New Bern History 101 - Softcover

Among many plaudits, one of North Carolina's preeminent publications, Our State magazine, called New Bern History 101 "a definitive portrait of the city." In addition, the North Carolina Society of Historians selected New Bern History 101 as its 2010 Book Award.

As the only Swiss colony planted in America, New Bern's place is unique in the story of the nation. The convoluted relationship of the colony's two driving forces, Baron Christopher DeGraffenried and the explorer John Lawson, is explored in detail. Only one of them would survive to tell the tale.

Among the topics most often commented upon by readers are the three chapters on the 1862 Battle of New Bern, the Union invasion during the Civil War, and its aftermath; a dramatic retelling of the 1922 Great Fire of New Bern, the largest in North Carolina history; and an epic and fatal 1802 pistol duel between New Bern native and state governor Richard Dobbs Spaight with his archrival, John Stanly.

Other reader favorites include riveting tales of the local Native Americans and their dire interaction with the original colonists; and the colonial period with the construction of magnificent Tryon Palace, and the festive visit of President George Washington. Learn here about the struggles of the early European settlers, the town's relationship to its mother city, Berne, Switzerland, and the invention in New Bern of Pepsi-Cola. Even the pirate Blackbeard and a ghost or two make appearances.

Vintage photographs, maps and artwork, some published for the first time, are presented along with the most important hotspots and high points of New Bern s rich 300-year history. With its informal manner and rich dollops of humor juxtaposed against dramatic turns and phrasing, the book recounts the local impact of three wars Indian, Revolutionary and Civil and other crises faced by the city's people, both black and white.

At 247-pages, the book serves up the essential historical tales of the state's colonial capital plus mentions about the Neuse River, Havelock, Cherry Point, Beaufort, Kinston, Goldsboro, Craven and surrounding counties, information unearthed over several decades of research by the writer.