William Sydnor's Books

A Hard Country and a Lonely Place

Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870-1920

By: William A. Link

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A Hard Country and a Lonely Place

Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia, 1870-1920

By: William A. Link

William Link's account of the transformation of Virginia's country schools between 1870 and 1920 fills important gaps in the history of education and the social history of the South. His theme is the impact of localism and community on the processes of public education -- first as a motive force in the spread of schooling, then as a powerful factor that collided with the goals of urban reformers. After the Civil War, localism dominated every dimension of education in rural Virginia and in the rural South. School expansion depended upon local enthusiasm and support, and rural education was increasingly integrated into this environment. These schools mirrored the values of the society. Drawing expertly from varied sources, Link recreates this local world: the ways in which schools were organized and governed, the experiences of teachers and students, and the impact of local control. In so doing, he reveals the harmony of the nineteenth-century, one-room school with its surrounding community. After 1900, the schools entered a long period of change. They became a prime target of urban social reformers who regarded localism as a corrosive force responsible for the South's weak political structure, racial tensions, and economic underdevelopment. School reformers began a process that ultimately reshaped every dimension of rural public education in Virginia. During the decades surrounding World War I they initiated sweeping changes in governance, curriculum, and teacher training that would have an impact for the next several generations. They also attempted -- for the most part successfully -- to impose a segregated pedagogy. Link carefully develops the role of the Virginia reformers, never assuming that reform and modernization were unmixed blessings. The reformers succeeded, he argues, only by recognizing the power and significance of local control and by respecting the strength of community influence over schools. Originally published in 1986. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

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288

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UNC Press Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1469644126

ISBN 13

9781469644127

A. P. Hill

Lee's Forgotten General

By: William W. Hassler

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A. P. Hill

Lee's Forgotten General

By: William W. Hassler

A. P. Hill: Lee's Forgotten General is the first biography of the Confederacy's long-neglected hero whom Lee ranked next to Jackson and Longstreet. Although the name and deeds ot this gallant Virginian conspicuously punctuate the record of every major campaign of the Army of Northern Virginia, the man himself has persistently remained what Douglas Southall Freman termed an "elusive personality." William Woods Hassler, through careful and persistent research, has compiled an interesting documentary study from which emerges a balanced portrait of this distinguished but complex character. Here for the first time is detailed the romantic triangle which enmeshed Hill and McClellan, former roommates at West Point, with beauteous Nelly Marcy, reigning queen of pre-war Washington's younger set. Hill lost this contest to Nelly's parents, but he later won the hand of General John Hunt Morgan's lovely and talented sister, Dolly. And at Sharpsburg, Hill wreaked vengeance upon McClellan by his timely arrival which saved Lee from defeat at the same time it spelled McClellan's subsequent dismissal from command of the Army of the Potomac. The author traces Hill's meteoric rise from Colonel of the redoubtable Thirteenth Virginia Regiment to Major General in command of the famed Light Division. Against a "you are there" background of intimate detail, the reader follows the exploits of tempestous Ambrose Powell Hill as he welds his officers and men into fierce striking units. Where the fighing is thickests there is the red-haired, red-shirted Hill brandishing his sword and exhorting his men to victory. Sometimes the issue ends ignominiously as at Bristoe Station, but more often the outcome is glorious as at Second Manassas and Reams Station. Gray greats and near-greats stalk through these pages with vivid reality as one meets Jeb Stuart, Dorsey Pender, John Hood, Heros von Borcke, Ham Chamerlayne, Willie Pegram, Rev. J. Wm. Jones, Cadmus Wilcox, Harry Heth, J. R. Anderson, Lawrence O'Brien Branch, James Archer, Jim Lane, Thomas Wooten, Charles Field, George Tucker, Kyd Douglas, Johnston Pettigrew, Moxley Sorrel, William H. Palmer, Wade Hampton, Jube Early, Lindsay Walker, Maxcy Gregg, Sam McGowan, and others. Accompanying Hill and his commands from pre-Manassas to the final breakthrough at Petersburg, the reader relives the campaigns in the Eastern theater. At the same time the reader gains a deeper insight into the problems of command, together with an appreciation of the hardships which the Confederate soldiers endured during even the early days of the conflict. Although Powell Hill's consideration and ability won for him the unbounded respect and devotion of his troops, his proud, sensitive nature continually embroiled him with his superiors. His dispute with Longstreet following the Seven Days Battles almost culminated in a duel. Transferred to Jackson's command, Hill outspokenly quarreled with "Old Jack" until the latter's mortal wounding at Chancellorsville effected a dramatic battlefield reconciliation. As Jackson's successor, Hill performed irregularly. The author analyzes objectively the various factors which may have caused the changes in Hill's fortunes following his elevation to corps command.

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286

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Univ of North Carolina Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807867160

ISBN 13

9780807867167

Table of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin

By: William Ward Wight

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Table of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin

By: William Ward Wight

Reprint of the original, first published in 1876.

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326

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BoD – Books on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

3385525578

ISBN 13

9783385525573

A Treatise on Wills

Vol. III

By: Thomas Jarman,Joseph Fitz Randolph,William Talcott

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A Treatise on Wills

Vol. III

By: Thomas Jarman,Joseph Fitz Randolph,William Talcott

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

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946

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BoD – Books on Demand

Published Date

ISBN 10

3368630385

ISBN 13

9783368630386

Spec Ops

Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice

By: William H. McRaven

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Spec Ops

Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice

By: William H. McRaven

Vice Adm. William H. McRaven helped to devise the strategy for how to bring down Osama bin Laden, and commanded the courageous U.S. military unit that carried it out on May 1, 2011, ending one of the greatest manhunts in history. In Spec Ops, a well-organized and deeply researched study, McRaven analyzes eight classic special operations. Six are from WWII: the German commando raid on the Belgian fort Eben Emael (1940); the Italian torpedo attack on the Alexandria harbor (1941); the British commando raid on Nazaire, France (1942); the German glider rescue of Benito Mussolini (1943); the British midget-submarine attack on the Tirpitz (1943); and the U.S. Ranger rescue mission at the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines (1945). The two post-WWII examples are the U.S. Army raid on the Son Tay POW camp in North Vietnam (1970) and the Israeli rescue of the skyjacked hostages in Entebbe, Uganda (1976). McRaven—who commands a U.S. Navy SEAL team—pinpoints six essential principles of “spec ops” success: simplicity, security, repetition, surprise, speed and purpose. For each of the case studies, he provides political and military context, a meticulous reconstruction of the mission itself and an analysis of the operation in relation to his six principles. McRaven deems the Son Tay raid “the best modern example of a successful spec op [which] should be considered textbook material for future missions.” His own book is an instructive textbook that will be closely studied by students of the military arts. Maps, photos.

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Page Count

433

Publisher

Presidio Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

030754723X

ISBN 13

9780307547231

The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828–1856

By: William J. Cooper, Jr.

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The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828–1856

By: William J. Cooper, Jr.

The politics of slavery consumed the political world of the antebellum South. Although local economic, ethnic, and religious issues tended to dominate northern antebellum politics, The South and the Politics of Slavery convincingly argues that national and slavery-related issues were the overriding concerns of southern politics during these years. Accordingly, southern voters saw their parties, both Democratic and Whig, as the advocates and guardians of southern rights in the nation. William Cooper traces and analyzes the history of southern politics from the formation of the Democratic party in the late 1820s to the demise of the Democratic-Whig struggle in the 1850s, reporting on attitudes and reactions in each of the eleven states that were to form the Confederacy. Focusing on southern politicians and parties, Cooper emphasizes their relationship with each other, with their northern counterparts, and with southern voters, and he explores the connections between the values of southern white society and its parties and politicians. Based on extensive research in regional political manuscripts and newspapers, this study will be valuable to all historians of the period for the information and insight it provides on the role of the South in politics of the nation during the lifespan of the Jacksonian party system.

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Page Count

955

Publisher

LSU Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0807142662

ISBN 13

9780807142660

Slavemaster President

The Double Career of James Polk

By: William Dusinberre

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Slavemaster President

The Double Career of James Polk

By: William Dusinberre

James Polk was President of the United States from 1845 to 1849, a time when slavery began to dominate American politics. Polk's presidency coincided with the eruption of the territorial slavery issue, which within a few years would lead to the catastrophe of the Civil War. Polk himself owned substantial cotton plantations-- in Tennessee and later in Mississippi-- and some 50 slaves. Unlike many antebellum planters who portrayed their involvement with slavery as a historical burden bestowed onto them by their ancestors, Polk entered the slave business of his own volition, for reasons principally of financial self-interest. Drawing on previously unexplored records, Slavemaster President recreates the world of Polk's plantation and the personal histories of his slaves, in what is arguably the most careful and vivid account to date of how slavery functioned on a single cotton plantation. Life at the Polk estate was brutal and often short. Fewer than one in two slave children lived to the age of fifteen, a child mortality rate even higher than that on the average plantation. A steady stream of slaves temporarily fled the plantation throughout Polk's tenure as absentee slavemaster. Yet Polk was in some respects an enlightened owner, instituting an unusual incentive plan for his slaves and granting extensive privileges to his most favored slave. Startlingly, Dusinberre shows how Polk sought to hide from public knowledge the fact that, while he was president, he was secretly buying as many slaves as his plantation revenues permitted. Shortly before his sudden death from cholera, the president quietly drafted a new will, in which he expressed the hope that his slaves might be freed--but only after he and his wife were both dead. The very next day, he authorized the purchase, in strictest secrecy, of six more very young slaves. By contrast with Senator John C. Calhoun, President Polk has been seen as a moderate Southern Democratic leader. But Dusinberre suggests that the president's political stance toward slavery-- influenced as it was by his deep personal involvement in the plantation system-- may actually have helped precipitate the Civil War that Polk sought to avoid.

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Page Count

273

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

019992418X

ISBN 13

9780199924189

Old Churches, Ministers... of VA, Vol 2

Vol. 2

By: William Meade

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Old Churches, Ministers... of VA, Vol 2

Vol. 2

By: William Meade

With our American Philosophy and Religion series, Applewood reissues many primary sources published throughout American history. Through these books, scholars, interpreters, students, and non-academics alike can see the thoughts and beliefs of Americans who came before us.

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518

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Applewood Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

1429018585

ISBN 13

9781429018586

From Poverty, Through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity

By: William I. Jones Sr.

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From Poverty, Through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity

By: William I. Jones Sr.

From his birth in 1924 in Bainbridge, Georgia, in a small African-American hospital, author William I. Jones Sr. spent the first nineteen years of his life trying to survive and dream the impossible-which was the American dream. Coming of age in a time of dramatic social change in the United States, he presents not only biographical and autobiographical details and facts about his family, but he also provides heartfelt and sincere commentary on society and politics, race, family issues, war and military service, and education and science. Covering nine decades, From Poverty through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity tells how Jones traveled and witnessed many changes not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. He tells his story as a contribution to African-American history.

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Page Count

226

Publisher

Lulu.com

Published Date

ISBN 10

1483437353

ISBN 13

9781483437354

Without Consent Or Contract

The Rise and Fall of American Slavery

By: Robert William Fogel

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Without Consent Or Contract

The Rise and Fall of American Slavery

By: Robert William Fogel

Norton paperback. Includes index. Bibliography: p. 487-523.

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Page Count

550

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

Published Date

ISBN 10

0393312194

ISBN 13

9780393312195

Book's by William Sydnor

A Hard Country and a Lonely Place

A Hard Country and a Lonely Place

A. P. Hill

A. P. Hill

Table of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin

Table of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the State of Wisconsin

A Treatise on Wills

A Treatise on Wills

Spec Ops

Spec Ops

The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828–1856

The South and the Politics of Slavery, 1828–1856

Slavemaster President

Slavemaster President

Old Churches, Ministers... of VA, Vol 2

Old Churches, Ministers... of VA, Vol 2

From Poverty, Through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity

From Poverty, Through Protest, to Progress and Prosperity

Without Consent Or Contract

Without Consent Or Contract

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