The past lies just under the surface in Lake County. Interurban trains once carried wealthy Clevelanders to idyllic summer homes and resorts along the shoreline and up to Little Mountain. Stories abound of rum-running during Prohibition, enslaved people who were carried to freedom through the Underground Railroad, and stolen gold bars believed to be buried along a riverbank. Lake County was also once the site of a booming ship-building industry and a secret plant that created chemical warfare during World War I. Many residents fondly recall long-gone drive-in theaters and beloved drug store soda fountains and bakeries of the mid to late twentieth century. Join author Jennifer Boresz Engelking as she reveals the history behind some of the county's most intriguing people, places, and industries.

Striking natural beauty draws many visitors to Lake County, but the area also has a rich and captivating history. Willoughbeach Amusement Park arose where one of the worst shipwrecks in Great Lakes history occurred years before. Secret passageways and tunnels helped slaves escape to freedom. Native son and Tuskegee Airman Earl R. Lane earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. Marge Hurlburt, a service pilot during World War II, set an international women's flight speed record, and Amy Kaukonen, one of the nation's first female mayors, personally raided suspected bootleggers during Prohibition. Author Jennifer Boresz Engelking uncovers the history behind some of Lake County's most well-known people and landmarks and reveals stories lost to time.

Serene one moment and destructive the next, Lake Erie's moods mirror its tumultuous role in history. As the site of Cleveland's Great Lakes Exposition, the lake offered visitors a respite from the Great Depression, and Hotel Victory, once considered the world's largest summer resort, drew thousands to Put-In-Bay. Daring postal workers dangerously crossed the ice-covered surface on hybrid "boats" and by foot. Canal Street, at the Buffalo Wharf, was once called "the Wickedest Street in America." The Erie is one of thousands of ships that lie in a solemn graveyard below the surface. And rum runners turned the lake into a watery highway for illegal booze during Prohibition. Author Jennifer Boresz Engelking reveals entertaining, heartbreaking, and nostalgic stories of the lost sites, businesses and industries of Lake Erie.

Ah, Ohio, so nice and normal. We have apple pie heroes like Hopalong Cassidy, Neil Armstrong, Thomas Edison, and Doris Day. Our state bird is the jaunty and ever popular cardinal, and our state flower is the carnation, found in the buttonholes of politicians and bridegrooms everywhere. We started America rolling by opening the country's first gas station, and we have a museum dedicated to America's music, rock and roll. Why, we're just so all-American normal, it can bring a tear to the eye. But there's something else we have a whole lot of, and that's...weirdness. Yes, the Buckeye State has lots and lots of strange people and unusual sites, and they burst forth from every page of this, the biggest, most bizarre collection of Ohio stories ever assembled: Weird Ohio.

“Extraordinary...beautifully precise...[an] earnestly ambitious debut.” —The New York Times Book Review “A wild, angry, and devastating masterpiece of a book.” —NPR “[A] descendent of the Dickensian ‘social novel’ by way of Jonathan Franzen: epic fiction that lays bare contemporary culture clashes, showing us who we are and how we got here.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “A book that has stayed with me ever since I put it down.” —Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers One sweltering night in 2013, four former high school classmates converge on their hometown in northeastern Ohio. There’s Bill Ashcraft, a passionate, drug-abusing young activist whose flailing ambitions have taken him from Cambodia to Zuccotti Park to post-BP New Orleans, and now back home with a mysterious package strapped to the undercarriage of his truck; Stacey Moore, a doctoral candidate reluctantly confronting her family and the mother of her best friend and first love, whose disappearance spurs the mystery at the heart of the novel; Dan Eaton, a shy veteran of three tours in Iraq, home for a dinner date with the high school sweetheart he’s tried desperately to forget; and the beautiful, fragile Tina Ross, whose rendezvous with the washed-up captain of the football team triggers the novel’s shocking climax. Set over the course of a single evening, Ohio toggles between the perspectives of these unforgettable characters as they unearth dark secrets, revisit old regrets and uncover—and compound—bitter betrayals. Before the evening is through, these narratives converge masterfully to reveal a mystery so dark and shocking it will take your breath away.

Ohio’s small towns have great stories. Little Ohio presents 100 of the state’s tiniest towns and most miniature villages. With populations under 500, these charming and unique locations dot the entire state—from Lake Seneca in the Northwest corner to Neville, bordering the Ohio River and the state of Kentucky. Little Ohio even ventures into Lake Erie, telling the story of Put-in-Bay. The selected locations help readers to appreciate the broader history of small-town life in Ohio. Yet each featured town boasts a distinct narrative, as unique as the citizens who call these places home. Some villages offer hundreds of years of history, such as Tarlton, laid out before Ohio had even gained statehood. Others were built with more expedience, such as Yankee Lake, a town that was incorporated simply so its founder could host dances on Sundays without breaking state law. With full-color photographs, fun facts, and fascinating details about every locale, it’s almost as if you’re walking down Main Street, waving hello to folks who know you by name. These residents are innovators, hard workers, and—most of all—good neighbors. They’re people who have piled into small school houses to wait out roaring flood waters, rebuilt after disastrous fires took their homes, and captured bandits straight out of the Wild West. Little Ohio, written by lifelong resident Kieran Robertson, is for anyone who grew up in a small town and for everyone who takes pride in being called an Ohioan. It’s one book with one hundred places to love.

Your All-in-One Guide to Ohio’s Best Outings! If you’ve ever asked, “What should we do today?” then you’ve never seen Ohio Day Trips by Theme. This comprehensive guide to the Buckeye State is jam-packed with hundreds of Ohio’s top spots for fun and entertainment. Take a simple day trip, or string together a longer vacation of activities that catch your interest. Destinations in the book are organized by themes, such as Airplanes & Railroads, Festivals, Outdoor Adventures, and Sports, so you can decide what to do and then figure out where to do it. Useful for singles, couples, and families—visitors and residents alike—this guide by Cathy Hester Seckman encompasses a wide range of interests. Discover the state’s unique attractions—state parks, museums, beaches, winter activities, and more. The book’s handy size makes it perfect for bringing along on your road trips. Plus, with tips for other things to do in the area, you’re sure to maximize the fun on every outing. With Ohio Day Trips by Theme at your fingertips, you’ll always have something to do!

The Pulitzer Prize-winning view of the continent, across the fortieth parallel and down through 4.6 billion years Twenty years ago, when John McPhee began his journeys back and forth across the United States, he planned to describe a cross section of North America at about the fortieth parallel and, in the process, come to an understanding not only of the science but of the style of the geologists he traveled with. The structure of the book never changed, but its breadth caused him to complete it in stages, under the overall title Annals of the Former World. Like the terrain it covers, Annals of the Former World tells a multilayered tale, and the reader may choose one of many paths through it. As clearly and succinctly written as it is profoundly informed, this is our finest popular survey of geology and a masterpiece of modern nonfiction. Annals of the Former World is the winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction.