Loretta Carlisle – författare

A quick and accurate tour guide to Florida's military past

"This comprehensive book of Florida forts will shock readers with its historical insight and depth. A must-read for anyone planning a vacation to any of Florida's iconic historical landmarks."--Matthew J. Clavin, author of Toussaint Louverture and the American Civil War

"Florida's military past is multi-layered and few books can match this one in demonstrating the complexity of its dimensions."--Joe Knetsch, author of Fear and Anxiety on the Florida Frontier

Because of its extensive coastline--the longest of any state--Florida has always been at the forefront of U.S. military defense. The state's unique military history is revealed in its forts and outposts and in the museums maintained at those sites today.     This vivid guidebook focuses on those places that offer more than a simple historical marker to visitors. While there are numerous sites that have been important in the state's military history, Forts of Florida highlights the twenty-four locations that still have existing features, whether ruins, reconstructions, or preserved structures. All are open to the public, and many are among the state's most popular tourist destinations, including Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, and the Air Museum at the Pensacola Air Station.     Accompanied by historic and contemporary photographs, maps, and engravings, each entry discusses the architecture and context of the site in relation to Florida and U.S. history. The thorough background descriptions will benefit those planning first-time trips, as well as  those who have long enjoyed visiting these sites.

Key West is a unique travel destination whose history is so rich, it can be confusing for first-time visitors. Tourists walk through a mix of nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first‒century historic homes and attractions in a blur of fascinating impressions. They get no clear picture of the evolution of the city from its beginnings to the present and no sense of how all of the sites fit into history nor of the significance of Key West in American social, military, and intellectual history. Key West in History changes all of that. More than a typical, site-by-site guidebook, this book presents over 50 Key West sites in historical context—an invaluable resource for the visitor or student who wants a deeper understanding of how the city represents different eras of American and Floridian history, and how specific sites reflect important periods and trends in the past. Each chapter describes the events of a period of Key West history, and is accompanied by photographs of selected sites that represent that period.

Savannah in History features over 90 sites in Savannah, Georgia, presented organized by historical era, with over 100 color photos.

This presentation is especially important for a city with a long and varied history like Savannah, where colonial sites are virtually next door to antebellum, Civil War, and important modern sites. This guidebook conveys a clear picture of the evolution of the city from its beginnings to the present and helps the tourist, and even the resident, unravel and understand the dozens of historic buildings and monuments and several excellent museums. Like the others in this series on St. Augustine, Key West, Charleston, and Tampa, it serves as both a guidebook and keepsake.

A visual guide to approximately 20 Florida art colonies and districts. The book will discusses in detail a variety of towns in Florida renowned as “Art Colonies,” together with several “Arts Districts” in both small towns and larger cities that have been designated by the local government and/or by developers as neighborhoods set aside to foster the arts. Many of the communities sponsor annual art festivals or shows that have been held for more than 40 years. The book features color photographs that capture the variety of art forms that are uniquely Florida and covers special aspects of art in Florida such as the great number of Florida artists, the influence of arts projects and social realism of the New Deal, mural painting in Florida, the “Highwaymen,” and the extremely rich 19th and 20th century history of Florida artists. Colonies and districts include: Bradenton Village of the Arts, Eau Gallie Arts District, St Petersburg Warehouse Arts District and Central Arts District, Tampa and Tallahassee.