What the Guinness Book has done for the records of the world, this book does for Indiana, whose resourceful natives and residents have blazed a bright trail of accomplishments in nearly every field. Hoosiers have headed the pack in the pioneer world, in the introduction of the automotive age, and later in the creation of the air age, and even today in the space age. A major section of the book is devoted to sports records of all varieties. Records have been set in all manner of competition from corn picking to catapults.

On a hot and dusty Sunday in June 1872, 13-year-old Mary Secaur set off on her two-mile walk home from church. She never arrived. The horrific death of this young girl inspired an illegal interstate pursuit-and-arrest, courtroom dramatics, conflicting confessions, and the daylight lynching of a traveling tin peddler and an intellectually disabled teenager. Who killed Mary Secaur? Were the accused actually guilty? What drove the citizens of Mercer County to lynch the suspects? David Kimmel seeks answers to these provoking questions and deftly recounts what actually happened in the fateful summer of 1872, imagining the inner workings of the small rural community, reconstructing the personal relationships of those involved, and restoring humanity to this gripping story. Using a unique blend of historical research and contemporary accounts, Outrage in Ohio explores how a terrible crime ripped an Ohio farming community apart and asks us to question what really happened to Mary Secaur.

Anger and hopelessness can overwhelm communities. So what can everyday people do to actually grow some good in their own hometown? Growing Good: A Beginner's Guide to Cultivating Caring Communities shows how ordinary people have transformed themselves into volunteers and activists. Centered mostly in the Midwest, this collection of essays brings together the stories of normal people who have rolled up their sleeves to make their community a better place by serving nonprofits such as Gleaner Food Bank in Indianapolis, Indiana; Migration and Refugee Services in Louisville, Kentucky; and Patchwork Central in Evansville, Indiana, along with national organizations like CASA. For instance, a teacher and his student started a native plant garden to help local insects thrive in a disused corner of their school property. A woman saw a billboard and was moved to become a voice for children in need. A professional photographer offered his services to people experiencing homelessness in order to help others witness their humanity. Editor Bill Hemminger also writes of his own extensive experience with community gardening to feed hungry neighbors. Filled with simple actions, clear steps, and useful lists, including how to care for and nurture your own inner peace and creativity, Growing Good will help readers of all ages plant seeds of hope and cultivate communities where everyone thrives.

Indiana University Bloomington houses exceptional materials from nearly every continent. Windows on Worlds: International Collections at Indiana University takes readers on a visual journey through IU's collections like never before. Ranging in works as diverse as painting, sculpture, costume, rare manuscripts, musical instruments, and much more—the museums, institutes, collections, and other holdings on IU's flagship campus provide unique engagement opportunities for students, researchers, and members of the public. Windows on Worlds showcases the unique and unexpected items from collections across the Bloomington campus, such as the Boulle clock in the Federal Room of the Indiana Memorial Union; the Burmese headdresses in the Mathers Museum of World Culture (now the IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology); the fish-shaped coffin in the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art; the rare manuscripts and puzzles of the world-famous Lilly Library; and, finally, new additions on campus like the IU Metz Carillon. Brimming with beautiful photographs, this book offers readers insight into an extraordinary number of cultures and societies through IU's collections.

"The Angel and the Serpent is a book which combines scholarship and literary grace, and which recreates for us both the world of the Rappites and the Owenites.Ó ÑHenry Steele Commager, ÑThe New York Times Book ReviewÒWilson writes with clarity and humor and has given us a work which will be valuable both to the cultural historian and to the general reader.Ó ÑSt. Louis Globe DemocratÒ. . . exceedingly valuable addition to Indiana historiography.Ó ÑIndianapolis TimesHere is the story of George RappÕs German Harmonists and Robert OwenÕs IdealistsÑthe two vastly different communities that shaped the history of New Harmony, Indiana. Both the Rappites and the Owenites came to New Harmony to conduct communal living experimentsÑRapp expecting the millennium; Owen believing he had brought the millennium with him. Although the two men were motivated by different ideas, they shared the same goal: to see their people live together in happiness and peace. Their two experiments are probably the best known and most interesting efforts at establishing alternate or Utopian communities in America.

A short hike through an Indiana forest reveals layers of living things: the overstories and understories of trees, the shadow of a mammal, colorful fungi. But what would it mean to methodically document the communities of plants and animals harboring in Indiana's public forests, at humid midnight or coldest dawn? What is the impact of this wondrous knowledge? Ecoblitz describes the findings of, and the dogged scientists behind, the Indiana Forest Alliance's multiyear forest wildlife census. Scientists' journeys in pursuit of elusive bats, lavish lichen, and spider species paint a breathtaking picture of Indiana's biodiversity and its value to Indiana's policy, polity, and poetics. This book will amaze readers with a dazzling portrait of local biodiversity, deepen appreciation for Indiana's eastern hardwood forest system, and inspire a desire to advocate for it. Ecoblitz is a book for lovers of nature, for those who appreciate science but are not scientists themselves, and for those who want to learn something new.

Will lightning ever strike twice? Can David beat Goliath a second time? These questions haunt everyone in the small town of Milan, Indiana, whose basketball team inspired Hoosiers, the greatest underdog sports movie ever made. From a town of just 1,816 residents, the team remains forever an underdog, but one with a storied past that has them eternally frozen in their 1954 moment of glory. Every ten years or so, Milan has a winning season, but for the most part, they only manage a win or two each year. And still, perhaps because it's the only option for Milan, the town believes that the Indians can rise again. Bill Riley follows the modern day Indians for a season and explores how the Milan myth still permeates the town, the residents, and their high level of expectations of the team. Riley deftly captures the camaraderie between the players and their coach and their school pride in being Indians. In the end, there are few wins or causes for celebration—there is only the little town where basketball is king and nearly the whole town shows up to watch each game. The legend of Milan and Hoosiers is both a blessing and a curse.