Cracker Westerns are rip-roarin, action-packed, can't-put-'em-down tales set in the frontier days of Florida. They are full of adventure, real heroes, and vivid, authentic details that bring Florida's history to life. Tree Hooker will take on anything—man, animal, or force of nature—that stands in the way of his cattle drives during the Civil War. He's a Confederate soldier trying to save his country from starvation. Assigned to lead a group of tough, sun-baked cow hunters, he sets out to supply the South with beef from the herds on Florida's plains. Plenty of others also want those herds. There are the Yankees, led by men like Major Dan Greenley. He's tired of the war and knows that it will end quickly once the Confederacy runs out of food. Greenley is new to Florida and still believes in fighting by the rules of civilized warfare. But he's also a fast learner. He soon realizes that there is no such thing as civilized warfare in the palmetto scrub. A few people try to keep their humanity despite being surrounded by the horrors of war. Doris Brava is one of those. A young widow surviving on her own in Yankee-occupied St. Augustine, she finds hope and love in an unlikely place—Greenley's arms. But hope and love can't shield Doris from the savagery that rules on the palmetto plains. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series

This novel plunges the reader into the last agonizing years of the Civil War. Cattle from the Florida plains are needed to save a desperate South from starvation. But quicksand and snake-filled swamps, Yankee raiders, and vicious outlaws block the trails between Florida and the rest of the Confederacy. Men like Tree Hooker, tough as alligator hide and quick with gun, knife, or whip, reckon with Union forces and renegades when they take on the job of driving the herds.

Set in 1835 in the northern Florida Territory, this historical novel will transport you to a time when Florida settlers were few and laws were scarce. Dealing with cattle rustlers and a brewing Seminole war, Ace and Amaly Dover, their four sons, and their spirited daughter, Marvelous, have their hands full protecting their Three Springs Ranch. With authentic historical details and engaging characters, this family saga will capture your heart.

This volume contains a variety of essays about Florida literature and history by scholars from across the state representing every kind of institution of higher learning, from community colleges to small liberal arts institutions to large universities. The first section, Pedagogy, includes essays about using Florida’s environment to its fullest in the composition classroom. The essays in Old Florida explore Florida Cracker Westerns and slave shipwrecks off the Florida coast, as well as works by James Weldon Johnson, Rex Beach, and Zora Neale Hurston. Contemporary Florida is the largest section with essays that discuss, among other topics, Stephen King, Hunter Thompson, Elizabeth Bishop, and the “Dexter” novels. The essay in Natural Florida focuses on Florida ecocriticism.

Well-researched, fascinating accounts of Florida Keys' life of the past two centuries.

This graphic novel version of A Land Remembered, the bestselling novel by Patrick D. Smith, covers three generations of the MacIvey family in the Florida frontier from the 1850s to the 1960s. In A Land Remembered, Patrick Smith tells the story of a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife. A Land Remembered has been ranked #1 Best Florida Book eight times in annual polls conducted by Florida Monthly Magazine and is winner of the Florida Historical Society's Tebeau Prize as the Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel."

The Adams Ranch began in 1937, when Alto Adams Sr. bought several hundred head of scrub cows native to Florida. Today, Adams Ranch produces nearly 7,000 calves annually on 50,000 acres in Osceola, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie Counties. Divided into five main sections, A Florida Cattle Ranch tells the story of one cattle ranch, and also the story of one state, one way of life, and one family's stewardship. It provides readers with a brief history of Florida, recounting how early Spanish, English, and Scottish settlers brought plants and animals with them to the "Land of Flowers" and how they learned to live with the flora and fauna that already thrived here. It describes Florida's terrain and some of the fascinating and beautiful creatures that live in Florida and specifically on the Adams Ranch. It gives a history and description of Adams Ranch: how it began, how it has improved, and how it has stayed the same. And, finally, it issues a plea to all the citizens of Florida to care for this unique land and its inhabitants. Throughout, full-color photographs by Alto Adams Jr. punctuate descriptions of wildlife, terrain, and cattle--fluid shots of sandhill cranes and swallow-tailed kites in flight, an alligator showing her maternal instinct, a snowy egret's mating dance, an Osceola wild turkey roosting in a tree, and does with their fawns. A beautiful coffee table book to add to your collection.