State & Local

The first comprehensive oral history of September 11, 2001 - a panoramic narrative woven from the voices of Americans on the front lines of an unprecedented national trauma....

The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death....

This exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads....

From the creators of the New York Times bestselling audio series Campfire Stories and MeatEater’s American History comes a new audiobook original that plunges listeners into the untamed world of a celebrated and misunderstood group of nineteenth-century outdoorsmen: the Mountain Men.

From one of Outside magazine’s “Literary All-Stars” comes the thrilling true tale of the fastest boat ride ever through the Grand Canyon, atop the legendary Colorado River flood of 1983.

Genteel society ladies who compare notes on their husbands' suicides. A hilariously foul-mouthed black drag queen....

Vicksburg, Mississippi, was the last stronghold of the Confederacy on the Mississippi River. It prevented the Union from using the river for shipping between the Union-controlled Midwest and New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico....

It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't exist. Located a mere s75 miles outside of Las Vegas in Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the US government - but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades....

Even among iconic frontiersmen like John C. Fremont, Kit Carson, and Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger stands out. A mountain man of the American West, straddling the fur trade era and the age of exploration, he lived the life legends are made of....

Killing the Witches revisits one of the most frightening and inexplicable episodes in American history: the events of 1692 and 1693 in Salem Village, Massachusetts....

The definitive, inside story of the Idaho murders from acclaimed bestselling author Howard Blum, whose groundbreaking coverage of the story was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

A shocking and revelatory account of the murder of Emmett Till that lays bare how forces from around the world converged on the Mississippi Delta in the long lead-up to the crime, and how the truth was erased for so long.

It was the most remarkable political about-face in American history. During the Civil War, General James Longstreet fought tenaciously for the Confederacy. He was alongside Lee at Gettysburg (and counseled him not to order the ill-fated attacks on entrenched Union forces there).

At the dawn of the 20th century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms....

The America we live in today was born on December 7, 1941, when almost 400 Japanese planes attacked the US Pacific fleet, killing 2,400 men and sinking or damaging 16 ships....

In a tour de force of historical reportage, Timothy Egan’s National Book Award-winning story rescues an iconic chapter of American history from the shadows....

The very strange but nevertheless true story of the dark underbelly of a 1960s hippie utopia. Laurel Canyon in the 1960s and early 1970s was a magical place....

An epic, heartbreaking, and deeply reported history of the disastrous humanitarian crisis at the southern border told through the lives of the migrants forced to risk everything and the policymakers who determine their fate, by New Yorker staff writer Jonathan Blitzer.

Hailed by critics as an American masterpiece, David McCullough's sweeping biography of Harry S. Truman captured the heart of the nation....

On May 24, 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell, and a ragtag band of nine mountain men embarked on the last great quest in the American West. The Grand Canyon, not explored before, was as mysterious as Atlantis - and as perilous....

On the 50th anniversary of American Track and Field icon Steve Prefontaine’s tragic death comes an essential reappraisal of his life and legacy, a powerful work of narrative history exploring the forces and psychology that made Prefontaine great and separating the man from the myths.

Using previously unexamined documents, Edda L. Fields-Blackk brings to life the story of the Combahee River Raid, one of Harriet Tubman's most extraordinary accomplishments, based on original documents and written by a descendant of one of the participants.

Emma Gatewood told her family she was going on a walk and left her small Ohio hometown with a change of clothes and less than $200....

The compelling, poignant true stories of victims of a notorious adoption scandal - some of whom learned the truth from Lisa Wingate’s best-selling novel Before We Were Yours and were reunited with birth family members as a result of its wide reach....

As a string of high-profile jewel thefts went unsolved during the Swinging Sixties, the press dubbed the elusive thief the King of Diamonds. Like Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, the King was so bold that he tip-toed into the homes of millionaires while they were home....

In Tearing Down the Orange Curtain, journalists Nate Jackson and Daniel Kohn explore the trajectory of punk and ska from their humble beginnings to their peak popularity years, where their cultural impact could be felt in music around the world. Delving deep into the personal and professional lives of bands like Social Distortion, The Adolescents, The Offspring, and their ska counterparts No Doubt, Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Save Ferris, and more, this book gives listeners a deeper look into the very human stories of these musicians.

In the fifty years since his tragic death in a car crash, Steve Prefontaine has towered over American distance running. One of the most recognizable and charismatic figures to ever run competitively in the United States, Prefontaine has endured as a source of inspiration and fascination—a talent who presaged the American running boom of the late 1970s and helped put Nike on the map as the brand’s first celebrity-athlete face. Now on the anniversary of his untimely death, author Brendan O’Meara, host of the Creative Nonfiction podcast, offers a fresh, definitive retelling of Prefontaine’s life.

On February 3, 1889, just two days shy of her forty-first birthday, Myra Maybelle Shirley—better known at that point by her outlaw sobriquet “Belle Starr”—was blown from her horse saddle and killed by a pair of shotgun blasts, delivered by an unseen assailant, only a few miles away from her home in the Indian Territory of present-day Oklahoma. Thus ended the life of one of the most colorful, authentic, and dangerous women in the history of the American West.

Three full-length true crime books in one disturbing collection — for less than the price of two. From bestselling author Logan Carter comes a dark and gripping omnibus that dives into obsession, Southern mayhem, and bizarre real-life crimes. True Crime: Disturbing includes three complete books, offering over 250 pages of shocking stories and criminal psychology — all for just $5.99 (each book sold separately at $2.99). Book 1: True Crime – Obsession Crimes fueled by obsession, fantasy, and desire gone wrong. These are the killers who couldn’t let go—and the victims who paid the ...

Thanks to the classic Dolly Parton film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and ZZ Top's ode "La Grange," many people think they know the story of the infamous Chicken Ranch. The reality is more complex, lying somewhere between heartbreaking and absurd. For more than a century, dirt farmers and big-cigar politicians alike rubbed shoulders at the Chicken Ranch, operated openly under the sheriff's watchful eye. Madam Edna Milton and her girls ran a tight, discreet ship. That is, until a secret conspiracy enlisted an opportunistic reporter to bring it all crashing down on primetime television.

Most people know Florida as the land of endless sunny beaches, Disney World, and NASA shuttle launches. But the state is also home to many hidden mysteries, eerie legends, and tales of bizarre creatures. In Eerie Florida, author Mark Muncy and photographer Kari Schultz provide a unique guide to these truly unique sites across the Sunshine State.

In Crisis on Mount Hood, author and emergency room doctor Christopher Van Tilburg looks at the history of America's oldest all-volunteer mountain rescue team, the Hood River Crag Rats, and his own three-decade commitment to search and rescue. Centered on Oregon's iconic 11,249-foot-high Mount Hood, considered by many to be the world's most-climbed glaciated peak, this dramatic narrative leads listeners through a century of life-and-death challenges.

The life and medical practice of Reuben Harris Muth, M.D., a rural saddlebag doctor, is reconstructed from an extant set of physician’s daybooks, chronicling his professional activity from 1858 until 1898, including patients seen and the fees charged. The daybooks also provided a modicum of hints at other activities in his life, including his farming business and the whereabouts of his wayward son. However, there were no personal letters or diaries available. Thus, other primary sources and local newspaper accounts were utilized to fill out the most likely details and actions of his life,...

The story of Chicago is often likened to that of a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the Great Fire. Yet that infamous event was only part of the destruction that has shaped Chicago's identity. This unique history explores the calamities that have befallen the Windy City, such as the 1954 killer water surge that swept in on a calm summer day; the 1967 tornado that ripped through rush hour traffic; the 1886 Haymarket Square riot that put Chicago on the anarchist map; and many other acts of nature and human folly.

Unlock the secrets of America's most legendary prison island. The History of Alcatraz: A Complete Guide to America's Most Infamous Prison Island is a captivating, thoroughly researched look at the rich and complex past of Alcatraz. From its early days as a Civil War-era military fort to its decades as a maximum-security federal penitentiary, this book explores why Alcatraz has remained a symbol of justice, power, and mystery in the American imagination. Walk the island through its many lives: the fortress that once protected San Francisco Bay, the prison that held notorious criminals like ...

Sasquatch doesn’t just haunt the Pacific Northwest—he’s been walking the woods of Ohio for decades. In Sasquatch Takes Ohio, researcher Allyssa Pressman compiles 15 real-life encounters from people across the Buckeye State. From eerie howls in Salt Fork State Park to roadside sightings near farmland, these accounts aren’t folklore—they’re witness testimony. Whether you’re a skeptic or a believer, these chilling stories might just convince you that something enormous is still out there... watching.

New England's history is marked with witch executions, curses, and an untold number of cemeteries hiding mysteries beneath their stones. In this sometimes harsh landscape, the truth is often stranger than fiction. Examine the footprints burned into the ledge of Devil's Foot Rock in Rhode Island. Spend a night at the Kennebunk Inn in Maine, where the mischievous specter of Silas Perkins still resides.

Deep in the forests of northeast Georgia, something stirs. Based on real reports from hikers, hunters, and lifelong locals, Bigfoot in Georgia: Chattahoochee National Forest presents 15 immersive encounters with something massive, unknown, and intelligent that walks the woods. These stories aren’t fiction. They’re dramatized retellings of eyewitness accounts, pulled from research and firsthand sources, written in the vivid, atmospheric style readers expect from Ethan Blackwood. Each encounter places you in the boots of those who lived it—alone in the wild, with the sound of something ...

Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) emigrated from his homeland of Germany to the United States with only seventy-five cents in his pocket, built a sugar empire, and became one of the richest Americans in history. Migrating to San Francisco after the gold rush, Spreckels built the largest sugar beet factory of its kind in the United States. When Spreckels gave America its first sugar cube, he became the “Sugar King.” The indomitable Spreckels was a colorful and complicated character on both sides of the Pacific.

Early Oklahoma was a haven for violent outlaws and a death trap for deputy U.S. marshals. The infamous Doolin gang's OK Hotel gunfight left five dead. Killers like Bible-quoting choir leader Deacon Jim Miller wreaked havoc. Gunslinger femme fatale Belle Starr specialized in horse theft. Wannabe outlaws like Al Jennings traded train robbing for politics and Hollywood films. And Elmer McCurdy's determination and inept skill earned him a carnival slot and the nickname "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up."

If when you think "Florida" you don't think "spectacular," Cathy Salustri is determined to change your mind. Explaining why the state is more than the "Florida Man" stories and the politics that so often make national news, and looking beyond the crowded beaches and theme parks, Salustri celebrates what makes the state worth a deeper understanding in this lively trip through its natural beauty and fascinating history.

In The Warren Court and Democratic Constitution, Horwitz highlights the radical shift in traditional jurisprudential ideas that occurred during Earl Warren's tenure as chief justice. He details how Brown v. Board of Education exerted a powerful influence on the agenda of the Warren Court and reshaped almost every subject area in constitutional law. With this decision, the concept of a "living Constitution," the idea that the Constitution ought to develop to accommodate social change, emerged and was institutionalized by the Court.

Long before it became the twentieth-century automotive capital, Detroit was a muddy port town full of grog shops, horse races, haphazard cemeteries, and enterprising bootstrappers from all over the world. In this lively book you'll discover the city's forgotten history and meet a variety of unforgettable characters.

The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 was a monumental achievement. Linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, it transformed New York City into a hub of international trade, drove the rise of industrial cities in once sparsely populated areas, and accelerated the westward expansion of the United States. Yet few of the laborers who toiled along the canal shared in the prosperity it brought.

The Story of Manhattan by Charles Hemstreet is a compelling narrative history of New York City, tracing the island’s evolution from a pristine, wooded homeland of Native Americans to the world-renowned metropolis we know today. Written in the early 20th century, this rich and engaging account captures pivotal moments—from Henry Hudson’s arrival aboard the Half Moon in 1609 to the colonial days of New Amsterdam, and beyond.