Kentucky Books

Recently, my husband and I (along with our little dog) took an 8 week boat journey on the Ohio River. When we got to Big Bone Lick in Kentucky, we heard about a fascinating couple named Harlan and Anna Hubbard who had navigated the Ohio in a Shantyboat and then homesteaded along its shores. Two of the people we spoke to actually had met the Hubbards and spoke of them with great reverence. So it's no small surprise that as soon as I got to a Lewisville, KY and a big bookstore, I looked for works by and about the Hubbards. That is when I discovered Mia Cunningham's book. I bought it and read it as we navigated the same waters Anna had, along with her husband, Harlan. From the start of my river journey, I was interested in women's experiences, finding that so much river lore is from an entirely male perspective. The river world, I found, is largely a man's world; women's hopes, dreams, and heroic journeys are largely forgotten or spun into romantic yarns. So I was happy to find a book that examines river life and homesteading from a woman's, Mia Cunningham's, viewpoint. Cunningham's book breaks apart the Hubbard mystique. Harlan Hubbard is a great source of pride for people living near the Hubbards' old homestead, and rightly so. Harlan and Anna LIVED what we have come to understand as the Thoreau-like existence of simplicity and self-sufficiency. Yet sometimes people's lives get spun into myth and these people are projected as larger-than-life with no character faults. Cunningham's book gently tears at the seams of the Hubbard mystique. Drawing on her memories of the Hubbards and letters she received from Anna (unfortunately, most of Cunningham's own letters to Anna were destroyed by Harlan after Anna's death) Cunningham shows Anna as a woman of intelligence, inner beauty, and strength of character. However, the author also reveals that Anna's life was less than idyllic, exploring Anna's childhood loneliness, her poignant attempts to find love, the jarring effects of her hysterectomy, her altercations with her husband, and her struggle to maintain a balance between solitude and fame as the wife of the artist, Harlan Hubbard. Harlan Hubbard acknowledged that his goals of traveling the river and homesteading would not have been realized if not for Anna--Cunningham's book reveals why this is so, and the extent to which Anna sacrificed for Harlan's sake. ANNA HUBBARD: OUT OF THE SHADOWS is also an intimate exploration of the author's coming-to-terms with her own guilt at having lost contact with Anna Hubbard. This book is at once a tribute, a myth-breaker, and an intimate exploration of the pain we experience when we grow up and away from those we love--and those who love us. This book is highly recommended for those interested in Ohio River history, homesteading, women's studies, and memoir.

Learning about ones family can take much time. Mr. Wells has provided many of we family researchers with the tool (Annals of Floyd County Kentucky 1800-1826) to cut months off our research time. A great part of early America passed through or lived in Kentucky. Floyd County was a catch all for many of our ancestors during their move west, north and south while others remained there. Wonderful detail and well indexed.

Having been raised in the "city"; I grew up very curious about what a genuine "country" lifestyle would really be like, THIS BOOK DID IT! I got to experience the true life of Liza Jane (Barbara Hillyard) and exactly what her experience was like with no running water...and all that it took just to live in the rural area of Western Kentucky before electricity and miles from the nearest town. I have been fortunate enough to visit the actual "shotgun house" at which she was born before it was recently torn down. I am sure the "country" people will find this book delightful and the "city" will find it intriguing and informative. I have also read Barbara's second book, Renie, On Golden Pond and it was spectacular, as well. I eagerly await her next book.

My only objection to this handsome and handy reference to the historic architecture of Kentucky and Tennessee is that it is only one book when it really deserved to to be two books with addtional buildings. Despite the quality of material presented, the reader might feel short-changed with only the one volume. Although there are some regional similarites in the architecture that one might expect, these buildings are not colonial but rather built after statehoood and reflect the economy, religion, and politics of the locale. That said, the architecture, mostly houses with some churches, that is represented is done with brief but literate text and a good dosage of black and white photographs, mostly contemporary but with some historic views and old drawings as well. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the historic architecture of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Hacker Martin, a very accomplished gunsmith, once said "it is impossible to write a good book on building the flintlock, and who is fool enough to try using their instructions?" - Foxfire. This book, however, is more than good enough. It gives detailed instructions and diagrams on every step of building a rifle, from choosing the right wood, to inletting the lock and barrel, to carving and engraving. I've already built a longrifle using this book.

I think this is a very useful book if you would be doing a report, or just like to read about Arturo. He is a great, and the book is a great!

I have read this book many times. It is not only a book about the past of our country, it is a view into everyday life in the 1800's. Aunt Jane is wise and funny and the characters she describes in the book come to life. The quilting chapter is for anyone who loves quilts. Aunt Jane is wonderful.

Having lived in the Northeast and Upper Midwest for most of my adult life, it was with some trepidation that I accepted a position as a doc at a Southern Appalachian hospital. To deal with my cognitive dissonance, I purchased this book and was reassured. Now, after months of working and living in Appalachia, I can only agree: My anecdotal experiences support Backtalk from Appalachia. The region is populated, for the most part, with people with a refreshingly strong sense of home and place, and an appreciation for nature--imagine that! There are professional, blue collar, unemployed, and everything-in-between folks down here. The bell curve of IQs around here is normally distributed: The oft-repeated Deliverance nonsense has no place outside of the book and the film. So, if, like me, you have tired of the big cities with their congestion, pollution, and crime, come on out here for a visit. You might decide to stay.

As a nation at war with a country we don't understand, we all need to read this book as well as Mr. Langley's other book "Banana Men". Forget your political ideology and read a well documented account of how the United states tries to shape Central America in their own image, gets bored with it and spawns the conflicts in the 1980s. Mr. Langley gives a quick paced vivid account of the intervention in Central America and the Caribbean. He tells the story of some of the most flamboyant characters in American history. From Chesty Puller stopping a riot by jumping on a crate with his Thompson machine guns blazing to the last words of the diplomat in Haiti asking why the Haitians wanted the Americans out. The Haitian official's statement was to the effect of "Yes, our country is a mess, but it's our mess, Please leave".

Read this book it will give you a great perspective about good intentions and how they can go wrong when you don't understand the people you are trying to "help". Could go a long way in understanding our current intervention.

The biography of Pioneer Baptist preacher, John Taylor (1752-1835, Virginia-Kentucky) was superbly researched and written by Chester Raymond Young, the editor. His annotation of John's pithy, and sometimes rambling discourse, on his 10 Baptist Churches in the Bluegrass and Ohio R. region of early Kentucky, really helps one to understand the history of the pioneer settlers. By reading the biography first, one gains a much deeper appreciation of who the people and family members are, whom John Taylor mentions in his book. This is a treasure trove for both geneologists and students of religion.