The Cats of America: True Stories, Forgotten History, and Curious Trivia About American Cats

YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT ALL THE INCREDIBLE PEOPLE IN AMERICAN HISTORY — BUT DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CATS?

From the Mayflower and the Gold Rush to Abraham Lincoln, Hollywood, Hemingway, and even NASA, cats have turned up in some of the most surprising corners of American history.

The Cats of America uncovers the funny, fascinating, and often forgotten stories of the cats who helped shape American life and culture — and the people who couldn't resist them.

DID YOU KNOW?

• A cat from the Mayflower gave birth on Plymouth Rock?
• Abraham Lincoln fed his beloved cat Tabby with a golden spoon?
• A fancy show cat named Cherry Pop was presented with the keys to San Francisco?
• Alaskan prospectors desperate for rodent control paid dearly for cats — with gold dust?

And that's only the beginning.

INSIDE, YOU’LL DISCOVER:

• How brave mama cats stopped kidnappers and dragged kittens from the flames.
• How ordinary cats broke into show business and advertising.
• How a Texas tabby lived to the extraordinary age of 38.
• Why astronauts at NASA looked to our feline friends for guidance.
• How Ernest Hemingway founded a feline dynasty that survives to this day.
• How mysterious “cat signs” led wandering hobos to homes where kindly women might offer them a meal.
• And how your own darling kitten might just qualify as a tax deduction.

Packed with unusual history, quirky facts, forgotten stories, and plenty of feline personality, The Cats of America is for anyone who loves cats, American history, or discovering the strange true stories hiding behind the history we thought we knew.

It also makes a wonderfully unexpected gift for the cat lover who seems to know everything about cats already.

MEET THE AUTHOR

I'm Seamus Mullarkey. For years, I've searched old newspapers, leafed through out-of-print books, and scoured historical sources to uncover the remarkable ways cats have worked their way into America's homes, headlines, history, and hearts.

I've gathered some of the best stories I found into this entertaining journey through America's feline past.

Discover the forgotten history of America — through the cats who were there.