How does a state, tarnished with a racist, violent history, emerge from the modern civil rights movement with a reputation for tolerance and progression "Old South, New South, or Down South?: Florida and the Modern Civil Rights Movement" exposes the image, illusion, and reality behind Florida's hidden story of racial discrimination and violence. By exploring multiple perspectives on racially motivated events, such as black agency, political stonewalling, and racist assaults, this collection of nine essays reconceptualizes the civil rights legacy of the Sunshine State. Its dissection of local, isolated acts of rebellion reveals a strategic, political concealment of the once dominant, often overlooked, old south attitude towards race in Florida.

This groundbreaking analysis of Confederate demobilization examines the state of mind of Confederate soldiers in the immediate aftermath of war. Having survived severe psychological as well as physical trauma, they now faced the unknown as they headed back home in defeat. Lost Causes analyzes the interlude between soldier and veteran, suggesting that defeat and demobilization actually reinforced Confederate identity as well as public memory of the war and southern resistance to African American civil rights. Intense material shortages and images of the war's devastation confronted the defeated soldiers-turned-veterans as they returned home to a revolutionized society. Their thoughts upon homecoming turned to immediate economic survival, a radically altered relationship with freed people, and life under Yankee rule-all against the backdrop of fearful uncertainty. Bradley R. Clampitt argues that the experiences of returning soldiers helped establish the ideological underpinnings of the Lost Cause and create an identity based upon shared suffering and sacrifice, a pervasive commitment to white supremacy, and an aversion to Federal rule and all things northern. As Lost Causes reveals, most Confederate veterans remained diehard Rebels despite demobilization and the demise of the Confederate States of America.

A fascinating collection of thirty compelling stories about events that shaped Gotham, "It Happened
in New York City" describes everything from the installation of the Statue of Liberty to the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, from the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11 to the construction of the new Yankee stadium, slated to open in 2009.

Of the many iconic towns of the old West, none has quite captured our imagination like Deadwood. From the legacy of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane to the current resurgence in mining and gambling, this city in the Black Hills of South Dakota continues to occupy a central place in the American mythos. "Deadwood" brings together the most captivating writings about the wildest town in the West, including excerpts from novels, period newspaper articles, biographies, and even song lyrics.

A fascinating collection of thirty-five compelling stories about events that shaped Old Dominion, "It Happened in Virginia "describes everything from the invention of America's original instrument, the banjo, to how Stonewall Jackson acquired his nickname.

A fascinating collection of thirty compelling stories about events that shaped the Emerald City, "It Happened in Seattle "describes everything from the battle of Seattle in 1856 to the Nisqually earthquake of 2001.

From Jo Monaghan, the Southern-belle-debutant turned Idaho cattlewoman, to Fanny Sperry Steele, the Bucking Horse Champion of the World, the Wild West was populated with untamed women who worked and played as men did in the saddles of their favorite bucking broncos. This book brings together their stories, including their own thoughts about being cowgirls, and archival art that celebrates the Western experience.

Born in the northern region of the Sierra Nevada mountains, Marie Mason Potts (1895-1978), a Mountain Maidu woman, became one of the most influential California Indian activists of her generation. In this illuminating book, Terri A. Castaneda explores Potts's rich life story, from her formative years in off-reservation boarding schools, through marriage and motherhood, and into national spheres of Native American politics and cultural revitalization. During the early twentieth century, federal Indian policy imposed narrow restrictions on the dreams and aspirations of young Native girls. Castaneda demonstrates how Marie initially accepted these limitations and how, with determined resolve, she broke free of them. As a young student at Greenville Indian Industrial school, Marie navigated conditions that were perilous, even deadly, for many of her peers. Yet she excelled academically, and her adventurous spirit and intellectual ambition led her to transfer to Pennsylvania's Carlisle Indian Industrial School. After graduating in 1912, Marie Potts returned home, married a former schoolmate, and worked as a domestic laborer. Racism and socioeconomic inequality were inescapable, and Castaneda chronicles Potts's growing political consciousness within the urban milieu of Sacramento. Against this backdrop, the author analyzes Potts's significant work for the Federated Indians of California (FIC) and her thirty-year tenure as editor and publisher of the Smoke Signal newspaper. Potts's voluminous correspondence documents her steadfast conviction that California Indians deserved just compensation for their stolen ancestral lands, a decent standard of living, the right to practice their traditions, and political agency in their own affairs. Drawing extensively from this trove of writings, Castaneda privileges Potts's own voice in the telling of her story and offers a valuable history of California Indians in the twentieth century.

From Ponce de Leon's discovery of the "Land of Flowers" in 1513 to the suspense of the 2000 presidential election, "It Happened in Florida" takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of thirty of the most compelling episodes from the Sunshine State's vibrant past. This revised edition includes brand new glimpses into Florida history, a map, and a thorough index.

From the establishment of Roanoke to a miracle of modern medicine, It Happened in North Carolina takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of thirty compelling episodes from the vibrant history of the Tar Heel State. Guess the identity of the wealthy and mysterious stranger of New Orleans. Go back to June 27, 1857, and climb the highest peak in the East along with Elisha Mitchell, who died there. Discover how the last shot of the Civil War was fired in 1941. Get the inside story on the North Carolina gold rush, the Wright brothers' first real flight, a showdown at Torpedo Junction, and the case of the telltale laundry ticket.

A fascinating collection of thirty compelling stories about events that shaped Sin City, "It Happened in Las Vegas "describes everything from a nineteenth-century land deal that almost created two competing cities to the torrential rainstorm that flooded downtown Vegas with three inches of water.

How a modern-day mine disaster has turned a Pennsylvania community into a ghost town * For much of its history, Centralia, Pennsylvania, had a population of around 2,000. By 1981, this had dwindled to just over 1,000--not unusual for a onetime mining town. But as of 2007, Centralia had the unwelcome distinction of being the state's tiniest municipality, with a population of nine. The reason: an underground fire that began in 1962 has decimated the town with smoke and toxic gases, and has since made history. "Fire Underground" is the completely updated classic account of the fire that has been raging under Centralia for decades. David DeKok tells the story of how the fire actually began and how government officials failed to take effective action. By 1981 the fire was spewing deadly gases into homes. A twelve-year-old boy dropped into a steaming hole as a congressman toured nearby. DeKok describes how the people of Centralia banded together to finally win relocation funds--and he reveals what has happened to the few remaining residents as the fiftieth anniversary of the fire's beginning nears.

Badasses of the Old West brings together thirty-six tales of the worst (and best) robbers, rustlers, and bandits who shaped the history of the Wild West in one compelling volume. From the famous, such as Billy the Kid and the Wild Bunch, to the lesser-known but still colorful and wicked Charles Brown and Bud Stevens. Here are just some of the fascinating and forbidding faces you'll meet: -Bud Stevens, whose murder of a cattle king's son rang a death knell for an entire South Dakota town -William Quantrill, the terror of Civil War-era Missouri -Legendary bandits Frank and Jesse James -Cold-blooded Sam Brown, who sneered while cutting out a man's heart but screamed in terror when the tables turned -Jack Slade, a composite of gentleman and murderer who was such an enigma across much of the West that he charmed both Mark Twain and Buffalo Bill Dust off your six-shooter and settle into your saddle because this collection compiles the stories of the most notorious black-hat wearers of a notorious age.

After its establishment in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was sufficiently famous that numerous people risked bear maulings, Indian attacks, and geyser burns just to glimpse its wonders. A surprising number of those who survived wrote about their adventures. The best of these stories are collected in "Adventures in Yellowstone." Presenting a dozen narratives--journal entries, letters, and diaries--with an introduction to each, and with historic photographs, postcards, and woodcuts, this book is the essential compilation of the most gripping first-person accounts of the early years of America's most cherished national park.

China's Arctic Ambitions and What They Mean for Canada is an in-depth studies of China's increasing interest in the Arctic. It offers a holistic approach to understanding Chinese motivations and the potential impacts of greater Chinese presence in the circumpolar region, exploring resource development, shipping, scientific research, governance, and security.Drawing on extensive research in Chinese government documentation, business and media reports, and current academic literature, this timely volume eschews the traditional assumption that Chinese actions are unified and monolithic in their approach to Arctic affairs. Instead, it offers a careful analysis of the different, and often competing, interests and priorities of Chinese government and industry. Analyzing Chinese interests and activities from a Canadian perspective, the book provides an unparalleled point of reference to discuss the implications for the Canadian and broader circumpolar North.

Presenting a communicational perspective on the British empire in India during the 20th century, the book seeks to examine how, and explain why, British proconsuls, civil servants and even the monarch George V, as well as Indian nationalists, interacted with the media, primarily British and American, and with what consequences.

A fascinating collection of twenty-five compelling stories about events that shaped the Mile High City, It Happened in Denver describes everything from a nineteenth-century gold rush that turned a tent city into a bustling frontier outpost to the mid-1990s construction of a baseball stadium and the urban renewal that accompanied it. Discover why Denver nearly burned down in 1863 and why it was flooded a year later. Learn how wine barrels helped lay a foundation for the ski industry. And meet David Moffat, the man most responsible for building a rail line across the Rocky Mountains. In an easy-to-read style that's entertaining as well as informative, author Stephen Grace recounts some of the most famous (and infamous!) moments in the history of Colorado's largest city.

From the earliest days of French and Spanish rule to school integration in the 1960s, It Happened in New Orleans offers a unique look at intriguing people and episodes from the history of the Crescent City. March along with Creole Wild West during their first Mardi Gras. Experience the ten heady days of the longest woman-suffrage convention ever held. And discover a lovingly restored mausoleum where great New Orleans musicians are laid to rest.Meet the voodoo queen, a baroness, a pirate and many more real-life characters who helped make New Orleans the famous city it is today.What happens when the mighty Mississippi River overflows its banks and changes directions? What college began with gambling money? Find the answers to these questions and more in It Happened in New Orleans.

In a time and place teeming with miners desperate to strike it rich in the gold rush, the slow-moving stagecoach filled with other men's fortunes was often a temptation too great to resist. The treasure-laden express box quickly became a favorite target among road agents, making stagecoach robbery an enduring part of the mythology of the Old West.William Brazleton was bold enough to elude authorities - for a time, anyway - by reversing the direction of his steed's horseshoes. Arizona's "petticoat bandit" Pearl Hart liked to rob her stagecoaches with a polite and ladylike .38 caliber revolver. And the last stagecoach robber on the frontier was practically caught red-handed - his bloody palm print being the first used as evidence in a U.S. criminal prosecution.Great Stagecoach Robberies of the Old West tells the stories of hauls too large, murders too cold-blooded, and bandits too eccentric to fade into obscurity.

The only people tougher than the bank and train robbers of the Old West were the citizens who banded together to create law and order on the streets of their towns. Shoemakers and storekeepers, bank men and local lawmen, barbers and liverymen--they all fought to defend their homes and to defend their lives against the outlaws who threatened them.
Tough towns faced down famous gangs like the Daltons and the James-Youngers, drove off Mexican bandits, killed Pretty Boy Floyd's chief lieutenant, and helped put an end to the nineteenth-century rash of bank robbing in the West. Ordinary-people-turned-heroes joined their neighbors and fought--and sometimes died--because they wouldn't run away or turn a blind eye to crime. Their stories, told by historian and writer Robert Barr Smith, are a fascinating part of the legend of the Old West.

In the quiet predawn of August 9, 1877, along the tranquil banks of the North Fork of the Big Hole River, Chief Joseph and his refugee band of more than seven hundred Nez occurred warriors, women, and children were startled awake by four gunshots. Advancing stealthily toward the camp, Colonel John G. Gibbon and his Seventh U.S. Infantry had stumbled upon a solitary Indian rider and shot him from his horse. Less than thirty-six hours later, between sixty and ninety Nez Perce would be dead, as well as twenty-two soldiers, a civilian guide, and five civilian volunteers.Describing events that occured six weeks into the famous, five-month running battle now known as the Nez Perce War of 1877, The Battle of the Big Hole is a study of the heartbreaking futility of the Indian wars as well as a look at the cultural misunderstandings that helped give rise to those wars. From an array of original documents and first-person accounts, noted author Aubrey L. Haines presents the only exhaustive retelling of one of the landmark conflicts in the history of the American West.

During the 1800s trains carried the nation's wealth throughout the east, but no one thought to rob a speeding train until 1866. In 1870 the first western train was robbed in Nevada and within hours a second train was robbed. Railroads made every alteration to their cars and changed every procedure they could imagine to thwart the robbers, but to no avail. Robbing trains became epidemic over the next five decades, even when the legislatures made train robbery a capital crime. A few of the hundreds of train robberies stand out as thrilling and dangerous affairs, and the greatest of these (15-20) are included in this book.

This exciting new volume profiles several substantiated cases of female soldiers during the American Civil War, including Sarah Rosetta Wakeman (aka Private Lyons Wakeman, Union); Sarah Emma Edmonds (aka Private Frank Thompson, Union); Loreta Janeta Velazquez (aka Lieutenant Harry T. Buford, Confederate); and Jennie Hodgers (aka Private Albert D. J. Cashier, Union). Also featured are those women who may not have posed as male soldiers but who nonetheless pushed gender boundaries to act boldly in related military capacities, as spies, nurses, and vivandieres ("daughters of the regiment") who bore the flag in battle, rallied troops, and cared for the wounded.Examining the Civil War through the lens of these women soldiers who fought in the conflict offers valuable insight on existing historical work. This volume will acquaint readers with these women, offering in-depth biographies and behind-the-scenes information. While drawing from recent academic work, Women Soldiers of the Civl War is a lively text geared toward the general-audience reader.