American Biographies - History Books

The South’s high command traveled dramatically divergent paths after the dissolution of the Confederacy.

Their professional reputations were often rewritten accordingly, as the rise of the Lost Cause ideology codified the deification of Lee and the vilification of James Longstreet. The irascible Jubal A. Early, Robert E. Lee’s “bad old man,” went to Canada after the war and remained an unreconstructed Rebel until his death. Lee became president of Washington College and urged reconciliation with the North. Braxton Bragg never found solid economic footing and remained mournful of slavery’s demise until his own, when a heart attack took him in Galveston.  Allie Povall shares the stories of nineteen of these former generals, touching briefly on their antebellum and wartime experiences before richly detailing their attempts to salvage livelihoods from the wreckage of America’s defining cataclysm.

Author Robert Thompson recounts the harrowing story of Phebe Tucker Cunningham, from her marriage at Prickett's Fort to her return to the shores of the Monongahela.

Life on the West Virginia frontier was a daily struggle for survival, and for Phebe Tucker Cunningham, that meant the loss of her four children at the hands of the Wyandot tribe and being held captive for three years until legendary renegades Simon Girty and Alexander McKee arranged her freedom. Thompson describes in vivid detail early colonial life in the Alleghenies and the ways of the Wyandot, providing historical context for this unforgettable saga.

Author Amy Petulla uncovers the curious case that left two men dead and the incredible story still surrounded by controversy, speculation and myth.

In 1982, Tony West and Avery Brock made a visit to notorious Corpsewood Manor under the pretense of a celebration. They brutally murdered their hosts. Dr. Charles Scudder and companion Joey Odom built the castle in the woods in the Trion forest after Scudder left his position as professor at Loyola. He brought with him twelve thousand doses of LSD. Rumors of drug use and Satanism swirled around the two men. Scudder even claimed to have summoned a demon to protect the estate. The murders set the stage for a trial vibrant with local lore.

In the wake of a love affair and a mysterious chain of events, Tom Dooley was convicted and hanged for the murder of Laura Foster.

At the conclusion of the Civil War, Wilkes County, North Carolina, was the site of this nationally publicized crime of passion, the nation's first. This notorious crime became an inspiration for musicians, writers and storytellers ever since, creating a mystery of mythic proportions. Through newspaper articles, trial documents and public records, Dr. John E. Fletcher brings this dramatic case to life, providing the long-awaited factual account of the legendary murder. Join the investigation into one of the country's most enduring thrillers.

The post's current size, more than 180,000 acres, has long made it recognized as one of the largest infantry bases in the world. Named for Gen. Henry L. Benning of Columbus, the installation has had a major impact on the economic and social life of nearby Columbus. Images of America: Fort Benning features vintage photographs and postcards, mostly from 1918 to 1978, showcasing the first 60 years of the base's 85-year history. Included are scenes of the temporary encampment on Macon Road and the early wooden encampment on the Main Post. The permanent buildup from the late 1920s to the early 1940s is shown in photographs of The Infantry School, the Officers' Club, Main Post Chapel, Doughboy Stadium, Gowdy Field, the Jump Towers, Lawson Field, the Cuartel Barracks, and the officers' quarters, as well as Riverside, the Commandant's Home, formerly the Bussey Plantation. Activities and events include military reviews, visits of presidents, and the National Infantry Museum's dedication. Generals who served there and are featured include Bradley, Eisenhower, Marshall, and Patton. This centennial edition features a new foreword by Don Sando, deputy to the commanding general.

Prolific inventor Thomas Edison and automobile pioneer Henry Ford shaped the modern world like few others in history.

The lives of these close friends intersected at their winter homes in southwest Florida. Edison first visited the tiny cattle-ranching community of Fort Myers in 1885, building a home and laboratory soon after. There, he wintered with his wife, Mina, and their children, Madeleine, Charles, and Theodore. Ford purchased the adjacent estate in 1916, wintering in the area with his wife, Clara, and son, Edsel. Here in southwest Florida, these famous neighbors relaxed and found time to explore new projects.

The first Europeans to arrive in the Ohio Valley were intrigued and puzzled by the many conical earthen mounds they encountered there. They created wild theories about who the mysterious “mound builders” might be.

It was not until the 1880s that Smithsonian Institution investigations revealed that the mound builders were the ancestors of living Native Americans. More than four hundred mounds have been recorded in West Virginia, including the Grave Creek Mound in Marshall County, once the largest conical mound in North America. Join archaeologist Darla Spencer and learn about the Grave Creek Mound and sixteen additional Adena mounds and groups of mounds from the fascinating Woodland period in West Virginia.

Join William Gilmore Simms in this unparalleled look at the life of Francis Marion aka "The Swamp Fox'?.

South Carolina's ""Swamp Fox,"" Francis Marion, is one of the most celebrated figures of the American Revolution. Marion's cunning exploits in the Southern theater of the Revolution earned him national renown and a place in history as an American hero and master of modern guerilla warfare. Although dozens of works have been written about Marion's life over the years, this biography -- written by William Gilmore Simms, South Carolina's greatest author -- remains the best. First published in 1844, The Life of Francis Marion was Simms's most commercially successful work of nonfiction. It offers a treatment of Marion's life that is unparalleled in its scope and accuracy, all in Simms's inimitable style.

Florida is largely influenced by the illicit and fascinating activites of pirates. Authors James and Sarah Kaserman recount the stories, legends, and myths of piracy in Florida.

The coast of southwest Florida, with its shallow waters, inlets, and mangrove islands provides the setting and backdrop for a variety of pirates, privateers, and independents. Piracy has a long and rich tradition in this area dating from before the formation of America through the infamous prohibition era. Telling the tales of Anne Bonny, Calico Jack Rackham, Civil War smugglers and prohibition rum runners, the authors provide a compelling narrative of the historically dangerous waters around Southwest Florida and beyond.

Join author and Miami native Avi Bash as he exposes the life and activities of Organized Crime in Miami in the 20th century.

While other cities are credited for birthing and honing the legendary crime figures who inevitably influenced and shaped their susceptible surroundings and culture, Miami is where the Mob, like many American citizens, often turned when seeking vacation, vice, or a new beginning. Dating back to the first quarter of the 20th century, resourceful gangsters from across the nation recognized the profitable business opportunities Miami could provide with its booming population, perfect year-round climate, cooperative law enforcement, and mutual understanding among otherwise rival gangs. The promise of an open city, free from familiar encumbrances and restrictions, prompted eager mobsters from around the country to migrate south and trade in their suits and fedoras for swim trunks and flip-flops. Organized Crime in Miami examines the considerable yet heavily underpublicized involvement of the American Mafia in South Florida and its lasting impact on the community through their business activities, both illegal and within the confines of the law.

Discover how Jazz shaped the history and enhanced the life of the citizens of New Orleans.

From the days when Buddy Bolden would blow his cornet to attract an audience from one New Orleans park to another, to the brass bands in clubs and on the streets today, jazz in New Orleans has been about simple things: getting people to snap their fingers, tap their toes, get up and clap their hands, and most importantly dance! From the 1890s to World War I, from uptown to Faubourg Treme and out to the lakefront, New Orleans embraced this uniquely American form of music. Local musicians nurtured jazz, matured it, and passed it on to others. Some left the city to make their names elsewhere, while others stayed, playing the clubs, marching in the parades, and sending loved ones home with ""jazz funerals."" Older musicians mentored younger ones, preserving the traditions that give New Orleans such an exciting jazz scene today.

Each year, thousands of visitors visit Colonial Williamsburg to learn about the past and walk where the Founding Fathers walked.

The fact that the same ground was later soaked with the tears and blood of their children and grandchildren during our tragic Civil War is frequently forgotten. In this expanded and revised version of Yankees in the Streets: Forgotten People and Stories of Civil War Williamsburg, local historian Carson Hudson tells the stories of this hallowed ground and the people who walked it.

At the close of the nineteenth century, Louisiana's ports hosted an influx of Italian immigrants. Like so many immigrant communities before, acclimating to their new home was not easy.

Though the Italian contribution to Louisiana's culture is palpable and celebrated, at one time ethnic Italians were constantly embroiled in scandal, sometimes deserved and sometimes as scapegoats. The new immigrants hoped that they would be welcomed and see for themselves the streets paved with gold. Their new lives, however, were difficult. Italians in Louisiana faced prejudice, violence and political exile for their refusal to accept the southern racial mores. Author and historian Alan Gauthreaux documents the experience of those Italians who arrived in Louisiana over one hundred years ago..

Documented in film, crime T.V. shows and now captured in this book; read about Larry Gene Bell and his reign of terror in South Carolina.

Former South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) forensic photographer Lieutenant Rita Y. Shuler leads us through the twenty-eight days of terror and shocking events of one of the most notorious double murders and manhunts in South Carolina history. Shuler shares her own personal interactions with some of the key players in this famous manhunt and investigation. Also included are Bell's chilling calls from area phone booths to the Smith family, along with his disconcerting interviews and bizarre actions in the courtroom, which show the dark, evil and criminal mind of this horrific killer. This case has been featured on the Discovery Channel's FBI Files, episode Cat and Mouse, and in the CBS movie Nightmare in Columbia County, which can still be seen on Lifetime TV. It currently runs as the episode Last Will on Court TV's Forensic Files.

The Historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia is the final home to more than 70,000 residents in elaborate mausoleums and humble headstones alike. Explore the celebrated public figures who are interred here and the burial grounds in this unique book.

The first person buried at Oakland was laid to rest in May 1850, a month before the land was purchased by Atlanta to become its city cemetery. The fast-growing municipality eventually expanded the burial grounds to include 48 acres. Since then, what is now known as Historic Oakland Cemetery has become the final home to more than 70,000 residents. Among those are celebrated politicians, authors, and athletes and those whose impact has been felt but who are not as well recognized. A few of those residents include Gordon Burton Smith, who helped build the Panama Canal; Andre Steiner, who created the master plan for Stone Mountain; and Sally Connally Hardie, who helped run the National Trust of Scotland. They rest among gardened paths in elaborate mausoleums, exceptional funerary art, humble headstones, and sometimes unmarked graves.

Author Janice McDonald has spent countless hours strolling Historic Oakland Cemetery and delving into the stories behind its tombs. She believes that each of Oakland’s residents has a tale that should be told. In her seventh book for Arcadia, McDonald helps readers get to know some of the residents whose past helped shape our future.

When early settlers struggled to grow anything at all in North Carolina's sandy soil, tobacco was a boon. The lives of many North Carolinians continue to revolve around the growth cycle of the tobacco plant, from laying-by to cropping and curing. In this collection of nostalgic memories, Yeargin and others reminisce about the frustrations of slugs and tar, the cropping of dew-drenched leaves, the aching beauty of a tobacco bloom and the ultimate connection of man with earth--a connection that is slowly fading with each new generation.

Author and former Miller & Rhoads Snow Queen Donna Strother Deekens recounts the amazing history of the Real Santa.

After the turn of the 20th century, young Bill Strother left the tobacco farms of North Carolina to make a living climbing buildings. He became known as the Human Spider, scaling countless structures across the nation. Yet this was just a prelude to his true calling as the Santa Claus at Richmond's famed Miller & Rhoads department store. As department stores everywhere reached their golden age, Strother became one of the most beloved and sought-after Santas in the nation.

Diana Bahnson Overbey, executive director of Historic Bethabara Park, uses archival maps, drawings, portraits, and photographs to tell Bethabara’s story, from 18th-century backcountry settlement to 21st-century historic site.

In 1753, the Moravian Church purchased 98,985 acres of land in the Piedmont of North Carolina and established the town of Bethabara. It grew into a bustling trades town by the 1760s but transitioned into a small farming community in the 19th century, with fields of crops planted next to the 1788 church. Ministers remarked on the muddy, rutted roads and the wayward behaviors of their congregation. Bethabara’s significance as the first Moravian town in North Carolina was not forgotten, however, and in 1903, thousands turned out for the 150th anniversary celebration. That celebratory spirit was kindled again in the 1950s when Edwin Stockton decided Bethabara needed to be preserved for future generations. Acreage containing the original settlement was purchased, and archaeologist Stanley South conducted a groundbreaking archaeological dig during the 1960s to uncover the foundations of the original structures, which had been left undisturbed beneath farmland for over a century. Historic Bethabara Park opened to the public in 1966. Today, the site covers 183 acres and includes four restored historic buildings as well as a reconstructed village and gardens.

Explore the grizzly tale of Charleston's most infamous serial killers from the beginning of their reign of horror till their eventual incarceration and execution.

In 1819, a young man outwitted death at the hands of John and Lavinia Fisher and sparked the hunt for Charleston's most notorious serial killers. Former homicide investigator Bruce Orr follows the story of the Fishers, from the initial police raid on their Six Mile Inn with its reportedly grisly cellar to the murderous couple's incarceration and execution at the squalid Old City Jail. Yet there still may be more sinister deeds left unpunished, an overzealous sheriff, corrupt officials and documents only recently discovered all suggest that there is more to the tale. Orr uncovers the mysteries and debunks the myths behind the infamous legend of the nation's first convicted female serial killer.

These pictorial images of Greek heritage illustrate the people and events that have shaped the culture and history of Tarpon Springs.

Beginning in 1905, large numbers of Greeks from the Dodecanese and Saronic Gulf islands settled in Tarpon Springs to work in the sponge business. They significantly expanded the industry and changed Tarpon Springs forever. Greektown flourished with residences, stores, churches, restaurants, and recreational facilities stretching from the sponge docks to downtown. Sponge fishing and related activities served as the economic base for the community. By 1913, as many as half of Tarpon Springs residents were reputedly Greek, and many businesses displayed both Greek and American flags. Today, Tarpon Springs' Greek community preserves a strong ethnic and maritime heritage. While some major US cities have a larger Greek population, no other has a greater percentage with Greek heritage than Tarpon Springs.

More than four decades after it occurred, the murder of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley remains notorious… and unsolved.

The only eyewitness said a man attacked Lindsley with a machete in broad daylight on the front steps of her white mansion. Gossip swirled that neighbor Frances Bemis knew who killed Lindsley and would notify authorities. Bemis was later murdered on her nightly walk. Author Elizabeth Randall puts the rumors to rest through research culled from over one thousand pages of depositions, records, official county documentation and interviews.

This book documents the history of Thalhimers department stores, through stories and vintage photographs.

Thalhimers was founded in Richmond in 1842 by German Jewish immigrant William Thalhimer as a humble dry goods store. It expanded over the years to become a 26-store chain across the Southeast under the leadership of William's great-grandson, William B. Thalhimer Jr. It boasted the latest in clothing, shoes, and accessories for the entire family, the most modern of housewares, and gourmet foods and baked goods, including the iconic six-layer chocolate cake. Through decades of dramatic political and social change, Thalhimers stood strong, guided by the overarching philosophies of honesty, integrity, quality, and service. Loyal and devoted employees were the heart of Thalhimers, becoming part of the extended Thalhimer family. Sadly, in 1992, as a result of retail consolidation, the Thalhimer name was dropped and the flagship downtown Richmond store closed. A 150-year legacy ended, leaving behind cherished memories, stories, and images.

Even beyond Atlanta, this amazing, Moorish-style icon is known by most not by its legal name, the Fox Theatre, but as the Fabulous Fox.

Constructed in the late 1920s as a temple for the Yaarab Shrine, the imposing yellow-brick building was designed to out Baghdad Baghdad in its elaborate Middle Eastern appearance. But the onion-domed exterior with its faux prayer towers is nothing compared to the elaborate interior. Movie mogul William Fox leased the auditorium from the Shriners in 1929, transforming it into a movie palace like no other. The theater became a place of spectacular premieres and world-class performances until changing times threatened its very existence in the 1970s. The campaign to Save the Fox proved more dramatic than some of the performances that graced Fox's own stage. Today, the Fabulous Fox is one of Atlanta's best-known and most cherished landmarks.

Author Christopher A. Kennedy shares the story of the Voice of the Bulldogs. Dave Nitz was the voice of Louisiana Tech University sports for half a century, his distinctive voice emanating from Tech fans’ radios. A West Virginia native, Nitz dreamed of broadcasting in the big leagues. Little did he know that his Hall of Fame broadcasting career would take him to Ruston, Louisiana. Along the way, Nitz worked with country music icon Tom T. Hall in West Virginia and covered William & Mary University football under Lou Holtz. At Tech, Nitz gave voice to the basketball greatness of Karl “The Mailman” Malone and the national champion Lady Techsters. He called gridiron action from Maxie Lambright through unforgettable upsets of Alabama and Michigan State. Author Christopher A. Kennedy shares the story of the Voice of the Bulldogs. As Nitz would say, “You gotta love it!”

After the Civil War, Black landownership in Fairfax County increased by leaps and bounds.

By the 1870s, retired Union officers were purchasing land that they sold to African Americans like Joshua Ball, Joshua Pearson, Robert Bradley and John Coates. Merrifield, the Pines and Williamstown soon emerged as vibrant communities founded by born-free Blacks, the formerly enslaved and their descendants. These African Americans quickly established farms to provide for their families and engaged in truck farming to stimulate trade. They formed charitable organizations and a church. Unfortunately, from the 1960s through the 1980s, these towns disappeared due to eminent domain practices, modern progress and gentrification. Historian Marion Ransell Dobbins unearths the legacy of these vanished communities.

Discover the rich history of Moravians in North Carolina through the lens of over 200 vintage images.

Members of the Moravian Church who settled in North Carolina were meticulous record keepers, documenting almost every aspect of their day-to-day lives. A significant part of those records is preserved in the form of photographs. Moravian photographers-both professional and amateur-created an enduring legacy by capturing their society and surroundings in faithful detail. Their photographs, which record the towns of Bethabara, Bethania, Salem, Friedberg, Hope, and Friedland, as well as other communities throughout the state, provide a rare glimpse into the historic world of Moravian life in North Carolina.

See the Conch Republic through Hemingway’s eyes.

A news media frenzy hurled the quiet resort community of Pinehurst into the national spotlight in 1935 when hotel magnate Ellsworth Statler's adopted daughter was discovered dead early one February morning, only weeks after her wedding day.

A politically charged coroner's inquest failed to determine a definitive cause of death, and the following civil action continued to expose sordid details of the couple's lives. More than half a century later, the story was all but forgotten when local resident Diane McLellan spied an old photograph at a yard sale and became obsessed with solving the mystery. Her enthusiastic sleuthing captured the attention of Southern Pines resident and journalist Steve Bouser, who takes readers back to those blustery winter days so long ago in the search to reveal what really happened to Elva Statler Davidson.

In this unique look at historic crimes of the Piedmont, Frances Casstevens offers readers a glimpse into the criminal mind and the consequences of criminal actions. No matter what piques your interest - be it Civil War stories or young love torn apart by tragedy - Casstevens provides sure-fire ammunition to keep the pages turning. Discover the true-life tales of the outlaw Jesse Dobbins, or of Daisy Hunt, a pregnant twenty-year-old who watches helplessly as her beloved bleeds to death in the snow. Read the story of the infamous Charles Lawson, a man who did the unthinkable - kill himself, his wife and his six children on Christmas Day, 1929. These are but a few examples of the featured tragedies that have shocked the North Carolina Piedmont in the last 150 years.

Frances Casstevens, historian, genealogist, and former professor at Wake Forest University, delivers facts in a spellbinding manner. Death in North Carolina's Piedmont: Tales of Murder, Suicide and Causes Unknown meticulously presents the details of each case and leaves it to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions.

Enter the forest with author F. Carroll McMahan as he tells dramatic, fascinating and sometimes humorous stories of a man who lived truly on his own terms.

Born in 1889 in the Smoky Mountains, Lem Ownby became one of the region's most recognized figures. Sight-impaired from an early age, Lem spent his life logging, bear hunting, farming and tending his beehives. He welcomed the arrival of logging operations into the pristine wilderness but became an eyewitness to the devastation it brought to land, streams and wildlife. As the last leaseholder living within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Lem became a legend, selling his honey and offering pearls of wisdom to hikers, writers and even the governor. Lem's principles remained solid, his opinions so unwavering that he once refused to entertain two Supreme Court justices.

Savannah's storied history begins with Native Americans.

The Guales lived along the Georgia coast for hundreds of years and were the first to encounter Spanish missionaries from St. Augustine in the 1500s. Tomochichi of the Yamacraw tribe is lauded as the co-founder of Georgia for his efforts in helping James Oglethorpe establish the Savannah colony in the eighteenth century. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson forced southeastern Native American tribes to resettle in the West, including descendants of the Savannah Creek, who had fought by Jackson's side at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Michael Freeman explores the legacy of coastal Georgia's Native Americans and the role they played in founding Savannah.

Controlled by the heavy hand of the mob and fueled by government corruption, Newport evolved through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into a notoriously robust center of criminal activity.

With top political and law enforcement officials often on the take, the seedy status quo became so excessive that a May 1961 issue of Time magazine declared, "Newport has developed such a gaudy brand of gambling and prostitution that it stands today as one of the nation's most blatant sin centers." Eastern Kentucky University Professors Gary Potter and Thomas Barker, both experts on organized crime, along with Jenna Meglen, offer up a captivating chronicle of Newport's criminal development, complete with thought-provoking assessments of the possible advantages that organized crime brought to the city commonly considered to be Las Vegas's predecessor.

From the lowcountry through the midlands and into the upstate, criminal cases and mysterious murders cast a dark shadow on small-town South Carolina....

Ax assault, kidnapping, brutal murder: how could these things happen in a small town? Although regional crimes hardly ever make it to the national circuit, they will always remain with the families and communities of the victims and a part of the area's history. After working with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as special agent/forensic photographer for twenty-four years, Rita Shuler has a passion for remembering the victims. In Small-town Slayings, Shuler takes us back in time, showing differences and similarities of crime solving in the past and present and some surprising twists of court proceedings, verdicts and sentences. From an unsolved case that has haunted her for thirty years to a cold case that was solved after fifteen years by advanced DNA technology, Shuler blends her own memories with extensive research, resulting in a fast-paced, factual and fascinating look at crime in South Carolina.

Witch? Sorceress? Daughter of Satan? Murderer? Thief? Saint? Which label best fits Marie Laveau?

Queen of the voodoos, she is considered to have been the most important voodooienne ever to have reigned on this continent.

Robert Tallant, well known for his fine stories of the South, including Voodoo in New Orleans and Gumbo Ya-Ya, attempted to make use of all available facts and information in re-creating the life of this infamous woman. Marie Laveau, the last and most storied American sorceress, continues to weave her spell as those who read this fascinating portrait will discover.

Authors Rory O'Neill Schmitt and Rosary O'Neill share the NOLA life of Kate Chopin, the first great American woman novelist. In this epic story, Chopin becomes a Phoenix rising amidst the disgrace, death, and abandonment in the romantic desperate setting of post-Civil War Louisiana. This book, a follow up to Edgar Degas in New Orleans, presents Chopin, who lived in the same neighborhood as the Degas family during that time. Chopin celebrated in New Orleans’ great homes and mansions up River Road with their wonderland of oaks, columns, balconies. She had lived in the Garden District, watched New Orleans trolleys with their big windows roll past the Gothic mansions and Greco-Roman houses on St. Charles Avenue, strolled languidly through Audubon Park with its oak tree wonderland full of swamps and lush Louisiana foliage.

Starting as an ice-cream truck in 1929; Carvel has became the standard of ice-cream franchises across America.

When an unassuming, wide-eyed, young Greek immigrant arrived in America in 1910, the world did not yet know that this boy named Tom Carvel would grow up to be an inventor, an innovator, and, ultimately, an American icon. Holding a host of jobs, from drummer to mechanic, Carvel's relentless entrepreneurial spirit led him down a path less traveled. At 26 years old, Carvel met his future wife, Agnes Stewart. He borrowed $15 from her and began selling ice cream out of the back of his truck. What started as an old truck plugged into a pottery store is now more than 500 franchised locations throughout the nation and abroad and is one of the best loved and most recognized names in the industry. Fulfilling the American dream, Carvel is credited for patenting machinery, coining the ""buy one get one"" coupon, starring in his own commercials, and being the ""father of franchising.""

Even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in.

Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and Southern hospitality, but there's a darker side to the state's history. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother-in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fish pond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green--all of these stories are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.

Explore the social, family, political and religious history of the Italians - one of New Orleans' most remarkable ethnic groups.

Between 1850 and 1870, New Orleans boasted the largest Italian-born population of any city in the United States. Its early Italian immigrants included musicians, business leaders, and diplomats. Sadly, in 1891, 11 members of the large Sicilian settlement in New Orleans were victims of the largest mass lynching in American history. However, by 1910, the city's French Quarter was a Little Palermo with Italian entrepreneurs, laborers, and restauranteurs dominating the scene.

In 1880, there was a brutal murder in sunny paradise. This is the story of greed, violence, and a sensational trial that still captures the public's imagination even well after 100 years have passed.

Archie Newton stepped off the river steamer in 1880 with a letter of introduction and a secret, the young man hoping for a new life on the Florida frontier. Samuel McMillan was a miserly Sanford bachelor who carried large sums of "greenbacks" and trusted no one. One would think that since the ambitious Newton had his eye on purchasing McMillan's profitable orange grove, he wouldn't be foolish enough to do something reckless, but on his way back from Newton's home one evening, McMillan disappeared, and he wasn't seen again until his headless, mutilated corpse was pulled from a nearby lake. Newton's trial was sensational and the evidence gruesome, and local legends grew of a headless ghost rising from the lake, but was the young man in the courtroom innocent or guilty? Author Andrew Fink chronicles the twists and turns of this shocking story.

A gay love triangle, drug deals, and a murder. Just another night in West Palm Beach in 1984?

Jeffrey Heagerty was like most young gay nineteen-year-olds in South Florida in the 1980s, commonly finding himself and his friends at the popular Kevin's Cabaret in West Palm Beach on Saturday nights. On one of those Saturday nights in 1984, Jeff vanished from the club, leaving his friends behind even though he was their ride home. His body was found in a canal the next morning and his car was missing, only to be found a month later, abandoned on the other side of town. Rumors of a love triangle, drug dealings and sexual encounters snarled police efforts at solving the case. The investigation stagnated and the case grew cold until the solution came from two unexpected sources: overlooked details in police photographs of Jeff's car and a mysterious letter from an inmate in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Blues legend B.B. King spent his life sharing the music of his soul, which shone relentlessly through hardship and triumph alike.

Born on a cotton plantation in 1925, the man born Riley B. King would grow up to be one of the most influential blues musicians of all time, being crowned The King of the Blues. He never wavered from his vocation, even as he gathered up other musicians in his wake and melded them into the harmony of his animating passion. In this intimate portrait of King, author Diane Williams offers a brief account of the monumental blues man’s life before settling in for a series of interviews with his bandmates and beloved family members, offering readers an invaluable opportunity to feel like they know King too.

Did you know that escapees from an escargot farm keep the snail police on their toes?

The Outer Banks has a long history of unconventional characters and curious occurrences. A larger-than-life likeness of Sir Walter Raleigh was once beheaded in Manteo, and the town gave itself a royal makeover in honor of a visit from a princess. The village of Corolla was integral to the early years of the Space Race. Local author Sarah Downing shares these and many more offbeat tales.

The Golden Isles are home to a long and proud African American and Gullah Geechee heritage.

Ibo Landing was the site of a mass suicide in protest of slavery, the slave ship Wanderer landed on Jekyll Island and, thanks to preservation efforts, the Historic Harrington School still stands on St. Simons Island. From the Selden Normal and Industrial Institute to the tabby cabins of Hamilton Plantation, authors Amy Roberts and Patrick Holladay explore the rich history of the region’s islands and their people, including such local notables as Deaconess Alexander, Jim Brown, Neptune Small, Hazel Floyd and the Georgia Sea Island Singers.

In 1867, less than three years after the Civil War left the city in ruins, Hungarian Jewish immigrant Morris Rich opened a small dry goods store on what is now Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta.

Over time, his brothers Emanuel and Daniel joined the business; within a century, it became a retailing dynasty. Join historian Jeff Clemmons as he traces Rich's 137-year history. For the first time, learn the true stories behind Penelope Penn, Fashionata, The Great Tree, the Pink Pig, Rich's famous coconut cake and much more, including how events at the downtown Atlanta store helped John F. Kennedy become America's thirty-fifth president. With an eye for accuracy and exacting detail, Clemmons recounts the complete history of this treasured southern institution.

Under the Clock documents the fascinating historical chain of department stores Miller & Rhoads through its many transformations.

Under the Clock tells the story of Miller & Rhoads, from its incarnation as a little dry goods store in 1885 through more than a century as a beloved Richmond landmark. Earle Dunford, longtime city editor for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and George Bryson, a Miller & Rhoads veteran for thirty-nine years, usher us behind the scenes at the famous department store, sharing anecdotes they have collected from the many devoted shoppers and loyal employees who remember the good old days at Miller & Rhoads. Meet them ""under the clock"" to read about the famous Tea Room, Book and Author Dinners, fashion shows, Sara Sue hats, Christmastime with Santa Claus and countless other memories of a bygone era in shopping.

Although many bluesmen began leaving the Magnolia State in the early twentieth century to pursue fortune and fame up north, many others stayed home.

These musicians remained rooted to the traditions of their land, which came to define a distinctive playing style unique to Mississippi. They didn't simply play the blues, they lived it. Travel through the hallowed juke joints and cotton fields with author Roger Stolle as he recounts the history of Mississippi blues and the musicians who have kept it alive. Some of these bluesmen remain to carry on this proud legacy, while others have passed on, but Hidden History of Mississippi Blues ensures none will be forgotten.

A look back at New Orleans's early wicked days and historic crimes

Since as early as the 1700s, New Orleans has been a city filled with sin and vice. Those first pioneering citizens of the Big Easy were thieves, vagabonds and criminals of all kinds. By the time Louisiana fell under American control, New Orleans had become a city of debauchery and corruption camouflaged by decadence. It was also considered one of the country's most dangerous cities, with a reputation of crime and loose morals. Rampant gambling and prostitution were the norm in nineteenth-century New Orleans, and over one-third of today's French Quarter was considered a hotbed of sin. Tales in this volume include that of the notorious Axeman who plagued the streets of the Crescent City in the early 1900s and Kate Townsend, a prostitute who was murdered by her own lover, a man who later was awarded her inheritance.