Our Pennsylvania: Keys to the Keystone State

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In Our Pennsylvania: Keys to the Keystone State Amy Oakley, writing with the enthusiasm of a native Pennsylvanian and the keen perception of a cultivated world traveler, presents a lively, personal picture of one of our most fascinating and diversified states. She gives the reader an intimate knowledge of those highways and byways which mold Pennsylvania's colorful past and significant present. Over one hundred brilliant pen drawings by Thornton Oakley complete the panorama and underscore the distinctive charm of Mrs. Oakley's prose.

Mrs. Oakley writes, "To me, a native of Philadelphia, and to my artist husband, a native of Pittsburgh, the opportunity seemed irresistible of presenting a combined literary and pictorial interpretation of our state such as, we feel, has not yet been offered.... The countryside of the state has, to my mind, a charm to be found in rural England and France, with an added something all its own. Having visited almost every state in the Union I have not seen one to surpass it in beauty and certainly not one with more or better preserved historic landmarks."

Pennsylvania is a state of infinite variety, and even travelers who feel they know it well will discover new scenes to be visited by the Oakleys' book. Modern Pennsylvania offers a diversity of sights ranging from the gigantic industrialization of Pittsburgh to the well-kept Pennsylvania-German farms; varying in natural splendors from the sinister Burning Mountain to the state's own version of the Grand Canyon. Historically, the state is rich in reminders of the glamorous past, proud not only of Philadelphia and its wealth of historical associations, but also of such hallowed sites as Brandywine, Valley Forge and Gettysburg, of the haunting stories of Azilum and Ole Bull State Park, of shrines as different as the Ephrate Cloister and "Wheatland."

Mr. and Mrs. Oakley have worked together on travel books for many years, and bring to Our Pennsylvania a lifetime of preparation. With the warmth and pride of a gracious interpreter and seasoned observer, Mrs. Oakley shares with her readers the delight of her years of experience and thorough, extensive travel in the Keystone State.