Libraries, archives, and museums reveal clues to the colorful characters lining the history of Delaware, from its earliest colonial days to the invention of the "beach resort" and the founding of the nation's "Summer Capital" to World War II and the present. Author Michael Morgan brings together this kaleidoscopic view of the men of the sea and the beachfront tycoons who shaped Delaware and its role in the development of America, in war, politics, and business, from the Europeans' arrival at Cape Henlopen until modern times. While the intrepid patriot Henry Fisher and the infamous serial killer Patty Cannon are not known beyond the boundaries of southern Delaware, others such as William Penn, Captain Kidd and the DuPonts enjoy more widespread reputations. Here, tales of shipwrecks and rumrunners combine with the politics of slavery and suffrage to illuminate the history of one corner of the United States, a microcosm that synthesizes light on various facets of the development of the United States in a broader context. * Michael Morgan pens a weekly column, "Delaware Diary," in the Delaware Coast Press and has authored many stories for The Baltimore Sun, Maryland Magazine, Civil War Times Illustrated, America's Civil War and other periodicals for the past 15 years. He is a frequent guest speaker at historical societies in Lewes, Georgetown, and other towns along the Delaware coast.

Throughout the United States, local residents customarily view their hometown U.S. Coast Guard units as intimate parts of the civilian community. Nowhere is this truer than in the Great Lakes region. Here, for almost 200 years, the lives of the people and Coast Guardsmen have been intermingled in a most special bond.As enterprising Americans pressed westward along the southern shores of these primeval lakes and upon them, aids to navigation in the form of lighthouses and buoys, and armed revenue cutters were promptly provided by the Federal Government to facilitate their progress. Other varied services of the entity destined to become known as the U.S. Coast Guard, whether lifesaving stations, inspections of steam vessels or regulation of navigational waterways, were provided as needs arose, until today, the Service is ubiquitous on the Inland Seas.

MORE THAN AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT, "FORGOTTEN HEROES" FOLLOWS THE LIVES OF SEVERAL SOLDIERS FROM THE SAFETY OF THE TRAINING CAMP TO THE INFERNO ON THE BATTLE FIELD, AND THE ATTEMPT TO RETAIN HUMAN DIGNITY AS P.O.W.'S.