New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Recent Books About New York State

Authors and publishers of new books related to New York State can have their books noticed on the New York Almanack by following the submission guidelines HERE.

400 Years of New York History: A Pictorial Guide

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400 years of new york historyBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The first volume of the new book series 400 Years of New York History: A Pictorial Guide (Pictorial History Press, 2020) by Sasha Vosk is a one-of-a-kind illustrated guide that offers readers an opportunity to view New York City’s history in a manner that has not been possible until now with the benefit of 21st century art technology. This volume covers the period of New Amsterdam, when the Dutch controlled the city as part of their colony of New Netherland. [Read more…] about 400 Years of New York History: A Pictorial Guide

The History of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’

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The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, garden historian Marta McDowell, author of Unearthing the Secret Garden: The Plants and Places That Inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett (Timber Press, 2021), a deep look at the classic children’s book The Secret Garden (1911). [Read more…] about The History of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’

Finding Missing Judge Joseph Crater (Historians Podcast)

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The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Stephen Riegel discusses his book Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age NY (USRYC, 2021).

Judge Joseph Crater was a New York State Supreme Court Justice who disappeared in New York City in 1930. [Read more…] about Finding Missing Judge Joseph Crater (Historians Podcast)

New Book Reveals Inaccurately Told & Long-Forgotten Cazenovia Tales

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The Bear Tree book cover WEBBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book The Bear Tree and Other Stories from Cazenovia’s History (USYRC, 2021) by Erica Barnes and Jason Emerson looks at the historic lakeside village of Cazenovia, Madison County, in the scenic Finger Lakes region, one of the jewels of Central New York. [Read more…] about New Book Reveals Inaccurately Told & Long-Forgotten Cazenovia Tales

Alice Green’s New Book Covers Social Justice Activism

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We Who Believe in FreedomThe new book We Who Believe in Freedom: Activism and the Struggle for Social Justice (King Jesus Press LLC, 2021) by Alice Green, with foreward by Paul Grondahl, is an inspirational book that exposes readers to weighty topics such as police abuse and accountability, criminal justice and prison reform, and political abuse of power in Albany, NY.

The book, part memoir and part history, Green deals with these topics through her life experiences as a life-long advocate, highlighting the impact they have had on Albany’s black communities since the early days of enslavement, up to the present. [Read more…] about Alice Green’s New Book Covers Social Justice Activism

A Sullivan County Classic Reissued in Time for the Holidays

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To The Mountains by RailIt was back in August of 2010 that Myron Gittell received the first proof of the reprint he had decided to finance of the iconic book about Sullivan County, Manville B. Wakefield’s To The Mountains by Rail.

Gittell found the quality of that proof to be unacceptable, as were approximately 20 proofs he would look at thereafter, but he did not give up. Having received permission from Wakefield’s widow Barbara to reprint the 1970 classic, he was determined to get it done. [Read more…] about A Sullivan County Classic Reissued in Time for the Holidays

New Book Sheds Light on Jazz Age Disappearance of a NY Judge

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Finding Judge CraterBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The new book Finding Judge Crater: A Life and Phenomenal Disappearance in Jazz Age New York (Syracuse University Press, 2021) by Stephen J. Riegel is a fascinating chronicle of the life, times, and notorious disappearance of Judge Joseph F. Crater in Jazz Age Manhattan. [Read more…] about New Book Sheds Light on Jazz Age Disappearance of a NY Judge

New Book On Boat Building, Boatyards of Long Island

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Boat Building and Boat Yards of Long Island A Tribute to TraditionBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

For centuries, residents of New York have built watercraft and waterfront facilities to transport people and goods locally, nationally and internationally. For residents of the area, boating was a way of life, providing employment, recreation, and transportation. [Read more…] about New Book On Boat Building, Boatyards of Long Island

New York Lunatic Asylum at Utica: A History of Old Main

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Old Main Book CoverBook purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.

The book The New York Lunatic Asylum at Utica: A History of Old Main (North Country Books, 2015) by Dennis Webster looks at the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, also known as “Old Main,” which opened in 1843 as the first institution of its kind to treat “madness” as a medical illness, not a curse.

Although closed in 1978, the building was placed in the National Register of Historic Places, and its iconic columns still fascinate the public today. [Read more…] about New York Lunatic Asylum at Utica: A History of Old Main

Yellow Fever, Immunity, and Early New Orleans

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ben_franklins_worldIn 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France. This purchase included the vital port city of New Orleans. But the United States did not just acquire the city’s land, peoples, and wealth – the American government also inherited the city’s Yellow Fever problem.

In this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Kathryn Olivarus, author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom (Belknap Press, 2022), leads us on an exploration of yellow fever, immunity, and inequality in early New Orleans. [Read more…] about Yellow Fever, Immunity, and Early New Orleans