{"title":"David R Contosta","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"lancaster-ohio-1800-2000-book-david-r-contosta-9780814250273","title":"Lancaster, Ohio, 1800-2000","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eLancaster, Ohio, 1800-2000,\u003c\/i\u003e David R. Contosta tells the story of one American town as it has evolved over a two-hundred year period. Contosta has found that Lancaster was never the sort of idyllic community that writers once imagined for small towns; nor was it the social and cultural wasteland that social critics portrayed during most of the twentieth century.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In explaining why Lancaster has remained a small but relatively successful community for some twenty decades, Contosta looks at various factors, including location, natural resources, technology, transportation systems, local leaders, historic preservation, awareness of local history, and national as well as international events.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As the twenty-first century begins, the widespread use of the automobile, advances in technology, and Lancaster's proximity to the state capital, Columbus, are transforming the community into something new--part town, part city, and part suburb--a phenomenon that is emerging in hundreds of older communities throughout the United States. Contosta's history of the development of one small town, and the over one hundred illustrations enhancing the text, offer a microcosm of the profound changes in American life over two centuries.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49774005911825,"sku":"CIN0814250270G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51008248709393,"sku":"NIN9780814250273","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52654579089681,"sku":"NLS9780814250273","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0814250270.jpg?v=1751396030"},{"product_id":"philadelphia-family-book-david-r-contosta-9780812214062","title":"A Philadelphia Family","description":"Three generations of the Houston-Woodward family, one of the wealthiest and most influential in Philadelphia, have been leaders in politics, diplomacy, suburban planning, housing reform, land conservation, and historic preservation.   In A Philadelphia Family, David Contosta analyzes the impact the Houstons and Woodwards have had economically, politically, and demographically on Philadelphia, a city known for its reserved and private leading families. The story of the Houston and Woodward families' continuing public service offers a unique perspective on Philadelphia history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.   Family founder Henry Howard Houston (1820-1895) was one of America's greatest post-Civil War entrepreneurs, a top executive of the Pennsylvania Railroad as well as a leading speculator in oil, mining, and other railroad ventures. Houston created a unique, planned suburb in Chestnut Hill, which his son Samuel and son-in-law George Woodward maintained and expanded in the twentieth century. Woodward, in particular, became an energetic crusader for housing reform.   Other family members have distinguished themselves in government service and charitable work. Stanley Woodward served in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, George Woodward was a state senator for 30 years, and Lawrence M. C. Smith was founder and owner of a prominent classical music station in Philadelphia.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49958468223249,"sku":"CIN0812214064VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52709514543377,"sku":"CIN0812214064G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52776006353169,"sku":"NIN9780812214062","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0812214064.jpg?v=1751075873"},{"product_id":"metropolitan-paradise-book-david-r-contosta-9780916101664","title":"Metropolitan Paradise","description":"Knitwear designers Alana Dakos and Hannah Fettig are two friends living on opposite ends of the United States. They have come together to produce \u003ci\u003eCoastal Knits\u003c\/i\u003e, a compilation of ten fresh designs inspired by Alana's California and Hannah's Maine coastlines. Each design captures the essence of their favorite local destinations, and is accompanied by photographs and essays on the location's special meaning to the designer. It is a personal, inspiration-based collection of sweaters and accessories that knitters of all levels will appreciate.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50171908260113,"sku":"CIN0916101665VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52105591193873,"sku":"CIN0916101665G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0916101665.jpg?v=1751045584"},{"product_id":"villanova-university-1842-1992-book-david-r-contosta-9780271014593","title":"Villanova University, 1842-1992","description":"Villanova is one of America's oldest and largest Catholic universities. Founded in 1842, it has seen great change in its 150-year history. Here, David Contosta presents a combination of text and photographs to recount the history of the school and the forces that have shaped its growth.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50347608146193,"sku":"CIN0271014598G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51332230021393,"sku":"CIN0271014598VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0271014598.jpg?v=1750844493"},{"product_id":"suburb-in-the-city-book-david-r-contosta-9780814205815","title":"Suburb in the City","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSuburb in the City, \u003c\/em\u003e David Contosta tells the story of how Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, once a small milling and farming town, evolved to become both a suburban enclave for wealthy Philadelphians and a part of the city itself.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 1854, the railroad connected Philadelphia and Chestnut Hill and the village was annexed by the city. Attuned to the romantic currents of the age, the wealthy men and women who moved to Chestnut Hill believed that the village's semi-rural surroundings might uplift them physically, spiritually, emotionally, and morally. At the same time, they wanted to continue to enjoy the best that the city had to offer while escaping from its more unpleasant aspects: dirt, crime, disease, and other shortcomings. They thus cultivated a dual identity with both suburb and city.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIronically, this led to a sense of division as prosperous suburbanites held themselves aloof from the resident shopkeepers and domestic servants who provided so many of their creature comforts. Being a suburb in the city also meant that Chestnut Hill could not control its political destiny, as communities outside the municipal limits could. In response, residents developed a number of civic organizations that became a sort of quasi government.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eContosta's study of Chestnut Hill thus illuminates the divided and often ambivalent feelings that American hold about their great cities. He includes anecdotes gleaned from dozens of interviews with men and women of many backgrounds--lawyers, nuns, debutantes, grocers, craftsmen, and former servants--who tell of their lives in Chestnut Hill. More than one hundred photographs, many never before published, further enliven this analysis of suburban America.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDavid R. Contosta is Professor of History at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and is the author of \u003cem\u003eHenry Adams and the American Experiment; Rise to World Power: Selected Letters of Whitelaw Reid, 1895-1912; American in the Twentieth Century;\u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eA Philadelphia Family: The Houstons and Woodwards of Chestnut Hill.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50369496318225,"sku":"CIN081420581XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52481203208465,"sku":"NLS9780814205815","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":53270592160017,"sku":"CIN081420581XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/081420581X.jpg?v=1750703409"},{"product_id":"america-s-needless-wars-book-david-r-contosta-9781633882898","title":"America's Needless Wars","description":"This eye-opening book takes a unique approach to the history of U.S. foreign policy by examining three unrelated conflicts, all of which ended tragically and resulted in the deaths of millions on both sides. By analyzing what went wrong in each case, the author uncovers a pattern of errors that should serve as a precaution for future decision makers contemplating a conflict abroad.   Why did President McKinley oppose Filipino independence forces if his motivation was truly to help Filipinos overthrow Spanish domination? Why did several U.S. presidents ignore the failures of the French in Vietnam and reject peace overtures from popular revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh to bring the conflict to an early end? And how could American leaders have been so wrong about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction and then let Iraq devolve into chaos after overthrowing the dictator?   Historian David R. Contosta has sifted through official hearings, media investigations, public documents, memoirs of those for and against the conflicts, and numerous histories to uncover the answers to these questions. The common thread that links these wars from different centuries is that political leaders all too often have acted out of ignorance, arrogance, fear, and partisan gamesmanship. These lapses were compounded by the failure of the media to inform the public accurately and dispassionately. The sad result is that America has paid a high price in lost lives and tarnished national reputation.  As the author notes in conclusion, if American exceptionalism is to have any meaning, then we must honestly appraise our past foreign-policy blunders to ensure wiser political action in the future.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50424790876433,"sku":"CIN1633882896G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51041665319185,"sku":"NIN9781633882898","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51481152946449,"sku":"CIN1633882896VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53007843033361,"sku":"NLS9781633882898","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1633882896.jpg?v=1751214261"},{"product_id":"plymouth-and-whitemarsh-townships-book-david-r-contosta-9781531608996","title":"Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships","description":"Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships began as rural clusters of villages and farmlands. Local industry centered on the rich agricultural land and the large, underground mineral veins of limestone and marble. Through vintage photographs culled from the Plymouth Meeting Historical Society and local residents' attics, Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships revisits this region's history of quarries and limekilns, one-room schoolhouses and elaborate estates, while featuring the more recent past of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, postwar housing developments, and the Plymouth Meeting Mall.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52587326996753,"sku":"NLS9781531608996","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52750653030673,"sku":"NIN9781531608996","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781531608996.jpg?v=1761056127"},{"product_id":"rebel-giants-book-david-r-contosta-9781591026105","title":"Rebel Giants","description":"February 12, 2009, will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of two of the most extraordinary and influential men in recent history -- Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. While the coincidence of these two men being born on exactly the same day might fill astrologers with glee, further reflection points to many parallels and intersections in their lives. In this unique approach to history and biography, historian David R. Contosta examines the lives and careers of Lincoln (the political rebel) and Darwin (the scientific rebel), and notes many surprising and illuminating points of comparison. Contosta points out that despite obvious differences -- one born to a poorly educated, impoverished family on the American frontier, the other to a wealthy and prominent English family; one largely self-taught, the other with a degree from Cambridge; one a politician seeking the crowd's approval, the other a reclusive scientist--there are striking similarities between these seemingly disparate individuals. Both Lincoln and Darwin: Lost their mothers in childhood and later lost beloved children at young ages. Had strained relations with their fathers. Went through years of searching for a direction to their lives. Struggled with religious doubt. Were latter-day sons of the Enlightenment who elevated reason over religious revelation. Suffered from severe bouts of depression. Were ambitious as well as patient, with sure and steady mental powers rather than quick minds. Possessed an excellent sense of pacing that allowed them to wait until the time was ripe for their ideas and leadership. Contosta makes a compelling case that by studying the similarities (along with the differences) between these two giants of history we are able to understand each man better than by examining their lives in isolation. This approach also affords many insights into the factors that impel special individuals to lead great paradigm shifts. Today, as American society still struggles to come to grips with the impact of racial integration and controversies over the teaching of evolution, it is more important than ever to understand how two nineteenth-century men with revolutionary ideas helped to shape the present.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52820297744657,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52820298662161,"sku":"NLS9781591026105","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781591026105.jpg?v=1764329686"},{"product_id":"suburb-in-the-city-book-david-r-contosta-9780814205808","title":"Suburb in the City","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSuburb in the City, \u003c\/em\u003e David Contosta tells the story of how Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, once a small milling and farming town, evolved to become both a suburban enclave for wealthy Philadelphians and a part of the city itself.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn 1854, the railroad connected Philadelphia and Chestnut Hill and the village was annexed by the city. 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Its hundred-acre campus is remarkable for its rolling terrain, neo-medieval buildings, and design as a fantasy village.  A legacy of the progressive education movement of the early decades of the twentieth century, the school was formally opened in 1918 as the Carson College for Orphan Girls. Its first president, Elsa Ueland, was a former settlement house worker who was a student of John Dewey and Maria Montessori, and her life story is closely intertwined with that of the school she oversaw for nearly half a century.   The institution was originally endowed by the $5 million estate of Philadelphia trolley magnate Robert N. Carson, who had stipulated in his will that it could receive only white, parentless girls. Over the decades, Ueland and her successors were able to remove these restrictions, so that by the 1970s Carson Valley was admitting children regardless of race or gender, as well as neglected and dependent youths whose needs were every bit as pressing as those of orphans of earlier times.   David Contosta's history of Carson Valley shows that it has long been a model of progressive education. Its faculty is dedicated to serving the individual needs of each child, preparing students to enter the workplace, and breaking down artificial barriers between school and the outside world. Drawing on Ueland's personal papers to communicate both her hopes for the Progressive era and her achievements during the early years of the school, Contosta tells how teachers and housemothers forged a unique collaboration that joined home and school in ways that other progressive educators could only dream of. He also notes the architectural significance of its enchanting facilities, which have played an integral part in the institution's treatment program.   Philadelphia's Progressive Orphanage clearly shows not only how Carson Valley has been shaped by a multitude of social, cultural, and political forces, but also how many of the reforms of the Progressive era remain in place today. It establishes Carson's place in the history of education and child welfare and makes an important contribution to renewed debate about orphanages and dependent child care.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53181210132753,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53181210493201,"sku":"NLS9780271027715","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780271027715.jpg?v=1772237085"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-david-r-contosta.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}