Virginia

It’s impossible to survey the Virginia landscape without seeing the layers of its history. Civil War battlefields in Virginia lie right next to landmarks of the American Revolution. The Old Dominion state is home to those who declared independence and framed the constitution, as well as the civil rights leaders and suffragists who still had to fight for freedoms withheld. From Richmond’s culinary traditions to the politics of a Middleburg foxhunt, examine the fascinating complexities of Virginia with our Virginia history books. [View all Virginia books]
3 products
Cover image for The Wreck of the Old 97, isbn: 9781596298767
The Wreck of the Old 97
Paperback
$21.99
Book cover for The Great Virginia Flood of 1870 by Paula F. Green showing a crowded flooded street.
The Great Virginia Flood of 1870
Paperback
$24.99
Cover image for Historic Disasters of Richmond, isbn: 9781467118866
Historic Disasters of Richmond
Paperback
$21.99

The Wreck of the Old 97

9781596298767

$21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%

With Fast Mail train No. 97 an hour behind schedule, locomotive engineer Steve Broady, according to legend, swore to put her in Spencer on time or put her in Hell.


Through eyewitness reports and court testimonies, historian Larry Aaron expertly pieces together the events of September 27, 1903, at Danville, Virginia, when the Old 97 plummeted off a forty-five-foot trestle into the ravine below. With more twists and turns than the railroad tracks on which the Old 97 ran, this book chronicles the story of one of the most famous train wrecks in American history, as well as the controversy surrounding The Wreck of the Old 97, that most famous ballad, which secured the Old 97 a place within the annals of American folklore.

Cover image for The Wreck of the Old 97, isbn: 9781596298767

The Great Virginia Flood of 1870

9781467147279

$24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
In the fall of 1870, a massive flood engulfed parts of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. What began near Charlottesville as welcome rain at the end of a drought-plagued summer quickly turned into a downpour as it moved west and then north through the Shenandoah Valley. The James, Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers rose, and flooding washed out fields, farms and entire towns. The impact was immense in terms of destruction, casualties and depth of water. The only warning that Richmond, downriver from the worst of the storm, had of the wall of water bearing down on it was a telegram. In this account, public historian Paula Green details not only the flood but also the process of recovery in an era before modern relief programs.
Book cover for The Great Virginia Flood of 1870 by Paula F. Green showing a crowded flooded street.

Historic Disasters of Richmond

9781467118866

$21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Richmond has had its share of man-made and natural calamities throughout its illustrious history. In 1811, fire destroyed the Richmond Theatre on Broad Street, tragically claiming seventy-two lives in one of the worst urban disasters in American history. As Union forces approached Richmond in the final months of the Civil War, Confederate troops ignited the city in flames, leaving scars still visible today. The international Spanish flu epidemic did not spare the city in the early twentieth century. The worst airplane crash in Virginia history occurred near Byrd Airport in 1961. Local author Walter S. Griggs tells these stories and more as he traces the harrowing history of Richmond's most famous disasters.
Cover image for Historic Disasters of Richmond, isbn: 9781467118866