If you like Images of America books, you'll love these

March 6, 2022 Stephen H. Provost

With the release of Greensboro Century, I’ve just wrapped up the ninth book in my Century Cities series.

If you know authors, you know we’re always on the lookout for good ideas, books that inspire us and may even prompt us to say to ourselves: “I could do that, only better!”

That might sound a bit arrogant, and we’re not always right. Sometimes we are, though, and even when we’re not, the results can still be pretty damn good. The more good books there are, the better — especially when it comes to history.

My Century Cities books were the product of just such an “I could do that, only better!” moment. The idea came to me after I’d wrapped up Highways of the South, my fifth book focusing on the nation’s highways during the 20th century.

In asking myself what I’d do next, I remembered coming across a series of books by Arcadia Publishing, which specializes in local and regional history through its Images of America series and History Press imprint. You’ve probably seen them: There are literally thousands of titles, many with sepia-toned covers, and some of them are very well done. Others are less so; it depends in large part on the quality of the writing.

Context is key to history

Many of the books don’t have much writing. Most often, the emphasis is on the images (hence the series title Images of America). I found myself enjoying the visuals of the Arcadia books, but wanting to know more about the stories behind them.

I thought to myself, “I enjoy these books, but I think I could do it better.” Being a writer and a photographer, as well as a researcher, I thought I could bring all those talents together and create histories that balanced text and visuals to provide a more complete picture than many of the Arcadia books do. Essentially, I’d be taking my own photographs, and using historical photos, but placing them in better context by telling the stories behind them more fully.

Context is important to me. It’s something we, as a society, have lost track of to a great degree — especially with regard to history. For instance, one survey found that barely a quarter (27 percent) of eighth-graders could identify how African Americans affected the Civil War, and just 31 percent answered “the government should be a democracy” when asked to choose belief commonly held in the United States.

(In light of this, it makes more sense that Americans are susceptible to the kind of authoritarian B.S. peddled by Trump and his sycophants/imitators.)

A chronological approach

One way to provide context is to create chronology — a timeline that shows how we evolved and progressed as a nation. I applied that principle to my Century Cities books, which are presented chronologically with each chapter devoted to a different decade, and sections within those chapters to each successive year.

That’s not something you’ll find in the Arcadia books that I’ve seen. They do have some excellent “then and now” pictorial books that compare photos of different locations from an earlier time with how they appear today, but I haven’t seen a true chronological treatment.

None of this is a knock on the Arcadia books. The more books out there that reconnect us with our history, the better, and many of them are very well done. Buy them! That said, I believe I am doing what I set out to do with this series: I’m doing what Arcadia’s doing, only better.

That’s not arrogance. It’s pride of authorship.

I invite you to check out the books in this series, and in all honesty, I think you’ll agree.

Century Cities books, all available in paperback or hardcover: