"America's number one progressive radio host Thom Hartmann looks at our country's long and troubled voting history, analyzing the disenfranchisement of its citizens, particularly people of color, women, and the poor, and showing what we can do to ensure everyone has a voice in this democracy"--

Take in the sights of Chicago's forgotten byways, including a cow trail through a downtown hotel. Pause reflectively at the cemetery in a working scrapyard and the church built without a nail. Stop by the one-time homes of Walt Disney, Joe Louis, Hillary Clinton and Al Capone. Along the way, greet forgotten Chicago notables like the vice president who won a Nobel Prize and wrote a number-one pop hit. From the shortest street to the oldest house, John...

"Thom Hartmann, the most popular progressive radio host in America and a New York Times bestselling author, looks at the real history of the corrupting influence of oligarchy in America-and how we can fight back"--

"It was September 1776 and the American colonies had just declared independence from the British. But General George Washington knew things were not going the Americans' way. When Gen. Washington needed someone to spy on the British, only one young man volunteered. That man was Nathan Hale, an early American hero."--

"Some people call him the smartest baseball player of all time. Moe Berg could speak twelve languages -and make up signs on the baseball diamond. How did this major league catcher go on to become an American spy in World War II?"--

Before Lincoln Park cemented its trendy reputation, plenty of odd and unruly history managed to settle into its foundation. A Viking ship, mob henchmen and ladies of the evening all took up residence in the same part of town where Dwight L. Moody went from selling soles to saving souls. Thanks to a Confederate ferryboat crewman, many of Lincoln's personal effects belong to the neighborhood named after him. Patrick Butler uncovers Lincoln Park's forgotten...

If there's any place in Chicago that's been all things to all men, it has to be the corner of the city that is occupied by Edgewater and Uptown. Babe Ruth and Mahatma Gandhi found a place of refuge at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, but the locale has also been a sanctuary for Appalachian coal miners and Japanese Americans released from internment camps. Al Capone reportedly moved booze through a secret tunnel connecting the Green Mill and the Aragon Ballroom,...

It's easy to get caught up in the hidden history of Ravenswood and Lake View, like the Harm's Park picnic that lasted fifty-four years or the political gimmickry of the "Cowboy Mayor" of Chicago. Who can resist a double take over folk like the "Father of Ravenswood," who kept Chicago from falling to the Confederacy, or the "North Side's Benedict Arnold," who was sent to the electric chair during World War II? If you want to visit the days when the...

"We've all heard of Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, but very few female inventors are household names. This fascinating book illuminates the history of women who used their brainpower and skills to produce important items we use every day. Meet Hedy LaMarr, a famous Hollywood actress by day and inventor of a radio guidance system for torpedoes by night. Marvel at the cleverness of Ng Mui, who developed the martial art known as Wing Chun,...

New York has Greenwich Village; New Orleans has its French Quarter; Paris has Montmartre. And Chicago has its own little piece of charm that rivals them all. Chicago has Old Town--an oasis in the steel and stone heart of the city, an old-fashioned, do-it-yourself neighborhood beloved by artists and entrepreneurs as the perfect place to find a muse and raise a family. And while a casual, inobservant visitor can feel the magnetism of the place, lifelong...