PA BOOKS on PCN

"The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777" with Michael Harris

Contributed by Lukas

The British Army in North America conducted two campaigns in 1777. John Burgoyne led one army south from Canada to seize control of the Lake Champlain...

"That Our Daughters May Be as Cornerstones" with Chad Leinaweaver

Contributed by Lukas

Irving College was the first college to offer degrees in the arts and sciences to women and that two of its buildings still stand to this day. Named a...

"Pennsylvania Government and Politics" with Thomas Baldino and Paula Duda Holoviak

Contributed by Lukas

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the Keystone State's formal and informal political institutions and players, past and present, and e...

"Voices from Gettysburg" with Allen Guelzo

Contributed by Lukas

Gathering a treasure trove of powerful, rare, and haunting original documents, New York Times bestselling author and award-winning historian Allen C. ...

"Philadelphia: A Narrative History" with Paul Kahan

Contributed by Lukas

Philadelphia is famous for its colonial and revolutionary buildings and artifacts, but Philadelphia existed long before the Liberty Bell was first run...

"William Trent: Factor of Ambition" with Jason Cherry

Contributed by Lukas

Take a new definitive look through the eyes of a misunderstood backcountry merchant, Major William Trent, who not only overcame obstacles and suffered...

"Never To Be Forgotten" with Jim McClure

Contributed by Lukas

"Never To Be Forgotten" tells the story of York County Pennsylvania residents just living their lives, building homes, raising families, making thing...

"Cradle of Conservation" with Allen Dieterich-Ward

Contributed by Lukas

From the origins of "Penn's Woods" to the controversial practice of fracking, Cradle of Conservation provides the first comprehensive study of Pennsyl...

"Into the Cold Blue" with John Homan

Contributed by Lukas

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 Germa...

"Jazz in the Hill" with Colter Harper

Contributed by Lukas

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...

"The Soul of Pittsburgh" with Ed Simon

Contributed by Lukas

Pittsburgh contains multitudes. From the decline of the steel industry and the exodus of a vast diaspora of Pittsburghers to its reinvention as a tren...

"Life, Liberty, and Death on the Appalachian Frontier" with Robert Swift

Contributed by Lukas

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, focu...

"A Killer at the Door" with Bruce Mowday

Contributed by Lukas

In summer 2023, Chester County, Pennsylvania, was shaken by the daring escape of convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante. Cavalcante scaled a prison wall...

"Threshold to Valley Forge" with Sheilah Vance

Contributed by Lukas

From December 12-19, 1777, Washington's Army encamped in the towering hills of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. Known as th...

"No Longer Subjects of the British King" with Shawn McGhee

Contributed by Lukas

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 p...

"The Weather Gods Curse the Gettysburg Campaign" with Jeffrey Harding and Jon Nese

Contributed by Lukas

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 Campa...

"City of Brotherly Blood" with Mike Stack

Contributed by Lukas

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 wa...

"Rescuing the Republic" with author Andrew Browning

28 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The first examination of how James Madison and the Annapolis Convention defied all odds and expectations to begin the near-impossible process of restr...

"King of the Gun Runners" with author Jim Miller

11 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hear the untold story of a forgotten American, John Hart, whose adventures helped pave the way for the United States' emergence as an international po...

"Three Roads to Gettysburg" with author Tim McGrath

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

"Unclaimed Valor" with Terrence Beltz

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In August 1862, Pennsylvania quickly responded to President Lincoln's request for more troops. These devoted groups of mostly central Pennsylvanians, ...

"Mud, Rocks, Blazes" with author Heather Anderson

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Despite her success setting a self-supported Fastest Known Time record on the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013, Heather "Anish" Anderson still had such dee...

"The Whiz Kids" with Dennis Snelling

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Before the 1950 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies were infamous for a record-breaking lack of achievement that dated from their conception in 18...

"Theatres of the Body" with Lynn Matluck Brooks

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Theatres of the Body is a critical examination of danced stage productions in antebellum Philadelphia. At the time, the city boasted the largest numbe...

"Fighting for Philadelphia" with Michael Harris

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning author Michael C. Harris's impressive Fighting for Philadelphia: Forts Mercer and Mifflin, the Battle of Whitemarsh, and the Road to Val...

"A Saddlebag Doctor of the Mahantongo Valley of Pennsylvania" with Lawrence Knorr

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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, chro...

"Charles E. Hires and the Drink that Wowed a Nation" with Bill Double

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Introduced at the 1876 Centennial Exposition and powered by an historic advertising campaign, Hires Root Beer - launched 10 years before Coca-Cola - b...

"A History of Philadelphia Sandwiches" with Mike Madaio

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Philadelphia boasts some of the most delicious original sandwiches and passionate sandwich aficionados. From the classic cheesesteak to the delectable...

"The Year that Made America" with Tom McMillian

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

"Work, Fight, Or Play Ball" with William Ecenbarger

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1918, Bethlehem Steel started the world's greatest industrial baseball league. Appealing to Major League Baseball players looking to avoid service ...

"Gen X Pittsburgh" with David Rullo

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Beginning in the early 1990s, Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood began to transform from the post-industrial morass it had been suffering for the la...

"Harrisburg in WWI and the 1918 Pandemic" with Rodney Ross

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1917, at the start of World War I, among global war and a global pandemic, Harrisburgers stepped up and served. The city experienced tribulations a...

"George Washington in the French & Indian War" with Scott Patchan

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

George Washington has frequently been criticized for his first military campaign, which sparked the French and Indian War. While his campaign failed t...

"The Game that Saved the NHL" with Ed Gruver

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In late 1975 and early 1976, at the height of the Cold War, two of the Soviet Union's long-dominant national hockey teams traveled to North America to...

"Telling of the Anthracite" with Philip Mosley

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

"Telling of the Anthracite" explores the various ways in which anthracite history has been represented and remembered since 1960, the chosen date for ...

"On a Great Battlefield" with Jennifer Murray

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Of the more than seventy sites associated with the Civil War era that the National Park Service manages, none hold more national appeal and recognitio...

"Emotional Brandywine" with Karl Kuerner & Bruce Mowday

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The September 11, 1777, battle of Brandywine, a defeat for General George Washington, is too often forgotten by historians. Brandywine was one of the ...

"Youghiogheny: Appalachian River" with Tim Palmer

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Turbulent rapids and wild shorelines of the Youghiogheny River highlight natural wonders of the Appalachian Mountains, and midway on the stream's reve...

"If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania" Volume 2 with Scott Mingus & Eric Wittenberg

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The first installment (June 3-22, 1863) carried the armies through the defining mounted clash at Battle of Brandy Station, after which Lee pushed his ...

"Prisoners of Congress" with Norman Donoghue

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as "the most Dangerous Enemies America knows" and o...

"Digging in the City of Brotherly Love" (2nd Edition) with Rebecca Yamin

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Historic Philadelphia has long yielded archaeological treasures from its past. Excavations required by the National Historic Preservation Act have rec...

George Marshall's "Memoirs of My Services in the World War, 1917-1918" with Tom Bruscino

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Marshall was one of America's most significant statesmen during the mid twentieth century. He was born and raised in Uniontown, PA and attended...

"George Nakashima Woodworkers Process Book" with Mira Nakashima

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Nakashima began his furniture business as a reactionary movement against the practice of 20th century "modern" architecture, design, and art. W...

"The Whiskey Rebellion" with Brady Crytzer

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In March 1791 Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton shocked the western frontier when he proposed a domestic excise tax on whiskey to balance America'...

"Are All Politics Nationalized?" with Stephen Medvic, Matthew Schousen, and Berwood Yost

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Given the news media's focus on national issues and debates, voters might be expected to make decisions about state and local candidates based on thei...

"Small-Town Cops in the Crosshairs" with Bruce Mowday

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The sniper killings of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, policemen William Davis and Richard Posey shocked the American public in November 1972 and garner...

"American Ramble" with Neil King

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A memoir about a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City - an unforgettable pilgrimage to the heart of America across some of our oldest...

"Donora Death Fog" with Andy McPhee

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In October 1948, a seemingly average fog descended on the tiny mill town of Donora, Pennsylvania. With a population of fewer than fifteen thousand, th...

"Surviving the Winters" with Steven Elliott

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge form an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revol...

"Joe Louis vs. Billy Conn" with Ed Gruver

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During the memorable summer of 1941, no sports story loomed larger than Joe Louis versus Billy Conn, the hard-hitting heavyweight champion, Detroit's ...

"A Most Gallant Resistance" with James McIntyre

06 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Delaware River defenses played a crucial role for the Americans in Philadelphia during the American War of Independence in 1777. Maintaining the i...

"Vigilance" with Andrew Diemer

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The remarkable and inspiring story of William Still, an unknown abolitionist who dedicated his life to managing a critical section of the Underground ...

"Street Diplomacy" with Elliott Drago

21 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Although Philadelphia's Black community lived in a free city in a free state, they faced constant threats to their personal safety and freedom. The po...

"American Sirens" with Kevin Hazzard

07 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Until the 1970s, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. But that all changed with Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a...

"Feeding Washington's Army" with Ricardo Herrera

30 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this major new history of the Continental Army's Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Ricardo A. Herrera uncovers what daily life...

"All Roads Led to Gettysburg" with Troy Harman

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Most Civil War battles occurred along major roads, railroads, and waterways; the armies needed to move men and equipment, and they needed water for me...

"If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania" with Scott Mingus & Eric Wittenberg

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Gen. Robert E. Lee began moving part of his Army of Northern Virginia from the Old Dominion toward Pennsylvania on June 3, 1863. Lee believed his army...

"River Boots" with Robert Lynn Steiner

07 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

River Boots is a career synopsis, a training manual, a history book and one conservation officer's slightly twisted view of a quarter century in the b...

"Pirates & Privateers from Long Island Sound to Delaware Bay" with Jamie Goodall

31 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Illicit commerce was key to the survival of the mid-Atlantic colonies from the Golden Age of Piracy to the battles of the American Revolution. Out of ...

"Death of the Daily News" with Andrew Conte

25 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The City of McKeesport in southwestern Pennsylvania once had a population of more than fifty thousand people and a newspaper that dated back to the ni...

"The Lion of Round Top" with Hans Meyers

17 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Citizen-soldier Strong Vincent was many things: Harvard graduate, lawyer, political speaker, descendent of pilgrims and religious refugees, husband, f...

"Murder & Mayhem in Erie, PA" with Justin Dombrowski

11 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From the French and Indian War to Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie, the city of Erie has a prideful place in the American story, but the...

"Kaufmann's" with Marylynne Pitz and Laura Malt Schneiderman

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1868, Jacob Kaufmann, the nineteen-year-old son of a German farmer, stepped off a ship onto the shores of New York. His brother Isaac soon follow...

"Gettysburg's Lost Love Story" with Jeffrey Harding

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Union general John Reynolds was one of the most beloved and respected military leaders of the Civil War, yet beyond the battlefield, the captivating t...

Founders Series "The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen" with Beverly Tomek

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An interview about the writings "The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen" with historian and author Beverly Tomek. Beve...

Founders Series "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" with Jane Calvert

04 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

An interview about the essays "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" with historian and author Jane Calvert. In 1767 a series of essays were publishe...

"Somebody Else's Dream" with Maxim Furek

27 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the disturbing song "Timothy." Banned by radio stations and called "the worst song ever recorded," its lyr...

"Beethoven in Beijing" with Jennifer Lin

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1973, Western music was banned in the People's Republic of China. But in a remarkable breakthrough cultural exchange, the Philadelphia Orchestra co...

"An Early History of the Wyoming Valley" with Kathleen Earle

14 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When Connecticut Yankees began to settle the Wyoming Valley in the 1760s, both the local Pennsylvanians and the powerful native Haudenosaunee (Iroquoi...

"No Place for Glory" with Rovert Wynstra

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Over the years, many top historians have cited Major General Robert E. Rodes as the best division commander in Robert E. Lee's vaunted army. Despite t...

"Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Chester County, PA" with Mark Lanyon

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Chester County was home to a diverse patchwork of religious communities, antislavery activists and free Black populations, all working to end the blig...

"Boxed out of the NBA" with Syl Sobel & Jay Rosenstein

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Eastern Professional Basketball League (1946-78) was fast and physical, often played in tiny, smoke-filled gyms across the northeast and featuring...

"Philadelphia's Germans" with Richard Juliani

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In "Philadelphia's Germans: From Colonial Settlers to Enemy Aliens," Richard N. Juliani examines the social, cultural, and political life, along with ...

"Disastrous Floods and the Demise of Steel in Johnstown" with Pat Farabaugh

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Johnstown is synonymous with floodwaters and steel. When the city was decimated by a flood of biblical proportions in 1889, it was considered one of t...

"American Workman" with Maxwell King & Louise Lippincott

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

"American Workman" presents a comprehensive, novel reassessment of the life and work of one of America's most influential self-taught artists, John Ka...

"Time of Anarchy" with Matthew Kruer

18 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1675, eastern North America descended into chaos. Virginia exploded into civil war, as rebel colonists decried the corruption of planter oligarchs ...

"Slavery and Abolition in Pennsylvania" with Beverly Tomek

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In her concise history Slavery and Abolition in Pennsylvania, Beverly Tomek corrects the long-held notion that slavery in the North was "not so bad" a...

"The Italian Legacy in Philadelphia" with Judith Goode

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Italian arts and culture have been a significant influence on Philadelphia dating back to Thomas Jefferson and colonial times. Throughout the ensuing ...

"The Dogs of War in Our Midst" with James McClure & Scott Mingus

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Authors Jim McClure and Scott Mingus team up again to present more than two dozen perspectives and articles on the Civil War history of York County, P...

"Jane Jacobs's First City" with Glenna Lang

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A thorough investigation of how Jane Jacobs's ideas about the life and economy of great cities grew from her home city, Scranton Jane Jacobs's Firs...

"Squirrel Hill" with Mark Oppenheimer

02 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the country, known for its tight-knit community and the profusion of multigene...

"The Horse at Gettysburg" with Chris Bagley

21 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Horses are one of the many unsung heroes of the American Civil War. These majestic animals were impressed into service, trained, prepared for battle, ...

"Lafayette at Brandywine" with Bruce Mowday

07 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

America's first international hero, the Marquis Lafayette, risked his life and spent his fortune in the fight for American independence from England. ...

"The Strangest Season" with Jim O'Brien

31 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This was a time unlike any other in our lifetime. The Coronavirus pandemic hit hard and affected every aspect of our lives, from sports to politics an...

"George Washington" with David Stewart

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

George Washington's rise constitutes one of the greatest self-reinventions in history. In his mid-twenties, this third son of a modest Virginia plante...

"The Deviant Prison" with Ashley Rubin

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Early nineteenth-century American prisons followed one of two dominant models: the Auburn system, in which prisoners performed factory-style labor by ...

"Back from Battle" with Jim Remsen

02 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the final year of the American Civil War, a special Union Army post was constructed just outside Philadelphia to handle a jumble of returning citiz...

"Frederick Watts and the Founding of Penn State," with Roger Williams

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Frederick Watts came to prominence during the nineteenth century as a lawyer and a railroad company president, but his true interests lay in agricultu...

"The Chiefs Now in This City" with Colin Calloway

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

During the years of the Early Republic, prominent Native leaders regularly traveled to American cities--Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Mont...

"Sewn in Coal Country" with Robert Wolensky

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By the mid-1930s, Pennsylvania's anthracite coal industry was facing a steady decline. Mining areas such as the Wyoming Valley around the cities of Wi...

"John Marshall: The Final Founder" with Robert Strauss

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eighteenth- and 19th-century contemporaries believed Marshall to be, if not the equal of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, at least very close ...

"Made Free and Thrown Open to the Public" with Bernadette Lear

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

"Made Free and Thrown Open to the Public" charts the history of public libraries and librarianship in Pennsylvania. Based on archival research at more...

"Harrisburg in World War II" with Rodney Ross

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As the nation entered into the throes of World War II, Harrisburg was prepared to answer the call of service. Prideful as a "beehive of industry," the...

"Biddle, Jackson, and a Nation in Turmoil" with Cordelia Biddle

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The first half of the 19th century was an era of upheaval. The United States nearly lost the War of 1812. Partisanship became endemic during violent c...

"Armistead and Hancock" with Tom McMillan

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In a war of brother versus brother, theirs has become the most famous broken friendship: Union general Winfield Scott Hancock and Confederate general ...

"Battle Tested!" with Jeffrey McCausland & Tom Vossler

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In order to be a truly effective leader, it is necessary to learn as much as possible from the examples of history—the disasters as well as the triu...

"Arlen Specter" with Evan Edward Laine

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From his early work as a lawyer on the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to his days as Philadelphia's di...

"A History of Pittsburgh Jazz" with Richard Gazarik & Karen Anthony Cole

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Pittsburgh's contributions to the uniquely American art form of jazz are essential to its national narrative. Fleeing the Jim Crow South in the twenti...

"James Monroe: A Life" with Tim McGrath

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

James Monroe lived a life defined by revolutions. From the battlefields of the War for Independence, to his ambassadorship in Paris in the days of the...

"Occupied America" with Donald Johnson

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In "Occupied America," Donald F. Johnson chronicles the everyday experience of ordinary people living under military occupation during the American Re...