Describes the challenges and rewards faced by modern farms in the Midwest, and looks at the seasonal milestones of rural life

Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in 14 different foster homes. In this unforgettable memoir, the author recounts her years growing up in the foster care system, revealing painful memories but also her determination to discover the power of her own voice.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR 'A dystopian odyssey through the dark authoritarian landscape of the modern world' The Times To be born American in the late twentieth century was to take the fact of a particular kind of American exceptionalism as granted – a state of nature arrived at after all else had failed. In the span of just thirty years, this assumption would come crashing down. After the fall, we must determine what it means to be American again. In 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outwards. Over the next three years, he travelled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Along the way, a Russian opposition leader he spends time with is poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he comes to know see their movement snuffed out, and America itself reaches the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a second chance. After the Fall is a hugely ambitious and essential work of discovery. Throughout, Rhodes comes to realize how much America's fingerprints are on a world it helped to shape: through the excesses of the post-Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism, post-9/11 nationalism and militarism, mania for technology and social media, and the racism that shaped the backlash to the Obama presidency. At the same time, he learns from a diverse set of characters – from Obama to rebels to a rising generation of leaders – how looking squarely at where America has gone wrong only makes it more essential to fight for what America is supposed to be – for itself, and for the entire world.

A picturesque community in the Upstate's piedmont landscape, the city of Laurens possesses a rich heritage and unique small-town character and charm. Since its founding in the latter part of the eighteenth century, the city, named for Revolutionary War hero and distinguished South Carolinian Henry Laurens, has grown and developed into the county's primary crossroads, serving not only as the county seat, but a center of social activity, from circuses to Chautauquas. This volume, with over 200 black-and-white photographs and postcards, captures the Laurens of yesteryear, a time measured by the sound of railroad whistles, hoof beats on dusty streets, and the early noisy stirrings of automobiles. Covering the many elements of everyday life in Laurens--the academic, industrial, spiritual, and social--this visual history takes readers on a remarkable tour through the area's past, showcasing early schools, such as the Laurensville Female College and the "old" Central School; turn-of-the-century textile mills, such as the Laurens Cotton Mill and the Watts Mill Plant; a wide variety of churches, including Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian denominations, to name but a few; and early residences and businesses that make up the Laurens Historic District.

Lanning Family HistoryGenealogy featuring the descendants of John Lanning born 1751, who lived in western New York state and eastern Pennsylvania and the family names that are connected to the Lannings. This book is 626 pages and is a huge undertaking considering its size of 8.5" x 11".