It’s a tall order to capture the smorgasbord that is Arlington, Va., in 100 tightly crafted vignettes. But Charlie Clark, journalist, local historian and author of the “Our Man in Arlington” column in the Falls Church-News Press, serves up the feast.

His Arlington County Chronicles, published this month as a paperback by the History Press, delivers the lesser-known history — have you visited Henry Clay’s dueling ground? — and an authoritative roster of local celebrities that includes Jim Morrison, Jimmy Dean and Warren Beatty. The personable compendium also informs on Arlington’s multitude of public policy spats, a baby-boomer’s boyhood in a county much changed since the 1950s as well as precisely what makes Arlington weird.

Arlington County Chronicles is available now at bookstores as well as online from History Press for $19.99 plus S&H. Other online retailers also offer electronic versions of the book.

Clark, who is currently senior correspondent for Government Executive Media Group, grew up in the Cherrydale and Chain Bridge neighborhoods, graduating from Yorktown High School in 1971. He lives with his wife in Arlington’s East Falls Church neighborhood.