Backroads of Paradise: A Journey to Rediscover Old Florida
By Cathy Salustri
“[Salustri] delights in letting people know that to really discover Florida, you have to turn off the congested interstates and explore the state’s towns and cities.”—New York Times
“Across 5,000 miles of Florida back roads, Salustri shows readers the state’s hidden gems, uncovering anything from sugar sand to working oyster boats. With Salustri, readers will gain an in-depth look at the Florida that isn’t often seen in travel brochures.”—Booklist
“Provides a perspective different from the theme park and beach images most commonly associated with Florida.”—Library Journal
“The ultimate Florida road-trip. . . . Anyone who shuns interstates for backroads in order to rediscover old Florida should rush to buy this lovely book!”—Tallahassee Democrat
“Funny, salty . . . informative and poignant.”—Creative Loafing Tampa
“Salustri’s enthusiasm for Florida is evident and contagious. . . . You are sure to be intrigued, if not in love, by the time you finish.”—Florida Book Review
“This book will remind you why Florida is considered paradise, just in case you had forgotten.”—Tampa Bay Magazine
Constructing Floridians: Natives and Europeans in the Colonial Floridas, 1513–1783
By Daniel S. Murphree
“This compendium of quotations with its ample supporting bibliography is a gift to the field of Gulf South studies, in which the later colonies come into their own.”—American Historical Review
“Murphree has uncovered a rich tale of cross-cultural divisions and mutual disappointments.”—Journal of Southern History
“Marks an important shift in the historiography of colonial Florida.”—Florida Historical Quarterly
“A fresh and interesting approach.”—Tampa Bay History
“Race and racism simply did not arrive to the shores of Florida. Instead, this volume demonstrates how racism emerged out of the frustrations and failures of the Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Britons to control the land and people of Florida . . . an important addition to the growing literature of race in early America.”–Andrew K. Frank, author of Before the Pioneers: Indians, Settlers, Slaves, and the Founding of Miami
The Politics of Disaster: Tracking the Impact of Hurricane Andrew
By David K. Twigg
“[A] careful, nuanced approach in examining the effects of a hurricane on a region’s electoral politics at all levels of government, including localities sometimes neglected by American political science but central to disaster politics.”—Political Science Quarterly
“Twigg has thoroughly researched. . . . [and] assembled an impressive array of facts by pouring through scholarly documents, books, and back issues of magazines.”—Florida Historical Quarterly
“A rigorous study of disaster’s impact on elected local and state political officials, on their electoral fortunes or misfortunes, and on the local political fabric of impacted jurisdictions.”–Richard T. Sylves, George Washington University
“A significant contribution to the field of disaster studies.”–Naim Kapucu, University of Central Florida
By John J. Clune Jr. and Margo S. Stringfield
“Describes the Panhandle city’s role as a crossroads where colonial European powers jostled for empire.”—Forum: The Magazine of the Florida Humanities Council
“We get not just a clear synopsis of the exploratory events leading to Tristan de Luna’s 1559 expedition, but also a succinct picture of the Old World empires clashing over settlement of the New World—and its hoped-for riches. . . . Clune and Stringfield have done a fine job in delivering what should be a lasting popular history of this historic city.”—Pensacola News-Journal
“A tantalizing glimpse into the history of the city between 1559 and 1821.”—Southeastern Archaeology
“Illustrations blend historic and archaeological discoveries into a visual window to the colonial world. . . . An attractive, readable, and affordable book that distills the basics of colonial Pensacola with an engaging and colorful text.”—Florida Historical Quarterly
“Provide[s] detailed information on settlers, settlements, and survival, as the city transformed from a Spanish garrison, to a French outpost, and to the capital of the British colony of West Florida. . . . An easy, informative, and fun read.”—Historical Archaeology
“Impressive. . . . The authors tell Pensacola’s story using both written and archaeological records to describe the colonists’ diets, entertainment, spiritual life, and mortality.”—H-Net
“A highly readable account of this remarkable city and its unique role in Southeastern history.”—Bonnie McEwan, coauthor of The Apalachee Indians and Mission San Luis
By Marta Caminero-Santangelo
“This unique study is vital for its analysis of contemporary fiction on immigration and its inclusion of testimonios by those who have experienced the difficulties of living undocumented in the U.S.”—Choice
“While the U.S. immigration ‘debate’ turns strident in media circles, Caminero-Santangelo intervenes with a call to read carefully the more complex stories that define us as human and humane.”—Debra A. Castillo, coeditor of Mexican Public Intellectuals
“This insightful study brings together Latino fiction, journalistic books, and autobiographical accounts to consider how undocumented people are portrayed in the wake of restrictive immigration policies.”–Rodrigo Lazo, author of Writing to Cuba: Filibustering and Cuban Exiles in the United States
The Florida Bookshelf 