Uncover the secret Chicago laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style.

Before Frank Lloyd Wright officially launched America’s most famous architectural career, he was designing the building blocks of his legendary prairie style on the side. In violation of his contract with his employers, Adler and Sullivan, Wright moonlighted as an independent architect from his Oak Park studio. From 1892 through the spring of 1893, he experimented with the elements that would become his signature in houses in Chicago, La Grange and Oak Park. The full roster of these “bootleg homes” has remained a matter of mystery and debate. Robert Hartnett seeks to provide the first definitive account of the hidden artifacts of Wright’s storied legacy.

Step into the future of the past in Chicago's 1893 World's Fair!

What came to be known as the World's Columbian Exposition was planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's 1492 landfall in the New World. Chicago beat out New York City, St. Louis, Missouri, and Washington, DC, in its bid as host - a coup for the Windy City. The site finally selected for the fair was Jackson Park, a marshy area covered with dense, wild vegetation. Daniel H. Burnham and John W. Root were selected as chief architects, creating the famous White City. The fair featured several different thematic areas: the Great Buildings, Foreign Buildings, State Buildings, and the Midway Plaisance, a nearly mile-long area that featured exotic exhibits. The exposition also showcased the world's first Ferris Wheel and introduced fairgoers to new sensations like Cracker Jack, Pabst Beer, and ragtime music. Unfortunately, by 1896, most of the fair's buildings had been removed or destroyed, but this collection takes readers on a tour of the grounds as they looked in 1893.

Though located on Massachusetts's scenic North Shore, Salem is often remembered for its less than picturesque history. The Witch City, as it is internationally known, is home to numerous landmarks dedicated to the notorious trials of 1692. Of these, the Witch House is perhaps most significant; this former residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin, whose court ordered the execution of twenty men and women, is the town's only true historic tie to the trials. It was here that Corwin examined the unfortunate accused. There is, however, more to this ancient building than its most famous occupant. From wars and death to prosperity and progress, local author John Goff searches beneath its beams and studs to find stories of those who called this place home.

Within thirty years of the Great Chicago Fire, the revitalized city was boasting some of America's grandest department stores. The retail corridor on State Street was a crowded canyon of innovation and inventory where you could buy anything from a paper clip to an airplane. Revisit a time when a trip downtown meant dressing up for lunch at Marshall Field's Walnut Room, strolling the aisles of Sears for Craftsman tools or redeeming S&H Green Stamps at Wieboldt's. Whether your family favored The Fair, Carson Pirie Scott, Montgomery Ward or Goldblatt's, you were guaranteed stunning architectural design, attentive customer service and eye-popping holiday window displays. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, advertisements, catalogue images and postcards, Leslie Goddard's narrative brings to life the Windy City's fabulous retail past.

Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Join the Revolution

New Jersey was the Crossroads of the American Revolution, and its colonial taverns were havens for Patriots and Loyalists alike to debate the political question of independence and even plan much of the Revolution itself. Taverns were the social and political centers of colonial society and the Garden State had a myriad of establishments that played prominent roles in the founding of the nation. Taverns became recruitment stations for colonial militias and provided a meeting place for local committees of safety. George Washington used them as headquarters and safe houses for his spies and local troops.

Discover the intoxicating history of the driving force in the fight for freedom, the colonial tavern in New Jersey.  

What do Vincent Price, Harrison Ford, Jackie Chan, and Uma Thurman all have in common with Frank Lloyd Wright? Answer: The Movies.

The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture can’t be overstated, and his unique creations have also left a lasting impression on movie audiences.

From the Marin County Civic Center’s starring role in George Lucas’s first feature film to the famous Ennis House appearing in multiple movies, eight of Wright’s California buildings have served as dramatic settings for stories about power, wealth and dystopian futures. Inspiring generations of filmmakers, these sites—both public and private—remain some of the most iconic places captured on film. With behind-the-scenes production facts and a peek into Wright’s design process, author Mark Anthony Wilson recounts the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture in the movies.

This book features:

• 120 color and black and white images, including scenes from popular Hollywood films such as Blade Runner, Black Rain and A Summer Place, as well as cult favorites like House on Haunted Hill, Permanent Midnight, and Cannibal Women in The Avocado Jungle of Death.
• Little known facts about how Frank Lloyd Wright's work influenced Alfred Hitchcock and about Wright's friendship with Walt Disney and his comments about some of Disney's most famous films.
• Detailed information about how to visit those Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in this book that are open to the public.
• The controversies created by several of these films that caused members of some audiences to leave the theater in moral outrage and caused other audiences to scream in horror.
• Behind-the-scenes comments by Hollywood directors and producers about why they chose to use Frank Lloyd Wright buildings or design features in their films.
• A look at how Frank Lloyd Wright's design philosophy influenced the style of Hollywood films and how some of his strong-willed female clients got him to change the design of their homes.
• Why Frank Lloyd Wright was accused of being a "communist sympathizer" and "un-American" near the end of his career, and why this nearly derailed the construction of one of his most famous buildings.