More than two dozen major crimes in the Kansas City area, ranging from the escapades of outlaw Jesse James, the kidnapping of Nelly Don, the 1933 Union Station Massacre, the heroism of Primitivo Garcia, the River Quay mob bombings of the 1970s, to the cancer killings by pharmacist Robert Courtney in the 1990s, and much more.

Open City is an historical work detailing and analyzing the birth and growth of an organized crime "family" in Kansas City during the first 50 years of the 20th Century. It began with a Mafia-like clan labeled the Black Hand, its roots planted in the secret crime societies of Southern Italy and Sicily - a band of extortionists victimizing the city's "Little Italy" community in the early 1900s. From modest beginnings, the development of the criminal outfit is traced through prohibition, its alliance with the Pendergast Machine, the roaring 20s, Home Rule, the wide open 30s, the birth of La Cosa Nostra, and hard times in the 50s. It is the story of Kansas City, politics, powerful and colorful mob bosses, gangland murders, racket activities, and courageous police officers and reformers. Book jacket.

A collection of sinister stories set in Kansas City features contributions from such noted mystery authors as Daniel Woodrell, Nancy Pickard, and J. Malcolm Garcia.

The ultimate guide to Kansas City's food scene provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings. Written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information including: food festivals and culinary events; specialty food shops; farmers’ markets and farm stands; trendy restaurants and time-tested iconic landmarks; and recipes using local ingredients and traditions.

"A big juicy wedge of jazz history. . . . Lots of wonderful stories." -- Los Angeles Daily News "Kansas City was a hub for Jazz bands that crisscrossed the country in the 1930s. . . . The interviews go beyond jazz into the infamous political machinery that made Kansas City a wide-open and corrupt town where jazz could flourish." -- Choice "A wealth of stories, a good measure of entertainment and a valuable stab at history -- not to mention some great pictures." -- The Kansas City Star

Meet the folks who slip out of history books like they're playing the Kansas City shuffle. In this fascinating collection of stories, Paul Kirkman has dug up all sorts of head-scratchers: how did Jesse James rob a bank with John F. Kennedy, and how could a Beatles concert in the 1960s fail to make money? Watch a cow explode in a kitchen, frogs rain down from the sky and dogs pay for a public library system. Learn how Harry Houdini was trapped in a phone booth, why Clark Gable haunted street corners in a clown outfit and what kept Kansas City in Missouri.

This book will change the way Americans think about their cities. It provides a comprehensive economic and social history of urban America since 1950, covering the 29 largest urban areas of that period. Specifically, the book covers 17 cities in the Northeast, 6 in the South, and 6 in the West, decade by decade, with extensive data and historical narrative. The author divides his analysis into three periods - urban growth (1950 to 1970), urban crisis (late 1960s to 1990), and urban rebirth (since 1990). He draws on the concepts of the vicious circle and the virtuous circle to offer the first in-depth explanation for the transition from urban crisis to urban rebirth that took place in the early 1990s. "Urban America" is both a message of hope and a call to action for students and professionals in urban studies. It will inspire readers to concentrate on finding ways and means to ensure that the urban rebirth will continue.