Since the middle of the last century, views on gender norms have shifted dramatically. Reflecting these changes, storylines that involve cross-dressing and transgender characters have frequently appea
Parenting is difficult under the best of circumstances—but extremely daunting when humanity faces cataclysmic annihilation. When the dead rise, hardship, violence and the ever-present threat of flesh-
The posthumous diagnosis of Winston Churchill as manic-depressive has been drawn entirely from biographical information, which, though significant to understanding his life and mind, has often been mi
American International Pictures was in many ways the “missing link” between big-budget Hollywood studios, “poverty-row” B-movie factories and low-rent exploitation movie distributors. AIP first target
Looming onto the television landscape in 2011, American Horror Story gave viewers a weekly dose of psychological unease and gruesome violence. Embracing the familiar horror conventions of spooky setti
"All of Agatha Christie's 66 detective novels are covered here in detail. Each chapter begins with general comments on a novel's geographical and historical setting, identifying current events, fashio
The free-standing radios of the middle decades of the 20th century were invitingly rotund and proudly displayed--nothing like today’s skinny televisions hidden inside "entertainment centers." Radios w
This work documents the history of Pacific American Fisheries, a salmon packing company based in Bellingham, Washington. From its beginnings when adventurer and promoter Roland Onffroy saw the opportu
The elite French Zouaves, with their distinctive, colorful uniforms, set an influential example for volunteer soldiers during the Civil War and continued to inspire American military units for more th
Combining elements of medievalism, the historical novel and the detective narrative, medieval crime fiction capitalizes upon the appeal of all three—the most famous examples being Umberto Eco’s The Na
? Between 1900 and 1950, Americans built the most powerful steam locomotives of all time—enormous engines that powered a colossal industry. They were deceptively simple machines, yet, the more their
Brooks Brothers crafted Abraham Lincoln’s greatcoat in honor of the president’s second inauguration. The coat’s wool was “finer than cashmere” and its silk-embroidered lining read, “One Country, One D
Revised and updated since its first publication in 1990, this acclaimed critical survey covers the classic chillers produced by Universal Studios during the golden age of hollywood horror, 1931 throug
Dunne, an author and United States Chess Federation correspondence chess director, lists the results of the US Junior Open Chess Championships from 1946 to 2016. Chapters contain annotated games of
This study reexamines the recognized "canon" of films based on Shakespeare's plays, and argues that it should be broadened by breaking with two unnecessary standards: the characterization of the direc
The writings of twentieth-century author Jack Finney are classic contributions to the genres of science fiction and suspense thrillers in American literature. Two of Finney’s novels, The Body Snatcher
During the horror and conflict of World War II, a fictional radio character named Captain Midnight stormed his way into the consciousness of American radio listeners. Captain Midnight (a.k.a. Charles
Willard Gayheart, a pencil artist from eastern Kentucky who now lives in southwestern Virginia, portrays the history, people, and culture of the southern Appalachian region. This book combines a biogr
Approximately 900 hiking trails in the United States take hikers along routes or past sites of historical importance and offer commemorative embroidered patches or other souvenirs of the outing. These
This collection of new interviews—conducted by the author—recounts some of the pivotal moments in the careers of professional baseball players and in American history. Negro League players Leon Day,
The 96th Pennsylvania Volunteers infantry regiment was formed in 1861—its ranks filled by nearly 1,200 Irish and German immigrants from Schuylkill County responding to Lincoln's call for troops. The m
From Victor Halperin’s White Zombie (1932) to George A. Romero’s landmark Night of the Living Dead (1968) and AMC’s hugely successful The Walking Dead (2010–), zombie mythology has become an integral
Based on papers from the 2016 Comparative Drama Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, in March and April 2016, the 18 expanded essays presented here by scholars from North America examine theatre
Base Ball is a peer-reviewed journal published annually. Offering the best in original research and analysis, the journal promotes study of baseball's early history, from its protoball roots to 1920,
Schmidt, a bowling historian, collects 90 of his articles from Bowlers Journal International on the history of the sport. Published between 1990 and 2016, the articles describe topics like Dick Web
Editors McEniry, Peaslee, and Weiner present readers with a collection of essays examining the adaptations of Marvel Comics stories into films from the nineteen forties to the present. The editors hav
The text is a collection of essays focusing on the Lifetime Network, the channel expressly dedicated to women and women's programming. Essay titles include, “She needs some food”: Eating Disorders, Li
Police violence is not a new phenomenon. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, police officers in America assaulted or killed many ordinary citizens, often during improper detainments or arrests
In the late 1500s in Florence, aristocrats of the Renaissance renovated classical Greek dramas into dramatic musicals and gave birth to the first operas. After centuries of transformation, the opera i
Once tainted by association with Hitler and Nazism, Richard Wagner’s work has experienced an international cultural renaissance in the last 25 years. His magnum opus, Der Ring des Nibelungen, which to
Theatrical producer Andre Charlot brought Parisian revue to Great Britain in 1912 and dominated his field for 25 years. He greatly influenced American musical theater with Charlot’s London Revue in Ne
In 1967, Jim Harmon published the first edition of The Great Radio Heroes to great acclaim. Thirty-three years later comes an illustrated, corrected, revised and greatly expanded new edition... Once
What is romantic love? Are romantic relationships valuable? Are most people romantic? How do people meet the right person? How important is physical attraction? In a question and answer format, this
Organized in the fall of 1862, the 125th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was commanded by the aggressive and ambitious Colonel Emerson Opdycke, a citizen-soldier with no military experience who rose from lieu
One of the top-grossing independent films of all time, The Evil Dead (1981) sparked a worldwide cult following, resulting in sequels, remakes, musicals, comic books, conventions, video games and a tel
With the publication of his Personal Memoirs in 1885, Ulysses S. Grant established what is today known as the presidential memoir. Every U.S. president since Benjamin Harrison has written one and many
This first full-length history of the Jews of Edinburgh chronicles their immigration to Scotland’s capital city from Russia during the 1880s in the wake of Tsarist persecution, and examines their rece
In 1903, a small league in California defied Organized Baseball by adding teams in Portland and Seattle to become the strongest minor league of the twentieth century. Calling itself the Pacific Coast
In literature and popular culture, small town America is often idealized as distilling the national spirit. Does the myth of the small town conceal deep-seated reactionary tendencies or does it contai
Mars has long served as a blank canvas for illustrating society’s aspirations and anxieties—a science fiction setting for exploring our “future history.” Covering a wide array of films from Soviet pro
