Author Prudy Taylor Board has compiled a collection of historical articles about the intriguing, but little known, people and events in the history of Fort Myers. Board traces the development of the city's prestigious neighborhoods and parks, while introducing readers to some of the most captivating and eccentric characters.

From the days of early tribes that hunted and fished to the tourists who later relaxed on the beaches, St. Simons Island has been part of the changing landscape of Georgia's coast. When Gen. James E. Oglethorpe established Fort Frederica to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the threat of Spain, it was, for a short time, a vibrant hub of British military operations. During the latter part of the 1700s, a plantation society thrived on the island until the outbreak of the War Between the States. Never returning to an agricultural community, by 1870 St. Simons re-established itself with the development of a booming timber industry. And by the 1870s, the pleasant climate and proximity to the sea drew visitors to St. Simons as a year-round resort. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a sleepy little place with only a few hundred permanent residents until 1941.

Killing Crazy Horse is the latest installment of the multimillion-selling Killing series is a gripping journey through the American West and the historic clashes between Native Americans and settlers. The bloody Battle of Tippecanoe was only the beginning. It's 1811 and President James Madison has ordered the destruction of Shawnee warrior chief Tecumseh's alliance of tribes in the Great Lakes region. But while General William Henry Harrison would win this fight, the armed conflict between Native Americans and the newly formed United States would rage on for decades. Bestselling authors Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard venture through the fraught history of our country's founding on already occupied lands, from General Andrew Jackson's brutal battles with the Creek Nation to President James Monroe's epic "sea to shining sea" policy, to President Martin Van Buren's cruel enforcement of a "treaty" that forced the Cherokee Nation out of their homelands along what would be called the Trail of Tears. O'Reilly and Dugard take readers behind the legends to reveal never-before-told historical moments in the fascinating creation story of America. This fast-paced, wild ride through the American frontier will shock readers and impart unexpected lessons that reverberate to this day.

Ocean Shores was the newest city in Washington for nearly 40 years, but for centuries before it had been a place of permanent occupation and food gathering for Native American tribes and a place for sea otter hunters, pioneers, and settlers to reach the interior of the Olympic Peninsula. Before Ocean Shores, there was the dream of a town called Cedarville followed by the reality of Lone Tree with its post office and 200 residents. Point Brown Peninsula was a village of survival for Polynesian Kanakas, Finns living on the edge of society, migrant workers called Bluebills, and a Hooverville for depression-era families. After World War II, when developers first conceived of creating a "Venice of the West," many said their dream would never last. However, in 1970, Ocean Shores became a city and today has entered its 50th year of development.

Ideally located where the Washougal River meets the mighty Columbia, the town of Washougal rests at the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge, land of the native Chinook tribes. It was at Cottonwood Beach that Lewis and Clark spent six days reprovisioning in 1806. Settlers followed, loading wagons with bacon, flour, salt, and beans and heading west. These pioneers were not the lean, get-rich-quick bachelors of the California gold rush. These were family men, bringing with them six or seven children at a time and, once established, having six or seven more. The town itself was established in 1880 on land claimed by Richard Ough, a sailor who settled down in order to win his Chinook princess bride, Betsey White Wing. Washougal's first families -- among them Oughs, Cottrells, Durgans, Kisers, Aunes, Webbers, and Goots -- cleared the forest, planted orchards, and raised grass-fat dairy cows. Their descendents, and the emigrants who followed them, continued the work of building this unique community and its strong sense of place.

The Olympic Mountains rise up from the sea with moss-draped forests growing right to the water's edge. Glaciers crown steep slopes while alpine meadows and lush valleys teem with elk, deer, cougars, bears, and species known nowhere else on earth. The Olympic National Park was created in 1938 to protect the grandeur of the Olympic Mountains. The rugged coastal area was added in 1953. To further protect this remnant of wild America, Congress designated 95 percent of the park as the Olympic Wilderness in 1988. Today it is recognized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site and one of the most popular wilderness destinations in North America. It is a place that changed the people who would conquer it. Farmers gave up; miners found no riches; loggers reforested. Tourism came early and endures.

Butte, Montana, nestled in the Rocky Mountains at 5,545 feet, hosts classic architecture, a vibrant past, and an abundance of colorful characters. The massive copper ore deposits underlying the town earned it the nickname aThe Richest Hill on Earth,a and Butte was the nationas major supplier of copper that helped electrify the world. Also shown here is Butteas early adoption of innovative ideas and technologies, a practice that kept the city thriving despite the vagaries of the mining industry. The enduring spirit of its people, however, lends Butte an exuberant character. Unlike other mining towns, Butte had the audacity to survive, and its rich history and forward thinking will ensure its existence for many generations to come. Today statuesque gallows frames stand testament to Butteas mining past, along with a historic town center that reminds people of that eraas prosperity.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN HISTORY "Full of...lively insights and lucid prose" (The Wall Street Journal) an epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States-from before the arrival of Columbus to the present day-written by one of the world's leading historians of Cuba. In 1961, at the height of the Cold War, the United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba, where a momentous revolution had taken power three years earlier. For more than half a century, the stand-off continued-through the tenure of ten American presidents and the fifty-year rule of Fidel Castro. His death in 2016, and the retirement of his brother and successor Raul Castro in 2021, have spurred questions about the country's future. Meanwhile, politics in Washington-Barack Obama's opening to the island, Donald Trump's reversal of that policy, and the election of Joe Biden-have made the relationship between the two nations a subject of debate once more. Now, award-winning historian Ada Ferrer delivers an "important" (The Guardian) and moving chronicle that demands a new reckoning with both the island's past and its relationship with the United States. Spanning more than five centuries, Cuba: An American History provides us with a front-row seat as we witness the evolution of the modern nation, with its dramatic record of conquest and colonization, of slavery and freedom, of independence and revolutions made and unmade. Along the way, Ferrer explores the sometimes surprising, often troubled intimacy between the two countries, documenting not only the influence of the United States on Cuba but also the many ways the island has been a recurring presence in US affairs. This is a story that will give Americans unexpected insights into the history of their own nation and, in so doing, help them imagine a new relationship with Cuba; "readers will close [this] fascinating book with a sense of hope" (The Economist). Filled with rousing stories and characters, and drawing on more than thirty years of research in Cuba, Spain, and the United States-as well as the author's own extensive travel to the island over the same period-this is a stunning and monumental account like no other.

The communities of Crown Heights and Weeksville are historically significant Brooklyn neighborhoods with foundations that trace back to New York's early founding. Revolutionary War skirmishes took place there, and following the emancipation of slaves in 1827, Weeksville became the site of one of New York's earliest independent African American townships. The hills of Brooklyn's Green Mountains hindered early settlement, and as a result a plethora of community institutions instead abounded in this far-flung outpost, including a penitentiary, hospitals, almshouses, old-age homes, convents, and monasteries. Traces of some of these early structures still remain. Using vintage images, Crown Heights and Weeksville chronicles the dynamic evolution of this area from rural township to the desirable center of culture, urban convenience, and architectural beauty.

There were other settlers on the westernmost shores of Puget Sound when David Shelton arrived in 1854. Development was slow, but by 1888, Sheltonas claim prevailed to become the hub of commerce and the seat of Mason County. The town welcomed aall who were willing to work, a promoted journalist Grant C. Angle. Shelton became the headquarters for the Simpson Timber Company and a research center for Rayonier, Inc. Shellfish growers shipped oysters across the country. Strong fellowships were built through churches and organizations such as the Masons, and celebrations like the Fourth of July and the Forest Festival. The surrounding forests and waters provided work and recreation, but the town of Shelton gave its residents a sense of community.

The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and became the backbone of an economic and cultural explosion that defined the image of New York. The canal's development spurred successful industry and a booming economy, sparking massive urban growth in an area that was previously virtually unexplored wilderness. People poured west into this new space, drawn by the ability to ship goods along the canal to the Hudson River, New York City, and the world beyond. Erie Canal is a compilation of 200 vintage images from the Erie Canal Museum's documentary collection of New York's canal system. Vintage postcards depict life and industry along the canal, including not only the Erie itself but also the lateral and feeder canals that completed the state-wide system.