The History Press

When the police caught up with Johann Hoch, he’d already proposed to what they believed would have been wife number fifty-five.

For a decade, he traveled the country, marrying and deserting desperate women—and five of his wives were lying in their graves. He married Marie Walcker in Chicago in 1904, and when Marie died five weeks later, he proposed to her sister while the corpse lay on the bed. The sister agreed, only to be swindled out of her savings. Adam Selzer trails jovial, big-talking Hoch through a twisting tale of Chicago journalism, Chicago justice and the coming together of some of most daring and corrupt characters the city had to offer.

From colorful characters like Cato Alexander, New York’s first celebrity bartender, to sad and disturbing stories about Jack Daniel’s heirs, Makers & Shakers has a little bit of everything for everyone. 

Join Washington, D.C.–based author and producer of ardent spirits Troy Hughes on a historical romp through booze-infused tales about Black Americans. Discover the stories of pioneering Montana moonshiner Bertie Brown and the ill-fated partnership of Diddy and Diageo. Find out about Ripple, the national drink of Watts, and learn how cognac became the unofficial drink of Black America.

Possessed with a spirit of optimism and an innate gift for retailing savvy, entrepreneur William T. Grant revolutionized the nation’s retailing industry with the 1906 debut of his W.T. Grant Company department store in Lynn, Massachusetts. Taking aim at the lucrative yet untapped middle ground between the discount five-and-dime variety stores and traditional department stores of the era, he built a well-deserved reputation as the store “Known for Values.” Grants quickly became one of the nation’s fastest-growing and most beloved department store chains, encompassing 1,238 stores in forty-six states at its height in 1972. While the Grants stores are now just a fond memory, the legacy of William T. Grant continues to be remembered today, along with the vibrant philanthropic nonprofit William T. Grant Foundation, which he started in 1936.

Before there was a Los Angeles or a San Francisco, there was Spain’s first colony in upper California, El Presidio de San Diego.

Founded in 1769, this small fortress and mission was the seedling for the twenty-one missions and four presidios that followed. It was here that Franciscan priest Junípero Serra planted the first Catholic cross in what became Alta California. The nearby harbor provided a safe port for sailing ships from all over the world, ensuring a steady stream of goods and supplies. Over its many decades, the San Diego Presidio was home to Spaniards, Mexicans, Native people and, toward the end, Anglo-Americans. Its cemetery became the final resting place for many of them.

Author and historian Richard Carrico provides insights into San Diego’s beginnings.

Remembering two palaces of retail

For generations, Scranton’s two big department stores, The Globe Store and Oppenheim’s Scranton Dry Goods Company, affectionately known as “the Dry,” dominated retail in the Electric City. Facing each other on Wyoming Avenue, they created special memories for those who walked their sales floors with attractive displays, special events, community service and elaborate Christmas decorations. Many fondly recall the steamship round of beef carved to order at The Globe’s Charl-Mont Restaurant or waving to customers passing by on the escalator from the Dry’s mezzanine Tea Room. Together, the two stores brought the best the world had to offer to Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Join Scranton-area native Daniel J. Packer Jr. and step through the iconic revolving doors into a bygone era of shopping in grand style.

Come along for a haunted treck through New Orleans, where evil ghosts horrify, and good ghosts inspire. New Orleans thrums with ghosts, some so strong they terrify holy Voodoo priests. This guide, for the truly intrepid, leads you to ancient ghosts who patrol the French Quarter. Reveals the spirits who dine at Antoine’s and Commander’s Palace. Introduces you to the eternal residents of the Hotel Monteleone. Lures you under the shade of giant oaks to the undead duelling nearby. Teases you with mirages of vampires climbing from flooded caskets in Lafayette Cemetery. Fuels you with the power of Voodoo to call on your departed ancestors. Warns you to sneak past ruptured tombs and wicked mansions like Madame LaLaurie’s, where tortured spirits wail. 

Discover the South's Most Notorious Murders, Mysteries, and Criminal Masterminds

Journey from Texas to Virginia in this gripping collection of haunting criminal cases. Follow a relentless serial killer as he leaves a bloody trail across Louisiana and beyond, witness a cunning lonely-hearts swindler terrorize Texas, and uncover Arkansas's bizarre wave of strychnine poisonings that baffled investigators. Experience the supernatural when a West Virginia murder is revealed through dreams and meet a one-armed conjure-man whose murder-for-hire schemes shocked North Carolina.

Watch forensic science evolve as crimefighters expand their arsenal of detection tools in this compelling tour of the South's most notorious crimes, where fact proves stranger than fiction.

Crime writer Cathy Pickens brings a novelist’s eye to the sinister South and its defining—and quirky—crime stories.

Every history of the Appalachian Trail tells the story from the top down, focusing on who proposed the trail, who built it, who maintain it, and on a few of the most famous hikers. A Hiker’s History of Appalachian Trail tells the trail’s history from the ground up, or more accurately, from the boots up.

Several million hikers each year set foot on the trail for a few hours, a few days, or perhaps a few weeks. The trail was created for them, yet their role in its history is largely ignored. Working with trail shelter logbooks, hiker accounts submitted to trail clubs, newspaper and magazine stories about the experiences of casual hikers, Mills Kelly reveals what it was like to hike the trail from the late 1920s until the 2020s.

What did those hikers eat? What kind of gear did they carry? Why did they go hiking in the first place? What was their relationship to the natural world they found along the trail? What was it like to hike as a woman, as a person of color, as someone with a disability? And how did all those things change over the 100 years of the trail’s history?

During the War of Independence, New England’s soldiers faced the possibility of death in battle on the field, from an errant cannon blast or, more commonly, from a skirmish in the woodlands. More feared, perhaps, were the dangers that came off the field of battle in the form of illness, hunger and exposure to the elements. Those who served “’til the war’s end” faced the tides of sickness and hunger that swept through their encampments and prisons during the region’s frigid and unforgiving winters. Historian Robert A. Geake explores these challenges through collected diaries, documents and letters. They reveal a largely untold story of the conflict, while providing a true testament to the grit and determination of the Continental army, including patriots of color, during the most demanding of times.

Delve into ghost stories pulled from century-old headlines and reported anew with author and investigative historian William G. Krejci. There was a time when ink-stained scribes would head into the community to report on ghostly visitations—many of their stories have been forgotten until now. At a Lorain County farmhouse, spectral women were said to manifest in the darkness of night. A haunted mansion was replete with the unexplained in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood. Rumors of a haunting at Cleveland’s Grays Armory have long circulated. New evidence reveals the site to have been the scene of two mysterious deaths and possibly a haunted house. Does a peddler who went missing two centuries ago drag chains across the attic floor at a Portage Lakes tavern?

Once a twenty-seven-thousand-acre parcel named for the hills it features, Rancho Los Cerritos is a place where the past meets the present and provides a fascinating glimpse into California’s history.

Home of the Gabrielino-Tongva for more than five thousand years, the land was claimed and colonized by Spain and then Mexico before it became part of the United States. New Englander John Temple, together with his wife, Rafaela Cota, bought the land in the early 1800s. Through a workforce of Indigenous laborers, he built a unique two-story adobe to be the headquarters of a large-scale cattle ranch, propelling Temple and Rancho Los Cerritos to the forefront of Southern California’s prosperity.

Over the next two centuries, the Rancho adobe was home to gold rush miners, Mexican vaqueros, Chinese cooks, and more. These intrepid individuals persisted through feasts and famine, floods, droughts, and even war. Today, the adobe houses a historic museum and connects visitors to those who left an indelible mark on the region.

Join Dr. Leslie Reese as she shares the stories of the people who called Rancho Los Cerritos home.

In this revised and expanded edition, a harrowing new arrest in the cold case, intense trial and key developments are presented alongside the original narrative.

Friday, August 15, 1975, began as a typical summer day in the suburbs. Young children played with their friends; adults prepared for work or planned for their vacation at the Jersey Shore...

That all changed in the hours before noon, when Gretchen Harrington, the eight-year-old daughter of a Presbyterian minister and his wife, was kidnapped while walking to a Vacation Bible School less than a quarter mile from her house. Her body was found by a jogger in a state park nearly two months later. The crime forever changed the lives of the children who were about Gretchen’s age and their parents, many of whom chose to live in Marple Township because they considered it a safe refuge from the crime-ridden streets of Philadelphia.

Journalists Mike Mathis and Joanna Falcone Sullivan examine the kidnapping, murder, nearly five-decade-long investigation.

History You Didn’t Learn in School

Discover powerful stories left out of most history books. Author Jeffrey Bennett reveals the hidden legacy of Black Virginians. From 1865 to 1877, over 80 Black politicians served across the state. Learn about a brave Black woman who spied on Confederate President Jefferson Davis while disguised as an enslaved worker.

See the history of more than seventy Black communities lost in Virginia. Read the story of a 135-year-old church and the meaning behind land passed down through generations. These stories show the strength and impact of Black families before and after slavery. Perfect for history lovers and older readers, this collection brings forgotten voices back to life.

Authors Cary O’Dell and Richard L. Sprehe lead a literary investigation of a brutal cold-case murder. 

In May 1975, in the small Southern Illinois town of Centralia, the body of one of its best-known residents, John Shakespeare, was found nearly nude, bound, and shot, execution-style, in the basement of his home. Shakespeare, sixty-nine, was a wealthy bachelor, an eccentric, an heir to the Shakespeare fishing fortune, a world-renowned collector of vintage cars, and, maybe, a possessor of a few secrets.

Despite the victim being well liked in the community, state and local police, and eventually even the FBI and Interpol, found a plethora of suspects while investigating the crime. Could it have been his longtime business associate? Or the mysterious hitchhiker seen in town just days before his body was found? Or a long-ago name from his past?

A work stoppage on the rails led to a fascinating moment in Ohio history.

As the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 made its way into Ohio, the state already had its share of problems. Tramps, men who’d taken to the road looking for work because of the economic depression of the 1870s, seemed to be overrunning the state. Railroads, one of Ohio’s biggest employers, cut jobs. Those not fired suffered from repeated cuts in wages and hours, making their already unsafe work conditions worse.

Strikes in neighboring states, instigated by another 10 percent wage cut on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, became violent and destructive. When they broke out in Ohio, something remarkable happened. Strikers remained mostly peaceful, avoiding the killing, looting, and vandalism seen elsewhere. Much of the credit for the path taken by Ohio must go to its level-headed governor, Thomas L. Young, who used the Ohio National Guard to great effect. 

Preserving Appalachian Heritage Through Traditional Crafts

Explore the heart of Southern Appalachia through its master artisans. The Artistic Preservation of Tradition highlights a tight-knit community of craftspeople, ages 32 to 92, who keep centuries-old techniques alive. From woodworking and pottery to music and storytelling, their work honors Appalachian history and culture. Meet legends like Willard Watson and Stanley Hicks, and discover modern innovators like Cory Plott and William Ritter. Author and artist Bob Plott brings these powerful stories to life in a heartfelt tribute to tradition and creativity. Perfect for readers who love local history, folk art, and handmade heritage, this book is a must-read for anyone drawn to the spirit of the mountains.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner 2024

Corey Geiger, international agricultural journalist and author of On a Wisconsin Family Farm, pairs his rural roots and lively storytelling talents to capture six generations of life in America’s Dairyland.

After his mother Anna was killed by a train, Elmer Pritzl was thrown into adulthood at the tender age of sixteen. A clever and crafty fellow, Elmer quickly found work at the local foundry. Promoted to foreman by age eighteen, he began supervising men double and even triple his age during the depths of the Great Depression. However, that professional career track ended abruptly five years later when Elmer fell in love with a farmer’s daughter, Julia Burich. Six months after their wedding, Julia’s father passed away, and with no living male relatives left in her life, Julia’s mother, Anna Burich, asked, “Elmer, will you run my farm?” So, Elmer, born a city boy, transformed his life and began a love affair with a Wisconsin family farm.

This first comprehensive history of the Jews of Florida from colonial times to the present is a sweeping tapestry of voices.

Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers. They have been integral to every facet of Florida's growth, from tilling the land and developing early communities to boosting tourism and ultimately pushing mankind into space. The Sunshine State's Jews, working for the common good, have been Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, leaders in business and the arts and more, while maintaining their heritage to help ensure Jewish continuity for future generations. This rich narrative - accompanied by 700 images, most rarely seen - is the result of three-plus decades of grassroots research by author Marcia Jo Zerivitz, giving readers an incomparable look at the long and crucial history of Jews in Florida.

From Baltimore natives Lawrence Bopp and Stephen Bockmiller comes Showing the Flag: The Civil War Naval Diary of Moses Safford, USS Constellation, a new perspective on the Civil War and life in the navy in the mid-19th century. As the Civil War raged at home, naval yeoman Moses Safford toured the Mediterranean on the USS Constellation, dispatched in 1862 to "show the flag," or defend American merchant shipping. An attorney and accomplished sailor before the war, Moses kept a diary in his seafarer's way, leaving us one of the most detailed accounts of life aboard a Civil War warship known to exist.

Published for the first time and including insightful annotations and biographical information, this personal journal documents life aboard a navy ship in a time of national turmoil. Although the diary was intended for his own edification and personal remembrance, Safford's writing brings the reader back in time and place and opens a window on the past, allowing a view of Civil War naval life through the eyes of a literate and master seaman.

This entertaining seek-and-find alphabet book invites you to explore twenty-six must-see places at Biltmore Estate, offering beautiful photographs, clever rhymes and hidden animals on every page.

Children will discover everything from colorful gardens and underground tunnels to towering rooftops and lively farm animals. Included are fun facts about Biltmore's history in an illustrated glossary and a kid-friendly map for planning your journey. Whether you use this book as a guide for an upcoming visit to Biltmore or as a souvenir to commemorate your stay, a magical adventure awaits you and your family!