Shaolin Brew: Race, Comics, and the Evolution of the Superhero looks at how the comic book industry developed from a white perspective and how minority characters were and are viewed through a stereotypical white gaze. Further, the book explores how voices of color have launched a shift in the industry, taking nonwhite characters who were originally viewed through a white lens and situating them outside the framework of whiteness. The financial success of Blaxploitation and Kung F...

No period of United States history is more important and still less understood than Reconstruction. Now, at the sesquicentennial of the Reconstruction era, Vernon Burton and Brent Morris bring together the best new scholarship on the critical years after the Civil War and before the onset of Jim Crow, synthesizing social, political, economic, and cultural approaches to understanding this crucial period.Reconstruction was the most progressive period in United States history. Althoug...

With the nation abuzz over the defeat of Custer, journalist Carlo Nelson is assigned to follow an equally colorful cavalry colonel, Jefferson McClannon, into battle. But Carlo is about to discover that war on the Plains is like nothing he has experienced in his previous travels…A short story by Peacemaker and Spur Award winner Troy D. Smith

The American Civil War was by far the most dramatic time in U.S. history. No one could escape its influence who lived in America while it was fought; indeed, we can still not escape its influence today. It was a contest for the soul of the nation, to define who and what America was to be.And that's a heck of a great setting for a story.This volume is a collection of several Civil War short stories I've written over the years, as well as stand-alone excerpts from three novel...

Strong Bear, a proud Cheyenne Dog Soldier, refuses to be forced onto a reservation. He decides to resist to the last, choosing his own fate –staking himself out in the traditional manner, with his face to his enemies…A short story by Troy D. Smith, winner of the Peacemaker and Spur Awards.

Duke Blackwell, California outlaw, is trying to go straight -but his efforts are complicated by a string of stage robberies by someone impersonating him. Now he has to catch "the Blackwell Gang" before the law catches him...Read the whole Blackwell series! "Blackwell's Run" was nominated for the 2011 Peacemaker Award for best western short story!

Robert Darnell's son is scheduled to hang in Wichita. Darnell would give anything to reach him in time, including his own soul... so he sets out on a race against time to carry out his desperate plan.Winner of the prestigious Peacemaker Award for best western short story.

Two desperate outlaws named Fred Stein and Apache Bill are holed up in a rocky stronghold, holding a wealthy man's little girl for ransom. Pinkerton detective Thomas Grady has been sent to bring her back safely –but will his haunting memories of another tragic assignment cost the girl her life?

A fantasy short story by Troy D. SmithThe halfling Jod Gleefellow had not expected to find adventure in the Dark Wood; he had only hoped to find a rabbit for his supper. He had certainly not expected to find an Elven maiden, imprisoned for centuries by an evil sorceror. Jod beheld the bones of the many champions who had sought to free the beautiful Elf from her amber prison -and they'd come there on purpose!"Well, Jod, old fellow." he said softly to himself. "You've certain...

Little Danny Jordan and his family joined a wagon train headed West after the Civil War... they were Exodusters, ex-slaves banded together to establish their own town, which they named Freedom Hill. But a greedy cattle baron wants the town gone, and threatens to bring an army to burn it down if the Exodusters aren't gone by Christmas. Danny prays for a miracle for his town, but especially for his pa -a Union veteran who is now the marshal of Freedom Hill...A touching story of faith...

U.S. Marine Jim Barnes survived Vietnam, and has returned home to the Maricopa Indian Reservation… but can he survive the memories that haunt him? His grandfather has a solution, if Jim is willing to listen to him, and trust the old ways…A short story by Troy D. Smith, winner of the Peacemaker and Spur Awards.

Army sergeant Max Blackwell and his brother, Texas Ranger Jake Blackwell, lead an expedition to rescue a woman and her daughter who have been taken captive by Comanches. The pursuit will lead them across the Llano Estacado to Ransom Canyon -and the notorious comanchero leader Dutch John...Read the whole Blackwell series! "Blackwell's Run" was nominated for the 2011 Peacemaker Award for best western short story!