This is a postcard and photographic tour of every section of Arkansas. In this visual history - the Hanley brothers' most extensive book yet - readers will trace many towns' humble beginnings, with wooden-frame structures lining rutted dirt streets teeming with wagons, horses, and mules. The evolution of towns such as Walnut Ridge, Bentonville, Little Rock, and Lake Village, as well as tiny hamlets such as Black Rock and Ponca, unfolds before readers' eyes. Scenes from the 1950s feature stores such as Ben Franklin, OTASCO, and Western Auto. Success stories of Main Street preservation and revitalization in El Dorado, Siloam Springs, Conway, and Harrison show how local elders have set an example for other towns.

While little has been written about the USS Arkansas, this battleship carried the state's name through two world wars, a Mexican invasion, and into the atomic age. The USS Arkansas, measuring almost the length of two football fields, went to sea in 1911 and sailed the world until 1946 when it served as a target for the atomic bomb tests in the South Pacific. In between, the ship participated in the invasion of Vera Cruz, Mexico; served in World War I; helped Arkansas get an official flag; and assisted in the World War II battles at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Highlighting the narrative with previously unpublished photos, the authors tell the fascinating story of the ship and its men by referencing handwritten journals penciled in the midst of service and combat.