Arcadia Bestsellers

Decorated with a breathtaking landscape and a treasured collection of diversely styled bridges, the Merritt Parkway runs thirty-seven and a half miles through Fairfield County.

From its complicated beginnings to the present, authors Laurie Heiss and Jill Smyth navigate the hard-fought yet picturesque path of this beloved road. Meet the bridge artist, the landscapers, the politicians and the activists whose involvement in the Merritt transformed Fairfield County from farms and country estates to one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. With the dedication of preservationists and conservationists, the Merritt Parkway today remains both functional and beautiful, holding a unique place in the heart of Connecticut's drivers.

Discover a remarkably intimate and compelling view of the riots with stories of individuals on both sides of the conflict that rocked Kensington.

The outskirts of Philadelphia seethed with tension in the spring of 1844. By May 6, the situation between the newly arrived Irish Catholics and members of the anti-immigrant Nativist Party took an explosively violent turn. When the Irish asked to have their children excused from reading the Protestant version of the Bible in local public schools, the nativists held a protest. The Irish pushed back. For three days, riots scorched the streets of Kensington. Though the immigrants first had the upper hand, the nativists soon put the community to the torch. Those who fled were shot. Two Catholic churches burned to the ground, along with several blocks of houses, stores, a nunnery and a Catholic school. Local historian Kenneth W. Milano traces this tumultuous history from the preceding hostilities through the bloody skirmishes and finally to the aftermath of arrests and trials.

Through original journal and newspaper accounts, J. Stuart Richards's Death in the Mines revisits Pennsylvania's most notorious mining accidents and rescue attempts from 1869 to 1943.

Since 1870, mining disasters have claimed the lives of over 30,000 men and boys who toiled underground in the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania. Sometimes they survived; many times they did not. The constant threat of fire, explosion, collapsed rock and deadly gas brought miners face to face with death on a daily basis. Through original journal and newspaper accounts, J. Stuart Richards's Death in the Mines revisits Pennsylvania's most notorious mining accidents and rescue attempts from 1869 to 1943. From the fire at Avondale Colliery that resulted in the first law for regulation and inspection of mines, to the gas explosion at Lytle Mine in Primrose that killed fourteen men, Richards reveals multiple facets of Pennsylvania's most perilous profession. Richards, whose family has worked in the mines since 1870, offers a startling yet sensitive tribute to an industry and occupation that is often overlooked and underappreciated

While Cincinnati intended their new subway, started in 1920, to be a shining jewel for public transportation, the story of its origin and ultimate failure show the history of the Queen City.

Cincinnati emerged from a tumultuous 19th century as a growing metropolis committed to city planning. The most ambitious plan of the early twentieth century, the Cincinnati Subway, was doomed to failure. Construction began in 1920 and ended in 1927 when the money had run out. Today, two miles of empty subway tunnels still lie beneath Cincinnati, waiting to be used. The Cincinnati Subway tells the whole story, from the turbulent times in the 1880s to the ultimate failure of ""Cincinnati's White Elephant."" Along the way, the reader will learn about what was happening in Cincinnati during the growth of the subway-from the Courthouse Riots in 1884 to life in the Queen City during World War II.

Wright Field features scores of photographs that show the airfield from its founding in 1927 through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond.

From its founding in 1927 until the establishment of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 1948, Wright Field played a vital role keeping the Army Air Force positioned as the world's leader in aircraft design and development. The Second World War catapulted it into the forefront of America's war effort, as virtually every new aircraft produced for the Army Air Force was developed and tested in Dayton. Wright Field's testing program also had the fascinating task of studying captured enemy aircraft, including some powered by jet engines, which engineers at the installation were also developing. Images of Aviation: Wright Field features scores of amazing photographs that tell the story of the airfield from its founding in 1927 through World War II, the Cold War, and beyond. Readers will also see the impact the base has played in the local community by providing thousands of jobs, as well as some of the greatest air shows ever held in the United States. Finally, a collection of crash photographs reveals the often tragic consequences that inevitably come with the testing of advanced experimental aircraft.

In more than eighty grudge matches dating from the era of Knute Rockne and Howard Jones, the Trojans ruined potential Irish national titles in 1931, 1938, 1964, 1970, 1971 and 1980. The Fighting Irish obliterated USC national title hopes with season-ending victories in 1947 and 1952 and handed the Trojans their first losses of 1927, 1973 and 1995. The Irish bounced USC from No. 1 in 1968 with a legendary 21-21 tie and ensured their own 1988 national championship with a 27-19 victory. Join author Don Lechman as he recounts the exploits of Johnny Lujack, Anthony Davis and hundreds of others in the gloried battles of Notre Dame vs. USC.

Ghostly travelers are said to wander the lonely roads of western Pennsylvania. Is it the angry spirit of a jealous husband or a gypsy king who stalks Erie County's Axe Murder Hollow?

A creeping fog rises from Blue Mist Road, and stories of car crashes, lynchings and even strange beasts haunt this isolated stretch outside Pittsburgh. Shades of Death Road in Washington County may be host to phantom coal miners killed during a deadly labor dispute. With firsthand accounts and historical research, authors Thomas White and Tony Lavorgne travel the backcountry roads and byways of western Pennsylvania to discover their ghost tales and mysterious legends.

In 1604, when Frenchmen landed on Saint Croix Island, they were far from the first people to walk along its shores.

For thousands of years, Etchemins--whose descendants were members of the Wabanaki Confederacy--had lived, loved and labored in Down East Maine. Bound together with neighboring people, all of whom relied heavily on canoes for transportation, trade and survival, each group still maintained its own unique cultures and customs. After the French arrived, they faced unspeakable hardships, from ""the Great Dying,"" when disease killed up to 90 percent of coastal populations, to centuries of discrimination. Yet they never abandoned Ketakamigwa, their homeland. In this book, anthropologist William Haviland relates the history of hardship and survival endured by the natives of the Down East coast and how they have maintained their way of life over the past four hundred years.

A fundamental reevaluation of how to be a sports fan by an acclaimed baseball writer.

Sports fandom isn't what it used to be. Owners and executives increasingly count on the blind loyalty of their fans and too often act against the team's best interest. Sports fans are left deliberating not only mismanagement, but also political, health, and ethical issues.

In Rethinking Fandom: How To Beat The Sports Industrial Complex at Its Own Game, sportswriter (and lifelong sports fan) Craig Calcaterra outlines endemic problems with what he calls the Sports-Industrial Complex, such as intentionally tanking a season to get a high draft pick, scamming local governments to build cushy new stadiums, actively subverting the players, bad stadium deals, racism, concussions, and more. But he doesn't give up on professional sports. In the second half of the book, he proposes strategies to reclaim joy in fandom: rooting for players instead of teams, being a fair-weather fan, becoming an activist, and other clever solutions.

With his characteristic wit and piercing commentary, Calcaterra argues that fans have more power than they realize to change how their teams behave.

Anxiety may be the defining feeling of our current era, and though it affects many people on a deeply personal level, the last few years have also witnessed the rise of more communal feelings of dread and unknowing, problems that sometimes seem too big to face. Will the United States remain a democracy? Can we still have meaningful lives amid the rubble of late capitalism and the inevitable creep of climate change? How do we even start to grapple with a problem so large it seems to pervade almost every corner of our lives?

In Reading Arendt in the Waiting Room, Jonathan Foiles, a licensed psychotherapist and lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, explains how philosophy can help us respond to these deep questions and communal worries about modern life. Read how Søren Kierkegaard can speak to feelings of helplessness in the face of police violence, how Hannah Arendt can help us rethink the seemingly unavoidable problem of a warming planet, and how social advocates like Jane Addams and Dorothy Day can offer hope and resolve in a world that sometimes seems like it’s already ended.

Thoughtful, discerning, personal, and accessible, Reading Arendt in the Waiting Room will serve as a concise companion for anyone looking to address our cultural unease and find new ways to face it together. 

A Portal to Rock ‘N’ Roll History

During the 1970s, Chicagoland venues hosted an eclectic mix of legendary rock ‘n’ roll acts that thrilled audiences. Fans flocked to historic venues like the Auditorium Theater, International Amphitheatre, Arie Crown Theatre, Kinetic Playground and B’Ginnings to forge relationships and hear music that shaped their youth and endured a lifetime. Acts like Led Zeppelin, the Who, Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Wings, Genesis and so many others took the stage here during rock’s most prolific and memorable era.  Jim Summaria and Mark Plotnick bring those mind-blowing performances back to life with exclusive concert photos, histories, trivia and more.  

David D. Morrison, retired Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) branch line manager and railroad historian, has compiled rare photographs to showcase the shops that power the LIRR, the busiest railroad in North America.

The LIRR provides passenger rail service from Midtown Manhattan to to the far ends of Long Island at Greenport and Montauk. A vast operation such as this requires a huge fleet of locomotives and cars. The reliability of the fleet rests mainly upon the shop maintenance facility. The Morris Park Shops, opened in 1889 and closed in the early 2000s, provided over a century of maintenance and repair service, allowing the LIRR to develop and expand through the years. The complexity of the shop facility, from the days of steam locomotives to multiple-unit electric cars and diesel locomotives, is a fascinating chapter in LIRR history.

Faith, family and food.

Between 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States. Tens of thousands flocked to Newark and reshaped a city. Many settled in the Old First Ward, which once claimed the title of largest Little Italy in New Jersey. Clubs like the Spilingese Social Club sprang up to provide support and camaraderie and dishes like giambotta made their way into everyone’s kitchens. 

Author Andrea Lyn Cammarato-Van Benschoten traces the roots of Newark’s Italian communities.

Erie's Shocking Turn of the Century Extortion Scandal

On February 8, 1911, the Scott Mausoleum, a symbol of wealth for the Scott and Strong families in Erie, Pennsylvania, was desecrated by unknown vandals, coined by nationwide papers as ghouls. With the inside of the mausoleum heavily damaged - and a body missing - the crime set off shockwaves throughout the country during a time in which grave robbery, extortion and murder reigned supreme. 

Hundreds of reporters and newspaper correspondents throughout the country and world descend upon the Great Lakes port city. Private Detectives from the Perkins Detective Agency in Pittsburgh took charge of the case, pitted against rival detectives from the famous Burns Detective Agency. The case took a sinister turn when a series of letters were sent to wealthy local philanthropist Charles Hamot Strong, threatening to blow up his mausoleum and murder his granddaughter.

Author Justin Dombrowski presents the twists and turns of a historic and shocking crime and coverup in Erie, Pennsylvania.

A chronicling of the Indian wars fought between 1861 and 1865. While many know of the major events of the Civil War, few realize there were also Indian wars fought during that period of strife. This account covers those conflicts, from a prewar incident that sparked an Apache war in Arizona to the Navajo war in New Mexico, the Sioux uprising in Minnesota, and the struggle of the Plains Indians in Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas. Divided by chapters into the five years of the Civil War, this book reveals how the war impacted everyone in America, including Indians on the frontier.

Echoes of the past can be found in every corner of Monroe County.

Incredibly, the county has over a hundred lost towns across its fifteen townships. Some of these towns have notorious histories, such as the murderer who founded a village and the town that robbed its own citizens. Some succumbed to tragedy, including one that was swallowed up by the water and a resort town that disappeared. Others were simply absorbed by another state. Local historian and author of Hidden History of Monroe County, Michigan, Shawna Mazur collects the stories behind these vanished communities, revealing where these towns were located, how they grew and why they disappeared, often without a trace.

Ghost stories from The Witch City have never been so creepy, fun, and full of mystery!

Welcome to the spooky streets of Salem, Massachusetts!

Stay alert! Ghosts lurk around every corner. Even the most unexpected places might be haunted by wandering phantoms.

Did you know that inside Howard Street Cemetery, the ghost of accused witch Giles Corey wanders among the gravestones? Or that outside the Ropes Mansion, the ghost of Abigail Ropes can be seen peeking out of the windows? Have you heard that the Gardner-Pingree House on Essex Street is home to the spirit of a murdered sea captain?

Pulled right from history, these ghostly tales will change the way you see Salem forever, and have you sleeping with the lights on!

The Old Dominion’s defense of democracy…

The Commonwealth played a central role in United States involvement during the Cold War. With doomsday planning operations underway for World War III, the location of the Pentagon, CIA and other federal agencies established Northern Virginia as an epicenter of decision-making. As Virginia military bases readied for a potential surprise attack by the Soviet Union, local research facilities played a paramount role in the Space Race. In 1960, the Soviet Union’s shoot-down of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, a Virginia native, created a superpower crisis of epic proportions.

Cold War historians Francis Gary Powers Jr. and Christopher Sturdevant tell these and other tales of espionage, heroism and betrayal.

A history of the region as told through its folklore, music, and legends. Entertaining, informative, appealing, charming, and a thoroughly compelling read from first page to last.--Midwest Book Review

America's first superheroes lived in the Midwest. There was Nanabozho, the Ojibway man-god who conquered the King of Fish, took control of the North Wind, and inspired Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. Paul Bunyan, the larger-than-life North Woods lumberjack, created Minnesota's 10,000 lakes with his giant footsteps. More recently, Pittsburgh steelworker Joe Magerac squeezed out rails between his fingers, and Rosie the Riveter churned out the planes that won the world's most terrible war. In Folktales and Legends of the Middle West, Edward McClelland collects these stories and more, offering a magical history of the region and some of its larger-than-life characters. Readers will encounter all sorts of creatures here, including:

- Nain Rouge: the Demon that Haunts Detroit

- Peg Leg Joe and the songs of the Underground Railroad

- Mike Fink and the Pirates of Ohio

- The Hodag, the terror of Wisconsin's North Woods

- Bessie, the Lake Erie Monster.

By Edward McClelland (How to Speak Midwestern) and with gorgeous black and white illustrations by David Wilson, it's a wonderful look at the magical tales and folk traditions informing the American Midwest.

A book with something for every Midwesterner.

A new collection from a trailblazing writer of science fiction. Part of Belt's Revival Series and with an introduction by Brad Ricca.

Science fiction has historically been seen as a man's game, but from the very beginning, women have made their indelible mark on the genre. Alongside sci-fi pioneers like Mary Shelley and C. L. Moore, we should now add Clare Winger Harris, whose pulp stories in the early twentieth century paved the way for modern woman sci-fi writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood.

In Harris's world, you'll find gigantic insects, martians looking to steal Earth's water, and time travel to ancient Rome. Scholar Brad Ricca assembles ten of Harris's greatest short stories here, including "The Fifth Dimension," "The Fate of the Poseidonia," "The Menace of Mars," and "The Vibrometer." Their ideas are as fresh today as when Harris originally wrote them a century ago.

A wonderful collection by a little-known master of science fiction, this book will hold interest for feminist readers and scholars of sci-fi alike.

This hilarious, touching debut novel by Aaron Foley, author of How to Live in Detroit Without Being a Jackass, follows three Black gay millennial men looking for love, friendship, and professional success in the Motor City. 

Suddenly jobless and single after a devastating layoff and a breakup with his cheating ex, advertising copywriter Dominick Gibson flees his life in Hell's Kitchen to try and get back on track in his hometown of Detroit. He’s got one objective — exit the shallow dating pool ASAP and get married by thirty-five — and the deadline’s approaching fast.

Meanwhile, Dom's best friend, Troy Clements, an idealistic teacher who never left Michigan, finds himself at odds with all the men in his life: a troubled boyfriend he's desperate to hold onto, a perpetually dissatisfied father, and his other friend, Remy Patton. Remy, a rags-to-riches real estate agent known as “Mr. Detroit,” has his own problems — namely choosing between making it work with a long-distance lover or settling for a local Mr. Right Now who’s not quite Mr. Right. And when a high-stakes real estate deal threatens to blow up his friendship with Troy, the three men have to figure out how to navigate the pitfalls of friendship and a city that seems to be changing overnight.

Full of unforgettable characters, Boys Come First is about the trials and tribulations of real friendship, but also about the highlights and hiccups —late nights at the wine bar, awkward Grindr hookups, workplace microaggressions, situationships, frenemies, family drama, and of course, the group chat — that define Black, gay, millennial life in today’s Detroit.

“I’m sitting on the floor in my mother’s house, surrounded by stuff.”

So begins Jennifer Howard’s Clutter, an expansive assessment of our relationship to the things that share and shape our lives. Sparked by the painful two-year process of cleaning out her mother’s house in the wake of a devastating physical and emotional collapse, Howard sets her own personal struggle with clutter against a meticulously researched history of just how the developed world came to drown in material goods. With sharp prose and an eye for telling detail, she connects the dots between the Industrial Revolution, the Sears & Roebuck catalog, and the Container Store, and shines unsparing light on clutter’s darker connections to environmental devastation and hoarding disorder. In a confounding age when Amazon can deliver anything at the click of a mouse and decluttering guru Marie Kondo can become a reality TV star, Howard’s bracing analysis has never been more timely.

Part of Belt's city anthology series, a reconsideration of one of America's most misunderstood cities.

Is Indianapolis just another midwestern city to fly over on the way to bigger and better destinations? Or is it, as locals know, a place where different peoples and ideals converge to create a rich cultural center? The Indianapolis Anthology showcases Naptown's vibrancy and diversity with pieces from journalists, poets, historians, established community voices, and first-time writers. The Circle City is more than the home of the Indianapolis 500, John Dillinger, Kenneth Babyface Edmonds, Kurt Vonnegut, Prozac, and Wonder Bread. In these pages, you'll find:

- lawn chairs in the beds of pick-ups

- Punk rock in Naptown

- suffragists and entrepreneurs

- cement pietàs

- dog bakeries and yoga studios

- red brick bungalows and war memorials

- steakburgers and Mexican seafood; pho and sauerbraten.

In other words, you'll find images from a city that is truly a cross section of today's America. Edited by Norman Buzz Minnick and with contributions from Etheridge Knight, Terrance Hayes, Michael Martone, and Karen Kovacik.

An insiders' look that will make you see a great midwestern city in a brand-new light.

Vivian Gibson's bestselling memoir of growing up in the 1950s in a segregated St. Louis neighborhood has been hailed by critics as a spare, elegant jewel of a work and a love letter to Gibson's childhood.

Vivian Gibson grew up in Mill Creek Valley, a segregated working-class neighborhood in St. Louis that was razed in 1959 to build a highway, an act of racism disguised under urban renewal as progress. A moving memoir of family life at a time very different from the present, The Last Children of Mill Creek chronicles the everyday lived experiences of Gibson's large family―her seven siblings, her crafty, college-educated mother, and her hard-working father―and the friends, shop owners, church ladies, teachers, and others who made Mill Creek into a warm, tight-knit African American community. In Gibson's words, This memoir is about survival, as told from the viewpoint of a watchful young girl―a collection of decidedly universal stories that chronicle the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.

Winner of a Missouri Humanities award for literary achievement, The Last Children of Mill Creek is an important book for anyone interested in urban development, race, and community history―or for anyone who was once a child.

Martha’s Vineyard has always been a unique island and vacation destination, made even more diverse with the arrival of Black homeowners in the 19th century.

Early landowners included the formerly enslaved Charles Shearer, who along with his wife Henrietta, founded Shearer Cottage. However, the fall of the first Black community on the island came in the 1890s when forty Black and Indigenous people were required to remove their cottages from the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association. Despite this painful blow, other families, including the Wests, Jones and Huberts bought island homes, challenging restrictive and racist covenants that encumbered the properties. They then passed their homes on to subsequent generations, leading to a legacy of Black homeownership that thrives to this day. 

Authors Thomas Dresser and Richard Taylor explore the challenges, triumphs and the sense of community that has endured.

On a bitter November night in 1945, a widow shot her young boarder, a WWII veteran, and left him to die on the floor of his room.

Helen Clark tossed the gun under the neighbor’s porch and then took a taxi to join her teen daughters at a movie in Bristol. When the body was found, after several conflicting statements, she settled on the claim that he shot himself–four times, twice in the back. The Commonwealth of Virginia called it murder in a jealous rage. The trial enthralled the nation.

Local author Greg Lilly uses newspaper coverage of the murder, the investigation and the trial to reveal the facts of the Abingdon boardinghouse murder.