Erika Janik: 6 books

Rediscover Wisconsin history from the very beginning. A Short History of Wisconsin recounts the landscapes, people, and traditions that have made the state the multifaceted place it is today. With an approach both comprehensive and accessible, historian Erika Janik covers several centuries of Wisconsin's...

Gravenstein. Coe’s Golden Drop. Mendocino Cox. The names sound like something from the imagination of Tolkien or perhaps the ingredients in a dubious magical potion rather than what they are—varieties of apples. But as befits their enchanting names, apples have transfixed and beguiled humans for...

An entertaining introduction to the quacks, snake-oil salesmen, and charlatans, who often had a point   Despite rampant scientific innovation in nineteenth-century America, traditional medicine still adhered to ancient healing methods such as induced vomiting and bleeding, blistering, and sweating...

Beginning with the retreat of the Wisconsin glacier and the story of early Native American peoples, Janik narrates the journey of Wisconsin’s capital city from the “center of the wilderness” to the “Laboratory of Democracy.” Learn how Madison’s citizens responded to the Civil War, industrialization...

While Bob La Follette's exploits as leader of progressive politics are legendary, his early morning exertions to save valuable government documents and executive department paintings during the disastrous 1904 capitol fire are largely unknown - until now. Odd Wisconsin captures the Wisconsin people,...

A lively exploration of the struggles faced by women in law enforcement and mystery fiction for the past 175 years In 1910, Alice Wells took the oath to join the all-male Los Angeles Police Department. She wore no uniform, carried no weapon, and kept her badge stuffed in her pocketbook. She...