Products tagged with 'nonfiction'

David Danbom's Our Purpose is to Serve is a probing, insightful and lively history of the first hundred years of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.

Pacing Dakota is a collection of essays reflecting on the history and culture of the Great Plains of North America. University Distinguished Professor Thomas D. Isern, with more than forty years as a working historian and regional author, transitions from the close confines of historical archives into the prairie landscapes of the northern plains. Pacing Dakota speaks with the mingled voices of scholarly historian, outdoor sportsman, culinary enthusiast, lifelong Lutheran, and prairie farmboy. The author prowls prairie churches, finds forgotten artifacts, and gathers cherished stories from Williston to Wahpeton and points beyond. He situates his encounters along the way into the canon of literary and historical writing on the prairies. In the end, he speaks for a generation committed to making a good life in this place. 264 pp. 17 photos. Hardcover.

From the 1880s to the 1930s, at least 34 "prairie palaces" of one sort or another sprang up in at least 24 towns across the Midwest. Their themes ranged in scope from grasses to grains to minerals, but all sought the same goal - attention! Evans' book attempts to tackle many unanswered questions surrounding the successes and failures of each palace and community.

By: Rod Evans

SAVE OUR POST OFFICE! This was the plea when the USPS determined to restructure or close post offices across the US, including 76 locations in North Dakota. In response, authors Amy Phillips and Steven Bolduc set out to explore the contemporary role of post offices in ND. The Prairie Post Office documents an essential institution and includes a history of northern Dakota Territory & ND rural postal services by Kevin Carvell and 100+ color photos by Wayne Gudmundson.

2018 Bronze Medalist in IPPY Awards for Midwest--Best Regional Nonfiction; 2018 Midwest Book Awards finalist for Social Science/Political/Culture; 2018 Midwest Book Awards finalist for Total Book Design, by Deb Tanner; 2018 North Dakota Documents Award, 1st Place

Paperback

First responders, once called to duty, refuse to abandon their posts, even when their towns change around them. They rise far and above their job descriptions, putting aside their own PTSD until the boom is over. But the trauma they endure at the hands of newcomers and outsiders is real, persistent, and contagious. Emergency response is the kind of work that will change a person, the kind of work that leaves an indelible mark. Each person in that profession finds some way to cope with the horrors of mankind. Or, they don’t survive.

Robin Lynn Behl's means of coping was to drive. For years, she drove long distances across the country, across the continent, until she had seen all fifty states and every province in Canada. Her years on the road included six months living in her truck and talking to the people on the front lines. Along the way, she ran into friends--her brothers and sisters—in the badge. She found the other people who were still doing the work she had done, and they started to tell her their stories. By telling their story, she can tell hers, and maybe be rid of the burdens.