The Vermont Difference: Perspectives from the Green Mountain State

Muller, H. Nicholas

Graffagnino, J. Kevin

Donath, David A.

and, Peterson-Ishaq, Kristin (edited by)

Woodstock Foundation

The Vermont Difference offers a dynamic look at the best of Vermont through beautiful images and engaging essays from 19 contributors including Vermont politicians, historians, academics, writers and business leaders. The essays feature aspects of the Vermont experience to create a book rich in personal perceptions, insights and noteworthy traditions, policies and practices. Vermonters, visitors, and others who love Vermont will come away with a fresh appreciation. The Vermont Difference is available in both hardcover and softcover and is co-published by the Woodstock Foundation and the Vermont Historical Society.
Review - Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., President Pro Tem of the U.S. Senate "There is much that is idyllic and iconic about Vermont and our glorious mountains, hills, lakes, village squares, ski areas and biking trails. Some alpine cultures become insular, but Vermonters are outward looking. We are keenly interested in the wider world.
The Vermont Difference illuminates a fascinating culture that has given rise to ideas and trends, born or incubated here, that by now include organic agriculture, alternative and renewable energy, forest land conservation, the farm-to-school movement, the ethics of corporate social responsibility, artistic expression, and the crusade to ban anti-personnel landmines."
Review - Author Howard Frank Mosher "I know of no other state in America that has such a clear and enduring understanding of its own distinctiveness as Vermont. In eighteen brilliant and original essays by contemporary Vermonters, The Vermont Difference reveals why I've lived in the Green Mountain State for fifty years, but I learned something new and remarkable about Vermont on every page of this wonderful book."

Since 1969, Ethan Allen has been the subject of three biographical studies, all of which indulge in sustaining and revitalizing the image of Allen as a physically imposing Vermont yeoman, a defender of the rights of Americans, an eloquent military hero, and a master of many guises, from rough frontiersman to gentleman philosopher. Seeking the authentic Ethan Allen, the authors of this volume ask: How did that Ethan Allen secure his place in popular culture? As they observe, this spectacular persona leaves little room for a more accurate assessment of Allen as a self-interested land speculator, rebellious mob leader, inexperienced militia officer, and truth-challenged man who would steer Vermont into the British Empire. Drawing extensively from the correspondence in Ethan Allen and his Kin and a wide range of historical, political, and cultural sources, Duffy and Muller analyze the factors that led to Ethan Allen’s two-hundred-year-old status as the most famous figure in Vermont’s past. Placing facts against myths, the authors reveal how Allen acquired and retained his iconic image, how the much-repeated legends composed after his death coincide with his life, why recollections of him are synonymous with the story of Vermont, and why some Vermonters still assign to Allen their own cherished and idealized values.

Inventing Ethan Allen

Biographies & Memoirs

Duffy, John J.

Historical

University Press of New England

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