Abingdon, Virginia's Plumb Alley Day frames this story of two children discovering much more than the history of their grandmother's hometown. By the end of the day, Addie (13) and Owen (9) understand and appreciate much more than they expected about their place in their family and the history of the region.

Pachen, a leader of the resistance during the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and was held as a prisoner for 21 years before her release in 1981.

Nestled in the picturesque Hudson Valley town of Rhinebeck, the Beekman Arms began humbly as a stagecoach and mail stop on the Old Albany Post Road at the end of the eighteenth century. Of more than forty stage stops that operated along that path, it is the only one still in existence. Through the tenure of many landlords and several notable renovations, it has evolved into the stately inn it is today. Proclaimed the "oldest hotel in America" since the early 1900s, it stands proudly as a symbol of the area's Dutch and English heritage and a reminder of the history that made this area famous. Join authors Matthew and Brian Plumb to explore the storied past of this historic Rhinebeck institution.

An anecdotal history of plumbing from the Harappan of 3000 B.C. to the modern world is a tribute to such engineering achievements as the lead pipes of the Roman empire, the sewers of London, and Japanese toilets.

'I'm No Hero' is the story of Charlie Plumb, but it is also the story of all POWs who faced an isolated world of degradation, loneliness, tedium, hunger, and pain. It is no pretty story. It tells of the torture room with walls built to muffle human screams, of the 'rope trick' and 'fanbelt' techniques designed to make a man talk, of illness, of insanity. But it also tells of the ingenuity and creativity which allowed the men to outsmart their guards and to set up communication systems, classes, escape plans, and to maintain their chain of command. It is a revealing story. It pictures men who are reduced to the basics physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It shows how these situations can be survived with individual integrity and pride intact. It tells of growing relationships with God which came as a result of desperate need. It outlines a closed society's methods of developing rules which allow members to live together in harmony. It is a story of hope, for it suggests that the techniques used by POWs to survive their conditions can be used by others to overcome similar situations faced in day-to-day living.

Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, is the most venerable of all the old historic taverns still operating in America. Built three hundred years ago by the How family, it has witnessed Indian affairs, colonial wars and the coming of the stagecoach, railroad and automobile. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow immortalized it in verse with his 1863 collection Tales of a Wayside Inn, suddenly making it a desired destination for travelers. Longfellow's romanticized description of the inn later so inspired Henry Ford that he purchased and restored the building and its surrounding three thousand acres. Join author Brian Plumb as he traverses the highways of New England's history to discover the stories of Longfellow's Wayside Inn.

Abingdon, Virginia's Plumb Alley Day frames this story of two children discovering much more than the history of their grandmother's hometown. By the end of the day, these children understand and appreciate much more than they expected about their place in their family and the history of the region.