North Carolina Books

I used this book for a research paper on interchangeable parts and it was a great read. The book offered super assistance for my paper.

Doyle traces the transition years between Old South and New South in Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston and Mobile between 1860 and 1910. Wonderful compilation of both quantitative and qualitative sources; the sources from newspapers during the time act like time capsules into the period. The newspaper sources combined with some photographs and maps make Doyle's book a well-researched place for students of Southern history and culture to enjoy an insightful glimpse into particular loci in the south. Chapters include:
Preface
Acknowledgments
Urbanization of Dixie
The New Order of Things
Ebb Tide
Patrician and Parvenu
The Atlanta Spirit
The Charleston Style
New Class
Gentility and Mirth
The New Paternalism
Paternalism and Pessimism
Epilogue
Notes
Index

Students interested in the too-often forgetten urban south should get this book

Few books have changed my thinking on any one particular subject as has this volume by Kennedy. I was trained in New Testament academics heavy on the German, largely Lutheran, "higher critical" method. While this methodology has strengths, it is based largely on the study of the written text as a literary document. That is all well and good, but Kennedy reminds us that these were most likely oral documents, transcriptions, if you will, of texts that were intended to be heard by the audiences to which they were written.

In other words, although the letters of the Apostle Paul were in fact written down and sent to the various congregations to which they are addressed, they were most likely experienced by that vast majority of people there as something that was read to them and not as something that they read. This oral presentation was based on a number of factors that we forget in the post-Guttenberg (printing press) era: The first century was an oral culture. Many people could not read, but even those who could expected to listen to texts as much as read them. Rhetoric, the art of oral persuasion, was held as the highest demonstration of a well-educated man (it was also a man's world).

Thus, to communicate within the framework of the Greco-Roman world, Kennedy maintains, Paul wrote rhetorically, with the intention that it would be listened to, like a sermon. Even the Gospels were written in this fashion, as long stories of Jesus to be heard in in one sitting among the communities of faith.

Studying the New Testament from a purely literary framework, therefore, without "listening" to the text as rhetoric, misses much of what the first century audiences would have know and appreciated. This book opened a whole new world for me, when I first read it over fifteen years ago as a well-trained student in the New Testament. Since then, I have deepened by appreciation for Kennedy's methodology and incorporated much of what I have learned in my own investigations.

If you a a studentof the New Testament, this book will invite to see a whole new way of thinking and, more importantly, of "hearing." Enjoy!

As our present Pope in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Sacramentum Caritatis indicates a political compulsion driven by the Eucharist to alter unjust economic structures, we do well to recall through this reflection on Religious Faith and Political Struggle an earlier generation's religious and political victories and challenges.

As we witness the re-election of Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega, his current declaration of a national state of chaos due to hurriaces and other natural disasters, and his recent reunion in Managua at the peace and cooperation conference with re-elected Costa Rican President Arias and still Cardinal Obando y Brava. let us refresh our memories with this profound and essential book.

THe first section of this book reviews therefore the history of Religion and Modern Democratic Revolutions, the antecedents of Nicaragua, the religious roots of North American Politics (an intriguing and relevant and alive field in itself), and political development throughout the Aamericas. Part Two handles Traditional and prophetic Churches, tradition and development in Christian Churches, the response to the Medeillin conference of Latin American Bishops and their recognition of the Gospel's the preferential option for the poor, and the role of religious renewal in popular mobilization. The final section discusses religion as a center of revolutionary struggle, the role of the Church in a revolutionary struggle, the Churches in the contra war, and finally revolution, religion and the Reagan Doctrine.

In light therefore of the conclusions of the Pope's recent Apostolic Exhortation Sacrament of Charity we do well to review the history of Religion in political struggle, as His Holiness calls us to alter unjust structures which leave most of the world living and dying in inequality, insufferable poverty, without peace, justice and dignity.

This book is one of the most important studies that uses oral history and folklore research. Beginning with stories about night riders and beliefs about the supernatural, Fry documents stories about white people's use of folklore to attempt to intimidate African Americans. The book traces out stories of night riders and legends throughout American history as it demonstrates how the stories began with the patrollers and the KKK. She demonstrates how the stories continued into the 20th century and how the old beliefs transformed into plausible scenarios that make sense in relation to contemporary social tensions. The book has been critiqued for not dealing with black people's resistance to oppression, but this criticism misses the mark of what Fry accomplishes: namely, she has written a careful analysis of relationships between belief, oral history, and systems that establish hegemonies. To further balance out the aspects of resistance that show up in these complex belief systems, I would recommend reading Patricia Turner's excellent study "I Heard it Through the Grapevine."

Readers should note the blurb by John Judis of The New Republic which appears on the back cover: "Natasha Zaretsky's book is a theoretical tour de force that marshals sociology, economics, and psychology to explain how Americans, once sure of their destiny, plunged in the 1970s into a profound pessimism not only about their place in the world, but about the integrity of their own institutions - from the government in Washington to the home and hearth. This pessimism - combining a sense of national peril and with a fear of moral and personal decline -- gave rise to the Republican realignment of the 1980s and underlay the conservative revival after September 11. Anyone who wants to understand the politics of the last three decades needs to read Zaretsky's startlingly original book."

I bought this book to help me with my geneological research in our family surname. This is book is exactly what the title says it is. It is a listing of all marriage records for these two states for the time period indicated. Names are alphabetical by both husband and wife. The information however, is the the couples names, the date, and the location....and nothing more. Unless you plan to do a great deal of research, you'd be just as well off if you got this from the library. It's an expensive investment for one or two names and a date....unless you sell it afterwards.

A great book that explores all of the regions of North Carolina's exciting history.

The Portrait of America series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This North Carolina installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like History, Culture, Economy etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. And this edition is loaded with several beautiful photographs. The Culture section is my personal favorite.

This book, as well as the entire Portrait of America series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

This is the best book I have ever read.