Alabama Books

Twice I have been working on a project and my editor has asked if I've read some article in Broer & Holland's _Hemingway and Women_. I finally broke down and bought my own copy. This truly is a must for any collection of Hemingway scholarship.

Essential for any serious student of Hemingway, this book is one of the best ever written on the author. Cohen is an important Hemingway scholar, and the analysis of Hemingway's early work is some of the most rigorous ever applied to the subject.

this is a great book!I really love it it really explains the life of the south and what heritage is really about!!!

The state of Alabama is a natural wonder. From clear gulf waters kissed by blindingly beautiful white sand beaches, to rugged canyons and graceful mountains, Alabama truly has it all. Joe Cuhaj's book "Hike America: Alabama," covers enough trailblazing experiences in this well written and easy to follow guidebook to last a lifetime. The maps are clearly drawn and the text contains a wealth of information on everything from the local flora and fauna to the best restaurants in the area. Particularily nice are the individual hike profile maps, side elevation of the trail that can tell the novice more about the roughness of the terrain in a glance than squinting at a contour map all day. This is not the first book on hiking Alabama trails that I have bought, but it is by far the best.

We have researched hiking books and bought some but this is the BEST we've found yet. It's very detailed and reader friendly. The maps are great!! If you want a GREAT hiking guide, buy this one. The biggest help throughout the book is the fact that you are given "ratings" of diffuculty and the mileage. Believe it or not, there are guides out there that do give give these 2 basic pieces of very much needed information.

This book is the long standing authority on early Alabama history. (1819 statehood). Pickett lived during the early days and knew many of the people he wrote of and got much of his information first hand . He has been criticized for a few things but this remains the best of all Alabama ante-bellum histories and a must for any serious student of Alabama history. The original printings of the book are highly collectible.Pickett has been criticized for over romanticizing but it was an exciting and romantic time! Pickett writes with passion about the times as few historians do.
Pickett gives a "birds-eye" view of the state's early history as no other writer has ever done as he knew many of the early settlers, many of the first state politicians, veterans of the Creek and Seminole Indian wars,and gives intimate details of the state's formative years.
I collect and study Alabama history books and consider this #1 to study and to own.

A BOOK REVIEW By Charlie J. Black

All of the three decades that I have known Pearl Gray Daniels, she has been involved with the pulse beat of people.

Uniquely, Pearl's growing up in the "Holt Street Church of Christ" lead her to being curious about "Its Role in Establishing Churches of Christ Among African Americans in Central Alabama." Thus, the basis of this book.

This book evolved through Pearl's entire life. A life that commenced with the uniting of her parents, Abraham and Nancy Jones Gray. A family that would include four brothers; one being Fred D. Gray, who, himself, would, at age 12, become a minister of the Church of Christ.

Pearl's book encompasses the paths and the paths of people who, because of the church, were able to survive in time of crisis; most notably, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, of which her `baby' brother Fred was legal counsel.

In formulating this book, Pearl saw Alabama from a different prospective than a lot of her contemporaries. Before public education was taken for granted for black people, Pearl studied at Stillman College, a Presbyterian institution, and taught in Presbyterian schools in Wilcox County, Alabama.

Education, like church, to Pearl, is a continuing process. She has always been active in alumni organizations of Alabama State University and Stillman College. In Texas, in honor of her mother, Mrs. Nancy Jones Gray Arms, Pearl set up a scholarship at Southwestern Christian College.

Through Pearl's eyes, not only does the Holt Street Church of Christ have an illustrious past, it has a very promising future.

Charlie J. Black, Educator and Contemporary Writer. Author of: AFTER THE FACT: 20/20 HINDSIGHT.

The Washington Provider Syndicate

October 12, 1998

Burns has written an interesting and thorough history of the Osage Indians from their origins up until about 1950. To those who aren't familiar with them the Osage were one of the most powerful American tribes. They ruled over a shadowy empire in the 18th century that included most of the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma, and held the French and Spanish at bay. Their downfall came with the tidal wave of Anglo and Indian emigrants from the east, disease, and the destruction of the buffalo herds in the mid to late 19th century. Today, the Osages live in Oklahoma and are among the richest and best educated of Indians. (Truth in advertising: I have a smidgin of Osage blood, as well as that of three other Indian tribes.)

I have a few complaints about this book. The author probably over-estimates the influence of the Osages on American culture. Similarly, I thought his statement that the survival of tribe was due to the Jesuits was a statement unsupported by any facts he presented. As the Jesuits were missionaries to the tribe during its period of decline in the late 19th century one might legitimately ask what benefits they brought. The author's connection of the Osage with the early explorations of DeSoto is probably off the mark -- in the opinion of most scholars. I also wish his footnotes were more ample. For example, he tells me the name -- which I hadn't known -- of my g-g-g-g grandmother but doesn't tell us where he discovered this bit of genealogical treasure.

However, points of disagreement aside, this book delves deeply into the society and history of the Osage. It covers just about every aspect of the tribe -- war, religion, agriculture, hunting, character, folklore, and population. Perhaps the most interesting section of all is about the early 20th century when the newly-tamed and "civilized" Osage became rich with oil money which led to both amusing and tragic consequences. The author relates a number of ancedotes from the period.

"A History of the Osage" is written with grace and conviction. Many maps supplement the text which is dotted with a great number of interesting tidbits of information.

Smallchief

This is a great book about the area and the people who lived there. If you are into genealogy you will find that this book has a lot of families listed and who they are related to and if and when they left the area..I have enjoyed it very much..

This book covers a great deal of history of the battles of the 29th Al. Anyone intersted in Civil War history of this Company would enjoy this book.