This collection of primary documents and previously published essays introduces students to the principal themes in recent scholarship on the social and cultural history of the Old South. The twelve essays cover a variety of topics including the relative modernity of the Old South, the proslavery defense of servitude, gender relations, southern honor and violence, the slave trade, the slaves' economy and community, and the histories of southern women - both black and white. The documents - including court cases, personal letters, diaries, travel accounts, newspaper stories, advertisements, and slave narratives - have been drawn directly from the essay sources in order to illustrate how historians construct arguments. Smith provides a detailed main introduction to the collection to help students situate the readings and documents within the larger context of the antebellum South. In addition, there are brief introductions to each document and essay, study questions, suggestions for further reading, a map, and a chronology of significant events.

A uniquely dark and elegant tale that illuminates the loneliness of childhood, the pain of loss and the power of imagination. It will charm and haunt its readers in equal measure. Eleven-year-old Mark is bored. He spends his days on the Brighton sea-front, practicing on his skate-board. His mother is too ill to leave the house, and his stepfather is determined that Mark shouldn't disturb her. So when the old lady who lives in the flat downstairs introduces him to rock cakes and offers to show him a secret, he's happy to indulge her. The old lady takes a large, old-fashioned key and leads Mark down a dusty corridor to a heavy door. Beyond the door is a world completely alien to Mark's understanding. For behind the old lady's tiny apartment, the house's original servants' quarters are still entirely intact, although derelict. Mark finds himself strangely drawn to this window onto the past, and when, the next time he visits, the old lady falls asleep, he steals the key and goes to visit the servants' quarters alone. And suddenly Mark's life takes a bizarre turn, as the past seems to collide with the present, dreams invade reality and truths become apparent to this hitherto unperceiving boy.

Beachhead n. 1.A position on an enemy shoreline captured by troops in advance of an invading force. 2. A first achievement that opens the way for further developments; a foothold. Gosyon and his comrades are the last of their kind, fleeing a dying solar system. Earth has become their final destination, capable of sustaining them quite comfortably. As an added bonus, the highest indigenous life form population is compatible... Are Gosyon's people invaders or rescuers in their own right? Are they justified in taking the fate of the world and reworking it into what they envision would be best? Perhaps they are, or perhaps this is a just a horrifying end to the world as we know it.

It's 18th century London, and Russian Wampyr Boris Alexeyev is returning to the home of the McCabe's for another meal and another victim. But instead of finding easy prey, the 800-year-old vampire finds Patricia, the woman of his dreams, stake in hand. Taking a fresh direction in a familiar genre, their tale tells of divergent worlds coming together in a story that is frightening, funny, and, in the end, heartwarming. M. M. Smith's Boris and Patricia weaves an intricate tapestry of cultures, memorable and eccentric characters, and real-world events that will leave captivated readers hungry for more. Second Edition 2012