Memoirs of a Main Street Boy

Ralph Crosby's Memoirs of a Main Street Boy tells the tale of growing up at a tempestuous time in U.S. history--from the Great Depression, through World War II and the Cold War--in a town where America's colonial history was even more tempestuous, amid homes and institutions that still exist. The story takes you through the author's interplay with these historic places and events that helped shape U.S. history, as well as shaping his life and those of his generation. Told from...
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Ralph Crosby's Memoirs of a Main Street Boy tells the tale of growing up at a tempestuous time in U.S. history--from the Great Depression, through World War II and the Cold War--in a town where America's colonial history was even more tempestuous, amid homes and institutions that still exist. The story takes you through the author's interplay with these historic places and events that helped shape U.S. history, as well as shaping his life and those of his generation. Told from recollection and experiences of a child grown to manhood, the book combines the story of Annapolis Maryland's unique place in American history with its typical small town life, made atypical by its Chesapeake Bay location and its unique institutions, such as the U.S. Naval Academy--wonderful playgrounds for a child of the mid-20th century. This is not an autobiography. It is a memoir of growing up in one of the country's most disruptive yet most dynamic eras--from the end of the Great Depression, through World War II to the Cold War. That the growing up occurred in and around places where Washington, Jefferson and Franklin and their comrades planned war and made peace gives the story a unique perspective.