Its proximity to the ocean will always be the most significant part of Groton's history. The 19th-century shipyards along the Mystic River produced some of the country's finest clipper ships. Land along the Thames River today remains home to the country's oldest submarine base and to the General Dynamics Electric Boat corporation, where the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, was built and first set sail. Today Nautilus is permanently berthed along the Thames in Groton at the Submarine Force Library and Museum. But Groton is a typical New England town as well. Within this volume, the town's evolution is traced from its agrarian roots in Center Groton and along the plains of Poquonnock to the devastation wrought by the Great Hurricane of 1938. It recalls some of Groton's great citizens, including two Civil War Medal of Honor winners and two Boston Marathon champions.

Groton - Historical Bits and Pieces is a compilation of many of the historical articles about Groton, Connecticut written by the author and published in the Groton Times newspaper over the past five years. Various subject matters, containing little known or interesting historical facts about Groton's people, places and things, are discussed in the articles. Many are accompanied by rarely viewed photographs which are part of the author's personal collection. Unusual and interesting subjects relating to Groton, including a three part series on police corruption during the years of prohibition, the presidential desk, old businesses, hometown heroes, and many other unique stories appear in this book. Most of the articles cover the time frame between the late 1800's and the mid-1960's. Although many may not believe that the subjects are historical in nature, the author considers them to be "modern history" and in his words "one hundred years from now they will be valued as relevant history". This book will play an important role, both now and in the future, in the documentation of the history of Groton, Connecticut.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, The American upper class has become less like an aristocracy governing and guiding the nation and more like a caste, a privileged and closed body whose contribution to national leadership has steadily declined. This loss of power and authority has been the focus of the work of E. Digby Baltzell, whose 1964 work, The Protestant Establishment, analyzed the fate and function of a predominantly Anglo-Saxon and Protestant upper class in an ethnically and religiously heterogeneous democracy. After 27 years, Baltzell's theory of the structure and function of the establishment remains unique in the literature of class stratification and authority. Baltzell views an open and authoritative establishment as a necessary and desirable part of the process of securing responsible leaders in a democratic society. Such an establishment is the product of upper-class institutions that are open to talented individuals of varying ethnic and social backgrounds. The values of upper-class tradition include an aristocratic ethos emphasizing the duty to lead, as opposed to the snobbish ethos of caste that emphasizes only the right to privilege. Baltzell regards this as a protector of freedom in modern democratic societies, guaranteeing rules of fair play in contests of power and opinion. As Baltzell points out, historically, the alternatives to rule by establishments have been, rule by functionaries and demogogues, neither of which has proven satisfactory in protecting freedoms. As against Marxists, who see hegemony as a social evil, Baltzell, following Tocqueville, sees it as necessary to the well-being of society. Hegemonic establishments give coherence to the social spheres of greatest contest. They do not eliminate conflict, but prevent it from ripping society apart. Baltzell's work provides uncommon insight into the relationship of social class and personal power in contemporary America. This book will be of inte

Gilded Age financier Morton F. Plant inherited his father's transportation empire determined to improve his community. A dreamer eager to invest in innovative technology and grass-roots community causes alike, Plant's influence ran deep on the Connecticut shoreline prior to World War I, and his legacy remains prominent. Plant's summer mansion, Branford House, is one of southeastern Connecticut's iconic landmarks. He was instrumental in founding the prestigious Connecticut College. And the Shennecossett Golf Club he developed as part of his summer resort is a popular public course. Gail Braccidiferro MacDonald brings to life this important figure in Connecticut history and demonstrates his long-reaching impact.

Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery. Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin’s expeditions were monumental failures—the last one leading to more than a hundred deaths, including his own. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discovering the Northwest Passage. This book, McGoogan's sixth about Arctic exploration, challenges that vision. It rejects old orthodoxies, incorporates the latest discoveries, and interweaves two main narratives. The first treats the Royal Navy’s Arctic Overland Expedition of 1819, a harbinger-misadventure during which Franklin rejected the advice of Dene and Metis leaders and lost eleven of his twenty-one men to exhaustion, starvation, and murder. The second discovers a startling new answer to that greatest of Arctic mysteries: what was the root cause of the catastrophe that engulfed Franklin’s last expedition? The well-preserved wrecks of Erebus and Terror—located in 2014 and 2016—promise to yield more clues about what cost the lives of the expedition members, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism. Contemporary researchers, rejecting theories of lead poisoning and botulism, continue to seek conclusive evidence both underwater and on land. Drawing on his own research and Inuit oral accounts, McGoogan teases out many intriguing aspects of Franklin’s expeditions, including the explorer’s lethal hubris in ignoring the expert advice of the Dene leader Akaitcho. Franklin disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, yet people remain fascinated with his final doomed voyage: what happened? McGoogan will captivate readers with his first-hand account of traveling to relevant locations, visiting the graves of dead sailors, and experiencing the Arctic—one of the most dramatic and challenging landscapes on the planet.