All of my diaries here are draft chapters for a number of book series that I am working on for Red and Black Publishers. Several of these series are now available, both in paperback and as Kindle eBooks, at Amazon, and as ebooks at the Apple iBooks store. The newest are:
The Civil War Tourist: Visiting Civil War Battlefields and Historical Sites
(Amazon Kindle and Print)
The Civil War could truly be thought of as the single defining event in American history. The War’s social and political effects are still with us today. But sadly, our Civil War history is slowly disappearing. Suburban sprawl has destroyed many historic sites, and many significant battlefields are now lost under a layer of shopping malls and residential neighborhoods. On the surface, this book is a history travelogue. It includes famous battlefields such as Gettysburg and Antietam that are run by the National Park Service, and smaller unknown or forgotten places such as Westport and Olustee that are preserved as state or county historical parks, or which are not preserved at all but have miraculously managed to survive for a century and a half. But this is also a journey into America, into the history and culture which, for better or worse, have made us what we are today as a nation. The ghosts of the Civil War have never left us. Illustrated.
The Revolutionary War Tourist: Visiting the Battlefields and Historic Sites of the American Revolution
(Amazon Kindle and Print)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-revolutionary-war-tourist/id1430174818
(Apple iBook)
“The colonial revolution of 1775 to 1783 has over the centuries become the subject of mythologizing by Americans. As our national origin story, this legend has grown to encompass a political and social outlook that still influences us today. So this book is part travelogue, describing the history and sights in battlefield parks like Saratoga, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Lexington and Concord—places that are still an important part of our national mythology. But it is also a historical study, presenting the history of the American Revolution as it actually was, peeling away the legend and looking at the reality. Because that reality, too, is still an important part of our national character today, and remains an essential ingredient in who we Americans are as a nation. Illustrated.”
The Electronic Nomad: Traveling the Country in a Converted Camper Van, Or, Living the Hippie Life in a Shopping Center Parking Lot
(Amazon Kindle and Print)
https://itunes.apple.com/lu/book/the-electronic-nomad/id1294032084
(Apple iBook)
“In May of 2015, Lenny Flank left his St Petersburg FL apartment for the last time, climbed into a four-year-old cargo van that had been outfitted with a sleeping bag bed, a homemade sink, a homemade toilet, and a solar panel for electricity, and set out to live on the road. This book is a chronicle of some of his adventures living and traveling around the country. It is part travelogue, describing the history of some of the interesting and unusual places he has been to and people he has met: It is also part how-to guide, for anyone who gets the travel bug and wants to follow their inner hippie, take to the road, and live the nomadic lifestyle of the van dweller. Illustrated.”
Florida’s Invaders: How Introduced Invasive and Non-Native Species are Changing the Ecology and Environment of the Sunshine State
(Amazon Kindle and Print)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/floridas-invaders/id1372554078
(Apple iBook)
“Around the globe, invasive plants and animals have become a serious threat. Some 40% of all endangered species worldwide have been caused by the presence of exotic invasives, and introduced species are now the second-leading cause of extinctions, behind only habitat loss. In the United States, Florida’s unique climate and its position as a center of the exotic-animal trade has made it particularly vulnerable to invasives. This book is an account of Florida’s invaders, from the Burmese Python to the Lionfish to the Kudzu plant and many more, which are threatening the very ecology of the Sunshine State. Illustrated.”
Hidden History 6: Another Look at Forgotten Mysteries, Oddities, and Unknown Stories From True History
(Amazon Kindle and Print )
https://itunes.apple.com/lu/book/hidden-history-6/id1297664918
(Apple iBook)
“A collection of oddities and forgotten stories from history. Includes:The Tybee Bomb: When the USAF Dropped a Nuclear Weapon on Savannah GA, Operation K: The Second Air Raid on Pearl Harbor, The Assassination of James Garfield, The 1914 Christmas Truce, The Real Secrets of Area 51, When the Confederates Invaded Vermont, Nuclear Disaster at Chernobyl, and more. Illustrated.”
Museum Pieces 5: An Additional Collection of Forgotten History, Science, And Mystery Behind Some of the Most Interesting Museum Exhibits And Historical Places in the World
(Amazon Kindle and Print)
https://itunes.apple.com/lu/book/museum-pieces-5/id1297668920
(Apple iBook)
“The unknown story behind historical places and exhibits from some of the most famous museums in the world. Includes: The Wright Brothers Kitty Hawk Photo, The Hindenburg Recording, The Roswell UFO Crash, Gunfight at the OK Corral, ENIAC: A History of One of the First Computers, The Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn, The Indianapolis 500, The Flying Tigers, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Champ: America’s Loch Ness Monster, and more. Illustrated.”
Hidden History 