"Darrel Bigham's history of the black community of Evansville [is] a first-rate contribution to the literature of black urban history. It thoroughly surveys all aspects of the black community -- economic, social, and political -- and additionaly provides a valuable comparative framaework for the understanding of black occupations and family structure." -- Kenneth L. Kusmer.

Now updated with a new afterword, the classic true crime thriller by journalist Steven Walker and veteran police detective Rick Reed exploring the grisly crimes of a sadistic serial killer who dismembered his victims. Joseph Weldon Brown confessed to more than a dozen murders across seven states. He was convicted and sentenced for killing a woman whose body he dismembered and scattered across three Indiana counties. In prison, he hogtied and strangled his cellmate, then asked the judge to lock him up for life because if he was released, he would continue killing. Police detective Rick Reed was on the scene when Brown led authorities to the scattered remains of Ginger Gasaway in 2000. After Brown’s arrest, he confessed to a shocking number of other heinous crimes—the torture and murders of drifters and sex workers, the cold case of a naked woman’s body found in a roadside ditch, even the murder of his own mother. Detective Reed was the one man Brown opened up to—and the only one to cut through the deceptions and lies and learn the terrible truth . . . In this newly updated edition, now-retired detective Reed reveals his personal theories and insights into one of the darkest minds he has ever encountered—and one of the most terrifying crime stories ever told . . .

Chronicles the rags-to-riches story of Ray Ryan, the Evansville, Ind., oil millionaire, who went on to gamble with H.L. Hunt and other high rollers, hobnob with celebrities in his El Mirador Hotel in Palm Springs, develop the Mount Kenya Safari Club with actor William Holden and a Swiss banker, only to fall victim to a car bomb on a beautiful fall day in 1970s Evansville.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY A brilliant police officer and a brilliant killer are at odds as the bodies pile up in Vanderburgh and Posey County in Indiana, and also in Kentucky’s Henderson County. You can get in the minds of both men and feel the frustration as they play cat and mouse throughout the Christmas season of 1954 and into April of 1955. Watch the killer as he is caught, tried, sentenced to die, and escapes from an escape proof jail. He runs to California and the FBI gets involved and joins the chase. It’s a chase to be remembered. ! Endorsements “I have truly enjoyed reading this book! Being from Evansville Indiana and presently living and working in Posey County Indiana, I am familiar with the locations, victims, and their families that were involved in this tragic story. I highly recommend this book! It is accurate in its details, and interesting in its content. “Chief Deputy Sheriff Mike Alexander, Posey County, Indiana “Research has clearly been done on this work. It is a very interesting read, and will hold your attention throughout. I am certain you will appreciate the unique presentation as did I.” Larry A. Dever, Sheriff, Cochise County Arizona “This book is a great read! I really enjoyed it! I thought it read like a movie script, and should be made into a movie.” Judge David Morales, Cochise County, Arizona.

A supplemental textbook for middle and high school students, Hoosiers and the American Story provides intimate views of individuals and places in Indiana set within themes from American history. During the frontier days when Americans battled with and exiled native peoples from the East, Indiana was on the leading edge of America’s westward expansion. As waves of immigrants swept across the Appalachians and eastern waterways, Indiana became established as both a crossroads and as a vital part of Middle America. Indiana’s stories illuminate the history of American agriculture, wars, industrialization, ethnic conflicts, technological improvements, political battles, transportation networks, economic shifts, social welfare initiatives, and more. In so doing, they elucidate large national issues so that students can relate personally to the ideas and events that comprise American history. At the same time, the stories shed light on what it means to be a Hoosier, today and in the past.