Surprising tales and unexpected anecdotes color Rhode Island's legacy, from the accounts of its three brave "Titanic" survivors to the whirlwind Revolutionary War romance between a Smithfield girl and a French viscount. Rhode Island historian Glenn Laxton uncovers the exceptional citizens whom history has forgotten, like Robert the Hermit, a man who endured three escapes from slavery before finding liberty and peace in Rumford; the illustrious Lippitt family, who spearheaded advancements in deaf education; and Christiana Bannister, a Narragansett tribe member, nineteenth-century entrepreneur and wife to the most successful African American artist of the time. With moments of tragedy, as in the "Lexington" steamboat disaster, as well as triumph, as in the case of small-town boy turned baseball hero Joe Connolly, "Hidden History of Rhode Island" delivers the best Ocean State stories you've never heard before.

Raised from Rhode Island farmers and millworkers in the autumn of 1861, the Union soldiers of Battery G fought in such bloody conflicts as Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and Cedar Creek. At the storming of Petersburg on April 2, 1865, seven cannoneers were awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the face of the enemy. This history captures the battlefield exploits of the "Boys of Hope" but also depicts camp life, emerging cannon technology, and the social backdrop of the Civil War.