All of us are shaped in many ways by unseen markers in our DNA. Unknown ancestral traits contribute to determination of such things as eye and hair color, height, and even a certain propensity or susceptibility to certain diseases. To some extent religious bodies are similarly the product of their beliefs and doctrines, at times and in certain ways, to beliefs and doctrines buried in the inherited make-up of that body or denomination. Landmarkism is such a genetic-like marker in the Southe...

In the shadowy underbelly of 19th-century Edinburgh, a sinister tale unfolds. "The History of Burke and Hare, And of the Resurrectionist Times" delves into the macabre world of body snatching, where two notorious murderers, William Burke and William Hare, preyed on the vulnerable. As the city's medical schools clamored for cadavers, a chilling trade emerged, blurring the lines between life and death. This gripping account transports readers to a time of darkness and desperation, where the ...

Rock Climbing in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge documents, for the first time, fifty years of oral history from this famous climbing community. Through extensive interviews, Maples reconstructs the growth of rock climbing in the region—including a twice-failed dam project, mysterious first routes, unauthorized sport-route growth on public lands, and a controversial archaeological dig. The book details five decades of collaborations to secure ongoing access to some of the world’s most ...

While environmental disputes and conflicts over fossil fuel extraction have grown in recent years, few issues have been as contentious in the twenty-first century as those surrounding the impacts of unconventional natural gas and oil development using hydraulic drilling and fracturing techniques—more commonly known as “fracking”—on local communities. In Fractured Communities, Anthony E. Ladd and other leading environmental sociologists present a set of crucial case studies analyzi...