Siblings who immigrated from Ireland to the United States find themselves on opposite sides of the Civil War and struggling to understand God's purpose in the midst of unspeakable tragedy.
"This colorful and dramatic saga is based on the classic film. A strong-willed Virginia farmer is trying to keep his family neutral as the Civil War rages. Union forces and the Confederates see things only in shades of Blue or Grey, so the family is inevitably swept up in the conflict, against all odds. Their story is a heartwarming and heart-rending portrayal of the upheaval that left wounds on the land and its people for generations to come."--Publisher.
“Dramatic, adventurous, heroic, romantic. . . these historical chronicles, legends, myths, tall tales and fables, featuring warriors, kings, monks, explorers and clever common folk, imaginatively tell the history of Ireland.” — Philadelphia Inquirer This New York Times bestselling epic is an unforgettable tour de force that marries the intimate, passionate texture of the Irish spirit with a historical scope that is sweeping and resplendent. Storyteller extraordinaire Frank Delaney takes his readers on a journey through the history of Ireland, stopping along the way to evoke the dramatic events and personalities so critical to shaping the Irish experience. In the winter of 1951, a storyteller, the last practitioner of an honored, centuries-old tradition, arrives at the home of nine-year-old Ronan O'Mara in the Irish countryside. For three wonderful evenings, the old gentleman enthralls his assembled local audience with narratives of foolish kings, fabled saints, and Ireland's enduring accomplishments before moving on. But these nights change young Ronan forever, setting him on a years-long pursuit of the elusive, itinerant storyteller and the glorious tales that are no less than the saga of his tenacious and extraordinary isle.
Titles: All Through the Night * Amazing Grace * Camptown Races * Cindy * He's Gone Away * Poor Wayfaring Stranger * Scarborough Fair * Shenandoah * Siyahamba * Skye Boat Song * Homeward Bound. Appropriate for any combination of voices, male or female. 64 pages. A Federation Festivals 2020-2024 selection.
Who knew that Paul McCartney originally referred to Yesterday as 'Scrambled Eggs' because he couldn't think of any lyrics for his heart-breaking tune? Or that Patti LaBelle didn't know what 'Voulez-vous couches avec moi ce soir?' actually meant? These and countless other fascinating back stories of some of our best-known and best-loved songs fill this book, a collection of the highly successful weekly The Life of a Song columns that appear in the FT Weekend every Saturday. Each 600-word piece gives a mini-biography of a single song, from its earliest form (often a spiritual, or a jazz number), through the various covers and changes, often morphing from one genre to another, always focusing on the 'biography' of the song itself while including the many famous artists who have performed or recorded it. The selection covers a wide spectrum of the songs we all know and love - rock, pop, folk, jazz and more. Each piece is pithy, sparkily written, knowledgeable, entertaining, full of anecdotes and surprises. They combine deep musical knowledge with the vivid background of the performers and musicians, and of course the often intriguing social and political background against which the songs were created.
The Shenandoah Valley is widely renowned for its beauty and its idyllic landscape of farms, fields, historic towns, and Civil War battlefields. Framed to the east and west by the majestic Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, the region is defined by the river made famous in the 1882 song "Oh, Shenandoah." The highly regarded painter Andrei Kushnir has spent years traveling throughout every corner of the Shenandoah Valley, capturing its myriad landscapes and architectural features with panache and an extraordinary appreciation for place. The paintings collected here highlight Kushnir's rare ability to paint any landscape before him--pastoral or industrial, recreational or social, rural or urban, riparian or agricultural--all the while working out in the elements, en plein air. By organizing Kushnir's paintings along highways US 11, US 340, and VA 42, enabling travelers to follow the paintings in geographical order, the book captures the Shenandoah Valley and its famous river in a uniquely comprehensive and intuitive way. In addition to the 263 plein-air paintings, Oh, Shenandoah presents in-depth historical and curatorial essays by Warren R. Hofstra, William M. S. Rasmussen, and Jeffrey C. Everett about the Valley and Kushnir's significant contribution to our understanding of it, adding a rich, textual component to complement Kushnir's artistry. Distributed for George F. Thompson Publishing
For fifteen years Sue Eisenfeld hiked in Shenandoah National Park in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains, unaware of the tragic history behind the creation of the park. In this travel narrative, she tells the story of her on-the-ground discovery of the relics and memories a few thousand mountain residents left behind when the government used eminent domain to kick the people off their land to create the park. With historic maps and notes from hikers who explored before her, Eisenfeld and her husband hike, backpack, and bushwhack the hills and the hollows of this beloved but misbegotten place, searching for stories. Descendants recount memories of their ancestors “grieving themselves to death,” and they continue to speak of their people’s displacement from the land as an untold national tragedy. Shenandoah: A Story of Conservation and Betrayal is Eisenfeld’s personal journey into the park’s hidden past based on her off-trail explorations. She describes the turmoil of residents’ removal as well as the human face of the government officials behind the formation of the park. In this conflict between conservation for the benefit of a nation and private land ownership, she explores her own complicated personal relationship with the park—a relationship she would not have without the heartbreak of the thousands of people removed from their homes. Purchase the audio edition.