overturns this mythology for good. He exposes the sinister links between corporations looking for profit, the military, and the first uses of the gas chamber after World War I. He explores little-known connections between the gas chamber and the eugenics movement. Perhaps most controversially, he has unearthed new evidence about American and German collaboration in the production and lethal use of hydrogen cyanide and about Hitler’s adoption of gas chamber technology developed in the United States. More than a book about the death penalty, this compelling history ultimately reveals much about America’s values and power structures in the twentieth century.

University of California Press

With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America

Northeastern Univ Pr

A tour of the history of the world through the declarations, manifestos, and agreements from the Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence to Wikileaks. This fascinating collection gathers the most significant written documents that have influenced and shaped the way we think about the world and the course of history. From the Magna Carta (1215) to the Gettysburg Address (1863) to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech (1963), the documents showcased here chart dramatic high points of world history. In addition to official charters and famous treaties, there are also less well known yet nonetheless interesting items included, such as the Apollo flight plan, Apple’s 1976 incorporation documents, and the check with which the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia. Equally interesting are Watson and Crick’s scrawled notes leading to the discovery of DNA, Darwin’s journal, and the annotated manuscripts for Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams and Orwell’s novel 1984. Beautifully illustrated in full color, this book not only informs but also entertains as it demonstrates how the power of the written word has shaped, changed, enhanced, and even revolutionized the world.

100 Documents That Changed the World: From the Magna Carta to Wikileaks

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Universe

A tour of global history by way of history’s most important scrolls, manuscripts, and printed books, from Plato and Homer to the twenty-first century—100 must reads. Beautifully illustrated in full color, this book informs and entertains as it demonstrates how the power of the written word has shaped, changed, and even revolutionized the world. Prize-winning author Scott Christianson brings together an exceptional collection of groundbreaking works that have changed the tide of history. Included are scriptures that founded religions, manifestos that sparked revolutions, scientific treatises that challenged ingrained beliefs, and novels that kick-started new literary movements. This sweeping chronological survey highlights the most important books from around the globe, from the earliest illuminated manuscripts all the way to the digital age. Included are such well-known classics as the Odyssey, the Torah, Shakespeare’s First Folio, Moby-Dick, and Darwin’s On the Origins of Species, but an array of other works, some well-known and others less so, are featured as well, including those by Sun Tzu, Nicolaus Copernicus, Mary Wollstonecraft, Adam Smith, Henry David Thoreau, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka, as well as more recent works by J. K. Rowling, Art Spiegelman, and Naomi Klein. This provocative collection is the perfect book for both literature lovers and history buffs.

100 Books That Changed the World

Salter, Colin

World

In the annals of American criminal justice, two prisons stand out as icons of institutionalized brutality and deprivation: Alcatraz and Sing Sing. In the 70 odd years before 1963, when the death sentence was declared unconstitutional in New York, Sing Sing was the site of almost one-half of the 1,353 executions carried out in the state. More people were executed at Sing Sing than at any other American prison, yet Sing Sing's death house was, to a remarkable extent, one of the most closed, secret and mythologized places in modern America. In this remarkable book, based on recently revealed archival materials, Scott Christianson takes us on a disturbing and poignant tour of Sing Sing's legendary death house, and introduces us to those whose lives Sing Sing claimed. Within the dusty files were mug shots of each newly arrived prisoner, most still wearing the out-to-court clothes they had on earlier that day when they learned their verdict and were sentenced to death. It is these sometimes bewildered, sometimes defiant, faces that fill the pages of Condemned, along with the documents of their last months at Sing Sing. The reader follows prisoners from their introduction to the rules of Sing Sing, through their contact with guards and psychiatrists, their pleas for clemency, escape attempts, resistance, and their final letters and messages before being put to death. We meet the mother of five accused of killing her husband, the two young Chinese men accused of a murder during a robbery and the drifter who doesn't remember killing at all. While the majority of inmates are everyday people, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were also executed here, as were the major figures in the infamous Murder Inc., forerunner of the American mafia. Page upon page, Condemned leaves an indelible impression of humanity and suffering.

Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House

NYU Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Christianson, Scott. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Christianson, Scott

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Christianson, Scott. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War (New Black Studies Series)

Freeing Charles: The Struggle to Free a Slave on the Eve of the Civil War (New Black Studies Series)

Fatal Airs: The Deadly History and Apocalyptic Future of Lethal Gases That Threaten Our World

100 Diagrams That Changed the World: From the Earliest Cave Paintings to the Innovation of the iPod

The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber

The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber

With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America

100 Documents That Changed the World: From the Magna Carta to Wikileaks

100 Books That Changed the World

Condemned: Inside the Sing Sing Death House