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Vikings Catalog and Sale

On the threshold of winter, it is not untoward to turn one’s thoughts to hearty beards.  So it is here at McFarland, and ours have specifically turned to Vikings and representations of medieval Nordic-ness in myth, literature and popular culture.  We’ve collected all our related McFarland titles into this catalog, and you’ll find a full range of books covering topics such as the intellectual inspirations for Tolkien’s legendarium, the Vikings television series that successfully summoned their historical world, and insights into the people of the great Icelandic medieval sagas.  If you have an interest in Norse mythology in heavy metal music, McFarland has a book for that, too!  Through December 31, get 30% off these books with coupon code VIKINGS30.

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Beer, Wine and Spirits Sale

While many of our readers, authors and staff have an appreciation for the drinking of beer, practically as many also have a fondness for the culture of beer.  Drink and culture converge at McFarland, where we have a small but growing line of books that look at the social and historical impact of beer, wine and spirits.  Now through January 15, get 30% off of these books with coupon code BEER30.  Grab a book, grab your beverage of choice, and kick back and enjoy two of life’s great pastimes!  Furthermore, if you’re an author with an idea for a book about beer culture, tell us what you’ve got on tap at proposals@mcfarlandpub.com.

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Books about the Holidays

Check out our latest catalog of books about the holidays—Jolly Elves with Hearty Beards—and get 20% off books about the holidays thru January 6 with coupon code MIDWINTER19!

Also, our catalog-wide Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale continues through December 2.  Use coupon code HOLIDAY19 to receive 20% off your entire purchase.

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Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Praises McFarland in New Interview

In a new interview in Bright Lights Film Journal, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett opens up about his love of classic horror films, and he singles out McFarland in his praise:

“There’s a really, really great publishing house called McFarland that kind of specializes in preserving the integrity and the personality of the directors and the actors and what it was like to be on the set of a lot of these films and, you know, to be in a lot of these subgroups that were working on some of these films. It’s really amazing. Check that out: McFarland. It is really, truly amazing.”

Read the entire interview here!

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McFarland 40th Anniversary Sale

We’re turning 40, and we’re celebrating with a special fortieth anniversary sale! Through June 30, get a 25% discount on ALL books when you use the code ANN2019. And if you’ll be in our area (Ashe County, North Carolina, in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains), we’d love to see you at our open house event on Friday, June 14. Thank you for supporting our first 40 years—we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

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McFarland Turns 40

On June 14, 2019, McFarland will celebrate its fortieth anniversary with an open house party. From noon to five, our campus at 960 Hwy 88 W, Jefferson, NC will be open to the public with finger food, conversation and tours available, and many of our authors will be in attendance. To stay up-t0-date with event information, follow our event page. Below is a brief company history, with personal thoughts, by founder and editor-in-chief Robert Franklin.

McFarland Publishers Now Forty Years Old
by Robert Franklin

McFarland’s history (founder, Robbie Franklin, me): My close friends Biff and Alicia Stickel were burned out special ed teachers in Connecticut, early 70’s.  What to do?  Back to the land!  They (and their little daughter Maranatha Shone Stickel) drove south till they loved the vibe and the scenery and wound up living on Peak Road from 1972 through part of 1978 (and birthing Micah Stickel).  Alicia played piano at the local Baptist church and they were cofounders of the Creston Co-op.  I visited them in ’72 (instantly fell for the land and people, the forefinger car salute, the almost drinkable river) and again every year after, and when wife Cheryl Roberts came into my life in 1975, we visited.  Soon I was bragging about Ashe County to everybody – “If your car breaks down, the very next person to come along will stop and ask if you need help.”  I hope a few readers can recognize the Stickels’ name (he goes by Richard now; they live in Toronto).  They are the reason McFarland was begun in Ashe County.  We present band of publishers, about fifty in number, owe them great honor.

I did not learn till after we moved here in 1979 that my Revolutionary War ancestor Lieutenant Robert McFarland, after whupping the king at Kings Mountain, lived up here in the 1790s.  He then went overmountain to become the first ever sheriff of Greene/Washington County, Tennessee.  (I was born in Memphis.)

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers is our official name.  Founded in April 1979 right here.  I had been the executive editor of a smallish scholarly publisher in New Jersey; my mentor/boss/friend Eric Moon (a charismatic Brit) knew before I did it was time for me to go off on “my own” (very misleading words!).  The local Ashe County newspaper was failing by 1978 and at first I thought, o.k., I’m an editor type, maybe I can start up a new one.  Between summer and Christmas the local fellow David Desautels decided the same thing and very successfully started The Jefferson Times.  We became friends and McFarland’s earliest two or three books (including a biography of Soviet leader Brezhnev) were typeset using off-hours time on that new newspaper’s equipment.  Katy Zell Taylor was our first fulltime employee (Ashe Central H.S. yearbook editor!) and did a lot of typesetting and correcting.  Dental Care in Society was our first published book, in 1980 (ask me some day).

After deciding up in New Jersey to stay with book (versus newspaper) publishing, I phoned the Jefferson Post Office in February 1979 to set up a box number mailing address – they said people had to apply in person.  Whew!  So I flew from Newark to Tri-Cities, Tennessee (what did I know?), rented a car, drove to Jefferson (hours!), filled out a form, got back in the car, drove back to Tri-Cities, and got back home not long before day was done.

A couple of months later, on April 1, 1979, Cheryl and I packed our former life stuff (including hundreds of books—heavy!) in a small U-Haul, attached it to our VW bug, and  began to drive south, the Stickels’ Ashe County on our minds.

My ninth-grade homeroom friend (Toledo, Ohio), Mike Strand, had helped with some financial and emotional support and we stopped at his place in Maryland overnight.  Armed with an Ashe return address, I had written several hundred letters (yes!) on a yellow pad on my knees in the front seat while Cheryl drove, and Mike arranged for a nearby university used-to-weird-hours thesis typist to type them all overnight; we mailed them April 2 and drove on.  We were headed to my parents’ (retired librarians) house in Charlottesville, with me again writing several hundred short letters on my lap. We had arranged for a similar heroic overnight typing fest (the two days: 905 letters to all the authors I had addresses for, saying my former employer will take good care of you, they’re wonderful publishers—But if by any chance they turn you down for something, give us a shot!).

The U-Haul was too much for the Bug and our left rear wheel came OFF 20 miles north of Charlottesville—but stayed in the wheel well (having nowhere else to go), behaving violently.  Definitely exciting (it was my stint at the wheel).  We lost two or three days; I split logs for my parents’ fireplace.

In Ashe County finally, we scooped up some reply mail from authors.  Already!  And we soon secured a sweet farmhouse in Dillard Holler (landlord Jesse Dillard; Mom-figure Clyde Dillard; horse-plus-himself quarter-acre-garden plower Jones Dillard).  The Dillard families taught us a great deal about what being “conservative” actually means.  (One day Jesse turned up with several hundred fence rails he stored near “our” (his) house; no immediate need, but “I got ’em for 25¢ each.”  They stayed stacked for years…)  The birth of our sons Charles (in ’81), Nicholas (’85) and William (’89) certainly emphasized the Dillards’ lessons.  (Jesse routinely tossed hay bales up into pickup trucks in his 80’s.  Lemme be him!)

McFarland itself started out next to the H & R Block office, near the florist, in Jefferson, a small space but enough for our first couple of years.  The Jefferson Post Office turned out, under our loyal friend Charles Caudill, to be one of our greatest early assets.  He was so supportive as McF struggled through ignorance of mass mailings, foreign registered packages (we learned together!), “library rate” book mailings, etc.  McFarland moved in 1981 or ’82 to the Mountain View shopping center between the towns and quickly expanded there.  In 1982 we lucked out by having Rhonda Herman agree to join the tiny staff, doing all the “business” stuff while I coddled authors, edited manuscripts and coached the typesetters.  High school senior Cynthia Campbell became a stalwart and sixteen year old Cherie Scott was a wow of a typesetter, along with Katy Taylor, on our new typesetting equipment.  Within three years we were producing 40 or so new books a year (in 2018 the total was nearly 400).

Meanwhile, the people of Ashe County all around us showed interest, great surprise (“A Publisher in Ashe County?” read one huge Jefferson Times headline), and affection.  Highly significant was Hal Colvard, repeatedly trusting us, at Northwestern bank, another wonderful early friend of McFar.  We warmly greeted each other on Saturday mornings at the post office for many years after he retired.

By 1984 we’d moved to our present location, which became five buildings on both sides of the road.  We’re technically inside Jefferson town limits.  We took Mackey McDonald’s trim brick ranch house, whacked walls left and right, pushed out here, there… Years later we added a second floor – my joke is, the main building now has more roof lines than an Italian hill village.

We are, or were, a library-oriented scholarly and reference book publisher.  (We’ve grown much more into a straight-to-people operation today but libraries are still a critical component of our efforts.)  Two of our earliest works were Library Display Ideas by my sister Linda Franklin and Free Magazines for Libraries, by Adeline Mercer Smith: they were terrific sales successes.  Another 1982 biggie was Anabolic Steroids and the Athlete by William M. Taylor, M.D.  We hit that topic just as it exploded nationwide.  One of the most memorable early works was Keep Watching the Skies! by Bill Warren (1982).  This huge book expertly, humorously covers in amazing depth every American science fiction movie of the 1950s and a lot of Hollywood Big Names spoke highly of it in print.  We were famous!  (Well, the author was…)

McFarland was an early strong supporter of the local arts scene.  (There are hundreds of paintings hanging in four of our buildings.)  Cheryl Roberts and I founded the publication ARTS/DATES for the Arts Council in 1980 or 1981, and for more than a decade paid all its expenses as it grew grander and ever more useful.  Loyal Jane Lonon (Arts Council head) wangled twice for us an N.C. Governor’s Business Award for the Arts and Humanities (go to Raleigh; shake hands; pose for photos; eat dinner).

I joined the strong, active Ashe County Little Theatre and played Dracula for them in 1981, sporting fangs crafted by the late Brett Summey, who became a good friend, now truly missed.  Jane Lonon and I wowed the crowd in The King and I and Tom Fowler and I rolled them in the aisles in Greater Tuna.  When I played Macbeth, the high school English teacher promised extra credit to student attendees.

McFarland’s output grew rapidly—by the 1990s we were producing hundreds of new titles each year and our staff had doubled, then tripled in size.  Margie Turnmire had arrived in the mid–’80s, a beautiful soul and a very smart lady:  director of finance and administration.  In 1995 the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce honored us with a Business of the Year award (I believe we were the third such) and in 1998 The Wall Street Journal ran a feature article on us, showing that we are a bit unusual in our range of offerings.  We have a commanding position in, for example, Vietnam combat memoirs, chess history, baseball (teams, eras, bios), automotive history and popular culture (film, TV, comics, literature…).  We’ve done many reference books (though with Wiki-Google etc. now such works are uneconomical to produce); a Library Journal book of the year was local John Stewart’s African States and Rulers in 1989.  Lots of Civil War, World War II, American/European/World history, literary criticism.  Authors from all over the world.  That part’s fun!  As I write this we have published 7,800 titles.

We had busted out of our onsite warehouse and used the old Ashe County Jail on Buffalo Road for several years in the 80s!  Ultimately we had to move our shipping operation into the building next to the Arts Council owned by Jim Reeves.  On its outer wall facing the Arts Center we had Jack Young do the town’s first mural (now painted over):  “Ashe County through the Ages.”  Finally, Mike Herman built us an entirely new warehouse across the road from our main building in about 1990.  Fourteen years later, then-vice-president Rhonda Herman (now president) moved the company onto firmer financial footing by arranging to install state-of-the-art printing equipment in that warehouse (we’d always used out-of-house printing firms).

Cheryl and I love Ashe County.  We love the people.  We love the trees, the river.  (We came in first in the Mixed Expert class canoe race four or five years ago!)  I even like the curves driving 23 miles to and fro our home to work (we live practically on the Tennessee line, up in the Flatwoods).  The finger salute still works and the tire zing helps me think through business challenges.  Our three boys, Charles, Nicky and William, also revere their place of birth.  McFarland has about 50 employees, all of whom are exceptionally talented.  When I got here to start the company, I truly had my pick of some of the best talent available anywhere, and I mean Anywhere.  Our typesetters know every Hungarian or Swedish accent mark there is!

The local merchants have become business partners.  Local artists have paintings hanging in our offices.  The restaurants are great for business lunches.  The weather—sublime (I learned to fell trees and the art of minimizing the lifting and stacking of logs our first year here); I like winter!  Mike Herman built our house and the numerous renovations of our current space—impossible to imagine a better job.  Stan Barker did some fabulous stone walls at our home.  I feel both cozy and exhilarated just getting up in the morning!  Ashe County, we’re for you!

McFarland is having an open house (snacks, drinks, tours) starting at noon on Friday, June 14th.  We want to show our thanks to a community that has nurtured us for 40 years.  Come one, come all!

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Biographies and Memoirs Catalog and Sale

McFarland’s biographies and memoirs cover the fascinating life stories of both iconic personalities and quiet heroes.  On sale now, browse hundreds of titles from history, sports, movies, music, science & technology, literature, military history, transportation and more. When you order direct from our website using the coupon code BIOGRAPHY, print editions of all biographies, autobiographies and memoirs are 20% off now through February 15.

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Halloween Sale: Horror Books

We realize that the stores have had their trees and Christmas decorations out for sale for weeks now.  At McFarland though, no one wants to leapfrog past our favorite holiday, Halloween!  McFarland has scheduled a sale for our books about horror – whether on film, television, literature, games, comics, culture or anything else.  When you order direct from our website using the coupon code HORROR25, print editions of all horror books are 25% off Friday, October 26 through Halloween, October 31.  Be prepared to be up late with the lights on…

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King Arthur Sales Starts Now

What is known of the legendary King Arthur is mostly derived from folklore and literature.  Though today, one is just as likely to have been introduced to King Arthur by a cartoon boy pulling a sword from a stone.  You’ll find books covering all disciplines in our new King Arthur catalog
For film studies, McFarland’s latest catalog includes such titles as Kevin J. Harty’s groundbreaking Cinema Arthuriana and The Reel Middle Ages.  For students (and professors) of Arthurian literature, William W. Kibler and R. Barton Palmer have brought us a very useful book for the classroom, Medieval Arthurian Epic and Romance.   It offers new translations from Latin, Middle English and Old French of texts that exemplify the most important traditions of Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages.  In addition to Arthuriana in folklore, literature and film, this new catalog also includes our line of popular works debating the evidence about historic sites and figures, including Hengest, Gwrtheyrn and the Chronology of Post-Roman BritainWhen you order direct from our website using the coupon code Arthur25, print editions of all Arthuriana books are 25% off September 15 through September 30.
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Newly Published: Claire Trevor

New on our bookshelf today:

Claire Trevor: The Life and Films of the Queen of Noir
Derek Sculthorpe

Claire Trevor (1910–2000) is best remembered as the alluring blonde femme fatale in such iconic noir films as Murder, My Sweet (1944) and Raw Deal (1948). Yet she was a versatile performer who brought rare emotional depth to her craft. She was effective in a range of diverse roles, from an outcast prostitute in John Ford’s classic Stagecoach (1939) to the ambitious tennis mother in Hard, Fast and Beautiful (1951) to the embittered wife of a landowner in William Wellman’s overlooked gem My Man and I (1952). Nominated for four Oscars, she deservedly won Best Supporting Actesss for her portrayal of Gaye Dawn, a gangster’s broken-down moll in Key Largo (1948). The author covers her life and career in detail, recognizing her as one of the finest actresses of her generation.

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Huge May Popular Culture Sale!

Summer blockbuster season seems to start earlier each year, but that’s all fine and dandy with the Marvel and Star Wars fans at McFarland! Beginning on Star Wars Day, McFarland is offering a sale for our books about film, television and related pop culture. When you order direct from our website using the coupon code PopCulture25, print editions of all pop culture books are 25% off on Star Wars Day, May 4 through Friday, May 11. May the fourth be with you!

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Newly Published: Biology Run Amok!

New on our bookshelf today:

Biology Run Amok!: The Life Science Lessons of Science Fiction Cinema
Mark C. Glassy

Science fiction movie audiences may sometimes wonder how fictitious the science in a film really is. Yet for many—call them the “Jurassic Park generation”—film and popular media can present a seemingly plausible melding of science and fiction that forms a distorted understanding of scientific facts and concepts. Recognizing that film is both the dominant entertainment medium and an effective tool for teaching, this book—featuring articles originally published in the magazine Scary Monsters—separates biological reality from fantasy in dozens of science fiction films, including The Island of Lost Souls (1933), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), War of the Worlds (1953), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Scanners (1980), The Serpent and the Rainbow (1987) and Outbreak (1995).

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Two Books Reviewed in May Issue of Choice

Bare-Knuckle Britons and Fighting Irish: Boxing, Race, Religion and Nationality in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Adam Chill
“Compelling…captures the mise-en-scène of the sport, from the pubs and gambling halls to the action in the ring…recommended.”

The Caribbean Story Finder: A Guide to 438 Tales from 24 Nations and Territories, Listing Subjects and Sources
Sharon Barcan Elswit
“Fills a gap…well-constructed…the bibliography is excellent…A valuable resource for folk life, world literature, children’s literature, and intercultural studies…recommended.”

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Newly Published: Bell, Book and Camera

New on our bookshelf today:

Bell, Book and Camera: A Critical History of Witches in American Film and Television
Heather Greene

The witch as a cultural archetype has existed in some form since the beginning of recorded history. Her nature has changed through technological developments and sociocultural shifts—a transformation most evident in her depictions on screen.

This book traces the figure of the witch through American screen history with an analysis of the entertainment industry’s shifting boundaries concerning expressions of femininity. Focusing on films and television series from The Wizard of Oz to The Craft, the author looks at how the witch reflects alterations of gender roles, religion, the modern practice of witchcraft, and female agency.

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Newly Published: The Page Fence Giants

New on our bookshelf today:

The Page Fence Giants: A History of Black Baseball’s Pioneering Champions
Mitch Lutzke

The Page Fence Giants, an all-star black baseball club sponsored by a woven-wire fence company in Adrian, Michigan, graced the diamond in the 1890s. Formed through a partnership between black and white boosters, the team’s respectable four-year run was an early integration success—before integration was phased out decades ahead of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 debut, and the growing Jim Crow sentiment blocked the Page Fence Giant’s best talent from the major leagues. This book tells the the story of a long-ignored team at the close of the 19th century, whose Hall of Famer second baseman Sol White was but one of their best players.

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Newly Published: Lewis Hine

New on our bookshelf today:

Lewis Hine: Photographer and American Progressive
Timothy J. Duerden

Nearly 80 years after his death, Lewis Hine’s name is revered in the world of photography and practically synonymous with the labor reforms of the Progressive Era. His body of work—much of it a century old or more—remains vital as both aesthetic statement and social document.
Drawing on a range of sources, including information from surviving family members, this first full-length illustrated biography presents a detailed and personal portrait of the sociologist and photographer whose haunting images of children at work in cotton mills and coal mines sparked the movement to end child labor, culminating with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. There are 62 of his penetrating photographs included.

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Newly Published: The Public Artscape of New Haven

New on our bookshelf today:

The Public Artscape of New Haven: Themes in the Creation of a City Image
Laura A. Macaluso

There are nearly 500 public works of art throughout New Haven, Connecticut—a city of 17 square miles with 130,000 residents. While other historic East Coast cities—Philadelphia, Providence, Boston—have been the subjects of book-length studies on the function and meaning of public art, New Haven (founded 1638) has been largely ignored. This comprehensive analysis provides an overview of the city’s public art policy, programs and preservation, and explores its two centuries of public art installations, monuments and memorials in a range of contexts.

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Newly Published: A Successful Novel Must Be in Want of a Sequel

New on our bookshelf today:

A Successful Novel Must Be in Want of a Sequel: Second Takes on Classics from The Scarlet Letter to Rebecca
M. Carmen Gomez-Galisteo

What happened after Mr. Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice? Where did Heathcliff go when he disappeared in Wuthering Heights? What social ostracism would Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter have faced in 20th century America?

Great novels often leave behind great questions—sequels seek to answer them. This critical analysis offers fresh insights into the sequels to seven literary classics, including Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the Brontë sisters’ Jane Eyre, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

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Newly Published: “Masquerading in Male Attire”

New on our bookshelf today:

“Masquerading in Male Attire”: Women Passing as Men in America, 1844–1920
Kerry Segrave

Historically, American women have dressed as men for a number of reasons—to enter the military, to travel freely, to commit a criminal act, to marry other women—but most often to secure employment. During the mid–1800s and early 1900s, most jobs were barred to women, and those that were available to both sexes paid women far less.

This book profiles both women who tried to pass as men and were caught—and even arrested—and those who successfully masqueraded for years. Whatever their motives, all took part in a common rebellion against an economic and social system that openly discriminated against them.

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Newly Published: French in a Flash

New on our bookshelf today:

French in a Flash: Grammar and Vocabulary Fundamentals
Barbara Boyer

Combining concise grammar and vocabulary lessons written for non-linguists, this practical French study guide makes even the more difficult parts of the language easily understandable. Fundamentals are explained in simple terms with helpful tips, clear summaries, visual shortcuts and charts. A simplified pronunciation guide tailored to English speakers is provided, along with a chapter on spoken French for more advanced learners. Each lesson is combined with helpful review exercises and answer keys to evaluate progress and to fast-track language acquisition, for the classroom or for self-directed learning. Suitable for students of all levels, the content is designed to present the language structures of standard undergraduate French courses.

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Newly Published: Glenn Killinger, All-American

New on our bookshelf today:

Glenn Killinger, All-American: Penn State’s World War I Era Sports Hero
Todd M. Mealy

This first biography of W. Glenn Killinger highlights his tenure as a nine-time varsity letterman at Penn State, where he emerged as one of the best football, basketball and baseball players in the U.S. Situating Killinger in his time and place, the author explores the ways in which home-front culture during World War I—focused on heroism, masculinity and sporting culture—created the demand for sports and sports icons and drove the ascent college athletics in the first quarter of the 20th century.

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Newly Published: Koufax Throws a Curve

New on our bookshelf today:

Koufax Throws a Curve: The Los Angeles Dodgers at the End of an Era, 1964–1966
Brian M. Endsley

The conclusion of the Sandy Koufax Era was a roller coaster ride for the LA Dodgers. Overly dependent on the fragile left arm of their Hall of Fame left-hander, they played dismally in 1964—their worst season since World War II—after losing Koufax to an injury. The next year, his shutout performance on short rest won them the World Series. He single-handedly saved the Dodger’s 1966 regular season in the final game, only to fail ignominiously during the Series.

In the last two seasons of his career, Koufax averaged an impressive 27 complete games, 27 wins and 350 strikeouts. Sixteen days after winning his second consecutive Cy Young Award, he shocked Major League Baseball by announcing his retirement. Like a supernova that had lit up the sports for six years, he burned out and was gone by age 30.

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Newly Published: Terror in the Desert

New on our bookshelf today:

Terror in the Desert: Dark Cinema of the American Southwest
Brad Sykes

Set in the American Southwest, “desert terror” films combine elements from horror, film noir and road movies to tell stories of isolation and violence. For more than half a century, these diverse and troubling films have eluded critical classification and analysis. Highlighting pioneering filmmakers and bizarre production stories, the author traces the genre’s origins and development, from cult exploitation (The Hills Have Eyes, The Hitcher) to crowd-pleasing franchises (Tremors, From Dusk Till Dawn) to quirky auteurist fare (Natural Born Killers, Lost Highway) to more recent releases (Bone Tomahawk, Nocturnal Animals). Rare stills, promotional materials and a filmography are included.

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Newly Published: Writing and the Body in Motion

New on our bookshelf today:

Writing and the Body in Motion: Awakening Voice through Somatic Practice
Cheryl Pallant

Based upon the author’s lifetime practices as a dancer, poet and teacher, this innovative approach to developing body awareness focuses on achieving self-discovery and well-being through movement, mindfulness and writing. Written from a holistic (rather than dualistic) view of the mind-body problem, discussion and exercises draw on dance, psychology, neuroscience and meditation to guide personal exploration and creative expression.

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Newly Published: “Don’t tell father I have been shot at”

New on our bookshelf today:

“Don’t tell father I have been shot at”: The Civil War Letters of Captain George N. Bliss, First Rhode Island Cavalry
George N. Bliss

Captain George N. Bliss of the First Rhode Island Cavalry survived some 27 actions during the Civil War. Midway through the war, he served nine months at a conscript training camp in Connecticut, where he sat on several courts-martial. In September 1864, in a skirmish at Waynesboro, Virginia, he single-handedly charged into the 4th Virginia “Black Horse” Cavalry. Badly injured and taken prisoner, he was consigned to the notorious Libby Prison in Richmond.

A colorful correspondent, Bliss detailed his experiences in letters to a close friend and sent dispatches to a Providence newspaper. His candid writings are rich with details of the war and his own opinions. The editors describe how, following the war, Bliss sought out the Confederates who almost killed him and formed friendships with them that lasted for decades.

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Newly Published: The Women of Orphan Black

New on our bookshelf today:

The Women of Orphan Black: Faces of the Feminist Spectrum
Valerie Estelle Frankel

Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany plays a host of the show’s main characters, all clones of an illegal experiment. The mighty heroines save one another and destroy the patriarchy—with the aid of supportive yet bumbling males—while subverting gender expectations and celebrating the many facets of feminism.

Sarah, the punk feminist clashing with her radical feminist foster-mother; Alison, the quintessential post-feminist housewife; Cosima, a herald of second-wave lesbian feminism in Birkenstocks and dreads; Beth, a third-wave feminist bogged down by drug and relationship problems; and M.K. a fourth-wave feminist who tackles the hardships of disability through the Internet. This book explores these portrayals and how they relate to the science and ethics surrounding cloning through an emphasis on the women’s war against corporate power.

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Newly Published: Exploring Our Dreams

New on our bookshelf today:

Exploring Our Dreams: The Science and the Potential for Self-Discovery
Paul R. Robbins

What do psychology and neuroscience tell us about our dreams? Dream researcher and practicing psychotherapist Paul R. Robbins presents the science in a non-technical Q&A format. Covering the history of dream interpretation—from ancient Assyrian dream books to the theories of Carl Jung—he describes his own successful approach to dream studies: exploring the real-life incidents brought to mind by dreams and probing their meaning to the individual in an objective way.

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Newly Published: Blood on the Table

New on our bookshelf today:

Blood on the Table: Essays on Food in International Crime Fiction
Edited by Jean Anderson, Carolina Miranda and Barbara Pezzotti

Written from a multicultural and interdisciplinary perspective, this collection of new essays explores the semiotics of food in the 20th and 21st century crime fiction of authors such as Anthony Bourdain, Arthur Upfield, Sara Paretsky, Andrea Camilleri, Fred Vargas, Ruth Rendell, Stieg Larsson, Leonardo Padura, Georges Simenon, Paco Ignacio Talbo II, and Donna Leon. The collection covers a range of issues, such as the provision of intra-, per- or paratextual recipes, the aesthetics and ethics of food, eating rituals as indications of cultural belonging and regional, national and supranational, and eating disorders and other seemingly abnormal habits as signs of “otherness.” Also mentioned are the television productions of the Inspector Montalbano series (1999–ongoing), the Danish-Swedish Bron/Broen (2011[The Bridge]), and its remakes The Tunnel (2013, France/UK) and The Bridge (2013, USA).

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Newly Published: Ultra-Large Aircraft, 1940–1970

New on our bookshelf today:

Ultra-Large Aircraft, 1940–1970: The Development of Guppy and Expanded Fuselage Transports
William Patrick Dean

In 1962, a unique transport aircraft was built from the parts of 27 Boeing B-377 airliners to provide NASA a means of transporting rocket boosters. With an interior the size of a gymnasium, “The Pregnant Guppy” was the first of six enormous cargo planes built by Aero Spacelines and two built by Union de Transport Aeriens. More than half a century later, the last Super Guppy is still in active service with NASA and the design concept has been applied to next-generation transports.

This comprehensive history of expanded fuselage aircraft begins in the 1940s with the military’s need for a long-range transport. The author examines the development of competing designs by Boeing, Convair and Douglas, and the many challenges and catastrophic failures. Behind-the-scenes maneuvers of financiers, corporate raiders, mobsters and other nefarious characters provide an inside look at aviation development from the drawing board to the scrap yard.

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Newly Published: The 758th Tank Battalion in World War II

New on our bookshelf today:

The 758th Tank Battalion in World War II: The U.S. Army’s First All African American Tank Unit
Joe Wilson, Jr.

In 1941, the U.S. Army activated the 758th Tank Battalion, the first all-black armored unit. By December 1944 they were fighting the Axis in Northern Italy, from the Ligurian Sea through the Po Valley and into the Apennine Mountains, where they helped breach the Gothic Line—the Germans’ last major defensive line of the Italian Campaign.

After the war the 758th was deactivated but was reformed as the 64th Tank Battalion, keeping their distinguished insignia, a tusked elephant head over the motto “We Pierce.” They entered the Korean War still segregated but returned fully integrated (though discrimination continued internally). Through the years, they fought with almost every American tank—the Stuart, the Sherman, the Pershing, the Patton and today’s Abrams.

Victorious over two fascist (and racist) regimes, many black servicemen returned home to what they hoped would be a more tolerant nation. Most were bitterly disappointed—segregation was still the law of the land. For many, disappointment became a determination to fight discrimination with the same resolve that had defeated the Axis.

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Newly Published: The Minds Behind the Games

New on our bookshelf today:

The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews with Cult and Classic Video Game Developers
Patrick Hickey, Jr.

Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games—including Deus Ex, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam—this book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming’s classic titles.

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Newly Published: Hollywood Heyday

New on our bookshelf today:

Hollywood Heyday: 75 Candid Interviews with Golden Age Legends
David Fantle and Tom Johnson

“What audacity!” exclaimed Robert Wagner when he heard about the authors’ adolescent exploits in nabbing interviews with celebrities of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

In 1978, David Fantle and Tom Johnson, St. Paul teenagers fresh out of high school, boarded a plane to meet with Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. On a lark, they had written the two stars requesting interviews—to their amazement, both had agreed.

Over the years, more than 250 other stars also agreed—Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, George Burns, Rod Steiger, Milton Berle, Frank Capra and Hoagy Carmichael, to name a few. Published for the first time and with exclusive photos, this selection of 75 interviews chronicles the authors’ 40-year quest for wisdom, insights and anecdotes from iconic artists who defined 20th century American popular culture.

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Newly Published: “Get the hell off this ship!”

New on our bookshelf today:

“Get the hell off this ship!”: Memoir of a USS Liscome Bay Survivor in World War II
James Claude Beasley

James Claude Beasley was a typical American teenager in the 1940s—a child of the Great Depression with an abiding commitment to family and country. With the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the Navy at 18. His plainspoken, personal memoir recounts his three years of service (1942–1945), from his induction at Winston Salem, North Carolina, to the sinking of his ship, the escort carrier USS Liscome Bay, by a Japanese submarine, through the end of the conflict and his return to civilian life.

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Newly Published: Uncovering Stranger Things

New on our bookshelf today:

Uncovering Stranger Things: Essays on Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence in the Series
Edited by Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.

The Duffer Brothers’ award-winning Stranger Things exploded onto the pop culture scene in 2016. The Netflix original series revels in a nostalgic view of 1980s America while darkly portraying the cynical aspects of the period. This collection of 23 new essays explores how the show reduces, reuses and recycles ’80s pop culture—from the films of Spielberg, Carpenter and Hughes to punk and synthwave music to Dungeons & Dragons—and how it shapes our understanding of the decade through distorted memory. Contributors discuss gender and sexual orientation; the politics, psychology and educational policies of the day; and how the ultimate upper-class teen idol of the Reagan era became Stranger Things‘ middle-aged blue-collar heroine.

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Newly Published: Women in STEM on Television

New on our bookshelf today:

Women in STEM on Television: Critical Essays
Edited by Ashley Lynn Carlson

Women remain woefully underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Negative stereotypes about women in these fields are pervasive, rooted in the debunked claim that women have less aptitude than men in science and math. While some TV series present portrayals that challenge this stereotype, others reinforce troubling biases—sometimes even as writers and producers attempt to champion women in STEM.

This collection of new essays examines numerous popular series, from children’s programs to primetime shows, and discusses the ways in which these narratives inform cultural ideas about women in STEM.

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Newly Published: Perilous Escapades

New on our bookshelf today:

Perilous Escapades: Dimensions of Popular Adventure Fiction
Gary Hoppenstand

Adventure fiction is one of the easiest narrative forms to recognize but one of the hardest to define because of its overlap with many other genres. This collection of essays attempts to characterize adventure fiction through the exploration of key elements—such as larger-than-life characters and imperialistic ideas—in the genre’s 19th- and 20th-century British and American works like The Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy and Captain Blood by Sabatini. The author explores the cultural and literary impact of such works, presenting forgotten classics in a new light.

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Weekly Deal: Cannabis Studies

This week, get 20% off books about cannabis studies with the coupon code CBD!

Cannabis Extracts in Medicine: The Promise of Benefits in Seizure Disorders, Cancer and Other Conditions

Cannabis in Medical Practice: A Legal, Historical and Pharmacological Overview of the Therapeutic Use of Marijuana

My Most-Wanted Marijuana Mom: Growing Up in a Smuggling Family

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Newly Published: Girls on Fire

New on our bookshelf today:

Girls on Fire: Transformative Heroines in Young Adult Dystopian Literature
Sarah Hentges

Under the threat of climate change, corruption, inequality and injustice, Americans may feel they are living in a dystopian novel come to life. Like many American narratives, dystopian stories often focus on males as the agents of social change.

With a focus on the intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality and power, the author analyzes the themes, issues and characters in young adult (YA) dystopian fiction featuring female protagonists—the Girls on Fire who inspire progressive transformation for the future.

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Newly Published: Death of an Altar Boy

New on our bookshelf today:

Death of an Altar Boy: The Unsolved Murder of Danny Croteau and the Culture of Abuse in the Catholic Church
E.J. Fleming

The tragic death of 13-year-old Danny Croteau in 1972 faded from headlines and memories for 20 years until the Boston abuse scandal—a string of assaults taking place within the Catholic Church—exploded in the early 2000s. Despite numerous indications, including 40 claims of sexual misconduct with minors, pointing to him as Croteau’s killer, Reverend Richard R. Lavigne remains “innocent.”

Drawing on more than 10,000 pages of police and court findings and interviews with Danny’s friends and family, fellow abuse victims, and church officials, the author uncovers the truth—church complicity in the cover up and masking of priests involvement in a ring of abusive clergy—behind Croteau’s death and those who had a hand in it.

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Newly Published: The State of American Hot Rodding

New on our bookshelf today:

The State of American Hot Rodding: Interviews on the Craft and the Road Ahead
David Lawrence Miller

As the automotive world looks towards a future of electric vehicles, driverless technology and anonymous styling, what can be learned from the individuals who resist these trends and cling to their love of street rods and muscle cars? The hot rodding world still exists, but will it continue to hold a place in tomorrow’s automotive culture?

Gearhead and geographer David Miller has crisscrossed America in his custom built 1958 Chevy Apache pickup, interviewing hot rodders about what drives their passions, values and way of life. Their collected stories present a detailed portrait of modern hot rodding—a distinctly American subculture that survives by bucking the trends and attitudes that increasingly shape the transportation landscape.

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Newly Published: British Chess Literature to 1914

New on our bookshelf today:

British Chess Literature to 1914: A Handbook for Historians
Tim Harding

A huge amount was published about chess in the United Kingdom before the First World War. The growing popularity of chess in Victorian Britain was reflected in an increasingly competitive market of books and periodicals aimed at players from beginner to expert. The author combines new information about the early history of the game with advice for researchers into chess history and traces the further development of chess literature well into the 20th century.

Topics include today’s leading chess libraries and the use of digitized chess texts and research on the Web. Special attention is given to the columns that appeared in newspapers (national and provincial) and magazines from 1813 onwards. These articles, usually weekly, provide a wealth of information on early chess, much of which is not to be found elsewhere. The lengthy first appendix, an A to Z of almost 600 chess columns, constitutes a detailed research aid. Other appendices include corrections and supplements to standard works of reference on chess.

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Newly Published: Tiger Stadium

New on our bookshelf today:

Tiger Stadium: Essays and Memories of Detroit’s Historic Ballpark, 1912–2009
Edited by Michael Betzold, John Davids, Bill Dow, John Pastier and Frank Rashid

Built in 1911, Detroit’s Tiger Stadium provided unmatched access for generations of baseball fans. Based on a classic grandstand design, its development through the 20th century reflected the booming industrial city around it. Emphasizing utility over adornment and offering more fans affordable seats near the field, it was in every sense a working class ballpark that made the game the central focus.

Drawing on the perspectives of historians, architects, fans and players, the author describes how Tiger Stadium grew, adapted and thrived, and how it was demolished in 2008—a casualty of racism and corporate welfare. Chronological diagrams illustrate the evolution of the playing field.

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Newly Published: Chasing Charlie

New on our bookshelf today:

Chasing Charlie: A Force Recon Marine in Vietnam
Richard Fleming

Richard Fleming served as a scout with the elite U.S. Marine 1st Force Reconnaissance Company during the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War. Dropped deep into enemy territory, Recon relied on stealth and surprise to complete their mission—providing intelligence on enemy positions, conducting limited raids and capturing prisoners. Fleming’s absorbing memoir recounts his transformation from idealistic recruit to cynical veteran as the war claimed the lives of his friends and the missions became ever more dangerous.

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Newly Published: Melungeon Portraits

New on our bookshelf today:

Melungeon Portraits: Exploring Kinship and Identity
Tamara L. Stachowicz

At a time when concepts of racial and ethnic identity increasingly define how we see ourselves and others, the ancestry of Melungeons—a Central Appalachian multi-racial group believed to be of Native American, African and European origins—remains controversial.

Who is Melungeon, how do we know and what does that mean? In a series of interviews with individuals who claim Melungeon heritage, the author finds common threads that point to shared history, appearance and values, and explores how we decide who we are and what kind of proof we need to do so.

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Newly Published: The Incomparable Hildegarde

New on our bookshelf today:

The Incomparable Hildegarde: The Sexuality, Style and Image of an Entertainment Icon
Monica Storme Gallamore

The Incomparable Hildegarde (1906–2005) lived a life of glamour and excitement. She began her career as a pianist in Milwaukee’s silent movie theaters, which led to the Vaudeville stage. By the 1930s, she was singing in the cabarets of Paris and London, rubbing elbows with royalty, White Russians, and Josephine Baker. Returning to the U.S., she became the darling of the New York City supper club scene. Her name and style became synonymous with high-class entertainment at venues like the Persian Room at the Plaza Hotel. She started fashion trends, had her own signature Revlon nail and lip color, and was the first to have hits with many standards of the World War II era.

This first biography of Hildegarde Sill covers her 70–year career, emphasizing her importance in 20th-century American popular culture. The author analyzes her intimate relationship with her manager of two decades, Anna Sosenko.

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Newly Published: Eminent Charlotteans

New on our bookshelf today:

Eminent Charlotteans: Twelve Historical Profiles from North Carolina’s Queen City
Scott Syfert

Inspired by the 2010 “Spirit of Mecklenburg”—a bronze statue of Captain James Jack, “the South’s Paul Revere,” in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina—this history details the lives of 12 Charlotteans who made important contributions to the Queen City, from the early Colonial period to the 20th century. Subjects include Catawba Indian chief King Haigler, Founding Father Thomas Polk, freed slave Ishmael Titus, African American celebrity barber Thad Tate and North Carolina’s first woman physician, Annie Alexander.

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Newly Published: Jessica Jones, Scarred Superhero

New on our bookshelf today:

Jessica Jones, Scarred Superhero: Essays on Gender, Trauma and Addiction in the Netflix Series
Edited by Tim Rayborn and Abigail Keyes

Jessica Jones barged onto our screens in November 2015, courtesy of Marvel and Netflix, presenting a hard-drinking protagonist who wrestles with her own inner (and outer) demons. Gaining enhanced abilities as a teenager, she eschews the “super costume” and is far more concerned with the problems of daily life. But when Jessica falls under the control of a villain, her life changes forever.

Based on the comic book Alias, the show won a large following and critical acclaim for its unflinching look at subjects like abuse, trauma, PTSD, rape culture, alcoholism, drug addiction, victims’ plight and family conflicts.

This collection of new essays offers insight into the show’s complex themes and story lines.

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Newly Published: Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons

New on our bookshelf today:

Repeating and Multi-Fire Weapons: A History from the Zhuge Crossbow Through the AK-47
Gerald Prenderghast

From the very earliest days of organized warfare, combatants have wanted to develop weapons with more firepower. This has inevitably led to a wide variety of repeating weapons, capable of a degree of sustained fire without reloading.

Based largely upon new research, this book explores the history of repeating and multi-fire weapons, beginning with the Chinese repeating crossbow in the 4th century BCE, and ending with the world’s most common firearm, the Kalashnikov AK-47. The author describes the potency of the machine gun in World War I, the development of the semiautomatic pistol and the role of the submachine gun in improving the effectiveness of the infantryman.

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Newly Published: Roosevelt’s Revolt

New on our bookshelf today:

Roosevelt’s Revolt: The 1912 Republican Convention and the Launch of the Bull Moose Party
John C. Skipper

The presidential election of 1912 was the only one whose candidates included an incumbent president, a former president and a future president. Theodore Roosevelt, in the Oval Office from 1901 to 1909, chose not to run again. When his former Secretary of War, William Howard Taft, took controversial actions as his successor, Roosevelt challenged him for the 1912 Republican nomination. Taft emerged as the nominee and Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate on the Progressive (Bull Moose) ticket, causing a split in the GOP that allowed Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency.

The author examines the election in detail and traces the effects of Roosevelt’s actions on the Republican Party for decades. Appendices detail Republican primary results and all of the parties’ platforms and provide a summary of presidential assassinations and attempts.

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Opening Day Baseball Sale

We have all caught spring fever here at McFarland, and we’re certain that’s the case with many of our readers, as well!  We’re offering a surprise sale coinciding with Opening Day. When you order direct from our website with the coupon code OpeningDay40, print editions of all baseball
books are 40% off beginning Opening Day, March 29 through Easter Monday April 2.

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We Rise to Resist Receives Starred Review in Booklist

We Rise to Resist: Voices from a New Era in Women’s Political Action
Edited by Paula vW. Dáil and Betty L. Wells

“For every person who railed in private or public protest against assaults on our nation’s cherished institutions, Dail’s anthology provides essential validation, affirming that dissent eventually works and that one’s outrage need not be in vain.”—Booklist (starred review)

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J.L. Wilkinson and the Kansas City Monarchs Wins 2018 SABR Baseball Research Award

William A. Young’s J.L. Wilkinson and the Kansas City Monarchs has been named a 2018 SABR Baseball Research Award winner.  The judges praised the book for providing “new insights into the relationship between the Negro Leagues and Judge Landis and the leagues’ role in Jackie Robinson’s ascension,” as well as for its focus on “the central role played by Wilkinson in maintaining the institution of Negro League baseball.”  Read the announcement here.

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Weekly Deal: Celtic Studies

This week, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with 20% off all Celtic studies books! Enter the coupon code CELTIC at checkout!

Celtic Myth and Religion: A Study of Traditional Belief, with Newly Translated Prayers, Poems and Songs

Celtic Astrology from the Druids to the Middle Ages

The Irish Vampire: From Folklore to the Imaginations of Charles Robert Maturin, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Bram Stoker

The Druids and King Arthur: A New View of Early Britain

The Other British Isles: A History of Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey, Scilly, Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands

Modern Druidism

Celtic Cosmology and the Other World: Mythic Origins, Sovereignty and Liminality

British and Irish Poets: A Biographical Dictionary 449-2006

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Weekly Deal: The Academy Awards

This week, get 20% off all books about the Academy Awards when you use the coupon code OSCAR!

Oscar’s Favorite Actors: The Winningest Stars (and More Who Should Be)

Foreign Language Films and the Oscar: The Nominees and Winners, 1948–2017

Hollywood Musicals Nominated for Best Picture

Behind the Scenes with Hollywood Producers: Interviews with 14 Top Film Creators

Encyclopedia of Motion Picture Sound

The Films of the Nineties: A Complete, Qualitative Filmography of Over 3000 Feature-Length English Language Films, Theatrical and Video-Only, Released Between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 1999

Western Film Highlights: The Best of the West, 1914–2001

Feature Films, 1940–1949: A United States Filmography

Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television

Art Directors in Cinema: A Worldwide Biographical Dictionary

The Columbia Checklist: The Feature Films, Serials, Cartoons and Short Subjects of Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1922–1988

Best Songs of the Movies: Academy Award Nominees and Winners, 1934–1958

The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 through 1932

The Fox Film Corporation, 1915–1935: A History and Filmography

 

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Two Books Reviewed in March Issue of Choice

Library World Records, 3d ed.
Godfrey Oswald
“Simply fun to browse…a tremendous resource for researchers and authors wishing to incorporate library facts and statistics into their work…recommended.”—Choice

The Morals of Monster Stories: Essays on Children’s Picture Book Messages
Edited by Leslie Ormandy
“A valuable resource for future analysis…recommended.”—Choice

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Newly Published: Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe

New on our bookshelf today:

Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Essays on the Social, Cultural and Geopolitical Domains
Edited by Julian C. Chambliss, William L. Svitavsky and Daniel Fandino

The Marvel Cinematic Universe—comprised of films, broadcast television and streaming series and digital shorts—has generated considerable fan engagement with its emphasis on socially relevant characters and plots. Beyond considerable box office achievements, the success of Marvel’s movie studios has opened up dialogue on social, economic and political concerns that challenge established values and beliefs. This collection of new essays examines those controversial themes and the ways they represent, construct and distort American culture.

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Three New Titles Reviewed in February Issue of Choice

Egyptomania Goes to the Movies: From Archaeology to Popular Craze to Hollywood Fantasy
Matthew Coniam
“Informative and fun…provides much interesting detail…recommended.”

Player and Avatar: The Affective Potential of Videogames
David Owen
“An engaging book…approachable, topical, and well sourced…recommended”

P.D. James: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction
Laurel A. Young
“Recommended”

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Newly Published: The Mistaken History of the Korean War

New on our bookshelf today:

The Mistaken History of the Korean War: What We Got Wrong Then and Now
Paul M. Edwards

Much of the history of the Korean War has been misinterpreted or obscured. Intense propaganda and limited press coverage during the war, coupled with vague objectives and an incomplete victory, resulted in a popular narrative of partial truth and factual omission. Battlefield stories—essentially true but often missing significant data—added an element of myth. Drawing on a range of sources, the author, a Korean War veteran, reexamines the war’s causes, costs and outcomes.

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Newly Published: Harry Potter and Convergence Culture

New on our bookshelf today:

Harry Potter and Convergence Culture: Essays on Fandom and the Expanding Potterverse
Edited by Amanda Firestone and Leisa A. Clark

Since the 1997 publication of the first Harry Potter novel, the “Potterverse” has seen the addition of eight feature films (with a ninth in production), the creation of the interactive Pottermore© website, the release of myriad video games, the construction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, several companion books (such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), critical essays and analyses, and the 2016 debut of the original stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

This collection of new essays interprets the Wizarding World beyond the books and films through the lens of convergence culture. Contributors explore how online communities tackle Sorting and games like the Quidditch Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, and analyze how Fantastic Beasts and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are changing fandom and the canon alike.

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New in Softcover: The Creature Chronicles

Now available in softcover:

The Creature Chronicles: Exploring the Black Lagoon Trilogy
Tom Weaver, David Schecter and Steve Kronenberg

He was the final addition to Universal’s “royal family” of movie monsters: the Creature from the Black Lagoon. With his scaly armor, razor claws and a face only a mother octopus could love, this Amazon denizen was perhaps the most fearsome beast in the history of Hollywood’s Studio of Horrors. But he also possessed a sympathetic quality which elevated him fathoms above the many aquatic monsters who swam in his wake.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Gill Man and his mid–1950s film career (Creature from the Black Lagoon, Revenge of the Creature, The Creature Walks Among Us) is collected in this book, packed to the gills with hour-by-hour production histories, cast bios, analyses, explorations of the music, script-to-screen comparisons, in-depth interviews and an ocean of fin-tastic photos.

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Weekly Deal: Philadelphia

This week, celebrate the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win with 20% off all books about Philadelphia—use coupon code PHILLY at checkout!

Connie Mack’s First DynastyThe Philadelphia Athletics, 1910–1914

Philadelphia Quakers and the Antislavery Movement

Ed Bolden and Black Baseball in Philadelphia

A’s Bad as It Gets: Connie Mack’s Pathetic Athletics of 1916

The A’s: A Baseball History

Lefty Grove and the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics

Timothy Matlack, Scribe of the Declaration of Independence

Walter Penn Shipley: Philadelphia’s Friend of Chess

Occasional Glory: The History of the Philadelphia Phillies, 2d ed.

Steve Carlton and the 1972 Phillies

The Fairmount Park Motor Races, 1908–1911

Yuengling: A History of America’s Oldest Brewery

Mack, McGraw and the 1913 Baseball Season

The Fall of the 1977 Phillies: How a Baseball Team’s Collapse Sank a City’s Spirit

Base Ball in Philadelphia: A History of the Early Game, 1831–1900

Connie Mack’s ’29 Triumph: The Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Athletics Dynasty

The 1964 Phillies: The Story of Baseball’s Most Memorable Collapse

Jimmie Foxx: The Life and Times of a Baseball Hall of Famer, 1907–1967

Charles Brockden Brown and the Literary Magazine: Cultural Journalism in the Early American Republic

The Integration of Baseball in Philadelphia

The Summer of ’64: A Pennant Lost

Mike Schmidt: Philadelphia’s Hall of Fame Third Baseman

The Athletics of Philadelphia: Connie Mack’s White Elephants, 1901–1954

 

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Newly Published: Goon

GoonNew on our bookshelf today:

Goon: Memoir of a Minor League Hockey Enforcer, 2d ed.
Doug Smith with Adam Frattasio

Directionless yet driven by a fervent desire to make something of himself, Doug “The Thug” Smith took his only marketable job skill—amateur boxing—and followed an unlikely career path to become a hockey enforcer, a.k.a. “goon.” Entrusted with aggressively protecting his teammates from tough guys on the opposing team, he punched, elbowed and cross-checked his way up the ranks of minor league hockey to win a championship ring and the respect of his community. His entertaining underdog story is the subject of the cult-classic motion picture Goon (2011) and its sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers (2017).

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Weekly Deal: Beer

This week, through May 28, 2017, get 20% off all books about beer when you use the coupon code HOPS!

Yuengling: A History of America’s Oldest Brewery

Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era

The Nation’s Capital Brewmaster: Christian Heurich and His Brewery, 1842–1956

Beer 101 North: Craft Breweries and Brewpubs of the Washington and Oregon Coasts

Beer in Maryland: A History of Breweries Since Colonial Times

Alcohol and Opium in the Old West: Use, Abuse and Influence

Alcohol in the Movies, 1898–1962: A Critical History

 

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Newly Published: A Life in Code

New on our bookshelf today:

A Life in Code: Pioneer Cryptanalyst Elizebeth Smith Friedman
G. Stuart Smith

Protesters called it an act of war when the U.S. Coast Guard sank a Canadian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Mexico in 1929. It took a cool-headed codebreaker solving a “trunk-full” of smugglers’ encrypted messages to get Uncle Sam out of the mess: Elizebeth Smith Friedman’s groundbreaking work helped prove the boat was owned by American gangsters.

This book traces the career of a legendary U.S. law enforcement agent, from her work for the Allies during World War I through Prohibition, when she faced danger from mobsters while testifying in high profile trials. Friedman founded the cryptanalysis unit that provided evidence against American rum runners and Chinese drug smugglers. During World War II, her decryptions brought a Japanese spy to justice and her Coast Guard unit solved the Enigma ciphers of German spies. Friedman’s “all source intelligence” model is still used by law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies against 21st century threats.

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Weekly Deal: Arthur, King of the Britons

This week, through May 14, 2017, get 20% off all books about King Arthur when you use the coupon code ARTHURIANA!

Warriors and Wilderness in Medieval Britain: From Arthur and Beowulf to Sir Gawain and Robin Hood

Religion in Britain from the Megaliths to Arthur: An Archaeological and Mythological Exploration

The Chivalric Romance and the Essence of Fiction

Chivalric Stories as Children’s Literature: Edwardian Retellings in Words and Pictures

The British Heroic Age: A History, 367–664

The Glory of Arthur: The Legendary King in Epic Poems of Layamon, Spenser and Blake

Perceval and Gawain in Dark Mirrors: Reflection and Reflexivity in Chrétien de Troyes’s Conte del Graal

Hengest, Gwrtheyrn and the Chronology of Post-Roman Britain

King Arthur’s European Realm: New Evidence from Monmouth’s Primary Sources

The Holy Grail on Film: Essays on the Cinematic Quest

Evidence of Arthur: Fixing the Legendary King in Factual Place and Time

Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television

Origins of Arthurian Romances: Early Sources for the Legends of Tristan, the Grail and the Abduction of the Queen

Glastonbury and the Grail: Did Joseph of Arimathea Bring the Sacred Relic to Britain?

The Druids and King Arthur: A New View of Early Britain

Chrétien de Troyes and the Dawn of Arthurian Romance

Medieval Arthurian Epic and Romance: Eight New Translations

Cinema Arthuriana: Twenty Essays, rev. ed.

Historic Figures of the Arthurian Era: Authenticating the Enemies and Allies of Britain’s Post-Roman King

Arthurian Figures of History and Legend: A Biographical Dictionary

Arthurian Legends on Film and Television

Movie Medievalism: The Imaginary Middle Ages

The Historic King Arthur: Authenticating the Celtic Hero of Post-Roman Britain

Sir Gawain and the Classical Tradition: Essays on the Ancient Antecedents

The Grail Procession: The Legend, the Artifacts, and the Possible Sources of the Story

King Arthur in Popular Culture

The King Arthur Myth in Modern American Literature

The Holy Grail: The Legend, the History, the Evidence

 

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WEBSITE MAINTENANCE: shopping cart temporarily offline

The shopping cart is temporarily offline on Monday, April 10, 2017 for maintenance between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. EST.  During this time, the online catalog can still be searched and used as usual.  Call toll-free 800-253-2187 for assistance with placing orders by telephone on 4/10/17.

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McFarland Announces New Editor for Base Ball

McFarland is pleased to announce that Don Jensen is the new editor of Base Ball.  A longtime SABR member, Jensen is the author of The Timeline History of Baseball, as well as a number of articles on early baseball, including “A Base Ball Krank’s Guide to Madison Square,” from Base Ball‘s newest number, Volume 9.  He is a regular lecturer at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and recently received the Chairman’s Award from SABR’s Nineteenth Century Committee.

In addition to being a baseball historian, Jensen, a former diplomat, is a senior fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, and a senior adjunct fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.  He has published extensively on US-Russian relations and holds a PhD in government from Harvard.

Jensen will oversee Base Ball‘s transition from journal to annual book, a move intended to harness the publication to McFarland’s strengths—namely its book-oriented production expertise and sales-and-marketing experience—and expose contributor research to a broader audience.  The first volume in what is now a series picks up with number 10 and is scheduled for fall 2017, with pre-order availability by late spring or summer.

Jensen replaces John Thorn, who guided Base Ball through its first nine years and now becomes Founding Editor.   Thorn, who is also Major League  Baseball’s official historian, plans to remain actively involved as an advisor and sometime contributor.  

Stay tuned for more information on Volume 10

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President’s Blog: Vietnam War Memoirs

‘Nam RawMcFarland was not even five years old when we stretched our editorial mission beyond mainstream library books to include military memoirs. Founder and president Robert Franklin received an unsolicited manuscript from a Vietnam War veteran and felt McFarland just HAD to publish it (Vietnam-Perkasie: A Combat Marine Memoir, 1983). The author, William D. “Bill” Ehrhart, would become an iconic voice for soldiers struggling to understand their Vietnam War experience, through his teaching, poetry, essays and interviews. McFarland went on to publish many, many such memoirs on the Vietnam War, World War II, Desert Storm and even World War I as well as diaries and letter collections from Civil War soldiers.

Some years ago, I was representing McFarland at a conference on military history. During the course of the conference, a professor-type stopped into our booth to thank McFarland for publishing so many firsthand accounts of combat experiences. He indicated that it was an important perspective that added richly to battle statistics, battle descriptions and the politics of war. He said that our memoirs were a unique body of work, unlike the publishing output of any other publisher. It was good to get that kind of feedback from the field.

The collection of McFarland Vietnam War memoirs now represents more than three decades of publishing but its relevance will never be obsolete. The Vietnam War was almost certainly the last war using the draft, the result being soldiers from every socioeconomic stratum fighting shoulder to shoulder. From a sales standpoint, the Vietnam War memoirs were eclipsed by World War II accounts early on. This continued to be true until around 2010 when Vietnam War memoir sales numbers started showing greater strength. The sales interest has been particularly strong with ebook readers. This morning’s Amazon rankings of our best sellers in this area are:

Killer Kane: A Marine Long-Range Recon Team Leader in Vietnam, 1967–1968 by Andrew R. Finlayson (2013)—#2 Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Vietnam War

Rice Paddy Recon: A Marine Officer’s Second Tour in Vietnam, 1968–1970 by Andrew R. Finlayson (2015)—#4 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Military & Wars > Branches > Marines

The Crouching Beast: A United States Army Lieutenant’s Account of the Battle for Hamburger Hill, May 1969 by Frank Boccia (2013)—#4 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Vietnam War

Ghosts and Shadows: A Marine in Vietnam, 1968–1969 by Phil Ball (1998)—#1 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > Vietnam War

Pucker Factor 10: Memoir of a U.S. Army Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam by James Joyce (2003)—#21 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Military & Wars > Branches > Air Force

To celebrate this success, Veterans Day, and most of all, our authors, their service and their remarkable stories, the McFarland staff has created an opportunity for everyone to get a meaty slice from two dozen of these fine works in a book-length collection. Nam Raw offers in ebook form excerpts of 24 of our Vietnam War memoirs. Because the experiences are so varied from every branch of service and the perspectives from various ranks, this is an extraordinary window on the Vietnam War experience. There are gripping descriptions of the fear of battle, bloodlust and questioning whether actions were murder alongside soaring descriptions of heroism. The best part is that you can get a copy here FREE. NOTE: You must have a computer, smartphone or e-reader to view ebook.

For convenience and in hopes of the widest distribution possible, we are also offering this unique ebook on Amazon, Google Play and Barnes & Noble (available soon) for a tiny fee. Tell us what you think!

Follow Rhonda Herman on Twitter (@RGBHerman).

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McFarland Expands with New Imprint

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McFarland Expands with New Imprint

JEFFERSON, North Carolina – November 3, 2016 – Scholarly publisher McFarland has announced the launch in November of Exposit Books, a new imprint combining serious nonfiction with a bookstore-first approach. Exposit’s initial offering is Finding Jacob Wetterling by Robert M. Dudley. The book covers in detail the 1989 kidnapping in St. Joseph, Minnesota, of 11-year-old Wetterling, the remarkable response from the community and local and state authorities, the 27-year investigation and its heartbreaking conclusion. The first full group of titles, set for a fall 2017 release, will likewise feature true crime topics. 

“We’re releasing six titles the first season, and true crime authors Kevin M. Sullivan and Clayton Delery-Edwards are both signed on and contributing books for the rollout,” said Executive Editor Lisa Camp. “We will be publishing a wide range of titles, eventually including books about entertainment, psychology, sex, health and history. Our plan is to bring Exposit to 24 to 30 books annually.”

Submissions from authors and literary agents are invited, and should be directed to Camp’s attention at expositbooks@mcfarlandpub.com.  For more information about the imprint, go to www.expositbooks.com.  

 

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Weekly Deal: Zombie Studies

If you couldn’t wait to see [SPOILER REDACTED] on The Walking Dead last night, then this Weekly Deal is for you! Through October 30, 2016, get 20% off all books about zombie studies when you enter the coupon code SPOILER!

“We’re All Infected” Essays on AMC’s The Walking Dead and the Fate of the Human

How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture: The Multifarious Walking Dead in the 21st Century

Zombifying a Nation: Race, Gender and the Haitian Loas on Screen

Zombies and Sexuality: Essays on Desire and the Living Dead

…But If a Zombie Apocalypse Did Occur: Essays on Medical, Military, Governmental, Ethical, Economic and Other Implications

Great Zombies in History

Unraveling Resident Evil: Essays on the Complex Universe of the Games and Films

The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia

The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000–2010

Generation Zombie: Essays on the Living Dead in Modern Culture

Race, Oppression and the Zombie: Essays on Cross-Cultural Appropriations of the Caribbean Tradition

Zombies Are Us: Essays on the Humanity of the Walking Dead

American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture

Back from the Dead: Remakes of the Romero Zombie Films as Markers of Their Times

White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film

 

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Weekly Deal: All Hallow's Read

All Hallow’s Read is a new tradition, started by the great Neil Gaiman, that encourages gifting a scary book during the week of Halloween. If you’re curious about its origins, read this blog post, helpfully titled “A MODEST PROPOSAL (THAT DOESN’T ACTUALLY INVOLVE EATING ANYONE).” Rather than selecting a handful of our more than 100 books about horror in popular culture and literature, we’re putting ALL of our horror books on sale, this week only! Order now for delivery in time for your All Hallow’s Read gift, and get 20% off when you use the coupon code HALLOW!

 

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Bill Warren: A Remembrance

Bill Warren (right) with Robby the Robot
Bill Warren (right) with Robby the Robot

Bill died on October 7, 2016, at age 73 (born April 26, 1943).  He dedicated his books to his wife Beverly and she stood by him, and sat with him, till the very end, and it is to her we owe grateful affection and deep felt sympathy.  I was born a month earlier in 1943; we saw all those great 50’s SF movies probably the same Saturday mornings. (We both went to library school but I believe he graduated from his.)  My friend Don Glut (from 70’s Scarecrow Press days) alerted me—a month after McFarland was founded, April 1979—to a Big manuscript his buddy Bill was working on:  It became Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties, published in two volumes (1950–1957 in 1982 and 1958–1962 in 1986); a deluxe, oversize, pricey, jacketed “21st Century Edition,” corrected, deepened, and greatly expanded, came out in 2009.

Over the 37 years, Bill and I forged a strong friendship—including two suppers in L.A. in the early 80’s, one in which Don Glut collected all our (including current McF president Rhonda Herman on her first plane trip) water/wine/beer glasses, filled them by eye to certain levels, then banged out upon them the Star Spangled Banner with a spoon.  The Bill friendship had several memorable characteristics.  True affection and respect, and unending arguments, often resembling an exasperated chief (Bill) barely restraining himself in lecturing a tolerable ignoramus (me) about such matters as “The” and “un-” versus “not” and capitalizing prepositions (he liked to).  He got as good as he gave, I might add—which made our connection so lively if oft off.  He followed a prescription I frequently tried to too with challenging authors:  end your wroth-filled frothful letter with a smatter of sincere and jovial praise and thanks.

KWTS! vol. II (1986)
KWTS! vol. II (1986)

From a publishing business point of view, Bill’s most remarkable monument is this:  His KWTS! book garnered more reviews (all raves) than any other of our almost 7,000 titles so far – AND the reviewers themselves (with lavish encomia) well outranked the usual (Harlan Ellison, John Landis, Joe Dante…).

Bill, we’ll keep Watching for you.

—Robert Franklin, founder, president emeritus and now editor-in-chief of McFarland.

 

 

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Let's talk about Stranger Things!

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Who’s excited about a second season of Stranger Things? We are! The popularity of Stranger Things—and other series that inspire you to spend a summer weekend indoors chain-watching Netflix—caused some of us to ask, “How soon is too soon for a book?” Is there sufficient scholarly interest in a book about season one of Stranger Things?

Let us know your thoughts! And if you’re working on a manuscript about Stranger Things (or any other current series), tell us about it on our Facebook page! And be sure to check out our resources on becoming a McFarland author.

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Cheryl M. Willis Visits Charlie Rose

Author Cheryl M. Willis visited New York to induct Ludie Jones into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame and to tour the Apollo Theater. Pictured here, Willis met with CBS’s Charlie Rose on set! Check out her new book Tappin’ at the Apollo: The African American Female Tap Dance Duo Salt and Pepper—and be sure to follow McFarland on Instagram.

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Newly Published: Now with Kung Fu Grip!

New on our bookshelf today:

Now with Kung Fu Grip! How Bodybuilders, Soldiers and a Hairdresser Reinvented Martial Arts for America
Jared Miracle

Why do so many Americans practice martial arts? How did kung fu get its own movie genre? What makes mixed martial arts so popular? This book answers these questions for the first time with historical research.

At the turn of the 20th century, the United States enjoyed a time of prosperity but feared that men were becoming soft. At the same time, the Japanese government sponsored research to develop the best fighting techniques for its new empire. Before World War II, American men boxed and Japanese men practiced judo and karate. Postwar Americans began adopting Chinese, Brazilian, Filipino and other fighting styles, in the process establishing a masculine subculture based on physical and social power.

The rise of Asian martial arts in America is a fascinating untold story of modern history, from the origin of karate uniforms to the first martial arts themed birthday party. The cast of characters includes circus strongmen, professional cage fighters, an award winning comic book artist, the inventors of judo, aikido and Cornflakes, and Count Juan Raphael Dante, a Chicago hairdresser and used car salesman with the “Deadliest Hands in the World.” Readers will never look at taekwondo class the same way again.

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Books about Outlander

The Symbolism and Sources of Outlander: The Scottish Fairies, Folklore, Ballads, Magic and Meanings That Inspired the Series
Valerie Estelle Frankel

Outlander is much more than a television romance about a World War II nurse and a Jacobite soldier in a fetching kilt. The series—and the massive serial novel on which it is based—has been categorized as a period drama, adventure saga, military history and fantasy epic. Inspired by the Irish legends of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the prophecies of Brahan Seer, the storyline is filled with mythology and symbolism from around the world, from the Fair Folk and the Loch Ness monster to wendigos, ghosts, zombies and succubae.

Literary references abound, from the Bible to the classics, to Shakespeare and the English romantic poets. The series is also rich with its own symbolism: heather and white roses, the dragonfly in amber, Claire’s blue vase and wedding gown, her wedding rings and pearl necklace. This book untangles the myriad of myths, legends, symbols and literary references found in the series.

 

Adoring Outlander: Essays on Fandom, Genre and the Female Audience
Edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel

What is behind Outlander fever—the hit television drama’s popularity? Is it author Diana Gabaldon’s teasing posts on social media? Is it the real history reimagined? The highly emotional melodrama?

Or is it the take-charge heroine and the sweet hero in a kilt? One of the show’s biggest draws is its multigenre appeal. Gabaldon—whose Outlander novels form the basis of the series—has called it science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical fiction and military fiction, depending on her audience.

This collection of new essays explores the series as romance, a ghost story, an epic journey, a cozy mystery, a comedy of manners, a gothic thriller and a feminist answer to Game of Thrones, and considers the source of its broad appeal.

 

 

Outlander’s Sassenachs: Essays on Gender, Race, Orientation and the Other in the Novels and Television Series
Edited by Valerie Estelle Frankel

A time travel epic featuring history and romance, Outlander—unlike most adventure series—is aimed at women audiences. The kilted male characters, the female narrator, the fantastic period costumes are atypical of male-gendered television. Both the show and the novels on which it is based address issues most series shy away from, like breast feeding, abortion and birth control. Role reversals are common—the powerful Claire rescues her virginal husband Jamie from sexual abuse. When the villainous Black Jack Randall displays his genitals to the heroine Jenny, she laughs.

This collection of new essays examines Outlander as an exploration of what it meant and means to be a capable woman, in the 18th century and in the modern world. As Claire explores different models of strength in both periods, Jamie comes to understand the nuances of male honor, power and alternative sexuality through the contrasting figures of Black Jack and Lord John. As the heroes negotiate the complications of marriage and life, they make discoveries about gender that resonate with modern audiences.

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Keep Watching the Skies!

In case you missed it: Keep Watching the Skies!, one of our all-time bestsellers, is now available in lower-priced softcover and ebook formats! (Hardcover aficionados don’t fret – this “21st Century Edition” is still available in the hardcover, jacketed, bookmarked format, too).

Library Journal noticed the new formats, writing “this detailed chronicle from a devoted sf buff is recommended for film studies students and dedicated aficionados of the genre,” and Booklist called it “the premier reference for this subject.”

Get the softcover here, or pick up the ebook from your favorite vendor!

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Authors David Krell and John Thorn on MLB Network

David Krell  and John Thorn recently appeared on the MLB Network. Krell, the author of Our Bums: The Brooklyn Dodgers in History, Memory and Popular Culture, joined MLB Now host Brian Kenny to discuss his book, which was recently reviewed in the Brooklyn Eagle and the New York Post. Thorn, MLB’s official historian and the editor of Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game, was on Hot Stove to comment on the Pre-Integration Era Committee’s voting results. Both videos are embedded below—check them out!

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A Hospital for Ashe County Booksigning

We’d like to thank all of our local friends who made Janet Pittard’s booksigning such a success on Friday night. The Florence Thomas Art School in downtown West Jefferson was packed the entire evening, and we nearly sold out of books!

Copies of her book, A Hospital for Ashe County, are still available here, and from local Ashe County retailers.

Janet Pittard signs a copy of her book, A Hospital for Ashe County, at the Florence Thomas Art School
Janet Pittard signs a copy of her book, A Hospital for Ashe County, at the Florence Thomas Art School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Janet Pittard with McFarland founder and editor in chief Robert Franklin
Author Janet Pittard with McFarland founder and editor in chief Robert Franklin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A Hospital for Ashe County Book Launch

Tomorrow night, December 4, 2015, McFarland and the Florence Thomas Art School will host a book launch party for Janet Pittard’s new book, A Hospital for Ashe County. The event will be held inside the Florence School at 10 S. Jefferson Ave., West Jefferson, from four to six p.m. Books will be available for purchase at the event, and Mrs. Pittard will be autographing copies.

This newly published book is the story of the generations of supporters, doctors, nurses, emergency personnel and others whose lives are interwoven with regional health care and the planning, building and operation of (the “new”) Ashe Memorial Hospital. This legacy, brought to life through 114 photographs and personal interviews with 97 individuals, traces the development of health care in a remote Appalachian community, from the days of folk remedies and midwives, to horseback doctors and early infirmaries, to the technological advances and outreach efforts of today’s Ashe Memorial Hospital.

For more information about the event, please contact McFarland at 336-246-4460.