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Put on your life vest and head out for this exciting, entertaining history of Florida's most-fascinating smugglers!

Think you're a smuggler? With that box of Cuban cigars or those unclaimed duty-free souvenirs from last summer's trip to Paris? Untaxed and untraced commerce-call it contraband-is a trillion-dollar-per-year global business. New technologies to discover and curb smuggling are met by equally well-equipped perpetrators, determined to stay below the radar.

With its long coastline, hundreds of remote landing strips and airports clogged with sun-seeking tourists, Florida is a superhighway of smuggling. It is easy to move illegal goods like weapons, drugs, slaves, exotic birds and flowers; all while avoiding the best efforts of U.S. and international customs authorities.

Who does this smuggling? Well one Florida governor and the wife of another, for starters. Hardscrabble commercial fishermen, Spanish explorers, Mafia mobsters, crew chiefs for fruit pickers, respected attorneys, just about everybody in Florida is a smuggler.

Smuggling touches every major episode in Florida's history; it's discovery and settlement, the Seminole Wars , and the Civil War were shaped by smugglers. The state's repeated land booms-including today's-are heavily influenced by smuggler profits. Today's business economy is warped by the manipulation of smugglers laundering their profits.

Stan Zimmerman means neither to vilify nor glorify these entrepreneurs. Nor does he intend to leave any stoned unturned or suitcase unopened. With stories of drug runners and prostitute pushers alongside the exploits and follies of Florida's elite, we are able to see why throughout its long history, Florida has always been a true smuggler's paradise.

While legislators were writing the first laws in Alabama, some miscreant citizens were already breaking them, causing disorder and fleeing the hands of justice.

Among these were cult-leader-turned-murderer "Bloody" Bob Sims, social-activist-turned-anarchist Albert Parsons, the mysterious hobo bandit Railroad Bill and the nefarious outlaw sheriff Steve Renfroe, who was credited with countless prison escapes, thefts and arson. Legendary Wild West figures Frank and Jesse James also appeared in Alabama, along with numerous other well-known gunslingers, pirates, crooks and desperados. Bushwhackers caused widespread chaos during the Civil War and were considered outlaws depending on which side you supported. Join real-life partners in crime Kelly Kazek and Wil Elrick as they recount the atrocities of some of Alabama's most infamous lawbreakers.

In 1949, two bandits from Youngstown, Ohio, boarded a B&O passenger train from Washington, D.C., to Detroit. In the West Virginia mountains near Martinsburg, Luman "Lu" Ramsdell and his gang stopped the train to rob and terrorize nearly 150 people on board. They pistol-whipped several and shot at others before exiting the train to next rob a tavern and hijack getaway cars. National headlines likened the event to the exploits of Jesse James and the infamous days of the Wild West. Lu and the gang led authorities on a chase that ended with a harrowing shootout five blocks from the White House. Climb aboard with author Wilson Casey for a firsthand account from the head bandit himself in this true tale of America's last moving train robbery.

Down-home sayings, turns of phrase and expressions that have stood the test of time and tell the story of Eastern North Carolina word by word.

Growing up on a farm in the heart of eastern North Carolina's tobacco country, author Phil Beaman has been surrounded by country folk and their colorful language his entire life. Though these communities continue to change, the bond of their phrases, expressions, colloquialisms and just plain talk has remained within the hearts and minds of their people. Beaman chronicles this language in a humorous and fascinating collection of eastern North Carolina's most down-home sayings. Everything from the weather to drunken sayings to gobbledygook is presented straight from the horse's mouth. You may not know how to pronounce some of the words, but you will surely enjoy a trip back to the halcyon days of livin' off the land and chewin' the fat..

The three years from 1909 to 1911 were busy ones in Richmond, what with the misadventures of Adon A. Yoder, a muckraking
pamphleteer who gets beaten up, sued and thrown in jail; the organizing of women like Lila Meade Valentine to fight for their right to vote; the art of sculptor Ferruccio Legnaioli; the novels of Ellen Glasgow, Mary Johnston and James Branch Cabell; increased restrictions against African Americans; a public spectacle surrounding the murder trial of Henry Clay Beattie Jr.; exotic flying machines and automobile endurance contests; and the recording of Polk Miller and his Old South Quartette. Join local author Harry Kollatz Jr. (True Richmond Stories) as he revives the city of a century ago for a tour of Richmond in ragtime.

Discover the tricks of the trade: smuggling the liquor and evading the law. Learn of the dealings of "the Real McCoy." In this history of Prohibition in south Florida, author Sally J. Ling explores the impact of bootleggers and moonshiners on Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties, presenting tales of rumrunning and lawbreaking as told through personal and written accounts.

A gay love triangle, drug deals, and a murder. Just another night in West Palm Beach in 1984?

Jeffrey Heagerty was like most young gay nineteen-year-olds in South Florida in the 1980s, commonly finding himself and his friends at the popular Kevin's Cabaret in West Palm Beach on Saturday nights. On one of those Saturday nights in 1984, Jeff vanished from the club, leaving his friends behind even though he was their ride home. His body was found in a canal the next morning and his car was missing, only to be found a month later, abandoned on the other side of town. Rumors of a love triangle, drug dealings and sexual encounters snarled police efforts at solving the case. The investigation stagnated and the case grew cold until the solution came from two unexpected sources: overlooked details in police photographs of Jeff's car and a mysterious letter from an inmate in the Palm Beach County Jail.

Author and historian Chris Dier reveals the horrifying true story behind the St. Bernard Parish Massacre.

As African American men gained the right to vote, white Democrats of St. Bernard Parish feared losing their majority. Armed groups mobilized to suppress these recently emancipated voters in the hopes of regaining a way of life turned upside down by the Civil War and Reconstruction. Days before the tumultuous presidential election of 1868, the parish descended into chaos. Freedpeople were dragged from their homes and murdered in cold blood. Many fled to the cane fields to hide from their attackers. The reported number of those killed varies from 35 to 135. The tragedy was hidden, but implications reverberated throughout the South and lingered for generations.

As Atlanta finished rebuilding after the Civil War, a new horror arose from the ashes to roam the night streets.

Beginning in 1911, a killer whose methods mimicked the famed Jack the Ripper murdered at least twenty black women, from prostitutes to working-class women and mothers. Each murder attributed to the killer occurred on a Saturday night, and for one terrifying spring in 1911, a fresh body turned up every Sunday morning. Amid a stifling investigation, slayings continued until 1915. As many as six men were arrested for the crimes, but investigators never discovered the identity of the killer, or killers, despite having several suspects in custody. Join local historian Jeffrey Wells as he reveals the case of the Atlanta Ripper, unsolved to this day.

Charleston County Sheriff's Deputy Reggie Sharpe presents his experiences from fifteen years behind the badge, and holds forth on life, death, sex, drugs and humor in a straightforward, addictively readable style. True Stories from a Lowcountry Cop offers an insider's view, both honest and entertaining, of those sworn "to protect and serve."