Missouri

Taking its cue from St. Louis architecture, the Show Me State operates as a gateway to discovery. The wonders of the 1904 World’s Fair, the scenic passage of Route 66 and the quest for that perfect meal in Columbia all testify to that exploratory drive. But like the restless rivers that gave Mark Twain his alias and inspiration, Missouri’s history proves no frontier provides uncontested passage. In the vicinity of Civil War guerillas or Prohibition Era bootleggers, an unlocked door could invite calamity. Crack open our catalogue of Missouri history books for a portal into the state’s adventurous heritage. [View all Missouri books]
3 products
Cover image for Historic Tales of St. Louis, isbn: 9781467153287
Historic Tales of St. Louis
Paperback
$23.99
Cover of Forgotten Tales of Kansas City with ornate burgundy title on cream panel and a small alligator illustration.
Forgotten Tales of Kansas City
Paperback
$14.99
Cover image for Forgotten Tales of Missouri, isbn: 9781609494735
Forgotten Tales of Missouri
Paperback
$14.99

Historic Tales of St. Louis

9781467153287

$23.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
The Tales That Made St. Louis  

St. Louis may be known as the Gateway to the West, but its history holds many stories buried through time that show a different side. Discover which Hollywood leading man and heartthrob originated the custom of leaving a chocolate on a hotel pillow. Learn which high school was named after a senator who was nearly beaten to death on the senate floor. Puzzle  over the lavish dinner party held in a sewer, and be amazed to find a masterpiece hidden in the ceiling of a U-Haul building. Author and historian Mark Zeman unveils the forgotten history of St. Louis.

Cover image for Historic Tales of St. Louis, isbn: 9781467153287

Forgotten Tales of Kansas City

9781609496159

$14.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Meet the folks who slip out of history books like they're playing the Kansas City shuffle. In this fascinating collection of stories, Paul Kirkman has dug up all sorts of head-scratchers: how did Jesse James rob a bank with John F. Kennedy, and how could a Beatles concert in the 1960s fail to make money? Watch a cow explode in a kitchen, frogs rain down from the sky and dogs pay for a public library system. Learn how Harry Houdini was trapped in a phone booth, why Clark Gable haunted street corners in a clown outfit and what kept Kansas City in Missouri.
Cover of Forgotten Tales of Kansas City with ornate burgundy title on cream panel and a small alligator illustration.

Forgotten Tales of Missouri

9781609494735

$14.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Truth, after all, still remains stranger and more engaging than most legends. And Missouri, of course, leads every other place in truth. Hop aboard Long's dragon boat or take advantage of 1846 wind wagon technology to plunge into the forgotten tales of this fascinating place. Hobnob cautiously with Stagger Lee, Mike Fink and Calamity Jane and view the chamber pot war from a safe distance. Trade witticisms with Alphonse Wetmore and Mark Twain, the frontier folk who keep us civilized today. If you keep company with storyteller Mary Collins Barile, you'll even catch a glimpse of the Mississippi River running backward from an earthquake that was all Missouri's fault.
Cover image for Forgotten Tales of Missouri, isbn: 9781609494735