"After the American Revolution, countless pioneers floated into the western frontier on the currents of the Ohio River. Inevitably, their journey brought them past Cave-in-Rock, where the region's outlaws waited in perfect and perpetual ambush. For almost half a century, notorious rogues such as the Alstons, the Harpes, the Sturdivants, Samuel Mason, James Ford, John Crenshaw, Logan Belt and Duff the Counterfeiter all operated out of the cave's dark interior. Todd Carr follows the folklore of the horse thieves, pirates and highwaymen clinging to the shadows of the legendary river bluff"--Page [4] of cover.

“A fascinating story.” —LeVar Burton The thrilling adventures of a slave who became known worldwide for his explorations of Mammoth Cave. If you toured Mammoth Cave in Kentucky in the year 1838, you would have been led by candlelight through dark, winding tunnels to the edge of a terrifying bottomless pit. Your guide would have been seventeen-year-old Stephen Bishop, an African American slave who became known around the world for his knowledge of Mammoth Cave. Bishop needed bravery, intelligence, and curiosity to explore the vast cavern. Using only a lantern, rope, and other basic caving equipment, he found a way to cross the bottomless pit and discover many more miles of incredible grottoes and tunnels. For the rest of his life he guided visitors through the cave, showing them how to stoop, bend, and crawl through passageways that were sometimes far from the traditional tour route. Based on the narratives of those who toured the cave with him, Journey to the Bottomless Pit is the first book for young readers ever written about Stephen Bishop. New to this edition: A free teacher’s guide to this book, as well as an interview with current-day Mammoth Cave guide Jerry Bransford, great-great-grandson of Stephen Bishop’s fellow guide, Mat Bransford.

Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things.

Castle, The Story of a Kentucky Prison chronicles the history of the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville, beginning with its construction over 100 years ago. It tells of murders, escapes, riots and executions which have occurred in the medieval-like fortress, sitting high above the Cumberland River in Lyon County. The centerpiece of the book is the daring Tex Walters shoot-out of 1923 when inmate Walters and two confederates shot and killed three prison guards, wounded a fourth, and barricaded themselves in the dining hall for four days. The National Guard was called in and the siege garnered nationwide attention as the suspenseful stand-off unfolded. Lillian Walters, wife of the rebel convict, was then tried in a dramatic court room battle for her gun-smuggling role in the uprising.

Postmodern Pirates offers a comprehensive analysis of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series and the pirate motif through the lens of postmodern theories. Susanne Zhanial shows how the postmodern elements determine the movies’ aesthetics, narratives, and character portrayals, but also places the movies within Hollywood’s contemporary blockbuster machinery. The book then offers a diachronic analysis of the pirate motif in British literature and Hollywood movies. It aims to explain our ongoing fascination with the maritime outlaw, focuses on how a text’s cultural background influences the pirate’s portrayal, and pays special attention to the aspect of gender. Through the intertextual references in Pirates of the Caribbean, the motif’s development is always tied to Disney’s postmodern movie series.