Florida Books

From the Panhandle to Key West, the state of Florida offers its visitors far more than sunshine and warm temperatures during the year's colder months. Are you interested in a vacation that offers "history and mystery" as well as wonderful food, pleasant surroundings, and plenty of local color? If so, you can't go wrong with this combination travel guide and ghost story collection.

Florida, of course, has a right to more ghosts than more recently settled parts of the United States. As Author Walls points out, in 1620 when the Pilgrims reached Plymouth there was already a thriving settlement at St. Augustine. The state's paranormal riches date back even farther than that, though. The inhabitants of Crystal River State Archaeological Site's pre-historic burial mounds make their continuing presence known, as do those of the Timacuan Indian mound just north of the city in Ormond Beach.

Tragic lovers. A little girl playing jacks. A farmer who found a much easier (but horrific) way to get rid of his migrant workers than simply paying them for their labors. A doll that, imbued with its departed owner's personality, moves about its museum case and ruins the camera film of anyone who tries to photograph it. An old lady whose body left her beloved home when she died, but whose spirit continues to watch over the place with benevolent interest - except when a female guest's skirt is too short, in which case she tries to pull it lower by the hem! The ghosts that Walls describes are a varied lot, and an intriguing one. I believe I would take her advice about the places of which she says, "If you go there, it is wise to not go alone."

I would also take her advice about bed-and-breakfasts, inns, and eating establishments of all sorts. Her descriptions of these made me want to pull up stakes and head a thousand miles south, to sit on shady verandas and stuff myself with both gourmet and "plain old down home" cooking. Good reading even if you're not planning to travel soon, in other words!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of "Rough Rider"

This is a great book for anyone interested in Florida genealogy, or super for anyone who is descended from one of the Florida 1st Cavalry veterans. The book covers the history of the regiment in chronological order, from organization to its surrender in 1865 as part of the Fla First Consolidated infantry regiment. In many, many, cases, the author has managed to reconstruct the actual events that lead to the deaths or wounding, of many of the regiments men. There are a few pages of photographs and drawings, but most of the book is text. The book has the most complete muster roll of the regiment that I have ever seen as a Florida genealogist. In addition, there is a name index in the back listing all the names of soldiers that can be found within this books history. There is also a bibliography of references. Basically, without this book there would be no recorded history of this regiment. I would imagine that anyone who had a great grandfather in the Fla First Cavalry will find him in this book. While it is not a big book, only around 90 pages or so, it does have some valuable research and interesting reading. I would recommend it to anybody who likes Florida history, civil war buffs, reenactors, historians, and especially genealogist. If your anscestor served in this regiment, then it is a "must-have" book.

Max Hunn has obviously forgotten more about fishing in Florida than I will probably ever know. His book is a wonderful collection of stories from days when slot and bag limits were unknown and sport fishing was practiced by only an adventerous few. If you fish SW Florida or Everglades National Park you will hear many familiar names, and maybe learn a few new ones. I have used his descriptions to go to places in the park that I never knew existed and found them to be accurate. His descriptions of tecniques used then work just as well today as they did for him when he wrote his articles. Sadly some of the spots he describes have been overtaken by development, but many of the ones in Everglades National Park, both in the Ten Thousand Islands and Flamingo are still there and still producing. With the fishing excesses of the 70's and 80's they may not produce like they did for Max, but they are definitely worth the trip. Whether you fish the Park or not, this book is a great read!

This book is a must have for anyone fishing or sightseeing on Florida Bay. The information is current and simply stated. The aerial views of the Florida Keys are themselves worth the price of the book. You need two copies - one for your home library and one to keep on the boat!

Sosin and Kreh cover all bases...spinning and fly....the book is very readable. Excellent.

"The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club". At Los Angeles Airport, a sick looking thug carrying a syringe with bad blood inside it abducts former cop Martin Zolotow using the hypodermic as a weapon. The thug escorts Martin by air to Oklahoma City where two more punks greet him. They take Zolo to Tobias Washington; he blackmails Zolo by threatening to kill a friend if the sleuth fails to rescue his daughter from rival Jimmy McDevitt and the pig farmer's so-called vampires. Zolo works the case, but is triple crossed at every step as the two gang lords compete over illegal drug trafficking.

"The Bikini Bottoms Optional Oyster Bar". Zolo barely survives a dunking in the Gulf of Mexico though he cannot remember why someone would toss him into the sea. Widow Jacob Mathias helps Zolo recover at his place in Apalachicola, Florida. Zolo starts to remember his client Henry McGill wanted him to learn what happened to internet stripper Lena, who the he believes was murdered. Now Zolo struggles to learn how he got embroiled with mobsters wanting him dead starting with the strip joint The Bikini Bottoms Optional Oyster Bar.

These two novellas star an intriguing knight in shining armor sleuth who has memory problems that will remind readers of Memento's Leonard Shelby. Both tales are well written as the hero struggles to keep track of what he knows, which he quickly forgets unless he writes it down (should try a Polaroid). Brian A. Hopkins furbishes a unique private investigator who is one part Boy Scout and one part Noir.

Harriet Klausner

Dr. Graham is an awesome teacher, I highly reccomend his book even though I have not read it. Although, anything by him must be good. Read Brinkley!

This was my favorite book when I was a kid. I read it many times and enjoyed it each time. A great adventure story.

"Flashbacks: The Story of Central Florida's Past," by Jim Robison and Mark Andrews is a wonderful look at Central Florida's rich historical past. This book was made possible by a grant to the Orange County Historical Society from Walt Disney World and is co-published by the Orlando Sentinel. It was a wise investment...Central Florida's history is truly amazing.

I took interest in the subject because I visit Central Florida frequently and wanted to check out its history. To this end, this book is good, easy and fun reading and a great place to start if you want a comprehensive historical understanding of Central Florida. The authors explain that the remants of the "true" natives (not killed by Europeans) were absorbed into offshoots of the Creek and Cherokee tribes who assumed the name "Seminoles." They also report that Oceola County is named for a legandary Seminole warrior and that Orlando is likely named after a soldier killed by Indians near Lake Eola in 1835.

Robison and Andrews also inform us that Kissimmee's boom-town pioneer days were personified by swamp-empire builder Hamilton Disston whose land deal not only saved the State of Florida bankruptcy but turned a cow camp and trading post settlement into a steamboat and railroad hub of the 1880's. Kissimmee was officially born on Election Day 1883 and it quickly earned a reputation as a town of saloons for ranchers and cowboys. It also boasted the nation's first ride-up-saloon.

However, the story of Central Florida cannot be told without including entertainment magnate Walt Disney. Within five years after the 1955 opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California executives began to think seriously about expanding East. The story goes..."Disney and several of his top executives were flying in the corporate jet over Central Florida, scouting out potential locations when they located a vast stretch of virgin land near the junction of Interstate 4 and the Florida Turnpike...this is it!" they shouted.

Disney wanted to stay away from the beaches where there would be too much competition for tourists' time and money. He also wanted to avoid the mistake he had made at Disneyland: failing to control the land just outside the park's gates where garish development pushed right up to the property line and others made millions running hotels, restaurants and other tourist-related businesses.

This book is an excellent source of information about the growth of Central Florida's citrus and cattle industry. It also provides an outstanding historical accounting about the growth of Orlando, Winter Park, Kissimmee, Apopka, Maitland, Eatonville, Goldenrod, Pine Castle, Edgewood, Belle Isle, Windermere and many other Central Florida communities. Highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Florida isn't just Disneyworld, you guys! And it's not just a place where all us New Yorkers go to retire. A lot of important history went down here, cultural and scientific institutions abound, and this book will tell your students about it.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Florida" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. The "Culture" section is especially good and is very inclusive.

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.