Richard Melzer

Don Perkins led a life as one of the most honored athletes in the history of the University of New Mexico and the Dallas Cowboys. But Perkins's life was far more complex and, at times, controversial. He experienced the traumas of racial discrimination, death, divorce, football-related injuries, and a never-ending search for his own identity. In his search, Perkins ventured into sportscasting, public speaking, community relations, big-rig trucking, government work, and even amateur theater, where he portrayed Frederick Douglass and other famous Black leaders. Through it all, he remained a kind, unassuming, charismatic man, universally admired by family members, friends, and millions of fans. Don Perkins: A Champion's Life is the final tribute he so richly deserves.

The enormous effort--called the Manhattan Project--that produced the world's first atomic bomb was supposed to be the best kept secret of World War II. And the project's Los Alamos, New Mexico site, where the bomb was perfected, was supposed to have the tightest security of the project's other 37 installations across the United States. Even the vice president, Harry S. Truman, was kept in the dark initially until fate propelled him into the fray. But this was an illusion. Evidence from Soviet and American sources have proven that at least three--and as many as six--Communist spies penetrated the security system at Los Alamos and shared the secret of the atomic bomb with the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union before the end of World War II. Historian Richard Melzer now sheds new light on how security at Los Alamos broke down--not by examining this isolated site in New Mexico from the outside as many other authors have--but from within Los Alamos itself. Using interviews, memoirs, and formerly confidential files, Melzer shows that spies quite easily obtained security clearances, gained access to top secret information, and carried this information to their Soviet contacts without a hitch. What Melzer tells us about the flaws of security in the past might well help those in charge of security today as the United States grapples with these problems in the aftermath of the Chinese espionage scandal that rocked Los Alamos and the entire American intelligence community. Includes a bibliography, historic photographs, and index.

In October 1913, 261 miners and two rescuers died when a massive explosion ripped through a mine operated by Phelps, Dodge & Company in Dawson, New Mexico. Ten years later, a second blast claimed the lives of another 120 miners. Today, Dawson is a deserted ghost town. All that remains is a sea of white iron crosses memorializing the nearly four hundred miners killed in the two explosions--a death toll unmatched by mine disasters in any other town in America. Now, to mark the centennial of the second disaster, veteran journalist Nick Pappas tells the tragic story of what was once New Mexico's largest and most modern company town and of how the strong, determined residents of the community coped with two heartbreaking catastrophes.

The enormous effort-called the Manhattan Project-that produced the world's first atomic bomb was supposed to be the best kept secret of World War II. And the Project's Los Alamos, New Mexico site where the bomb was perfected was supposed to have the tightest security of the project's other 37 installations across the United States. Even the vice president, Harry S. Truman, was kept in the dark initially until fate propelled him into the fray. But this was an illusion. Evidence from Soviet and American sources have proven that at least three-and as many as six-Communist spies penetrated the security system at Los Alamos and shared the secret of the atomic bomb with the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union before the end of World War II. Historian Richard Melzer now sheds new light on how security at Los Alamos broke down-not by examining this isolated site in New Mexico from the outside as many other authors have-but from within Los Alamos itself. Using interviews, memoirs, and formerly confidential files Melzer shows that spies quite easily obtained security clearances, gained access to top secret information, and carried this information to their Soviet contacts without a hitch. What Melzer tells us about the flaws of security in the past might well help those in charge of security today as the United States grapples with these problems in the aftermath of the Chinese espionage scandal that rocked Los Alamos and the American intelligence. Photographs, index, bibliography.

Ernie Pyle ranks with Richard Harding Davis, John Reed and Edward R. Murrow as one of the greatest war correspondents in American history. But he was different from all the correspondents who went before him or followed him in the combat zones of the world. While the others reported on the big picture of troop movements and massive battles, Pyle wrote about the fighting soldier and his plight on the front lines. It was said that Pyle's daily columns gave nothing more and nothing less than a worm's eye view of World War II. Richard Melzer does for Ernie Pyle what Ernie Pyle did for thousands of average G. I.s overseas: he describes Pyle's joys and struggles from Ernie's perspective, in candid, straightforward terms. The result is a focused biography, rich in detail and broad in appeal, just as Ernie would have liked it. "Book News" reported: "A well-written and researched slice of the famous war correspondent's peripatetic life."

For the first time, there is now a textbook that addresses state standards for the teaching of New Mexico history at the high school level. In this thoughtful work, the authors delineate New Mexico's role in the shaping of the United States by carefully analyzing how the rich histories of the many cultures of the region affected and in turn were affected by influxes of newcomers seeking health benefits, minerals, farms, relaxation, and new beginnings. Supplementing this richly illustrated and accessible textbook is the optional Teacher Guide Book on CD for use with A History of New Mexico Since Statehood, which will help in structuring lessons, tests, and student activities. The Teacher Guide Book is included free with the purchase of twenty-five classroom copies.

The Teacher Guide Book on CD for use with A History of New Mexico Since Statehood, will help in structuring lessons, tests, and student activities.

The Fred Harvey name will forever be associated with the high-quality restaurants, hotels, and resorts situated along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway in the American Southwest. The Fred Harvey Company surprised travelers, who were accustomed to dingy beaneries staffed with rough waiters, by presenting attractive, courteous servers known as the Harvey Girls. Today many Harvey Houses serve as museums, offices, and civic centers throughout the Southwest. Only a few Harvey Houses remain as first-class hotels, and they are located at the Grand Canyon, in Winslow, Arizona, and in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

L. Bradford Prince was one of seven territorial governors who attended the January 15th inauguration of New Mexico's first state governor, William C. McDonald, in New Mexico's long-awaited statehood year, 1912. Within a year of that auspicious occasion, Prince published "A Concise History of New Mexico," a condensation and revision of his "Historical Sketches" of 1883. His purpose in 1913 was to provide a "little volume" that might be of use in the now-required teaching of New Mexico history in the state's public schools. The passage of a public school bill during his term as governor had been considered an important step toward the attainment of statehood. The publication of a state history textbook was meant to be an important contribution to New Mexico public education once statehood had been achieved. But within a year of its publication, Prince affirmed that the length and price of the already brief "Concise History" was excessive for most public schools and students. While still recommending "A Concise History" for teachers and most adults, Prince offered an even more focused, 174-page work, entitled "The Student's History of New Mexico." Now, instead of using history to argue the case for New Mexico statehood, Prince's chief goal was to use history to help create pride in New Mexico for the "clear-eyed, pure hearted, noble minded youth" of the nation's newest state. These future citizens could take pride in both their past, "the most interesting of all American state histories," and in the special qualities of individual groups whose collective story was "unrivaled in ancient or modern times." Convinced that "The Student's History" had served its purpose well, Prince later updated his book with an additional ten pages about New Mexico's first few years of statehood. This second edition of "The Student's History" appeared in 1921, a year before Prince's death, and this is the edition Sunstone Press is publishing in its Southwest Heritage Series. The second edition of "The Student's History" is also offered as a brief history of New Mexico of value to the general reader sophisticated enough to recognize its biases, but astute enough to appreciate its many facts. If this unique telling of New Mexico's past adds to our pride in being New Mexicans-or helps others to better understand New Mexico-then L. Bradford Prince will have achieved his purpose long after he departed his beloved New Mexico, once a striving territory and now a productive member of the nation's family of states.