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The last Public Enemy No. 1 of the Depression era, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis reportedly compiled a record of fifty-four aliases, fifteen bank robberies, fourteen murders, three jailbreaks and two kidnappings.

His criminal career came to an end when J. Edgar Hoover and his famed G-Men apprehended the man they wanted more than any other in New Orleans. From there, Karpis found himself confined on Alcatraz Island, where he spent nearly twenty-six years - more than any inmate in the prison’s history. Historian Julie Thompson tells the true story of Karpis’s life and career, a riveting tale taking readers from rural Kansas and Ohio to the bustling streets of the Big Easy and into the bleak innards of “the Rock.”

In just over a decade, a tiny, do-it-yourself stand-up scene on the North Side of Chicago produced some of the most successful and influential stand-up comedians of their generation. Hannibal Buress, T.J. Miller, Kyle Kinane, Cameron Esposito, Pete Holmes, Beth Stelling, Matt Braunger and Kumail Nanjiani make up a partial list of names of comics who emerged from a scene that had very little industry attention—or even a home club.

It was also a scene that took a backseat to the city’s vaunted improv institution, and if we’re being completely honest, it was a scene where comics mostly performed to drunks in the backs of dingy bars on their off nights. None of it was glamorous. None of it should have worked at all. But somehow, some way, the comedians from this scene have managed to etch their own names into the Chicago comedy pantheon. The Perfect Amount of Wrong is the story of that scene, as told by its veterans.

Passion, Greed, Murder, Corn Flakes

At the convergence of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo rivers lays Cereal City, USA. Named after a bloody battle between natives and land surveyors, Battle Creek is most famously the home to the Kelloggs, a family of eccentric inventors and entrepreneurs who would go on to rule the world of breakfast foods. But before their worldwide fame came the sanitarium. And the questionable deaths. And the fires. And after their downfall came the complicated legacy that would result in tragedy for decades to come.

Author and podcaster Jenn Carpenter reveals how cereal, Battle Creek’s lifeblood, also served as the root cause of bloodshed in the city many times over.

From the author of Lost Milwaukee comes an exploration of the criminal side of the Cream City.

Milwaukee saw its share of violence as it transformed from frontier village to modern metropolis. The city was barely established when an argument over a bridge linking east and west was nearly settled with cannon fire. A local developer killed his estranged wife, severed her head, and burned it in the furnace of the apartment building he built. A wronged woman murdered her lover on a busy downtown street and was found innocent by a sympathetic jury. Another woman lethally poisoned her family and laughed about it in the press.

From a robbery in which the bandits got away by stealing a streetcar to the attempted assassination of President Theodore Roosevelt, local historian Carl Swanson uncovers dramatic true stories of villainy and murder from Milwaukee's long-forgotten past.

Join author Michael W. R. Davis as he retraces the history of what went on behind the scenes of testing automotive tracks in Detroit, Michigan.

The catastrophic failure of a new but unproven copper-cooled Chevrolet in 1923 led the General Motors Corporation to buy back the 100 cars it had sold to the public and recall another 400 in company and dealer hands. As a result, in 1924 General Motors started building the industry's first scientific proving ground to test new vehicle designs before they were released for production and sale. Before this, all automakers tested new cars haphazardly on public roads and within limited engineering laboratories. Better known by the public as test tracks, the proving grounds became a source of curiosity for decades about the secrets they might hold. Detroit Area Test Tracks goes behind the test track walls to show how the facilities evolved and what typically takes place inside.

Through the medium of historic photographs, Cudahy, Wisconsin: Generations of Pride captures Cudahy's evolution from the late 1800s to the present day. Featuring over 200 historic images from both the Cudahy Historical Society and Public Library as well as photographs from private resident collections, this book tells the stories of the people who settled there: where they worked and worshiped, how they lived, and how they celebrated. Today, Cudahy is in the midst of downtown redevelopment, and community pride continues to grow with each generation.

Lake Erie is known for its beauty and tranquility, but a dark, deadly undercurrent lurks beneath its surface.

Bordering four states and two countries, the inland ocean offers the perfect getaway for criminals of all kinds. The bandits who held up the Ashtabula National Marine Bank as well as Ontario’s most elusive conman used the lake to avoid capture. Pirate Joseph Kerwin relied on his knowledge of the shipping industry to evade the law. Narene Mozee’s murderer quietly slipped away after completing his heinous deed on a luxury cruise ship, and when a lighthouse keeper found a corpse floating in the shallows near his post, all signs pointed to the killer fleeing by boat.

Local author Wendy Koile wades into the depths of this great, but deadly lake.

Discover the maufacturing plant that typifies the era when American industrial giants dominated the global economy and generations of blue-collar workers strived for a fair share of the ""American Dream.""

A burgeoning town on the fringes of Chicago rose and fell with the successes of the Western Electric Company. For almost 90 years, the Hawthorne Works plant employed, educated, entertained, and defined the township of Cicero. As the manufacturing arm of Western Electric, Hawthorne contributed greatly to the prosperity and national defense of the United States. As the site of the controversial Hawthorne Studies of workplace motivation and behavior, the plant reconfigured business and social science models. A community within a community, Hawthorne had its own sports teams, social clubs, hospital, railroad yards, and savings and loan. At its peak, the works was the largest single-site employer in Illinois and one of the biggest manufacturing establishments in the country, second only to the Ford plant in Detroit.

Before the rise of automobiles, where new trolley car lines were built, people, businesses, and neighborhoods followed, and trolleys quickly helped Chicago become a world-class city.

Chicago's extensive transit system first started in 1859, when horsecars ran on rails in city streets, cable cars and electric streetcars following soon after, but once trolleys appeared on the scene, Chicago metaphorically exploded. At its peak, Chicago had over 3,000 streetcars and 1,000 miles of track—the largest such system in the world. By the 1930s, there were also streamlined trolleys and trolley buses on rubber tires. Some parts of Chicago's famous L system also used trolley wire instead of a third rail. Trolley cars once took people from the Loop to such faraway places as Aurora, Elgin, Milwaukee, and South Bend. Though seemingly-outdated in the 21st century, there are still a few trolleys running today for anyone who prefers to take the scenic route.

With a collection of nearly 240 vintage postcards, Rockford: 1920 and Beyond captures this dynamic, ever-changing era.

Rockford's economic boom of the early twentieth century continued into the Roaring Twenties, when Rockford's newly-erected skyscrapers symbolized the city's sky's the limit ambitions. But the good times came to a crashing halt with the arrival of the Great Depression in October 1929. With its longstanding blue collar industrial roots, Rockford would enjoy renewed and even greater prosperity as it readily capitalized on the World War II war effort and the post-war economic boom years. With a collection of nearly 240 vintage postcards, Rockford: 1920 and Beyond captures this dynamic, ever-changing era as Rockford transformed into Illinois' Second City. Inside, see now-familiar skyscrapers like the Rockford News Tower, Talcott Building, and Faust Hotel enliven Rockford's downtown skyline. Take a nostalgic trip to the Blackhawk Park Zoo and the Central Park and Kiddieland amusement parks. Watch post-war car culture change the face of the city with its drive-ins, shopping centers, and expressways. Witness the World War II revival of Rockford's storied Camp Grant. See the famed Wagon Wheel Resort in its high-flying, star-studded Hollywood heydays. Marvel at the destructive power of Rockford's deadly Cyclone of '28.

Historic, haunted, chilling tales of the town of Akron as told by one of Northeast Ohio's most respected paranormal investigators!

Run down the apparitions that float about Rubber Citystreets and façades like the shadow of a passing blimp. Stroll along forgotten canals amid the restless chatter and clank of spirits cut down before their hard lives became easier. Catch a show at the Civic Theater with a ""former"" engineer who prophesied that death wouldn't keep him from work. A more restive spirit is that of John Tedrow, a twenty-something mauled and murdered during a drunken brawl in 1882; he wails for help and resolution.

In this ghostly tour through Akron's haunted and sometimes brutal past, paranormal specialist and historian Jeri Holland digs into the ghost tales and local legends that linger here like this city's industrial heritage.

Discover the Motor City before the motor: a muddy port town full of grog shops, horse races, haphazard cemeteries and enterprising bootstrappers from all over the world.

Meet the argumentative French fugitive who founded the city, the tobacco magnate who haunts his shuttered factory, the gambler prankster millionaire who built a monument to himself, the governor who brought his scholarly library with him on canoe expeditions and the historians who helped create the story of Detroit as we know it: one of the oldest, rowdiest and most enigmatic cities in the Midwest.

Behind its iron gates, the Victorian-era structure of Franklin Castle harbors rumors of everything from insanity to mass murder.

For more than half a century, the castle’s dark façade has lured curiosity seekers from around the world. Disembodied voices echo from empty rooms, doors open and close of their own accord and cold spots drift about the manse. Witnesses swear to sightings of a woman in black and a young girl in white, believed to be the ghostly apparitions of the wife and daughter of the original owner, Hannes Tiedemann. Using previously unpublished photographs, interviews, family accounts, floor plans and nearly forty years of research, authors William G. Krejci and John W. Myers finally reveal the true and definitive history of Cleveland's notorious Franklin Castle.

Explore the fascinating history of Willoughby, Ohio with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

Located in northeast Ohio, Willoughby began as a community of mills and cabins clustered along the banks of the Chagrin River. The first settlers arrived before 1800 and were hardy New Englanders who brought their religious beliefs, their love of country, their respect for education, and their architecture to the wilderness.

By 1853, when the village was incorporated, they had established churches, homes, businesses, and schools, including a medical college. Before the century was over, the arrival of two rail lines and an electric streetcar company transformed the quiet little town into a bustling center of commerce and enterprise. Since then, Willoughby, known as the Courtesy City, has continued to grow and prosper while retaining the look and feel of an earlier era.

Historic homes still line its residential streets, while several blocks of the commercial district are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Local author Jane Simon Ammeson leads a tasty tour of historic Region restaurants.

A wonderful diversity of flavors has defined Northwest Indiana as a dining destination from its early days to the present. Now almost a century old, Teibel's pan-fried fish carries on the tradition of "perch palaces'? like the now lost Phil Smidt's. Pierogis have been a staple at the Cavalier for decades. So great was the demand for frog legs at Vogel's that they used to raise their own. The same dish has remained on the menu at the Town Club since opening in 1947. Serving Northwest Indiana-style, crisped-edge hamburgers, Miner-Dunn and Schoops both survived the onslaught of fast food chains and continue on today.

Grand River Avenue details the history of this historical Michigan roadway, which has served as a footpath, wagon rut, and ultimately a two-lane highway.

Grand River Avenue, or Michigan US-16 as it was ultimately designated, is one of Michigan's true ""Blue Highways""--an original two-lane, blacktop road still serving as a direct path through roadside America. Originally a Native American trail, this ancient path has been a westbound route from the Straits of Detroit to the eastern shores of Lake Michigan for more than 1,000 years. Over time, it has served as a footpath, horse trail, wagon rut, stagecoach route, plank road, and ultimately a two-lane highway that gave some of America's earliest motorists their first taste of long-distance automobile travel.

Discover how the Midwest refined the nation's sweet tooth through a delicious mix of immigrant traditions and American ingenuity.

Chef Jenny Lewis dips a spoon into generations of homemade desserts and examines the inner workings of some of the biggest brands of the baking industry. Learn how to make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, witness the rise of Red Star Yeast, and plumb the secrets of the Kraft Oil Method, before sitting down to consume an engaging history in which Midwest beet sugar, vanilla cream and evaporated milk are mixed into a narrative of wars, social shifts, and politics. Encounter a rich medley of true stories and irresistible recipes from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in this delightful collection.

Visit the history of the orphanage in Cincinnati that changed the lives of children left by themselves after their parents died in a cholera outbreak in the 1800s, and went on to become an outstanding Cincinnati institution.

In 1849, a cholera epidemic devastated Cincinnati, taking the lives of 4,114 residents. The First German Protestant Aid Association proposed creating a home for the orphaned children and established the German General Protestant Orphan Asylum in Mount Auburn. The annual Orphan Feast and parade began in 1851 and was one of the largest one-day festivals in Cincinnati for 137 years. In 1949, the orphanage moved to 62 acres straddling Mount Washington and Anderson Township. The orphanage's name changed to Beech Acres, after the beech trees lining the property. In the 1980s, the orphanage closed and the focus shifted from restorative to preventive social services for children and families. The increased focus on strengthening the relationship between parents and their children resulted in a change to the current name, Beech Acres Parenting Center.

No matter where the scattered Jews of Chicago live now, many can trace their roots to this ""Jerusalem of Chicago.""

For nearly half a century, the greater Lawndale area was the vibrant, spirited center of Jewish life in Chicago. It contained almost 40 percent of the city's entire Jewish population with over 70 synagogues and numerous active Jewish organizations and institutions, such as the Jewish People's Institute, the Hebrew Theological College, and Mount Sinai Hospital. Its residents included ""King of Swing"" Benny Goodman, Israeli prime minister Golda Meir, journalists Irv Kupcinet and Meyer Levin, federal judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, civil rights attorney Elmer Gertz, Eli's Cheesecake founder Eli Shulman, and comedian Shelley Berman. Many of the selected images come from the author's extensive collection. This book will bring back memories for those who lived there and retell the story of Jewish life on the West Side for those who did not.

With a history dating back 2000 years, Columbia Tusculum stands as a vital contributor to the region’s development.

The lush, strategically located land provided essential resources for native hunting and trade as well as for pioneer farming. Positioned at the convergence of the Little Miami and Ohio Rivers, the young community became a hub for transporting people and goods. Over time, streetcars, railroads, and Columbia Parkway facilitated transportation, fostering migration and growth. Columbia's Lunken Airport, a major municipal airport in the early twentieth century, also enhanced Cincinnati’s connectivity.

Author Dinese Young unfolds the story of Cincinnati’s oldest neighborhood and its role in the city’s evolution.

In addition to its well-known associations with doctors and diagnoses, the city of Rochester offers a string of curiosities to those willing to look closely.

How did a secret bomber mission to Moscow during World War II lead to thousands of fighter planes flying through Rochester and the subsequent construction of a giant IBM manufacturing plant here? What was Rochester's contribution to the 1980 Olympic Hockey "Miracle on Ice"? Who was dubbed the “Greatest Doctor in the World”, and why? Who were the regular folks without whom the great Mayo Clinic might never have become a medical mecca?

Rochester Stories: A Med City History Paul Scanlon answers these and other questions in this enlightening and sometimes humorous study of Rochester’s past.

For more than a century, Cincinnati's candy industry satisfied our national sweet tooth. Dive into its specialties and past.

Stick and drop candies appeared here long before their Civil War popularity. Opera creams, rich fondant-filled chocolate candy brought here by Robert Hiner Putman, provided decadence. Candy corn, which the Goelitz Company introduced to the United States before World War I, remains a ubiquitous treat. Marpro Products created and popularized the marshmallow cone candy. Doscher invented the French Chew and made caramel corn a baseball concession at Redland Field decades before Cracker Jack became synonymous with our national pastime. The city's many Greek and Macedonian immigrants influenced the unique Queen City tradition of finishing a Cincinnati-style ""threeway"" of spaghetti, chili and cheddar with a chocolate mint. Local food etymologist Dann Woellert tells these stories and more in this delectably sweet history.

Explore the fascinating history of Detroit’s Gesu Catholic Church and Schoolthrough the images and stories of the people who were there.

In a reconfigured farmhouse just a mile outside of the city limits of Detroit, a Jesuit priest and 25 men, women, and children gathered to celebrate Sunday mass on March 19, 1922.

The Reverend John McNichols named the Catholic mission church Gesu, the Italian word for Jesus.Gesubecame one of Detroit's landmark parishes. Its history illustrates the Motor City'sboom, bust, resilience, and resurgence. It was the home parish of four Detroit mayors, powerful members of Congress, auto industry titans, sports legends, artists, authors, and actors. At its peak in the mid-1960s, GesuSchool enrolled 1,600 students. Because of Detroit's decline and its racial and economic struggles, Gesuis one of only four Catholic elementary schools that remain in the city. But as Detroit rebounds, Gesu Schoolis growing again.

Author Patricia Montemurri is an award-winning Detroit journalist whose in-laws were the church's architects and stained-glass designers.Gesu'shistory unfolds here through vintage photographs from the parish archives, the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the University of Detroit Mercy, the Walter P. Reuther Library, the Michigan Catholic, and the albums of Gesuparishioners and graduates.

Beginning with the birth of the original club on Woodward Avenue in 1887, this book chronicles the history of the DAC up to the present, in over 200 vintage photographs-many never before seen outside of the club. Images gathered from the club's archives cover the formative years at the first club, the building and opening of the new club, the DAC's great athletic traditions, its membership and staff, social activities, the art of the DAC and its magnificent restoration at the end of the 20th century.

Detroit has always been a haven for the working class. Headquartering the most powerful industrial union in American history, the UAW, the city's labor movements have had the power to influence national urban and social policy. Captured here are Detroit's nationally recognized labor campaigns, from the first sit-downs of 1937, to the powerful unions inspired by the radical philosophies of Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther. Through the contribution of arms and tanks to World War II, to the devastating decline of the unions in the 1970s and '80s, the photographs here capture the multitude of races and faces that made Detroit one of America's greatest industrial cities, and the world's undisputed Motor City.

The year was 1844, and scores of pioneers from the eastern and southern areas of the United States were migrating to the nearly impenetrable virgin forests of Indiana's newly established Tipton County, named for two-term Indiana senator and revered warrior Gen. John Tipton.

Displacing all but a fraction of the Miamis who once dominated the bountiful Indiana Territory, the white settlers cleared the land, built homes, and farmed the rich soil. Soon, the expanding railroads arrived, ushering in a cultural and economic boon with jobs, innovation, and an end to the settlers' isolated lifestyle. Despite the change, Tipton Countians remained loyal to their pioneer values, and future generations included war heroes, outstanding scholars, prominent athletes, and a president of the United States. Today, the spirit of the early pioneers endures throughout Tipton County, home to some 16,000 Americans who, like their ancestors, proudly hail their Hoosier heritage

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Brownsburg, Indiana with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

In 1835, William Harris sectioned off his land--the area now known as Mainand Green Streetsin Brownsburg--for the purpose of establishing a town.

Harris used beech trees, elm trees, and hickory stumps to define the town's boundaries; he called it Harrisburg. The name Harrisburg was already in use elsewhere in Indiana, so Brownsburg, which paid homage to early settler James B. Brown, was selected as an alternative. Brownsburg's railroad station, located between Indianapolis and Crawfordsville, positioned the farming community for dramatic growth. As new settlers arrived, new businesses, mills, and factories also began to open. Today, Brownsburg continues to grow, and the community is known for its engineering and racing industries and its first-rate schools.

Join author Linda Lichte Cook, a longtime resident of Brownsburg maintains the digital archives of images and historic documents known as the Brownsburg Then and Now/Indiana Memory Project as she showcases her town's rich history.

Join local food writer Teri Horsley as she explores the history of Butler County’s most beloved eateries and the stories behind them.

Butler County has concocted fine food and finer memories for generations. Isgro’s dished out succulent Italian to locals and celebrities alike, including Frank Sinatra and numerous Cincinnati Reds players. Starting off as a Prohibition speakeasy, Nitchtings later evolved into a high-end supper club where many prominent politicians debated the issues of the day. Hickory Hut made its name serving delicious American casual food to fiercely loyal regulars, some of whom ate there three times a day. For decades, fans of Milillo's and Chester’s have argued which is the best pizza in town, a debate that continues today.