Bill Vaughn’s work explores the political and economic development of twentieth-century Montana as it was shaped by two families: the Herrins, who were Republican ranchers, and the Burkes, who were Democratic journalists, lawyers and politicians.

Help your students develop critical-viewing skills while they deepen their understanding of world history! Enhances exploration of world history through the study of compelling films.

The Victory Garden Plays is a full-length drama, appropriate for all ages, told in one act and 7 parts (5 connected 10-minute plays and 2 monologues). It features a cast of 5-12 actors, depending on doubling options. While soldiers fight abroad in WW2, those remaining on the home front strive to make a difference by creating Victory Gardens, supplementing limited food supply. But the pressures on the home front extend much further than simply growing produce. A child worries her failing rooftop garden is an omen of misfortune for her father's return from a POW camp. An infertile woman throws her purpose into feeding neighborhood families. A wealthy man whose chemical plant is commissioned by the government for war purposes struggles with how to leave a meaningful legacy not tainted with warfare. A widow looks for a way to connect with an orphaned boy who speaks no English. These stories, and more, are given light in The Victory Garden Plays, a series of 7 vignettes chronicling people's journeys with their new realities of love, growth, life and death.

As the first botanical history of World War II, Plants Go to War examines military history from the perspective of plant science. From victory gardens to drugs, timber, rubber, and fibers, plants supplied materials with key roles in victory. Vegetables provided the wartime diet both in North America and Europe, where vitamin-rich carrots, cabbages, and potatoes nourished millions. Chicle and cacao provided the chewing gum and chocolate bars in military rations. In England and Germany, herbs replaced pharmaceutical drugs; feverbark was in demand to treat malaria, and penicillin culture used a growth medium made from corn. Rubber was needed for gas masks and barrage balloons, while cotton and hemp provided clothing, canvas, and rope. Timber was used to manufacture Mosquito bombers, and wood gasification and coal replaced petroleum in European vehicles. Lebensraum, the Nazi desire for agricultural land, drove Germans eastward; troops weaponized conifers with shell bursts that caused splintering. Ironically, the Nazis condemned non-native plants, but adopted useful Asian soybeans and Mediterranean herbs. Jungle warfare and camouflage required botanical knowledge, and survival manuals detailed edible plants on Pacific islands. Botanical gardens relocated valuable specimens to safe areas, and while remote locations provided opportunities for field botany, Trees surviving in Hiroshima and Nagasaki live as a symbol of rebirth after vast destruction.