Cape May, NJ in America's oldest seaside resort and in fact, America's First Resort. It began with an advertisement in a Philadelphia newspaper in 1801. Soon, city dwellers were descending on Cape May, at the tip of the Jersey Shore, and the American seaside vacation was born. Presidents stayed in Cape May, and famous industrialists from the north mixed with renowned plantation owners from the south. But the Civil War and an inferno that destroyed forty acres of majestic beachfront hotels sent Cape May lurching toward oblivion. During two world wars, the town hosted a huge garrison of soldiers and sailors, and the city was front-page news when a German U-boat surrendered off its coast in 1945. It took a bitter battle between the city and preservationists for Cape May to be reborn. Ben Miller tells the compelling story of how Cape May went from boom to bust and back again in this lavishly illustrated, meticulously researched book.

The First Resort: Fun, Sun, Fire and War in Cape May, America's Original Seaside Town

History

Miller, Ben

Americas

Exit Zero Press

For the first time the stories of those who have loved the Chalfonte over the last 135 years have been collected to form a remarkable history of a hotel that is unlike any other. The hotel was built in the seaside town of Cape May, New Jersey, by a Civil War hero from the North and nurtured by a storied Virginian family who turned it into a quintessential, southern-style retreat. Also included are hundreds of historical photos to help round out an interesting and eccentric slice of American culture, architecture, and vacationing habits.

The Chalfonte: The Heroes, Heartaches, Legends, Love Affairs and Unforgettable Characters Behind the Hotel that Became an American Treasure

Fox, Karen

A British sailor is shipwrecked in the early 17th century off the coast of what is now Cape May, New Jersey, where he befriends and becomes an honorary member of the Lenni-Lenape tribe, the Cape's native inhabitants. Under the tightening grip of the white settlers, McJack finds himself in the unusual position of leading his tribe to safety. This riveting, beautiful story showcases themes of love, honor, and duty while offering a morsel of little-known East Coast history. It also reveals a chapter in mid-20th-century publishing practices, as a renowned publisher of the era was primed and ready to market the author Charles Whitecar Miskelly as another Rudyard Kipling, Oscar Wilde, or Jack London, if only Miskelly himself had understood that the typical editorial policies of the time were not necessarily diametrically opposed to his artistic vision. Decades later, this lost treasure of historical adventure is ready to be shared with the world.

The Cape

Literature & Fiction

Miskelly, Charles Whitecar

Genre Fiction

Stone Harbor: One Hundred Years of the Seashore at its Best

Diane Stopyra

Wrestling fans, coaches, and competitors were stunned in February 2013 when the International Olympic Committee recommended that the sport be dropped from the Olympics after the 2016 Games. But just months later, the IOC General Assembly voted wrestling back into the Games for 2020 and 2024 in a first-round victory. This is the inside story of how one of the original Olympic sports came back from a virtual death sentence. Expertly uncovering the struggles within wrestling’s international federation, FILA, and the idiosyncrasies at the top of the Olympic movement, this investigation uncovers how the original and illogical IOC vote to eliminate wrestling transpired and how FILA, USA Wrestling, and Russia engineered the plan to remove ineffectual FILA president Raphaël Martinetti from office and keep him out. It also answers questions such as: Who were the leaders of the movement that transformed the sport into "new wrestling"? Why were the Kremlin, the president of Iran, the United Nations, and Buckingham Palace involved in the sport's quest for redemption? and How did controversial changes in both men and women's Olympic weight classes and the "new rules" become adopted? The book is a must for wrestling fans as well as those who like to see what goes on behind the scenes at the Olympics.

Saving Wrestling: The Inside Story of the Sport s Epic Fight to Stay in the Olympics

Sports & Outdoors

Sesker, Craig

Moffatt, James V.

Individual Sports

In the Land of Exit Zero - A Journey through Cape May, America's Original Seaside Resort

Ben Miller

In this breathtaking travelogue, photographer Kathy Fallon guides readers on a magical, inspirational journey through some of America’s most beloved coastlines and coastlands—from the Wildwoods and Cape May in southern New Jersey to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Fallon’s photos capture the power of the waves, the drama of the dunes, and the seductive charm of the surf and the sand. For anyone who loves the shore, this assortment will act as a treasury of nature’s most memorable creations.

A Coastal Journey

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

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Books by Exit Zero Press