Kentucky Books

I enjoyed reading Mrs. Kidd's book. I am currently a returning student at Florida State University and read this account for a class I'm taking regarding Mental Health for Women and Minorities. Mrs. Kidd's account was so very well written that I can imagine her sweet and genteel voice. I can also envision her standing up for her constituional rights at moments in her life that challenged her values and belief systems. I reccommend all people read this moving account in order to reach a higher level of cultural sensitivity and understanding for another race (I am white), as well as a viewpoint from an elder citizen, and memories as well as experiences and achievements for a woman living in a world of male domination. Mrs. Street Kidd's recollections are moving and very enlightening.

This book is so informative, and yet at the same time entertaining. I am a passionate woman, so the title caught my eye. As I read though, I discovered just what kind of woman Eliza Haywood is and how that personality shines through in her writing. Thank God someone like Kirsten T. Saxton is around to share her insightful thoughts with the world. I am anxiously awaiting the next book!

This is a wonderful book about life outside of normal hustle and bustle of modern life. Harlan and his wife, Anna, lived in Payne Hollow, and spent their time living from the land and with the land. They built their home, tended their garden, fished the river, and lived their lives there. It is in some ways a beautiful love story that reminded me of what it would be like to be a castaway on a desert island. But in this case, one is castaway in the hills of Kentucky, on the Ohio river.

The book is really a journal of their lives there, and when reading it, one feels how simple yet full lives their lives were. From Harlan's rising early in the winter mornings to tend the goats, to the early passages about working by lantern light on simple tasks, to the way he wrote about the seasonal rhythms, I was taken with their story. I found that it was a tender book to read, and I found that the way they lived was so much more than the suburbanites. Harsher, perhaps, but more. The book has some sketches by Harlan, and some woodcuts. A great story.

For the serious researcher of early Kentucky families, this book is a must. While KY was still merely Kentucky County VA, there were hundreds of petitions sent back to VA, each one signed by early KY settlers. This book lists in full the surviving petitions and all the names of the signers. It is invaluable.

I'm a completely unabashed X-files fan. My wife and I lived without TV for 12 years and never viewed an episode until we purchased 9 years worth of DVD boxed sets here on amazon and watched them all over a single winter.
I am also an unabashed fan of the "Philosophy of the X-files." The concepts, theories and inner angst of Mulder and Scully demanded a philosophical examination directed to present day society and this collection of thought provoking essay's edited by Dean A. Kowalski, who was also a major contributor, does an excellent job.
I have added this book to my collection of X-files reference books and if you'd like to delve beneath the surface of the unique way the X-files views the world around us i recommend this book.
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My title is used by the author to describe the outcome of the conflict between tobacco buying monopolies and tobacco farmers in Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1900s. The so-called Black Patch War and related attempts in central Kentucky's burley region to resist monopoly began with the creation, in 1889, of the American Tobacco Company by James B. Duke. Competition ended, prices fell below the cost of production, and recalcitrant farmers responded by attempting to "out organize the organizers." The more well known sensational aspects of this saga ensued with the Night Riders or "Silent Brigade" of farmers belonging to the Planters Protective Association coercing independent farmers or "hillbillies." The most spectacular raid occurred on Hopkinsville, KY in 1907 in which 500 masked men wreaked havoc, causing $200,000 damage and spurring reluctant government officials into action.

Tracy Campbell's book recounts the end of small farmer republicanism and the rise of agribusiness. He clearly sympathizes with the farmers, with the book's central focus pitting the forces of monopoly against the ability of tobacco producers to organize and maintain unanimity. He identifies with the farmers' emphasis on the common good and assails private accumulation. This book successfully broadens the scope of earlier Night Rider interpretation from simply the violence to the rise and fall of the "movement culture." The Black Patch War is placed in the tradition of American agrarian unrest and insurgency. This book is well written, researched, and organized. Some disagreement regarding his conclusions by historians inevitably resulted, but it warrants reading by anyone interested in rural or agricultural history or the more salacious aspects of business-labor unrest. The violence of the War and the region in general are also expertly related and analyzed in Suzanne Marshall's Violence in the Black Patch of Kentucky and Tennessee. Campbell's work stresses the harm to society created by sanctioned monopoly and claims that the entire episode previews "ominous things to come." In the words of Night Rider organizer Dr. David Amoss, "It is a fight between the working classes and the plutocracy, those who labor, and those who exploit labor,... a fight to the finish."

"Portrait of America" was a popular video documentary series in the mid-eighties, a product of collaboration between Superstation/Turner Broadcasting Corporation and Ambrose Home Video. Well-researched, each video is divided into 5 segments covering most unique historical, social, and cultural aspects of each state. Watching such an interesting documentary, each being roughly about 50 minutes long, without advertisements and other interruptions seems to be a privilege in these days!

A concise, colorful history of the first 120 winners of America's most famous horse race. A short page story accompanies each lovingly done portrait. This lady knows how to draw horses--she doesn't pretty them up, she shows them how they are, beautiful enough without having to add any artificial ingredients. The stories are fascinating if you are a racing fan or like to read biographies of people and animals. The book is relatively inexpensive for art and history of this quality

President Eisenhower & Strategy Mgt provides a useful foundation for today's discussion of America's future defense posture. It is also one of the first books to show that Eisenhower, contrary to the conventional view, was the guiding force of US strategic policymaking during this administration.

Stories of faith, family and devotion written by members of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky.