South Carolina Books

Conquering the Appalachians is an important piece of American railroad history. This book documents railway construction in the Appalachian Mountains in the early years of the twentieth century. The construction of tunnels and trestles is described in detail and enhanced by crystal clear black and white photos from the collection of William Cary Hattan, the civil engineer who actually built large portions of the Clinchfield and Western Maryland Railways. Well written and researched by Hattan's daughter, Mary Hattan Bogart, this book would be an important addition to any library of railroad books. It belongs in the reference departments of every public library within the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Future generations need access to what Hattan and his men accomplished in those states with dynamite, carts, mules, pick axes, shovels and sheer muscle. Many of their trestles and tunnels still exist, unused for their original purpose, but monuments to determination and grit. I've seen two of the trestles, one in Pennington Gap, Virginia and another nearby. They are awe inspiring for anyone who has read this book.

The insite in this book is one that every American should read. It could give everyone a new and better take on the way the system could work. Read it see !

The fine art of tail gating is familiar to everyone who has spent time in the parking lots around the stadium in Columbia. This fun take on what to have is just the right choice for the fan who wishes to eat as well as drink beer.

This book not only includes recipes submitted by Lou Holtz, Bob Fulton, Joe Pinner, Gov. Mark Sanford, and USC football greats (among them Jeff Grantz, George Rogers, Tommy Suggs, and Fred Zeigler), but also lots of actual USC tailgating photos. What separates THIS book from any other Carolina recipe collections are the generous helpings of Alex Hawkins' sarcasm and his irreverent humor. Appetizers, desserts, main dishes--they're all in here. The recipes were supplied not only by various luminaries and Alex' wife, Charlie, but also by the not-so-famous who make football tailgating at the University of South Carolina a time-honored tradition every fall, regardless (thankfully) of how well the team is performing on the field. Undoubtedly one of the best Gamecock books ever.

Students of Civil War history well know Sarah Morgan who wrote a diary that remains an unparalleled portrait of her time. The daughter of privilege, Sarah was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and began her diary in her late teens. By the time Union soldiers had taken over Baton Rouge she had lost both her father and brother. Sarah, along with her sister, Miriam, and her mother eventually fled to the outskirts and later to New Orleans where they remained until the war's closing days.

At one time she wrote, "Oh, how I hate to be like other women." She most certainly was not. She wrote in clear precise prose with an unflinching eye for the reasons behind battle and the horrors of war. Sarah would become the first woman to have a byline when she wrote for the Charleston News and Courier, covering such subjects as race relations, funerals, Spanish and French politics. These editorials by, of all people, a woman caused considerable comment in Charleston.

Her original diary was first published in 1913, almost immediately becoming a source for historians and students alike.

Now, with this volume from The University of Georgia Press we are fortunate to find not only the letters exchanged between Sarah and her husband, Francis Warrington Dawson but these missives are accompanied by articles Sarah wrote. Thus, we now have a complete picture of Sarah the woman as found in her original diary tracing the years of the War and then tin his volume encompassing her years following the war.

When the couple first met Dawson was a widower and owner of the Charleston News and Courier. Sarah was reluctant to marry, and the notes exchanged reveal much about each of them as their courtship continued. Of special interest are Sarah's views on the state of women at that time.

This well conceived and executed volume sheds much light on an important part of our country's history.

- Gail Cooke

This book tells the story of Dalton, Georgia, and how the textile mill led to its development. It is a very detailed look at the townspeople and their struggles throughout a century. It provides a unique and perceptive view of the South's economic and social transformation beginning during the aftermath of the Civil War and continuing with the rise of technology into the Reagan years.

Although my interest was personal because it is part of my genealogy, I still think someone unrelated would find this book very interesting, insightful and interesting. It answered many questions I had.
A must-have for anyone connected with the Crofts or related families, or anyone interested in the early settlers of SC. Very well written.

This book reminded me very much of Maeve Binchy's simialr stories. This author has the same wonderful celtic tone and can capture a very strong sense of place and character. The descriptions are wonderful. I highly recomend this book!

David is an enigmatic figure. He has stories attributed to him that are reminiscent of legendary figures from Greek mythology, yet has other stories that show him as a very flawed, very human figure. He seems loyal and disloyal, caring and selfish, naïve and manipulative - almost as if there were several personalities present. Yet through all of this complexity, the single figure of David is more prominent than almost any other human figure in the Hebrew Scriptures (for instance, David's name appears about 1080 times, compared with 772 for Moses, the next most-cited person). Moses, too, is a flawed person, but the depth of detail of David makes him in many ways a more interesting figure; his close-ness yet distance to the Divine also makes him more like the others of us ordinary human beings.

Steussy identifies four different narrative strands that give the portrait of David to us: The history from Genesis to Kings (in particular, the narrative in Samuel); the Chronicles, a parallel yet distinct history from the other; the Psalms, many attributed to David, others talking about David as God's chosen or special one, and the general sense of all the Psalms being 'of David'; and finally, snippets of David from prophetic literature. While the image of David continues to be replayed and embellished in current art and literature, Steussy confines this survey to the actual Biblical presentations of David.

Steussy devotes major attention to the first three strands of David; the largest strand being the first, the primary history set forth from Torah to Kings. She likens the first strand to being a mural realistically painted, the second strand from Chronicles as being more akin to a stained-glass window image of David, and the Psalms as being a collage portrait of David. The fourth strand is more difficult to pin down, and only one chapter is devoted to it, because the scattered references do not make up, in terms of volume, a significant addition; however, they do add, rather like spices, a flavouring to the other primary pieces. Through all the portraits, 'David stands perpetually at the point where divine power enters our world'.

Steussy also delineates the different ways of approaching the Biblical text: dogmatic, critical, and artistic. Being a professor in a liberal-academic setting, perhaps it is natural that Steussy would approach the topic primary from the scholarly-critical method. However, she does not discount the other approaches as invalid or without value, and draws in on occasion differing possibilities based on the variety of approaches available.

While this is a scholarly text, it is not part of that body of work that is 'by scholars, for scholars'. Steussy avoids jargon and discipline-specific terminology whenever possible, and when not possible, defines and explains the language she is using. Thus, this is a book accessible to any person interested in topics such as history and Biblical studies regardless of specific educational background.

Steussy does have an amazing care for attention to detail; for example, having chosen to use the text of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible as the primary text for references, she then in turn analyses and criticises the translation and word choice wherever it seems to her problematic. This kind of attention also draws in references from outside sources and cross-references in the Biblical texts to further illuminate points along the way.

Steussy has an extensive bibliography which lists many valuable resources. There are endnotes (I have a preference as a reader for footnotes, but the placement decision is often a publisher one rather than an author one), and blessedly a topical index in addition to an index of Biblical references.

This is a fascinating study of David, which would serve well for individual study, classroom assignments and Bible study groups.

Dawn Langley Simmons life story in this incredible autobiography is one full of contrasts. Born and identified as a boy and named Gordon in Britain,she eventually was able to have the necessary surgery in America to become the woman she was intended to be. As a writer Gordon emigrated to America and mixed with the rich and famous and the upper echeleons of society. He became very wealthy in his own right and from a legacy left to him. He was able to buy an historic house in Charleston and have the surgery required to become a woman. Dawn then met and married a poor black man,and faced a future of racism and abuse from the community, eventually having to leave Charleston and after many shifts becoming very poor herself and joining the black community of her husband. She gives birth to a daughter and is now a grandmother. But her husband can be described as a scoundrel,having had affairs,almost killing Dawn with his abuse and then being diagnosed with schitzophrenia. The ! fact that Dawn could be so forgiving is a testament to her strength and character. I first read about Dawn in a magazine in 1997 and spent a very long time tracking down this book,eventually getting it from Amazon.com. Reading of Dawn's British roots in Heathfield and Tunbridge Wells was so neat as all of my relatives come from that part of the world too,so the places she mentioned I was able to picture in my mind. This book is a very good story of an incredible life of unbelievable contrasts. How many people could cope with what Dawn has been through and come out such a lovely person.