New Releases by Claude Brown

The Brown family has been an important part of the life of the village for well over a century. In particular, for the majority of that time the family has been involved in the ownership and management of Hall general store, initially in partnership with members of the Southwell family. A new publication by the Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre (HSMHC) tells of the earliest years of the Brown family in Hall, through the life and times of Claude Brown [1898-1990], a young lad growing up in the village. The book -''My early Hall years'' - is edited extracts of the memoirs of Claude and his wife Mabel. Claude was the great-grandson of the family patriarch ''Old Thomas Brown'' who arrived from England in 1838 and settled near Dalton. Thomas was a champion of Methodism who devoted his life to preaching the word. Claude''s father Ebenezer, a grandson of Thomas, married Elizabeth Southwell, one of five siblings who married into the Southwell family! ''My early Hall days'' is the story of a young lad growing up in the small village of Hall, where his parents were partners in the general store, in the early years of the twentieth century. In a lucid, entertaining and informative style Claude tells us about his extended family, about the business of the shop, his delinquent adventures with other young lads (often involving explosions), long sulky trips to Dalton and Queanbeyan - and the first cars to appear, going to school at Ginninderra and Hall, his first job at the Cricketer''s Arms, Sunday school at Wattle Park Methodist church, and more.

With more than two million copies in print, Manchild in the Promised Land is one of the most remarkable autobiographies of our time—the definitive account of African-American youth in Harlem of the 1940s and 1950s, and a seminal work of modern literature. Published during a literary era marked by the ascendance of black writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Alex Haley, this thinly fictionalized account of Claude Brown’s childhood as a hardened, streetwise criminal trying to survive the toughest streets of Harlem has been heralded as the definitive account of everyday life for the first generation of African Americans raised in the Northern ghettos of the 1940s and 1950s. When the book was first published in 1965, it was praised for its realistic portrayal of Harlem—the children, young people, hardworking parents; the hustlers, drug dealers, prostitutes, and numbers runners; the police; the violence, sex, and humor. The book continues to resonate generations later, not only because of its fierce and dignified anger, not only because the struggles of urban youth are as deeply felt today as they were in Brown’s time, but also because of its inspiring message. Now with an introduction by Nathan McCall, here is the story about the one who “made it,” the boy who kept landing on his feet and grew up to become a man.

Confederate Devil John is the story of John Wright as he grew up in Pike and Letcher Counties, Kentucky. John started life at an early age making corn likker with Rosan Burke. Rosan taught John how to make likker and to survive in the east Kentucky Mountains. After Rosan was caught by revenuers John set out to make his living outside the mountains. His initial horse-trading led him to meet John Hunt Morgan and joining the Confederate cause in the Civil War. He served under Confederate Capt. Quantrill, and he escaped during the battle when Quantrill was captured. During this period he met the James brothers, Bill Anderson and Sue Mundy. John and his best friend, Talt Hall, made their way back to east Kentucky after escaping capture to rejoin the Confederate Army. They were later captured and imprisoned in Fort Douglas. They escaped the fort returning to east Kentucky. John adventurous life begins by joining the circus, marrying Mattie, becoming marshal and judge, fathering thirty-two children and feuding with his archenemy, Caleb Jones.

Stonewall Speaks is the fictional depiction of the adventurous but brief life of the famous Confederate general Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Jackson grew up working on a farm and a corn-grinding mill in Clarksburg, Virginia. His life changes forever when he receives his appointment to attend West Point. Author Claude Brown imagines how actual historical events might have played out during the mid-1800s, as Stonewall''s ghost narrates. Stonewall meets his first friend, Ulysses S. Grant, on the train to West Point. At the Academy, he faces conflict with A. P. Hill (a conflict that will turn out to be lifelong). Grant and Stonewall serve together in the Mexican War and (on opposing sides) during the Civil War, where Stonewall shines as Lee''s greatest general. The twice-married Jackson receives his famous nickname from General Bernard Bee on the battlefield at First Manassas when Jackson''s demeanor inspires Bee to shout to his troops, "Look, men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall!" General Stonewall bravely commands thousands of soldiers during his military career. Stonewall Speaks will transport you on a fictitious journey through Confederate General Stonewall''s circle of life, which includes all those things that are important to a man who must lead his troops to victory--love, friendship, and conflict.

Hardbound. This book constitutes a comprehensive account of sandy-shore ecology, from the physics of sand transport to the nature and interactions of surf-zone, beach and dune communities; from wave types to conservation and management of the system. Attention is paid to the behavioural and physiological adaptations to this harsh environment displayed by the biota, to the effects of pollution on the ecosystem and to the impact of man''s activities on dune ecology. Examples are drawn from virtually all parts of the world where sandy-shore research has been undertaken and all beach types are considered, from the most exposed to wave action, to the most sheltered.Although the book is mainly concerned with sandy shores as functional ecosystems, there are comprehensive chapters on pollution, conservation and management.The volume is indispensible to scientists undertaking research on sandy-shore ecology or ecophysiology and will be of considerable value to

The children of Ham are a group of young people ranging in age from fourteen to twenty-two, who live in a condemned tenement in upper Harlem, a shell of a building owned by New York City. The children look out for themselves; they are a self-constituted family. They give to each other what they cannot get anywhere else: friendship and a sense of belonging. As you eavesdrop on their conversations, you learn about the families who abandoned -- or who abandoned them. Home for the children of Ham is this wreck of a house, the Harlem castle where they protect and sustain each other on hope as tenuous as life. It is their life that brims over in this book by Claude Brown. -- From publisher''s description.