Southwestern Illinois experienced a plethora of violence during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Settlers and Native Americans clashed at the Wood River Settlement, while Abraham Lincoln dueled on a Mississippi River island. Racial strife led to the lynching of a Black schoolteacher in Belleville in 1903 and a deadly riot in East St. Louis fourteen years later. Benbow City was a latter-day Wild West town of saloons, gambling dens and brothels, and Pere Marquette State Park screened a cache of Nike missiles. From the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.'s killer to the mystery surrounding Jean Lafitte's grave, John Dunphy examines the bloody ledger of southwestern Illinois.

Southwestern Illinois experienced a plethora of violence during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Settlers and Native Americans clashed at the Wood River Settlement, while Abraham Lincoln dueled on a Mississippi River island. Racial strife led to the lynching of a Black schoolteacher in Belleville in 1903 and a deadly riot in East St. Louis fourteen years later. Benbow City was a latter-day Wild West town of saloons, gambling dens and brothels, and Pere Marquette State Park screened a cache of Nike missiles. From the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.'s killer to the mystery surrounding Jean Lafitte's grave, John Dunphy examines the bloody ledger of southwestern Illinois.

From the secrets of Joliet Penitentiary to the ferocious gunfights between the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Gang, Troy Taylor takes the measure of the dishonest sweat and innocent blood poured into the prairies of Northern Illinois. Meet the "fallen angels" of Decatur's red-light district, the Springfield counterfeiters who bungled stealing Lincoln's bones and the Aurora man who propped up his porch with the heads of his wife and brother-in-law. And if you dare, eavesdrop on the chilling confession of a man who left a dancer's corpse to the mercy of the railroad tracks: "So, I pat them on the cheek, call them sweet names, and kill them."

The author's analysis of the internecine strife and fierce clan rivalry rampant in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries puts into perspective the turmoil into which the Lebanon has fallen today. This translation comprises the memoirs of several generations of the Mishāqa family. The author, Mikhāyil Mishāqa (1800-1888), a many-faceted individual, was raised in Dayr al-Qamar, then the princely seat of Mount Lebanon, apprenticed as a merchant in Damietta, Egypt. He served as financial comptroller to the Shihab emirs of Hasbayya and in his later years was a physician and consul to the United States in Damascus. Mishāqa gives a vivid picture of life and history during the period. From his position he was privy to political deliberations and knew intimately the clan chiefs, pashas and princes who were the principal agents of change. The book contains information unavailable elsewhere of importance to political and social historians, on life during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Large portions of the original text that are of particular interest for the study of the interaction of the various ethno-religious groups that inhabit the area, were at one time expunged from the printed Arabic version as too sensitive, but are included in this comprehensive English translation.

From Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to Aurora, Colorado, to Tucson, Arizona, this nation has been racked from coast to coast with mass shootings perpetrated by criminals with sick minds. Authors Dr. Liebert and Dr. Birnes believe the increase in violence is an epidemic and dig deep into the causes of mental illness to determine what exactly is going on with these individuals and society as a whole, and what action can be taken to slow this frightening trend toward mass violence. Dr. Liebert and Dr. Birnes believe that many mass suicides are predictable and preventable. Dr. Liebert uses his extensive experience in psychopathology and criminal psychology to describe how clinicians can identify the behaviors of potential suicidal mass killers and possibly prevent their crimes if they read the warning signs when legal opportunities present themselves, such as when recurrent domestic violence or psychotic communications are reported to authorities. The authors also discuss the influence of media—particularly violent video games—and how the evolution of American culture affects suicidal mental illness. With startling statistics, fascinating case studies, and practical, no-nonsense solutions, the authors present a groundbreaking and compelling treatise on violence in America.