PA BOOKS on PCN

Ernest Virgil Focht was a Pennsylvania native and was captured in his first action in February 1943, remaining a prisoner of war until May 1945. During these 27 months he was held in five different POW camps, and was forced to march between camps in the depths of the 1944-45 winter. Lean about Ernie's experiences as a prisoner of war. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told many times, yet largely missing from maritime histories of America's first war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation's character-above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

The "Ten Crucial Days" winter campaign of 1776-77 is one of the most storied in the annals of military history. David Price examines this pivotal moment in the American War of Independence through an interpretive framework that focuses on five key factors: leadership, geography, weather, artillery, and contingency. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Why did the Midwest become part of the United States instead of remaining under English, Spanish, or Native control? In Philadelphia Merchants on Western Waters, historian Kim M. Gruenwald reveals commerce and trade, rather than war and political conflict, as the driving force behind America's westward expansion. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

The first examination of how James Madison and the Annapolis Convention defied all odds and expectations to begin the near-impossible process of restructuring the federal government and worked to bring the republic back from the brink of collapse. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Hear the untold story of a forgotten American, John Hart, whose adventures helped pave the way for the United States' emergence as an international power. For nearly three years, Hart became the most visible of a disparate group of mariners between New York and Key West who tormented Spanish authorities, riled the US government, and became heroes to an oppressed people fighting to be free. Donate...

With a colorful supporting cast second to none, Three Roads to Gettysburg tells the story of Robert E. Lee, George Gordon Meade, and Abraham Lincoln, the monumental Battle of Gettysburg, and the immortal address that has come to define America. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

In August 1862, Pennsylvania quickly responded to President Lincoln's request for more troops. These devoted groups of mostly central Pennsylvanians, were to become the soldiers of the 130th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Through their diaries, letters, memoirs, and personal accounts, the men tell their heroic story. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Despite her success setting a self-supported Fastest Known Time record on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013, Heather "Anish" Anderson still had such deep-seated insecurities that she became convinced her feat had been a fluke. So two years later she set out again, this time hiking through mud, rocks, and mountain blazes to crush her constant self-doubt and seek the true source of her strength and pu...

Before the 1950 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies were infamous for a record-breaking lack of achievement that dated from their conception in 1883 through the 1940s. Nicknamed the "Whiz Kids" because they had so many players under thirty, the 1950 Phillies team caught lightning in a bottle for one season and became legendary in Philadelphia and beyond. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Theatres of the Body is a critical examination of danced stage productions in antebellum Philadelphia. At the time, the city boasted the largest number of native-born ballet dancers in the young nation and also became a creative home to blackface star T. D. Rice, who helped popularize that performance genre. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Award-winning author Michael C. Harris's impressive Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Valley Forge, October 5-December 19, 1777 rescues these important actions from obscurity, puts them in context with the Saratoga Campaign, and closes his magnificent trilogy that began with the battle of Brandywine and left off with the slugfest at Germ...

The life and medical practice of Reuben Harris Muth, M.D., a rural saddlebag doctor, is reconstructed from an extant set of physician's daybooks, chronicling his professional activity from 1858 until 1898. Experience a rare glimpse of early medical history from an economic and cultural perspective. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Introduced at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and powered by an historic advertising campaign, Hires Root Beer - launched 10 years before Coca-Cola - blazed the trail for development of the American soft drink industry. Its inventor, Charles Elmer Hires, has been described as "a tycoon with the soul of a chemist." Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Philadelphia boasts some of the most delicious original sandwiches and passionate sandwich aficionados. From the classic cheesesteak to the delectable roast pork, the city's cultural and ethnic diversity has resulted in many of America's most established meals between bread. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Mike Stack was born to power and followed his father and grandfather into the ring of fire of Philadelphia politics. He was groomed for office, and was running in his early 20s. This is the story about all those Mike encountered in the often bloody, city of brotherly love. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

As the nation's future hung in the balance, the Weather Gods delivered a wrath of fury on Union and Confederate forces throughout the Gettysburg Campaign. Authors Jeffrey J. Harding and Jon M. Nese present firsthand accounts, harrowing narratives and groundbreaking meteorological research that reshapes how we view the Civil War's Gettysburg Campaign. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

When news reached Parliament of the Boston radicals' destruction of the Royal East India Company's tea, it passed the Coercive Acts, a collection of punitive measures designed to rein in that insubordinate seaport town. The Coercive Acts unleashed a political firestorm as communities from Massachusetts to Georgia drafted resistance resolutions condemning Parliament's perceived encroachment upon Am...

The untold story of how America's declaration of independence hinged on seven critical months in 1776 and the courageous votes that changed the world forever. This gripping account reveals the precarious path to American independence through a series of pivotal dates that history has nearly forgotten. While July 4th claims the glory, the actual vote for independence came on July 2nd-and even that...

From December 12-19, 1777, Washington's Army encamped in the towering hills of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. Known as the Threshold to Valley Forge, the Gulph Mills Encampment is often forgotten or minimized, falling as it did between the more famous military engagements of the Philadelphia Campaign and the well-known experience of the army at Valley Forge. This proje...

In summer 2023, Chester County, Pennsylvania, was shaken by the daring escape of convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante. Cavalcante scaled a prison wall, sparking a gripping two-week manhunt. He traversed forests, farmlands, and neighborhoods, evading law enforcement and causing schools to close, businesses to shutter, and streets to empty. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Learn about the stories of the men and women who traveled across the mountain ranges and through the valleys that made up the Appalachian region, focusing on the 18th century leading to the American Revolution and events that occurred mainly in Pennsylvania and New York. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

Pittsburgh contains multitudes. From the decline of the steel industry and the exodus of a vast diaspora of Pittsburghers to its reinvention as a trendy mid-sized metropolis, the ethos of the Steel City remains ever-changing. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department of Community and Economic Development. Donate | Signup | pcntv.com

From the 1920s through the 1960s, Pittsburgh's Hill District was the heart of the city's Black cultural life and home to a vibrant jazz scene. In Jazz in the Hill: Nightlife and Narratives of a Pittsburgh Neighborhood, Colter Harper looks at how jazz shaped the neighborhood and created a way of life. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department...

A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. The tale will leave readers staggered by the determination and grit of World War II aviators. This project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Department of Commun...