Books by David Williams
A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom
by Howard Zinn, David Williams
"A startling contrast to the other literature on the Civil War." Howard Zinn
Moving beyond presidents and generals, A People's History of the Civil War tells a new and powerful story of America's most destructive conflict. In the first book to view the Civil War through the eyes of common people, historian David Williams presents long-overlooked perspectives and forgotten voices, offering a comprehensive account of the war to general readers.
The Civil War's most decisive battles, Williams argues, took place not only on the fields of Gettysburg, Antietam, and Vicksburg, but also on the streets of New York, in prison camps, in the West, and on the starving home front. Laboring people, urban and rural, fought for economic justice. Women struggled for rights, opportunities, and their family's survival. Volunteers and conscripts demanded respect. Native Americans struggled to hold their land and maintain their very existence. And African Americans made the Civil War a war for freedom long before Lincoln embraced emancipation.
"Bottom up" history at its very best, A People's History of the Civil War offers a rich and complex portrait of a nation at war with itself.
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Men With Cats: Intimate Portraits of Feline Friendship
Celebrate man's other best friend—the cat—in this delightful gift book for pet lovers, feline fans, and anyone who appreciates cats and the dudes who love them.
Countless books and blogs have extolled the virtues of the Cat Lady—now photographer David Williams celebrates cat-owning men and the precious kitties who have stolen their hearts. His subjects represent a cross-section of American society—musicians and artists, soldiers and CEOs, truck drivers and tattoo artists—with one very furry common denominator. These fun, fuzzy, and offbeat portraits are full of personality, and the accompanying stories share everything from “how we met” to how the cats earned their names.
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Bitterly Divided: The South's Inner Civil War
The little-known history of anti-secession Southerners: “Absolutely essential Civil War reading.” ―Booklist, starred review
Bitterly Divided reveals that the South was in fact fighting two civil wars―the external one that we know so much about, and an internal one about which there is scant literature and virtually no public awareness. In this fascinating look at a hidden side of the South’s history, David Williams shows the powerful and little-understood impact of the thousands of draft resisters, Southern Unionists, fugitive slaves, and other Southerners who opposed the Confederate cause.
“This fast-paced book will be a revelation even to professional historians. . . . His astonishing story details the deep, often murderous divisions in Southern society. Southerners took up arms against each other, engaged in massacres, guerrilla warfare, vigilante justice and lynchings, and deserted in droves from the Confederate army . . . Some counties and regions even seceded from the secessionists . . . With this book, the history of the Civil War will never be the same again.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Most Southerners looked on the conflict with the North as ‘a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,’ especially because owners of 20 or more slaves and all planters and public officials were exempt from military service . . . The Confederacy lost, it seems, because it was precisely the kind of house divided against itself that Lincoln famously said could not stand.” ―Booklist, starred review
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When the English Fall: A Novel
A riveting and unexpected novel that questions whether a peaceful and non- violent community can survive when civilization falls apart.
Again, all are asleep, but I am not. I need sleep, but though I read and I pray, I feel too awake. My mind paces the floor.
There are shots now and again, bursts here and there, far away, and I cannot sleep. I think of this man in his hunger, shot like a rabbit raiding a garden. For what, Lord? For stealing corn intended for pigs and cattle, like the hungry prodigal helpless in a strange land.
I can hear his voice.
When a catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse of modern civilization, an Amish community is caught up in the devastating aftermath. With their stocked larders and stores of supplies, the Amish are unaffected at first. But as the English (the Amish name for all non-Amish people) in the cities become increasingly desperate, they begin to invade nearby farms, taking whatever they want and unleashing unthinkable violence on the gentle communities.
Written as the diary of an Amish farmer named Jacob who tries to protect his family and his way of life, When the English Fall examines the idea of peace in the face of deadly chaos. Should members of a nonviolent society defy their beliefs and take up arms to defend themselves? And if they do, can they survive?
David Williams’s debut novel is a thoroughly engrossing look into the closed world of the Amish, as well as a thought-provoking examination of how we live today and what remains if the center cannot hold.
Copies
No copies available.
When the English Fall: A Novel
A riveting and unexpected novel that questions whether a peaceful and non- violent community can survive when civilization falls apart.
Again, all are asleep, but I am not. I need sleep, but though I read and I pray, I feel too awake. My mind paces the floor.
There are shots now and again, bursts here and there, far away, and I cannot sleep. I think of this man in his hunger, shot like a rabbit raiding a garden. For what, Lord? For stealing corn intended for pigs and cattle, like the hungry prodigal helpless in a strange land.
I can hear his voice.
When a catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse of modern civilization, an Amish community is caught up in the devastating aftermath. With their stocked larders and stores of supplies, the Amish are unaffected at first. But as the English (the Amish name for all non-Amish people) in the cities become increasingly desperate, they begin to invade nearby farms, taking whatever they want and unleashing unthinkable violence on the gentle communities.
Written as the diary of an Amish farmer named Jacob who tries to protect his family and his way of life, When the English Fall examines the idea of peace in the face of deadly chaos. Should members of a nonviolent society defy their beliefs and take up arms to defend themselves? And if they do, can they survive?
David Williams’s debut novel is a thoroughly engrossing look into the closed world of the Amish, as well as a thought-provoking examination of how we live today and what remains if the center cannot hold.
Copies
No copies available.
The Enlightenment (Cambridge Readings in the History of Political Thought, Series Number 1)
The Enlightenment is an authoritative anthology of the key political writings from "the best and most hopeful episode in the history of mankind." The texts are supported by a lucid introduction exploring their moral, philosophical, political and economic background. Biographical notes and carefully selected bibliographies offer further help. David Williams, a distinguished Enlightenment scholar, offers the reader a view of the evolution of Enlightenment political thinking in a variety of contexts. Students of political science, history, European studies, international relations, law and philosophy will find this an invaluable resource.
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Diffusions, Markov Processes and Martingales: Volume 2, Itô Calculus (Cambridge Mathematical Library)
by David Williams, L. C. G. Rogers
The second volume concentrates on stochastic integrals, stochastic differential equations, excursion theory and the general theory of processes. These subjects are made accessible in the many concrete examples that illustrate techniques of calculation, and in the treatment of all topics from the ground up, starting from simple cases. Many of the examples and proofs are new; some important calculational techniques appear for the first time in this book.
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Argumentation Theory and the Rhetoric of Assent (Studies in Rhetoric and Communication)
by David Williams, Michael David Hazen
Product Description The themes of the essays in Argumentation Theory and the Rhetoric of Assent all coalesce around the general question: "When, if ever, is assent justified?" The question immediate triggers complex and multifaceted considerations of argument and, ultimately, power. In parsing out the nature of assent, the essays take divers approaches: aesthetic and symbolist, rationalistic and formalistic, field theory, various conceptualizations of a public sphere, etc. Together, they offer an insightful exploration of an exciting new terrain argumentation studies. Review "An important collection [with] a wealth of insights. . . . In recent years, students of public argumentation have noted with growing dismay that the adjudicative role traditionally assigned to the public in a democracy seems to have diminished significantly. The essays in this book address the factors responsible for this paradoxical state of affairs and offer provocative suggestions for the reclamation of the public sphere for the public. . . . The volume is a spirited reaffirmation of argumentaion's role in contemporary society." —Quarterly Journal of Speech About the Author David Cratis Williams is Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Missouri, Rolla. Michael David Hazen is Professor of Speech Communication at Wake Forest University.
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I Freed Myself African American Self-Emancipation in the Civil War Era
For a century and a half, Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation has been the dominant narrative of African American freedom in the Civil War era. However, David Williams suggests that this portrayal marginalizes the role that African American slaves played in freeing themselves. At the Civil War's outset, Lincoln made clear his intent was to save the Union rather than free slaves - despite his personal distaste for slavery, he claimed no authority to interfere with the institution. By the second year of the war, though, when the Union army was in desperate need of black support, former slaves who escaped to Union lines struck a bargain: they would fight for the Union only if they were granted their freedom. Williams importantly demonstrates that freedom was not simply the absence of slavery but rather a dynamic process enacted by self-emancipated African American refugees, which compelled Lincoln to modify his war aims and place black freedom at the center of his wartime policies.
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Probability with Martingales (Cambridge Mathematical Textbooks)
This is a masterly introduction to the modern and rigorous theory of probability. The author adopts the martingale theory as his main theme and moves at a lively pace through the subject's rigorous foundations. Measure theory is introduced and then immediately exploited by being applied to real probability theory. Classical results, such as Kolmogorov's Strong Law of Large Numbers and Three-Series Theorem are proved by martingale techniques. A proof of the Central Limit Theorem is also given. The author's style is entertaining and inimitable with pedagogy to the fore. Exercises play a vital role; there is a full quota of interesting and challenging problems, some with hints.
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