Fighting the Death Penalty


Book Description

Michigan is the only state in the country that has a death penalty prohibition in its constitution—Eugene G. Wanger’s compelling arguments against capital punishment is a large reason it is there. The forty pieces in this volume are writings created or used by the author, who penned the prohibition clause, during his fifty years as a death penalty abolitionist. His extraordinary background in forensics, law, and political activity as constitutional convention delegate and co-chairman of the Michigan Committee Against Capital Punishment has produced a remarkable collection. It is not only a fifty-year history of the anti–death penalty argument in America, it also is a detailed and challenging example of how the argument against capital punishment may be successfully made.




Michigan's Capitol


Book Description

A history of the building and restoration of one of the nation's most prominent capitols.




The Legend of Sleeping Bear


Book Description

It started with a mother's love... Fleeing from a forest fire, a mother bear urges her two cubs into the watery shelter of a vast body of water. Though it will be difficult, she knows if they can swim across to the opposite shore, they will be safe. With calls of encouragement and steadfast love, Mother Bear guides her cubs across the great lake, Lake Michigan. And the story of what happens once Mother Bear reaches the far shore becomes the legend behind the natural wonder known as Sleeping Bear Dune. In 1998 writer Kathy-jo Wargin and nature artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen combined their talents to bring The Legend of Sleeping Bear to life. Published to wide acclaim, the book was soon named the Official Children's Book of Michigan.




Capital, the State, and War


Book Description

Tracing how the emergence of global capitalism gave rise to the Thirty Years' Crisis




Laughing Whitefish


Book Description

Laughing Whitefish is an engrossing trail drama of ethnic hostility and the legal defense of Indian treaties. Young Lawyer William (Willy) Poe puts out a shingle in Marquette, Michigan, in 1873, hoping to meet a woman who will take him seriously. His first client, the alluring Charlotte Kawbawgam, known as Laughing Whitefish, offers an enticing challenge—a compelling case of injustice at the hands of powerful mining interests. Years earlier, Charlotte's father led the Jackson Mining Company to a lucrative iron ore strike, and he was then granted a small share in the mine, which the new owners refuse to honor. Willy is now Charlotte's sole recourse for justice. Laughing Whitefish is a gripping account of barriers between Indian people and their legal rights. These poignant conflicts are delicately wrought by the pre-eminent master of the trial thriller, the best-selling author of Anatomy of a Murder. This new edition includes a foreword by Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Director of the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University, that contextualizes the novel and actual decisions of the Michigan Supreme Court ruling in favor of Charlotte.




Michigan Government, Politics, and Policy


Book Description

A comprehensive overview of how Michigan's government and political institutions function




Fifty State Capitols


Book Description

State governments, headquartered in their iconic capitol buildings, have been governing continuously--and largely democratically, peacefully, and openly--for more than two centuries, a record difficult to match in the history of civilization. Fifty State Capitols shows how the architecture of state capitols contributes to the success of representative government.The formality, timelessness, and public grandeur of representative government are on public display at every one of America's fifty state capitols. Fifty State Capitols describes the majesty and stateliness of each state capitol's exterior form and selected interior details, in words and photographs, including a brief history of the building.




Michigan Place Names


Book Description

Michigan Place Names is another "Michigan classicreissued as a Great Lakes Book.




Michigan Voices


Book Description

A fascinating assemblage of old family letters, diaries, journals, photos, and other memorabilia, Michigan Voices introduces the reader to a more personal side of the state's history.




American Capitols


Book Description

There are 56 capitol structures in the United States and its territories--and this book has 56 entries about all aspects of their genesis, construction and use including the political origins and history of each governmental unit and the story of how each site was selected (with all the political maneuvering and attempts at personal aggrandizement). Facts about the edifices themselves are in abundance--chronologies of construction, personnel (architects, contractors, others), costs, square footage, principal contents and features (e.g., art work, furnishings, interior and exterior finish), annual maintenance and tour information.