Local History

From the golden age of piracy to Confederate privateers and oyster pirates, the maritime communities of the Chesapeake Bay are intimately tied to a fascinating history of intrigue, plunder and illicit commerce raiding. Author Jamie L.H. Goodall introduces infamous men like Edward "Blackbeard" Teach and "Black Sam" Bellamy, as well as lesser-known local figures like Gus Price and Berkeley Muse, whose tales of piracy are legendary from the harbor of Baltimore to the shores of Cape Charles.

Explore the awe, complexity, and enduring mystery of America’s last frontier. In A Fascination with Alaska: Beyond the Alaskan Cruise Naturalist, marine biologist William Stickle shares a lifetime of exploration, research, and teaching in Alaska’s wild and varied landscapes. With over sixty visits since 1967, Stickle offers a compelling portrait of the state’s dramatic geography, rich history, diverse ecosystems, and the effects of a changing climate.

From Puritan prayers to biotech breakthroughs, Boston has shaped the soul of a nation. In this vivid, cinematic journey through twenty defining chapters, author and narrator Derek Monaghan brings the city’s legacy to life—one rebellion, one invention, one heartbreak at a time.

When both levees and governments failed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, an organization calling itself the Common Ground Collective formed to become the largest anarchist inspired organization in modern US history. In solidarity with people in New Orleans, Common Ground built medical clinics, distributed aid, formed neighborhood assemblies and created food security through community gardens. The group also defied unjust laws by resisting home demolitions, and defended communities from white militias and police brutality.

From Indigenous roots to neon-lit honky-tonks, Nashville’s story is one of collision, creativity, and reinvention. In this immersive and emotionally resonant narrative, author Derek Monaghan traces the city’s evolution across ten cinematic chapters—blending historical clarity with human depth.

From ancient riverbanks to modern skylines, A Brief History of San Antonio traces the soul of one of America’s most storied cities. Author Derek Monaghan guides listeners through ten immersive chapters that blend historical depth with cinematic storytelling—revealing how Indigenous roots, Spanish missions, revolution, and resilience shaped San Antonio’s unique identity.

From fur traders to Ford, from Motown to modern tech, Detroit’s story is one of invention, upheaval, and relentless reinvention. In this cinematic nonfiction narrative, author Derek Monaghan traces the city’s dramatic arc across ten vivid chapters—exploring its Indigenous roots, industrial rise, cultural revolutions, civil rights struggles, and global legacy. Through immersive prose and emotional clarity, A Brief History of Detroit captures the soul of a city that built the future, burned through crisis, and continues to rebuild itself—block by block, beat by beat.

From Indigenous trails to towering skyscrapers, Chicago’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and relentless ambition. In this vivid and immersive narrative, Derek Monaghan guides listeners through ten pivotal chapters of the city’s evolution—exploring its origins, triumphs, and contradictions. Witness the devastation of the Great Fire and the grandeur of the 1893 World’s Fair. Walk alongside jazz legends, labor organizers, and civil rights leaders. Discover how Chicago became a global capital of architecture, activism, and artistic fire.

San Francisco is a city of reinvention—where fog meets fire, gold meets grit, and activism meets art. In this immersive and visually rich narrative, author Derek Monaghan traces the city’s evolution across ten defining chapters, blending historical depth with cinematic storytelling. From the ancestral lands of the Ohlone to the chaos of the Gold Rush, from the devastation of the 1906 earthquake to the daring construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, this book explores the forces that shaped San Francisco’s identity.

In October 1913, 261 miners and two rescuers died when a massive explosion ripped through a mine operated by Phelps, Dodge & Company in Dawson, New Mexico. Ten years later, a second blast claimed the lives of another 120 miners. Today, Dawson is a deserted ghost town. All that remains is a sea of white iron crosses memorializing the nearly four hundred miners killed in the two explosions-a death toll unmatched by mine disasters in any other town in America.

British demands to move the northern border as far south as the Ohio River put New York on the first line of defense. But it was the leadership of Governor Daniel D. Tompkins that distinguished the state’s contribution to the war effort, effectively mobilizing the considerable human and material resources that proved crucial to maintaining the nation’s sovereignty. New York’s War of 1812 shows how, despite a widespread antiwar movement and fierce partisan politics, Tompkins managed to corral and maintain support—until 1814, when Britain agreed to peace.

From ancient Indigenous civilizations to neon-lit nights on South Beach, A Brief History of Miami is a sweeping, cinematic journey through one of America’s most dynamic cities. Author and narrator Derek Monaghan brings Miami’s layered past to life with vivid storytelling, historical clarity, and emotional depth, capturing the city’s evolution through hurricanes, revolutions, cultural renaissances, and reinventions.

Part travel, part history, part adventure, and 100% Pure Michigan, The Turtle, The Mitten, and An Epic History of Michigan tells the irresistible story of the Wolverine State from the receding glaciers to the indigenous tribes to the European colonialists to the lumber kings, auto barons, and culture shapers who helped create the America we recognize today.

In 1980, Exxon U.S.A., the world's largest corporation, began development of a five-billion-dollar oil shale industry in the pristine Colorado River Valley. Within eighteen months, Exxon had canceled its elaborate Colony project and 2,100 workers were immediately laid off. Boomtown Blues chronicles the social, environmental, and economic havoc created by one of the most expensive boom and bust cycles in the history of the American West.

Are you excited about planning your next trip? Do you want to try something new? Would you like some guidance from a local? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this Greater Than a Tourist book is for you. Greater than a Tourist- Tunis, Tunisia by Bella Fraser offers the inside scoop on Tunis, Tunisia. Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this book will give you travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination.

The cowboy, America's most popular folk hero, appeals to millions of readers of novels, histories, biographies, and folk tales. Cowboys command a vast audience on country radio, television, and at the movies, but what exactly is a cowboy? Authors Joe B. Frantz and Julian Ernest Choate, Jr., reveal the real, dyed-in-the-wool cowboy as a heroic being from the American past, who richly deserves to be understood in terms of reality, instead of myth.

History of the American Frontier 1763-1893 by Frederic L. Paxson, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. Houghton Mifflin Company 1924. Pulitzer Prize-winner in History, 1925. The prize-winning History of the American Frontier, 1763-1893 covers a very wide sweep of topics, with unusual strength in handling violent relations between the frontiersman and the Indians. Paxson emphasized the impact on people of the process of moving to the west, downplaying the static aspects of specific localities.

Border Bandits is an account of the many, many stories of back-and-forth skirmishes between the Mexicans and Texans during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There practically wasn't a border, which caused a lot of problems and thievery between the two countries. These 17 tales in this book re-create border raids that originated from both sides of the fluid and much contested line and tells the stories of colorful characters - Mexican and American - that have since secured their place in history.

This is the heralded "definitive history" of Florida. No other book so fully or accurately captures the highs and lows, the grandeur and the craziness, the horrors and the glories of the past 500 years in the Land of Sunshine.

California was once the crown jewel of the American dream: prosperous, innovative, egalitarian, and aspirational. Today, it stands as a dystopian warning of what happens when nihilistic, radical ideology consumes the foundations of governance. In Failed State, Christopher Moritz dissects the unraveling of the Golden State with the precision of a lawyer, the depth of a historian, and the heartbreak of a California native son who has witnessed its collapse firsthand.