The prehistoric native peoples of the Mississippi River Valley and other areas of the Eastern Woodlands of the United States shared a complex set of symbols and motifs that constituted one of the greatest artistic traditions of the pre-Columbian Americas. Traditionally known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, these artifacts of copper, shell, stone, clay, and wood were the subject of the groundbreaking 2007 book Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms: Interpretations of Mississippian Iconography, which presented a major reconstruction of the rituals, cosmology, ideology, and political structures of the Mississippian peoples. Visualizing the Sacred advances the study of Mississippian iconography by delving into the regional variations within what is now known as the Mississippian Iconographic Interaction Sphere (MIIS). Bringing archaeological, ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and iconographic perspectives to the analysis of Mississippian art, contributors from several disciplines discuss variations in symbols and motifs among major sites and regions across a wide span of time and also consider what visual symbols reveal about elite status in diverse political environments. These findings represent the first formal identification of style regions within the Mississippian Iconographic Interaction Sphere and call for a new understanding of the MIIS as a network of localized, yet interrelated religious systems that experienced both continuity and change over time.

The Civil War divided the nation, communities, and families. The town of Batesville, Arkansas, found itself occupied three times by the Union army. This compelling book gives a unique perspective on the war's western edge through the diary of Mary Adelia Byers (1847-1918), who began recording her thoughts and observations during the Union occupation of Batesville in 1862.
Only fifteen when she starts her diary, Mary is beyond her years in maturity, as revealed by her acute observations of the world around her. At the same time, she appears very much a child of her era. Having lost her father at a young age, she and her family depend on the financial support of her Uncle William, a slaveowner and Confederate sympathizer. Through Mary's eyes we are given surprising insights into local society during a national crisis. On the one hand, we see her flirting with Confederate soldiers in the Batesville town square and, on the other, facing the grim reality of war by "setting up" through the night with dying soldiers. Her journal ends in March 1865, shortly before the war comes to a close.
"Torn by War "reveals the conflicts faced by an agricultural social elite economically dependent on slavery but situated on the fringes of the conflict between North and South. On a more personal level, it also shows how resilient and perceptive young people can be during times of crisis. Enhanced by extensive photographs, maps, and informative annotation, the volume is a valuable contribution to the growing body of literature on civilian life during the Civil War.