From the stories of our classic theaters to tales of industry and intrigue featuring the savvy and tough entrepreneurs of movie entertainment, this first-ever history of cinema in the Twin Cities reveals the influence of Hollywood on the lives and imaginations of Minnesotans—and that of Minnesotans on the film industry today.Filled with photos of the dazzling marquees and great theaters of yesterday and today, historian Dave Kenney's highly readable account offers rich histories of...

A History of the 1970s in Minnesota, looking closely at this transitional time, a ten-year evolution of the state from the anti-establishment tumult of the Sixties to the Reagan conservatism of the Eighties. Based on primary documents, oral histories, collection photographs, and close look at history, politics, and popular culture of the decade, including the state's prominence in national politics, environmentalism, immigration change, feminist change, grassroots activism including Native...

Shot All to Hell by Mark Lee Gardner recounts the thrilling life of Jesse James, Frank James, the Younger brothers, and the most famous bank robbery of all time.Follow the Wild West’s most celebrated gang of outlaws as they step inside Northfield’s First National Bank and back out on the streets to square off with heroic citizens who risked their lives to defend justice in Minnesota.With compelling details that chronicle the two-week chase that followed—the near misses, the...

In 1834 Samuel W. Pond and his brother Gideon built a cabin near Cloud Man's village of the Dakota Indians on the shore of Lake Calhoun—now present-day Minneapolis—intending to preach Christianity to the Indians. The brothers were to spend nearly twenty years learning the Dakota language and observing how the Indians lived.In the 1860s and 1870s, after the Dakota had fought a disastrous war with the whites who had taken their land, Samuel Pond recorded his recollections of the Indi...

In January 1966, navy nurse Lieutenant Kay Bauer stepped off a pan am airliner into the stifling heat of Saigon and was issued a camouflage uniform, boots, and a rifle. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she said of the weapon. "I'm a nurse."Bauer was one of approximately six thousand military nurses who served in Vietnam. Historian Kim Heikkila here delves into the experiences of fifteen nurse veterans from Minnesota, exploring what drove them to enlist, what happened to them i...

Rediscover Wisconsin history from the very beginning. A Short History of Wisconsin recounts the landscapes, people, and traditions that have made the state the multifaceted place it is today. With an approach both comprehensive and accessible, historian Erika Janik covers several centuries of Wisconsin's remarkable past, showing how the state was shaped by the same world wars, waves of new inhabitants, and upheavals in society and politics that shaped the nation.Swift, aut...

Relive the most thrilling seasons of Cleveland Indians baseball in recent memory! Remember the excitement of those first years at Jacobs Field? When it seemed the Indians could find a way to win almost any game? When screaming fans rocked the jam-packed stands every night? When a brash young team snapped a forty-year slump and electrified the city? Those weren’t baseball seasons, they were year-long celebrations. Step back into the glory days with sportswriter Terry ...

James Patrick Lyons abandoned his family for a life on Kansas City’s skid row. A town drunk, he was arrested eighty times for public intoxication. On the night of his last arrest, he was taken to the city jail and held in solitary confinement. The next morning he was dead. Officials said it was natural causes—yet they could not explain his broken neck.When Richard Serrano learned of the grandfather he had never known, the longtime journalist embarked upon a search that led him deep...

One of the nation's most colorful leaders, Confederate general John Hunt Morgan, took his cavalry through enemy-occupied territory in three states in one of the longest offensives of the Civil War. A military operation unlike any other on American soil, Morgan's Raid was characterized by incredible speed, superhuman endurance and innovative tactics.The effort produced the only battles fought north of the Ohio River and reached farther north than any other regular Confederate force. With tw...

Eloise, which started out as a poorhouse, later became known as Wayne County General Hospital. Today, all that remains are five buildings and a smokestack. From only 35 residents on 280 acres in 1839, the complex grew dramatically after the Civil War until the total land involved was 902 acres and the total number of patients was about 10,000. Only one of them, the Kay Beard Building, is currently used.In Eloise: Poorhouse, Farm, Asylum, and Hospital, 1839-1984, this institution and medica...

"Engaging" stories of what the Motor City was like before the invention of the motor, with photos and illustrations ( Detroit Metro-Times).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 characte...

A nostalgic journey into the life of these Wisconsin shopping meccas—including photos and illustrations.For well over a century, Milwaukee shoppers have had Gimbels or Schuster's in their lives. Even if they didn't crave sewing notions or prize-winning apple pies, they were watching holiday parades wind by, tuning in for Billie the Brownie's radio updates, or losing themselves in front of one of the department stores' fabulous window displays. Not only were they ma...