Often thought of as being for spring breakers or stock car and motorcycle enthusiasts, Daytona Beach and the surrounding area offer so much more for visitors and locals. If you are seeking fun in the sun, the World’s Most Famous Beach awaits. Volusia County offers almost 50 miles of hard-packed sands. For a unique experience, cruise along more than 15 miles of drivable beach. It’s an experience unique to Daytona Beach. Try climbing the 203 steps to the top of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse for...

When Florida seceded from the Union in 1861, St. Augustine followed much of the South and widely supported the Confederacy. Many residents rushed to join the Confederate army. Union forces, however, quickly seized the lightly protected town and used it as a rest area for battle-weary troops. Seven Union regiments called the city home during the war. While no major engagement took place in St. Augustine, the city is filled with Civil War history, from supporting the Confederacy to accepting...

New Smyrna Beach is the third-oldest city in Florida behind only St. Augustine and Pensacola. Originally settled by Dr. Andrew Turnbull in 1768, the city accumulated significant, intriguing and stunning monuments to its past. An unusual-looking memorial to world war heroes--a cross, battle helmet and eagle--sits at Riverside Park. One of the oddest sites is a single-stone cemetery with a vault dedicated to the memory of Charles Dummett. Because of the insects that inhabit Ponce Inlet, a we...

Dig into a treasure trove of nearly forgotten Sunshine State Civil War history.At the outset of the Civil War, Florida's entire population was only a bit larger than present-day Gainesville. Still, the state played an outsized role in the conflict. Floridians fought for the Union and Confederate armies. Sunshine State farmers provided beef and other foodstuffs for the Confederacy, rations that proved increasingly consequential as the years wore on. The battles of O...

In 1768, Scottish physician Andrew Turnbull arrived in Florida with more than 1,200 indentured servants. He and his partners dreamed of establishing a plantation settlement that would make them wealthy. Despite some successes, New Smyrna was not the financial windfall they had hoped for, and after only nine years, the settlement failed. Disgruntled workers appealed to East Florida governor Patrick Tonyn, who granted them their freedom. Many of the now free settlers took residence in St. Au...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America’s greatest generals—and most misunderstood presidentsWinner of the William Henry Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography • Finalist for the Gilder-Lehrman Military History Book PrizeIn his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the “Trinity of Great American Leade...

For sheer bravado and style, no woman in the North or South rivaled the Civil War heroine Rose O’Neale Greenhow. Fearless spy for the Confederacy, glittering Washington hostess, legendary beauty and lover, Rose Greenhow risked everything for the cause she valued more than life itself. In this superb portrait, biographer Ann Blackman tells the surprising true story of a unique woman in history.“I am a Southern woman, born with revolutionary blood in my veins,” Rose once declared–and...

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general in all his complexity—his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor."An important contribution to reconciling the myths with the facts." —New York Times Book Review...

The little-known story of the West Florida Revolt: "One rollicking good book." —Jay WinikWhen Britain ceded the territory of West Florida—what is now Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida—to Spain in 1783, America was still too young to confidently fight in one of Europe's endless territorial contests. So it was left to the settlers, bristling at Spanish misrule, to establish a foothold in the area.Enter the Kemper brothers, whose vigilante justice cu...

A complete guide for everything you need to experience a great Long Weekend in Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, etc.You'll save a lot of time using this concise guide.=Lodgings (in several parts of the Fort Myers area) variously priced=Fine & budget restaurants, more than enough listings to give you a sense of the variety to be found.=Principal attractions -- don't waste your precious time on the lesser ones. We've done all the work for you!

An account of life on the home front written by a Southern woman trying to survive the daily struggles of the Civil War.The Hanover Tavern outside Richmond was a place of refuge during the Civil War. Life at the Tavern was not always safe as residents weathered frequent Union cavalry raids on nearby railroads, bridges, and farms. Margaret Copland Brown Wight and some of her family braved the war at the Tavern from 1862 until 1865 in the company of a small community...

On January 30, 1847, the small harbor village of Yerba Buena was rechristened "San Francisco." As the Gold Rush quickly propelled the population to over 50,000, fortunes made in the silver Comstock lode and the railroad transformed the area into the financial and cultural center of the West. Captured here in over 200 vintage images are the life and times of the city's earliest residents and their livelihoods. Spanning the mid-1800s through the early decades of the 20th century, this book o...