About Christian McBurney

This is the third article in a row providing book reviews of recent Rhode Island history books. Surprisingly, each of the three books here is a historical novel that …
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The year 2017 was another good one for the publication of Rhode Island history books.  While we cannot possibly review all of them, I review several of them below …
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Rhode Island is fortunate to still have five working grist mills, four of which are open to the public. One of them stone grinds, produces and sells johnnycake meal as …
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[Note from the editor:  An updated version of this article is in a chapter of my book Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay: The Coast Guard’s War on Rumrunners (History Press, 2023).  The …
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[From the editor: Maury Klein is one of Rhode Island’s most prominent authors writing history books for a national audience. A long-time professor at the University of Rhode Island, he …
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When I was about fourteen years old, sifting through the world history section at the Kingston Free Library, I came across a book by Judith Sternberg Newman, who then …
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[This article appears as a chapter in the newly-released book by three smallstatebighistory authors, titled Untold Stories from World War II Rhode Island (History Press, 2019)]

Elisabeth Kellog Sheldon …
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From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution, by Robert Geake (Westholme, 2016)

Author Robert A. Geake, an established author of early Rhode Island history …
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[This article commemorates the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and will appear as Chapter 1 in an upcoming book by five smallstatebighistory authors titled World War II …
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Peter Gerry, a former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, is back in the news. This is surprising because he is now almost forgotten in Rhode Island’s history, despite his being …
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