For more than a century, historians have disparaged the men who joined the Union army in the later days of the Civil War—when higher bounty payments and the conditional draft were in effect—as unpatriotic mercenaries who made poor soldiers and contributed little to the Union victory. However, as Edwin P. Rutan II explains, historians have relied on the accounts of 1861 and 1862 veterans who resented these new recruits who had not yet suffered the hardships of war, and they were jealous of the higher bounties those recruits received. The result, he argues, is a long-standing mischaracterization of the service of 750,000 Union soldiers.

In A Higher Contemplation, author Stephen N. Fliegel introduces medieval Christian iconography and its forms, meaning, function, context, and symbolism to twenty-first-century audiences. Serving as a guide to the subtleties, complexities, richness, range, and antiquity of medieval Christian artistic traditions and the multiple levels in which they can be understood, this book will aid the reader in a journey of discovery and understanding of those sacred images. Beautifully designed will full-color illustrations, A Higher Contemplation will appeal to students, teachers, travelers, art lovers, and those with an aspiring interest in the culture of the Middle Ages and the history of religion.

This text focuses on complex economic, political, and social realities facing the profession today. Specifically, Historic Preservation for Professionals provides an in-depth historic analysis of the profession, a summary of legal issues, an architectural synopsis, a discussion of career opportunities in the public and private sectors, and examples of innovative nonprofit leadership and preservation trends.

The novels of Charles Brockden Brown, the most accomplished literary figure in early America, redefined the gothic genre and helped shape some of America’s greatest writers, including Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, little has been said about the latter years of Brown’s career. While his early novels are celebrated for their innovative and experimental style, Brown’s later historical narratives are often dismissed as uninteresting, and Brown himself has been accused of having become “a stodgy conservative.”

Invoking the sacred and the profane, Juliana Gray Vice speaks to the reader with a powerful voice. The poetry of History in Bones catechizes the reader with the mundane and the extraordinary.

Originally published in 1902 by Henry O. Harden’s newspaper publishing company, History of the 90th Ohio Volunteer Infantry tells its story through the soldiers’ personal letters, diary entries, and memoirs. Formed in response to Confederate maneuvers in Kentucky in 1862, this regiment was comprised of men from Fairfield, Fayette, Hocking, Perry, Pickaway, and Vinton counties. They served in the Civil War from 1862 to 1865 and spent much of their time in Tennessee bravely participating in such battles as Stones River, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville.

Of special value for Civil War scholars and buffs are Barber’s vivid descriptions of battles, notably the of siege Fort Donelson and the Confederate victory at Chickasaw Bayou, in which he highlights the Third Tennessee’s crucial role in defeating William T. Sherman. Robert H. Ferrell introduces Barber and details the formation of the regiment. A full regimental roster, a rarity among Confederate units, also is included.

Holding the Political Center in Illinois charts the political trajectory of Illinois from the introduction of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 through the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861. Throughout, Ian T. Iverson focuses on political moderation in this era of partisan extremes, one in which the very label of “conservative” was contested. Most often framed through the biography of Abraham Lincoln, the turbulence of antebellum-era and political realignment in Illinois has been widely misunderstood, yet the Prairie State’s geographic, economic, and demographic diversity makes it an especially fascinating microcosm through which to examine the politics of self-identified conservatives leading up to the Civil War.

The history of public transportation in Greater Cleveland spans two centuries. As the city developed from a trading post on Lake Erie to an industrial giant and ever-growing urban center, transportation policies and practices both promoted and reflected the dynamics of change. From the opening of the Ohio and Erie Canal to the opening of the new waterfront rapid transit, Toman and Hays trace the ever-changing contours of a metropolitan area and the modes of transportation available to its public. The scope of the book is comprehensive—canal, river, lake, and air transport—but the focus is on Cleveland’s streetcars, interurbans, trackless trolleys, buses, and rapid transit trains. It also explores the effect of the coming of the automobile and its inevitable impact on the city.

To his neighbors on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, Anthony Sowell was a quiet and helpful former Marine who played chess and hosted summer barbeques in his front yard. But there was a dark side to Sowell—and a horrific secret inside his house. In mid-2007, Crystal Dozier, 38, made plans to visit Sowell. She was never seen again. Over the next two years, ten more Cleveland women disappeared. Their families filed missing persons reports. Police say their search efforts were hampered by the women’s transient lifestyles. But the families say police considered their loved ones “disposable” and didn’t take their disappearances seriously.