A chronicle of the lives and deeds of five men who hailed from the South and affected the whole of America’s history. With depth going beyond the standard recounting of their glorious deeds, the book explores the land and the family heritage that shaped the lives of these great figures—men such as Daniel Boone and David Crockett, among others.

Many short stories give a vivid look at the Southern United States history.

The Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author tells the moving story of the friendship between a young white boy and a Black WWII veteran who has recently returned to the unwelcoming Jim Crow South. For Gabriel Haberlin, life seems pretty close to perfect in the small southern town of Birdsong, USA. But on his twelfth birthday, his point of view begins to change. It all starts when he comes face-to-face with one of the worst drivers in town while riding his new bicycle--an accident that would have been tragic if Mr. Meriwether Hunter hadn't been around to push him out of harm's way. After the accident, Gabriel and Meriwether become friends when they both start working at Gabriel's dad's auto shop, and Meriwether lets a secret slip: He served in the army's all-black 761st Tank Battalion in World War II. Soon Gabriel learns why it's so dangerous for Meriwether to talk about his heroism in front of white people, and Gabriel's eyes are finally opened to the hard truth about Birdsong--and his understanding of what it means to be a hero will never be the same.

Nathan Bedford Forrest's critics have called him everything from a violent backwoodsman, illiterate redneck, and cruel slaver, to a crooked politician, unfaithful husband, and simple-minded hillbilly. However, traditional unreconstructed writers, like Southern historian and award-winning Tennessee author Lochlainn Seabrook, know that General Forrest was none of these things. In fact, he was quite the opposite, as is revealed in Mr. Seabrook's classic work: "Nathan Bedford Forrest: Southern Hero, American Patriot." As we learn in this enlightening little book, far from being an inhumane slave owner and trader, Forrest granted most of his servants their freedom even before Lincoln's War. Others he enlisted in his own command (half of dozen who served as his personal guards), then emancipated them in the fall of 1863 - the same year Lincoln issued his "military measure," the fake and illegal Emancipation Proclamation (which freed no slaves in either the North or the South). Forrest never separated servant families, refused to sell to cruel slavers, and was even responsible for reuniting divided black families. Unlike Lincoln - who throughout his life repeatedly blocked black civil rights and aggressively campaigned for American apartheid and the deportation of all blacks out of the U.S. - after the War Forrest happily hired back his original servants with full civil rights, then called for the South to repopulate herself with new African immigrants. Neither the founder or leader of the KKK as pro-North and New South historians disingenuously teach, Forrest closed the anti-Yankee organization down in 1869 when it began to take on racist overtones. These and many other captivating facts are presented clearly and concisely by Mr. Seabrook, a cousin of Forrest, in this rousing defense of the Wizard of the Saddle, one of the greatest, most inspiring, beloved, romantic, complex, and intriguing figures in American history. Lavishly illustrated and written in an easy-to-read style, at 120 pages this new hardcover edition is perfect for Civil War museum shops, historic homes, or any tourist hot spot. Makes a great gift as well. "Nathan Bedford Forrest" includes 139 footnotes, a bibliography, and an index. The Foreword is by bestselling Southern educator James Ronald Kennedy, author of "The South Was Right!" Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a cousin of General Forrest, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known as the "new Shelby Foote," he is an award-winning author of over 45 books. A seventh-generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage, Mr. Seabrook has a forty-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the runaway bestseller "Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!" He has penned eight books on Forrest, more than any other writer, and his screenplay of his book "A Rebel Born" is being turned into a major motion picture. His other titles include: "The Great Yankee Coverup: What the North Doesn't Want You to Know About Lincoln's War"; "Confederacy 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America's Oldest Political Tradition"; "Confederate Flag Facts"; "Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!" "Give This Book to a Yankee: A Southern Guide to the Civil War for Northerners" and "Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children's Guide to the Civil War."

Longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel “Cuyahoga is tragic and comic, hilarious and inventive—a 19th-century legend for 21st-century America” (The Boston Globe). Big Son is a spirit of the times—the times being 1837. Behind his broad shoulders, shiny hair, and church-organ laugh, Big Son practically made Ohio City all by himself. The feats of this proto-superhero have earned him wonder and whiskey, but very little in the way of fortune. And without money, Big cannot become an honest husband to his beloved Cloe (who may or may not want to be his honest wife). In pursuit of a steady wage, our hero hits the (dirt) streets of Ohio City and Cleveland, the twin towns racing to become the first great metropolis of the West. Their rivalry reaches a boil over the building of a bridge across the Cuyahoga River—and Big stumbles right into the kettle. The resulting misadventures involve elderly terrorists, infrastructure collapse, steamboat races, wild pigs, and multiple ruined weddings. Narrating this “very funny, rambunctious debut novel” (Los Angeles Times) tale is Medium Son—known as Meed—apprentice coffin maker, almanac author, orphan, and the younger brother of Big. Meed finds himself swept up in the action, and he is forced to choose between brotherly love and his own ambitions. His uncanny voice—plain but profound, colloquial but poetic—elevates a slapstick frontier tale into a “breezy fable of empire, class, conquest, and ecocide” (The New York Times Book Review). Evoking the Greek classics and the Bible alongside nods to Looney Tunes, Charles Portis, and Flannery O’Connor, Pete Beatty has written “a hilarious and moving exploration of family, home, and fate [and] you won’t read anything else like it this year” (BuzzFeed).

Halli loves the old stories from when the valley was a wild and dangerous place when the legendary heroes stood together to defeat the ancient enemy, the bloodthirsty Trows. Nowadays heroics seem a thing of the past. But when a practical joke rekindles an old blood feud, Halli spots a chance for a quest of his own.