Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests that History Forgot by Joseph Cummins (Quirk, $18.95)
It’s no secret that some of the most interesting events never make it into our history books. Many believe that the Boston Tea Party of 1773 — when a group of angry colonists dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor — was the only protest of its kind during this period in our nation’s history. Not so, claims Joseph Cummins, a New Jersey-based author and historian.
Several years ago when Cummins was visiting the Naval Academy at Annapolis, he was surprised to see a historical marker on the wall of a residence commemorating the Annapolis Tea Party. As he stood in front of the marker, he thought wait a minute, another tea party? He began researching and soon discovered that in a twelve month period between 1773 and 1774, Americans burned, dumped, and boycotted British tea in protests up and down the East Coast. In fact, there were nine major tea-related events in addition to the one that occurred in Boston.
This is a fascinating book that reveals such little known historical facts as the men of the Boston Tea Party kept their identities secret for over 40 years fearing a civil suit by the East India Company, at the time one of the world’s most powerful trading companies.
Cummins points out that it was these protests that helped spark the American Revolution which ultimately brought about the creation of a new nation.

Ned Wynkoop and the Lonely Road from Sand Creek by Louis Kraft (University of Oklahoma Press, $35.95)
Edward “Ned” Wynkoop arrived in Colorado at the height of the Gold Rush of 1859. He took whatever jobs were available and at various times worked as a bartender, miner, sheriff, and land speculator. During the early 1860s, it was his efforts as a peace maker to end the Indian war that left an indelible mark on the history of the American West.
The raw feelings between Anglo-Americans and the Indians of Colorado erupted during the early hours of November 29, 1864, when a group of white men attacked the camp of Black Kettle near Sand Creek. This was especially troubling since the Native Americans were asleep at the time of the raid which eventually became known as the Sand Creek Massacre.
Wynkoop was disgusted by the attack and opposed popular opinion in Denver when he spoke out against the action. He took a job as a U.S. Indian agent in order to help the Cheyennes and Arapahos survive and maintain their way of life.
Wynkoop was a courageous man and this book fully documents this early spokesman for Indian rights and his search for justice and truth.

After the Fall: The End of the European Dream and the Decline of a Continent by Walter Laqueur (St. Martin’s Press, $26.99)
Walter Laqueur served as the director of the Institute of Contemporary History in London, has been a professor at Georgetown University, and written more than twenty-five books on Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. He was one of the first experts to predict Europe’s current financial and political crisis in the international bestseller, “The Last Days of Europe,” published in 2007.
Laqueur returns to the problems in Europe in his latest book, “After the Fall.” Based on more than 30 years of experience in political affairs, Laqueur reveals what brought Europe to its present trouble and predicts the future prospects of this troubled continent. It’s no secret that the citizens of Europe face daunting challenges and difficult choices. For example, do Europeans want a union or do they want each country to fend for itself? With resistance to the Euro, can it be saved? The author points out that the European problems — especially the economic ones — should and must be of concern to this country.
Written with clarity and backed with solid facts, this book claims that Europe must regain economic momentum and that more cooperation between the various counties is an absolute necessity. Laqueur adds that change is often painful but if the continent is to survive and prosper, its citizens must find the will and the strength to undergo what needs to be done.

The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program: Keep Your Brain Healthy for the Rest of Your Life by Gary Small, M.D. and Gigi Vorgan (Workman, $24.95)
Alzheimer’s Disease, which affects more than 5 million Americans, has often been called the long goodbye. As memory slowly slips away it robs victims of their very identity.
Dr. Gary Small, a professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Parlow-Solomon Professor on Aging at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, is an expert in the field and has developed a seven-day program which explains what we can do to stave off this dreaded disease. Dr. Small clearly explains when, what, and how to eat and exercise, as well as how to stimulate the brain while interweaving stress reduction into one’s life. His daily routines include memory training, or brain exercises, that combine wordplay, letter scrambles, 3-D drawings, tricky equations, logic challenges and number sequences.
Clearly written and complete with charts, graphs, questionnaires and exercises, this book is an accessible guide for anyone who wants to start on the path to better brain health. According to Dr. Small, delay the effects of Alzheimer’s long enough and you’ll never experience its symptoms in your lifetime. He adds that is which is called a cure.
Gigi Vorgan is Dr. Small’s wife and together they co-authored “The Memory Bible.”

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