“Embattled Lawrence” has been burning up area book sellers’ shelves.

Released in November, more than half the 1,000-copy press run has sold, said co-editor Barbara Watkins. The book, which features 35 essays covering the history of Lawrence from early abolitionist struggles to modern city politics, retails for about $35.

“Embattled Lawrence” grew out of an interdisciplinary class offered at Kansas University in the spring of 1998. Many of the articles are based on lectures presented in the class, which was broadcast on Sunflower Broadband.

“Lawrence people do love their history,” she said. “What we actually discovered is that not only are people buying this for themselves, but for their colleagues at work and family members.”

Watkins, coordinator of curriculum and projects at KU Continuing Education, said it was important for people to know their history. As an example, she said, some national magazines had pointed out that Sept. 11 was not the first domestic terrorist attack in the United States, and used Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence as an example.

“History allows us to plan for the future,” she said. “By understanding where we’ve been, we might know something of where we’re going.”

Watkins said there were no immediate plans for another book on Lawrence, but that she would like to see a book on the state’s territorial history before celebrating the sesquicentennial of the Kansas Territory in 2004.

“We were the center of the nation’s focus before the Civil War,” she said. “We need to understand that.”

“Embattled Lawrence” sold well throughout the holiday season, said Lisa Bakke, manager at Borders Books and Music, 700 N.H. The store sold out of the books and had to order more in early January.

“Lawrence titles are very popular both for people who are part of the community and people who come visit,” Bakke said.

Pat Kehde, co-owner of The Raven, 8 E. Seventh St., said the store had sold 120 copies by mid-January.

“It’s an excellent book,” she said. “It covers material that normally wouldn’t find its way into a history.”

Co-editor Dennis Domer said the success of the book was due to the interesting history of struggle in Lawrence something that started with abolitionist settlers and continues to this day with issues such as the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Domer, a former KU professor who now teaches historic preservation at the University of Kentucky, said a history book like “Embattled Lawrence” was more typical of larger cities, such as New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

“Lawrence is a special place and there is lots to write about; we only scratched the surface,” Domer said.

Domer said many people’s ideas of Lawrence history stopped after Quantrill’s raid, but the book includes articles such as a look at modern city politics and a detailed account of the development of the Alvamar area in western Lawrence.