Bill Bleyer Knihy

For more than five centuries, the waterways surrounding Long Island have profoundly shaped its history. Familiar subjects of lighthouses, shipwrecks and whaling are found alongside oft-forgotten history such as Pan-American flying boats landing in Manhasset Bay in the early days of transatlantic flight. From the British blockade and skirmishes during the American Revolution to the sinking of merchant vessels by Germany in World War II, the sea brought wars to these shores. Gold Coast millionaires commuted in high-speed yachts to Manhattan offices as the island's wealth grew. Historian Bill Bleyer reveals Long Island's nautical bonds from the Native Americans to current efforts to preserve the region's maritime heritage.

"In 1778, two years after the British forced the Continental Army out of New York City, George Washington and his subordinates organized a secret spy network to gather intelligence in Manhattan and Long Island. Known today as the "Culper Spy Ring," Patriots like Abraham Woodhull and Robert Townsend risked their lives to report on British military operations in the region. Vital reports clandestinely traveled from New York City across the East River to Setauket and were rowed on whaleboats across the Long Island Sound to the Connecticut shore. Using ciphers, codes and invisible ink, the spy ring exposed British plans to attack French forces at Newport and a plot to counterfeit American currency. Author Bill Bleyer corrects the record, examines the impact of George Washington's Long Island spy ring and identifies Revolutionary War sites that remain today."--Back cover.

Although no battles were fought on Long Island, the Civil War deeply affected all of its residents. More than three thousand men-white and black-from current-day Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties answered the call to preserve the Union. While Confederate ships lurked within eight miles of Montauk Point, camps in Mincola and Willets Point trained regiments. Local women raised thousands of dollars for Union hospitals, and Long Island companies manufactured uniforms, drums and medicines for the army. At the same time, a little-remembered draft riot occurred in Jamaica in 18G3. Local authors Harrison Hunt and Bill Bleyer explore this fascinating story, from the 1860 presidential campaign that polarized the region to the wartime experiences of Long Islanders on the battlefield and at home. Book jacket.