Silas House is a beloved and celebrated Kentucky author, music journalist, and activist who has focused nearly all his work on Appalachia and its culture. His groundbreaking writings across genres have captured and catalogued Appalachian life while defying the harmful stereotypes which have labeled the region throughout American history. House's characters are diverse and complex in their racial and social backgrounds, their financial status, their religiosity, their sexuality, and other manners. Such characters represent the complex moral issues entangled throughout the history of this region, otherwise known as the "shimmering knot" before him. In Silas House and the "Shimmering Knot" Before Him, Shurbutt and the seven contributors will weave together a comprehensive analysis on House's work focused on Appalachia and demonstrate the different methods he has used to overcome the standard portrayals of Appalachian families and culture. Though nationally recognized, this collection will be the first instance of critical essays on House's work. The authors will explore and explain House's complex, often odic approach to his works of fiction and non-fiction. Contributors will interpret House's use of music, lyricism, and metaphor in his works and demonstrate the ever-present theme of breaking the adverse and often untrue stereotypes of Appalachians. The essays will focus on House's characters in his novels which are described by the dominate culture as "others." The collection reveals both the broadness of House's writing and the intersections of the fictional and nonfictional worlds House creates as he portrays the "shimmering knot before him," a vision of the complexity of the moral issues that thread throughout his writing and make the award-winning author one of the most comprehensive and engaging voices in Appalachian and American literature today. Silas House and the "Shimmering Knot" Before Him will provide insightful examinations of House's works and promote a deeper understanding and more accurate portrayal of the complexity of Appalachian people and places.

Bourbon Backroads can be read in the traditional way; simply retire to an armchair and read about how distillers made that bright amber liquid in the cut-glass tumbler standing on your side table. Or, one can use the book as a guide to visit and experience the places where bourbon's heritage was made. Kentucky is strewn with the landmarks of bourbon's long story: distilleries long-standing, relict, razed, and brand new, the grand homes of renowned distillers, villages and neighborhoods where laborers lived, Whiskey Row storage warehouses, river landings and railroad yards, and factories where copper distilling vessels and charred white oak barrels are made. Throughout the nineteenth century, distilling changed from an artisanal craft practiced by farmers and millers to a large-scale mechanized industry that practiced increasingly refined production techniques. Distillers often operated at comparatively remote sites - the "backroads" - to take advantage of water sources or transport access. As time went on, mechanization and the steam engine shrank the industry's reliance on water power and permitted relocation of distilleries to urban or rural rail-side sites. This shift changed not only our ability to consume bourbon but also how we engage with the industry and its history. Blending several topics - tax revenue, railroads, the mechanics of brewing, geography, landscapes, and architecture - this primer and geographical guide presents an accessible and detailed history of the development of Kentucky's distilling industry and explains how the industry continues to thrive.

The first definitive biography of tragicomic sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, one of the most colorful and eccentric movie stars of the 1950s-60s. The book examines both her life and her career, detailing her movie, TV and stage work, as well as her drive to become an old-fashioned movie star at the end of the big-studio era. Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It follows Jayne from her birth in 1933 through her early days as a starlet, her sudden fame as a Broadway star, and her too-brief years as 20th Century-Fox's threat to Marilyn Monroe. After three hit films, showing what a talented actress she was, Jayne found herself cut loose and floundering, in ever-cheaper and worse films. Jayne's private life will be examined as well: her expertise as a publicity magnet, her relationship with the press and her fans; her three marriages and many affairs, and her well-meaning but ill-equipped parenting skills. The rumors around her death will be addressed, via nearly 100 pages of police reports. Among the people interviewed for this book are her third husband, her lover shortly before Mariska Hargitay was born (the only interview he has ever given about Jayne), the man who published her 1963 memoirs, the inventor of the Jayne Mansfield Hot Water Bottle, and Loni Anderson, who portrayed Jayne in a 1980 TV-movie. Including 70 photos, The Girl Couldn't Help It will finally set straight many misconceptions about Jayne Mansfield, and will provide a fair and balanced, sympathetic but clear-eyed portrait of one of show business's most bizarre and endearing icons.

Jane Russell's acting career was launched on one of the most notorious publicity campaigns in the history of cinema for The Outlaw, a film produced and ultimately directed by Howard Hughes. Russell should have quickly and quietly disappeared from public consciousness. Yet, she managed to use The Outlaw as a springboard for a noted entertainment career that found her starring opposite stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Robert Mitchum, Vincent Price, Frank Sinatra, and Groucho Marx. Ultimately, Russell herself would be elevated to the status of "film legend" during her lifetime. The book Mean Moody…Magnificent: Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend explores Russell's life and career and examines how she used a constant stream of provocative publicity to her advantage while somehow managing to elevate her public persona above that publicity. The book also explores how the highly sexualized marketing of Jane Russell the Movie Star conflicted with the off-screen Russell, a woman of strong religious faith who spent much of her life devoted to advocating for international adoption. Serving as a companion to Russell's 1985 autobiography, Mean…Moody…Magnificent! is the first volume to explore the life and filmography of Jane Russell.

"Theater is the art by which human beings make or find human action worth watching." - Paul Woodruff, The Necessity of Theater: The Art of Watching and Being Watched Before World War II. Hollywood dictated what films were released, debuting movies such as The Man I Married (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), Escape (1940), and he Great Dictator (1940) that conveyed an unambiguously critical view of Nazi Germany and warned the public about the dangers of fascism and the threat of war. Meanwhile, the theater stages in New York broached and debated topics of fascism, interventionism, and the democratic state of the country with productions like Watch on the Rhine (1941), The Moon is Down (1942), Tomorrow the World (1943) , and A Bell for Adano (1944) . While the United States' government used media platforms such as posters, periodicals, and radio to convey a popular opinion on the war and Germany, theater was not as highly monitored, and writers, directors, actors, and even audiences were able to discuss and argue their viewpoints on topics that would have been considered taboo on a film set. The theater became the perfect medium to express home-front tensions and anxieties. In Broadway Goes to War: American Theater during World War II, authors Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry explore numerous theater productions during the era of the Second World War, analyzing how the American stage grappled with significant issues ranging from neutrality and isolationism, to racism and genocide, to heroism and battle fatigue. Theater engaged in public discussion about war's impact on daily life, and McLaughlin and Parry suggest that these productions raised critical topics about the war well before other forms of popular media. Through the details of each production, the authors highlight challenges faced by ordinary people during the war alongside their attempts to overcome and create a better post-war community. American drama of the 1940s is frequently overlooked, especially in comparison with the plays of the surrounding decades. Taken together, the numerous plays performed during this eventful decade provide a picture of the rich and complex experience of living in the US during the war years. Furthermore, the theater provided an understanding of the complexities of popular culture and how it functioned alongside a world war. Filling a void in World War II scholarship, McLaughlin and Parry provide a unique perspective on theater activity during a time of division and social change. Broadway Goes to War will appeal to historians of wartime studies, film, and theater.

Vitagraph: America's First Great Motion Picture Studio is the first comprehensive examination of the company most responsible for defining and popularizing the American movie. Vitagraph was among the five production companies established at the dawn of commercial cinema in America. From its initial studios in Manhattan and Brooklyn to its later base of operations in Hollywood, Vitagraph was America's leading producer of motion pictures for much of the silent era, and for several years was the nation's largest exhibitor. The company overcame resistance to multi-reel movies by establishing its own distribution network for feature films across North America, which thrived for more than half a century. Vitagraph's international distribution was even more profitable, reaching into every country where motion pictures were shown. In the process it cultivated a preference for American movies that endures into the present. Just as important to Vitagraph's prosperity and legacy was its role in developing the form and content of American movies, encompassing everything from framing, lighting and acting to emphasizing character-driven, action-packed comedy and drama. The company's commitment to expanding the boundaries of cinema resulted in the creation of the animated motion picture, and prefigured the style that came to be known as film noir. Vitagraph's success was due to the contributions of the talented people it employed. This is the story of these forgotten pioneers and some of the films they made, drawn from a treasure trove of primary sources that challenge fundamental notions and myths that have plagued motion picture history.

Wildfires are a naturally occurring phenomenon that create opportunity for rejuvenation of our national forests. Given the number of natural fires that the public is made aware of today, it may be easy to feel disconcerted. However, popular misinformation about wildfires means that much of this anxiety is unnecessary and misdirected. Wildfires offer up a wealth of opportunity for forest and grassland renewal and maintenance, while the negative stigma attached to the occurrence has led to unneeded environmental damage and human endangerment in efforts to prevent them. In Smokescreen: Debunking Wildfire Myths to Save Our Forests and Our Climate, author Chad Hanson aims to bridge the disconnect between widespread common beliefs and current science regarding wildland fire, forest management, and climate change. In stark contrast to the fear-driven catastrophic wildfire narrative, the current and emerging science on fire in forests is positive and hopeful. In truth, contemporary research has demonstrated that forests in the US, North America, and around the world currently have a significant deficit of fire. Meanwhile these forest fires, including the largest ones, are creating extraordinarily important and rich wildlife habitat, if they are not subjected to post-fire logging. In California, for example, the threatened black-back woodpeckers which adapted by millions of years of evolution to live in burned-out forests, have found respite in the forests that were subject to the 2016-17 "Rim Fire." This is especially true in the patches where fire burns most intensely, and kills most or all of the trees, creating "complex early seral forest," less technically known as "snag forest habitat." This unique forest environment is comparable to old-growth forest in terms of native biodiversity and wildlife abundance, and the strong weight of current scientific evidence indicates that forests are naturally regenerating in ecologically beneficial ways after such fire, even in the largest high intensity fire patches. Hanson's proposed book is, ultimately, a hopeful one: fire is not destroying the nation's forests. Rather, it has a central role in revitalizing wildlife habitat, and its impact on humanity's growing footprint is manageable when effective planning is put in place. Hanson, with his knowledge of hands-on research and engaging writing style, is well situated to increase the national dialogue around forest fires at a time when it is desperately needed. Smokescreen will connect strongly with an increasingly environmentally conscientious public, ecologists, and land managers both in the public and private sector.

Gen. George Joulwan built his 36-year military career during one of the most tumultuous eras in US history - the 1960s. Raised in a small Pennsylvania coal mining town, Joulwan would be present at the rise and fall of the Berlin wall, fight in Vietnam, play a part in university debates on the Vietnam War, and command over twenty operations in the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. He ended his career as the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe (SACEUR). In his memoir, Watchman at the Gates: A Soldier's Journey from Berlin to Bosnia,

The Japanese invasion and occupation of China was critical to the outcome of the Second World War. Acknowledging China's precarious situation, the US provided crucial aerial support to China. Even before the declaration of war against Japan, the infamous "Flying Tigers," a volunteer force of American airmen, landed in China only weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese and American aircraft fought over the skies of inland China and Southeast Asia for the next four years until the end of the war in August 1945. Aerial combat was extremely dangerous at this time, as aviators were often outnumbered and manning obsolete planes. The stories that surface are often of daring, cowboy-esque pilots like David Lee "Tex" Hill, Robert T. Smith, and Claire Chennault dueling in the sky. Aerial combat was extremely dangerous, and aviators who survived getting shot down faced the reality of being lost, and often injured, in unfamiliar territory. In Fallen Tigers: The Fate of America's Missing Airmen in China during World War II, author Daniel Jackson sheds light on the stories of downed American airmen who attempted to avoid capture by Japanese forces and return to allied territory. In gripping detail, he reveals that the heroism of these pilots was equaled, if not exceeded, by the Chinese civilians and soldiers that risked their lives to return the Americans safely to their airfields. Furthermore, the drive to aid American pilots transcended ideology, as both Chinese communists and nationalists tacitly acknowledged the commonality of their struggle against the Japanese. Drawing upon extensive research in mainland China, Jackson incorporates both American and Chinese sources in this historical drama to show the extent of American/Chinese cooperation. Fallen Tigers is an incredible story of survival in the midst of a brutal war that insightfully illustrates the relationship between missing American pilots and their Chinese allies on the ground who were willing to save their lives at any cost. Filled with compelling personal narratives from memoirs, wartime diaries, and dozens of interviews with veterans, Fallen Tigers will appeal to history buffs and scholars interested in WWII, American wartime aviation, and international relations between the US and China.

Of the many presidents and founding figures of the United States, few have garnered more attention than Abraham Lincoln. Much of what we know about Lincoln's life comes from anecdotes providing only brief glimpses of the man. As such, there is great interest in determining the true character of the "Great Emancipator. " His life and deeds have been heavily researched, interpreted, and reinterpreted time and again until the multitude of "truths" have become untrustworthy. Because Lincoln is an integral piece to our national belief system and understanding of who we are as a free country, the consequences of such reinterpretation affect not only our imaginings of Lincoln's character, but call into question the character of a nation. In Getting Right with Lincoln: Correcting Misconceptions about Our Greatest President, Ed Steers sets the record straight, rectifying some of the most prominent misconceptions about Lincoln's life. He seeks to address claims about Lincoln that have little to no basis in historical fact yet have found a foothold in mainstream Lincoln lore. Such erroneous stories range from the portrayal of Lincoln as having a troubled and perhaps scandalous early adulthood on the frontier to more serious attacks on his character, such as the claim that he held racist, white supremacist beliefs. Using his background in health science, Steers refutes claims regarding illnesses -- from endocrine disorders to syphilis -- with which the president was supposedly afflicted. Steers sticks to primary textual evidence to dispel common myths "at the source," and maintains caution when reviewing the potentially biased reminiscences of historic figures close to the president. Steers puts his vast knowledge of the life of President Lincoln on display for readers in Getting Right with Lincoln. His entertaining writing style and contention with some of the more popular and provocative Lincoln revisionist histories will garner attention from broad audiences who are interested in Lincoln's story and getting to the bottom of the stories that surround him.

Acclaimed poet George Ella Lyon returns with a brilliant new collection that traces the course of a woman's life from girlhood to mature female wisdom. From the introductory poem, "Little Girl Who Knows Too Much," readers embark on a journey from youth, with its darker moments and denials of voice and story, to a place of strength and power with the poems themselves as a guide.The collection follows the narrator as she reconnects with her body and recovers memories of violence from early childhood as well as the wilderness of adolescence and of young wife- and motherhood. Gradually, a wider vision appears to her, and she turns to the Great Mother in all her manifestations -- writers, teachers, singers, Earth Herself--to reach new regions of self-knowledge and inner strength. In so doing, the narrator reaches beyond her personal experience and begins a healing process that situates her story within the larger human story.Alternately witty, charming, tender, thought-provoking, and bracing, Back to the Light expresses a vision of breathtaking breadth and depth. Following the arc of a woman's life, the collection traces the cycles of growth and change the narrator experiences in becoming more herself and finding the spirit to persevere while lyrically demonstrating the power of poetry to help and heal.

On October 20, 1923, at Belmont Park in New York, Kentucky Derby champion Zev toed the starting line alongside Epsom Derby winner Papyrus, the top colt from England, to compete for a $100,000 purse. Years of Progressive reform efforts had nearly eliminated horseracing in the United States only a decade earlier. But for weeks leading up to the match race that would be officially dubbed the "International," American journalists provided unprecedented exposure for the sport. The widespread buzz surrounding the race helped lay groundwork for the sport's national proliferation in the years that followed and reaffirmed New York's status as the epicenter of American racing a decade after the sport's return from a two-year shutdown there. Framing the match race between two prominent countries also raised the stakes and put Americans in the position of embracing a new nation, one that would become a global superpower following World War I. In Racing for America, author James C. Nicholson argues that the Zev-Papyrus match served as an important starting point for a progression of international events, including the Empire City Gold Cup, the Washington DC International Stakes, and the Arlington Million, that eventually culminated in the creation of the Breeders Cup World Championships - the annual apex of American racing. Nicholson discusses how syndicated sports columnists shared news, analysis, gossip, and profiles of the equine contestants and the people associated with them, including Zev's owner, oil tycoon Harry F. Sinclair, curmudgeonly trainer Sam Hildreth, and budding celebrity jockey Earl Sande. The American press also played up the rags-to-riches angle in stories about Papyrus's team, creating interest in, and sympathy for, the English team. Those tales of upward social mobility also homed in on American mythological space, muddying the waters as to which horse better reflected what Americans collectively wanted to see in themselves. An American Triumph narrates the rise of an international racing circuit and community, the imperiled status of American racing, the rise of big-time celebrity culture surrounding sports, the glamor and corruption of American politics and resurgent big business, and the popularization of eugenics. Though the International Race was one of the biggest sporting events of the era, no one associated with Zev or the "Race of the Century" would earn a lasting place in American popular memory among other athletic heroes in the golden age of sports, including Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Bill Tilden, and Walter Hagen. Racing for America remembers the blockbuster event, arguing not only that the match brought American horseracing to a place of cultural prominence that it had not achieved in decades, but that the "International," illustrates Americans' hunger for tangible evidence of their nation's strength in the aftermath of the First World War, as well as the central role of politics, money, and ballyhoo in the growth of commercialized sports in Jazz Age America.

The internationally acclaimed actress Patricia Neal has been a star on stage, film, and television for nearly sixty years. On Broadway she appeared in such lauded productions as Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, for which she won the very first Tony Award, and The Miracle Worker. In Hollywood she starred opposite the likes of Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Paul Newman, Fred Astaire, and Tyrone Power in some thirty films. Neal anchored such classic pictures as The Day the Earth Stood Still, A Face in the Crowd, and Breakfast at Tiffany's, but she is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Alma Brown in Hud, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963. But there has been much, much more to Neal's life. She was born Patsy Louise Neal on January 20, 1926, in Packard, Kentucky, though she spent most of her childhood in Knoxville, Tennessee. Neal quickly gained attention for her acting abilities in high school, community, and college performances. Her early stage successes were overshadowed by the unexpected death of her father in 1944. Soon after she left New York for Hollywood in 1947, Neal became romantically involved with Gary Cooper, her married co-star in The Fountainhead, an attachment which brought them both a great deal of notoriety in the press and a great deal of heartache in their personal lives. In 1953, Neal married famed children's author Roald Dahl, a match that would bring her five children and thirty years of dramatic ups and downs. In 1961, their son, Theo, was seriously injured in an automobile accident and required multiple neurosurgeries and years of rehabilitation; the following year their daughter, Olivia, died of measles. At the pinnacle of her screen career, Patricia Neal suffered a series of strokes which left her in a coma for twenty-one days. Variety even ran a headline erroneously stating that she had died. At the time, Neal was pregnant with her and Dahl's fifth child, Lucy, who was born healthy a few months later. After a difficult recovery, Neal returned to film acting, earning a second Academy Award nomination for The Subject Was Roses. She appeared in a number of television movie roles in the 1970s and 1980s and won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Dramatic TV Movie in 1971 for her role in The Homecoming. Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life is the first critical biography detailing the actress's impressive film career and remarkable personal life. Author Stephen Michael Shearer has conducted numerous interviews with Neal, her professional colleagues, and her intimate friends and was given access to the actress's personal papers. The result is an honest and comprehensive portrait of an accomplished woman who has lived her life with determination and bravado.

From 1935 until 1975, just about every junkie busted for dope went to the Narcotic Farm. Equal parts federal prison, treatment center, farm, and research laboratory, the Farm was designed to rehabilitate addicts and help researchers discover a cure for drug addiction. Although it began as a bold and ambitious public works project, and became famous as a rehabilitation center frequented by great jazz musicians among others, the Farm was shut down forty years after it opened amid scandal over its drug-testing program, which involved experiments where inmates were being used as human guinea pigs and rewarded with heroin and cocaine for their efforts. Published to coincide with a documentary to be aired on PBS, The Narcotic Farm includes rare and unpublished photographs, film stills, newspaper and magazine clippings, government documents, as well as interviews, writings, and anecdotes from the prisoners, doctors, and guards that trace the Farm's noble rise and tumultuous fall, revealing the compelling story of what really happened inside the prison walls.

In today's fast-paced world, many people find themselves waiting in line at fast food restaurants more often than gathering around the dinner table with loved ones. Cooking and eating together can help families grow closer, but it can be challenging for parents to put a meal on the table when time is limited and money is tight. Cook Together, Eat Together is designed to help families enjoy more healthy, home-cooked meals. Featuring easy recipes for breakfast dishes, soups, vegetables, salads, and one-pot meals, the book lays out a strategy to enable families to spend more quality time together while also preparing foods that are affordable and delicious. In addition, the authors provide a toolkit for lifestyle changes, including budgeting tips, nutrition guides, breakdowns explaining how to evaluate food labels, and even a quick guide to shopping smart at the farmers market. Each recipe is accompanied by useful information - from preparation tricks to help reduce mess to ideas for how to use leftovers - and the authors include icebreakers to start fun conversations around the table. The no-nonsense, nutritious recipes in this cookbook are designed to get the whole family in the kitchen, enjoying comforting foods and making memories. Cook Together, Eat Together serves up tasty, budget-friendly dishes that home cooks and their kids can prepare with less stress.

The first book of its kind to be published for the Bluegrass State, The Birds of Kentucky is designed to provide an accurate and scientifically rigorous description of all the species of birds found in Kentucky. This comprehensive guide features a wealth of information, including abundance records, migration dates, and additional reference material, and indicates whether a bird is a permanent resident, winter resident, summer resident, visitant, or transient. Additionally, Monroe reviews the history of ornithologists who have worked in Kentucky and outlines the physiography of the state as it relates to birding. More than just a verbal portrait of Kentucky avifauna, The Birds of Kentucky includes fifty-one color paintings by the renowned wildlife artist William Zimmerman, whose work has been favorably compared to that of John James Audubon. In contrast to Audubon's romanticism and often tortuous style, however, Zimmerman offers us "comfortable" birds that look as if they are about to take wing and leave the page. Beautifully illustrated and based on a lifetime of field observation and research, this book provides an excellent guide to the natural history of the birds of the Bluegrass.