North Carolina Books

I had read a review that complained about Bullard only using visible characteristics but for quick ids it is a good reference to have. It is a great addition to my collection. Short and easy taxanomic keys. I also have Paul Sandifers Decapods of the Chesapeake Bay and the two go well together. Bullard draws from Sandifer in his book but also has other good drawings for identification. For most species there are drawings for each zoea life stage.

Excellent crab larvae key for the east coast! If you have or love crab larvae, you NEED this!

This book reminds me of Laura Ingalls Wilder, specifically "Little House in the Big Woods". It takes place more recently, but has a lot of that feeling of pioneering and making a living from scratch. It has so much detail that the time and place came alive for me. The story would be of special interest to folk music fans, herbalists and botanists.

As a lover of the NC mountains, this book speaks of people and places of my childhood. The story of this family is one of music, heritage, honor, humor and heartache. The isolation of the rugged mountains in the early part of this century makes me, who sometimes longs for a simpler way of life, want to experience it, but at the same time, I am humbled that I would probably never survive it. Having sat on Mr. Hick's porch as a child, and listened to his Jack Tales, I have a new admiration for him and his family. If I ever have the nerve to complain about my circumstances, I always think of this story and count my blessings. Not for those who want to pity those with fewer possessions or dollars than the average US family, for these people possess much more than so many of us!

This work should be of more than passing interest to those who more and more find themselves beset on every side by urban sprawl. The author sets out in many ways to preserve an old family homestead; but, more important, seeks ways to make the place profitable. His attempts are often hilarious, the more so when they fail, and they never lack meaning for others who share his feelings about the need for ways to protect ourselves from the menace of an urbanization that has rapidly got out of contol.

This work should be of more than passing interest to those who more and more find themselves beset on every side by urban sprawl. The author sets out in many ways to preserve an old family homestead; but, more important, seeks ways to make the place profitable. His attempts are often hilarious, the more so when they fail, and they never lack meaning for others who share his feelings about the need for ways to protect ourselves from the menace of an urbanization that has rapidly got out of contol.

I read this book in two days, and it was most enjoyable. It was wonderfully written, bringing both Eastern North Carolina and a romantic love story together. You will be delighted when you read it, though be prepared to not be able to put it down.

This is such a beautiful love story. But more than that, it gives hope--hope that even in the middle of personal trials, love heals.

Enjoyed the book so much. A quiick read, page turner.... hope there is a "next" book that will continue the story. Please Mrs. Layng, hurry with the next one.

Letters from James is an awesome story of Jenny, and James in during the first world war. It is so real that it feels like you know the charachters yourself, and that you are there with them going through the happy, and sad times. As you read the book it makes you want to turn the next page. It is one of those books that you just can't put down because it is so good. Will they ever meet?

I really enjoyed this book since I grew up in Lexington, NC...a lot of history in Lexington I didn't know. I also gave copy to my best friend since we grew up together and were neighbors in Lexington.

I gave this book to my mother-in law who is from Lexington NC and she loved it! There are a lot of pictures to think of good old memories.
I think a book like this is very special.

I really enjoyed this book. It was sweet and funny and very heartwarming. This may be sold as a children's book, but I think it is for anyone who loves dogs. Fun story and the pictures are a scream.

This book is tons of fun and has a great message about kindness to animals. It's good for kids or adults and will be a big hit with any animal lover. The photos of the dogs are a hoot!

McClintock's first historical non-fiction fully engages the reader in the politics and personalities that defined the most important four months in the history of the United States, the months between Lincoln's election and the firing on Fort Sumter. Although clear that the ultimate decision for the war lied with Lincoln, McClintock provides insight into the significance of other key players, from Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to Republican party leader William Seward. However, more than just a politcal history, letters and quotes from common townspeople provide a complete view of the perceptions of the time. As an avid reader of history, I can safely say that this work combines the detail of Shelby Foote with the adventure of David McCullough. Bravo McClintock!

The normal historical point of view for November 1860 to April 1861 is Southern. Lincoln and the efforts to find a comprise are noted but the main story is what the South is doing. This book changes that by concentrating on Northern politics and reactions. Secession and all the maneuvering for and against it, take place off stage. Except for South Carolina, leaving the Union was a wrenching process. Many Southern states resisted secession until the very end. Kentucky was not able to make a choice and Maryland may not have been able to choose. Their stories are the subject of most histories about this period.
What about the North? How did the political, personal and public opinion shape a response to the crisis? This book tells that story and what a story it is. The Democrats, badly damaged by the events 1860, try to blame everything on the Republicans. While they work to construct a comprise to save the Union one more time. The Republicans are not united nor are they sure how to proceed. A substantial part of the party sides with the Democrats in trying to find a comprise. Another large faction is ready to allow the South to leave the Union. Large numbers feel that secession is wrong but that the Federal government lacks the authority to force states back into the Union. Many question if it is desirable to use force to maintain the Union and if doing so would not destroy the Union. Added is the plea of Southern Unionists for something to stop secession.
Lincoln, Douglas, Seward stride across these pages. Each man with multiple agendas that create and destroy alliances. Each man trying to lead his political party, maintain the Union and do what he feels is best for the nation. Shifting priorities, new developments, regional pride and abrupt changes of position make this a rollercoaster ride even if we know the story.
Russell McClintock is an excellent author. He tells this story in a straightforward manner with minimum back tracking. This allows each event to be placed in the proper perspective of the time and almost makes the reader forget we know the story. While moving from Washington to Springfield to New York, we never lose the story line nor the reason for the trip.
The decisions made during this time were difficult ones. The issues were complex and the correct response unclear. This book captures that and explains it to the reader in an informative and enjoyable way.

Ever remembered a sentence or two from the book and, still later on, didn't recall where it comes from? Well, there is one in the 'The lost boy' that I'd say I'll never forget. It goes: 'Light came and went and came again...' I would believe this is the best definition of Time I've ever read. It tells what we all already know - that the Time is here, all around, that it passes, eternally, incessantly, giving us no chance to do anything about it. And although there's much more to the nouvellette, it's worth reading it from the beginning to the end. It's 'realness' moves you all along.

This book is a gem! It is brimming with lyricism, longing and passion. It is Wolfe at his very best. For those who feel that Wolfe tended to ramble, here they will find him constrained by the limits of the novella form. They will find his skill for characterization (which was always remarkable) honed to an even higher degree of excellence in this piece. The story is autobiographical and deeply felt by Wolfe and he succeeds in transmitting those feelings to the reader. It is my belief that even if he had written nothing else, his reputation could rest comfortably on this piece alone.

The 1950's South was both a time and a place of contradictions. On the one hand, there was a cultural revolution going on that fused both white and black musical tastes into one revolutionary music genre (rock 'n' roll) and a political revolution that went on (integration) which made the cultural achievements seem to pale in comparison. In essence, the South of the 1950's was a confusing maelstrom of contradictory policies and failed opportunities for peaceful change.

So argues Pete Daniel in his book "Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950's". Daniel's thesis is that the South offered ripe opportunities for change during the immediate post-World War II era but these opportunities were overlooked by the fact that warring factions between African-Americans and whites prevented to make important cultural revolutions make a difference in the political spectrum. These important cultural revolutions consisted of: the importance of rhythm and blues in forging feelings of appreciation between blacks and white country and western singers, the rise of NASCAR as a unifying factor among lower-class whites to challeng the hegemony of the white middle and upper-classes, and, finally, the rebeliousness exhibited by both white and black youth to forge a new consensus for political change. Daniel's book does an excellent job of explaining both why there were contradictions in Southern society and how these contradictions contributed to a painfully fought battle for integration and equal rights. This is a battle which is still being fought today but more on a state's rights and regionalistic front than a racial front.

Daniel's book is a true lesson in primary source research and his endnotes clearly demonstrate this. Interviews, 4 pages of manuscript collection sources, and numerous prominent secondary sources fully back up a thought-provoking thesis. This book is a welcome addition to southern historiography.

Read this for graduate American history course. Lost Revolutions by Pete Daniel is a book that looks at the South during the 1950's. More specifically, it is a cultural history of the American South from the end of World War II until the Freedom Summer of 1964. Daniel's thesis is, "The South that evolved in the twenty years after the war emerged out of displacement, conflict, and creativity - not tranquility" (1). Daniel covers many themes that support his thesis. Among these themes are the migration of small farmers to cities, the advent of NASCAR, Rock n' Roll, and the lost occasions to give full citizenship to African Americans. The author's intention for writing this book is twofold. First, Daniel explores the cultural achievements of the "Lowdown culture" (91). He does this by looking at how the displaced farmers kept their rural roots, despite the fact that they lived in urban areas. Second, Daniel delves into the reasons why the middle-class and upper-class South did not want to desegregate. Lost Revolutions is a fascinating cultural history that sheds light on many current issues.

Daniel discusses numerous issues that surrounded the South after the end of World War II. Primarily, the author looks at a multitude of reasons that massively shrank the number of farmers in the South. "Over a million farm operators left the land in the 1950s" (60). Ezra Taft Benson was a major contributor in the displacement of small farmers in the South. Benson was appointed the secretary of agriculture under
Eisenhower in 1952. This is about the same time that farm machinery, such as tractors, began to replace labor-intensive farming techniques. Additionally, since the Great Depression the majority of southern farmers relied on Government subsidies. "Calculations, allotments, and regulations - not hard work - determined whether farmers succeeded or failed" (46). In 1959 a seventy-one-year-old Alabama farmer named E. Spech said, " ... now we can't move without a handout ... Each morning the men headed for some local restaurant for a cup of coffee while their wives sleep till noon" (59). It was obvious to many that Benson did not want to support the small farmer, but rather Agribusiness and the large farmer. Many of the white southern landowners bought more farms, machinery, and became wealthy with the support of the government. Conversely, small farmers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers, both black and white, left their farms for the cities.

One of the themes that Daniel discusses in Lost Revolutions is the role of the government on the southern environment. As machinery cut down on the need for workers on a farm, so to did the use of chemicals. Interestingly, after World War One, two the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) teamed up with the Chemical Warfare Service to combine their chemical research. These organizations researched
chemicals like DDT, which could be used against humans or insects to shut down the nervous system. DDT and other similar chemicals were used to dust crops by plane, but usually this was done by hand to save money. The USDA even funded the dusting of private property with dieldrin, which is 20 times more toxic than DDT in order to eradicate Argentine fire ants. This supposed scourge was built up by using "Red propaganda" in order scare Americans that an invading insect was going to ruin their land.
The government would eventually spend $156 million dollars to extinguish the Argentine fire ant. This resulted in ruining the environment in many places and actually caused the ...fire ant to speed up its evolutionary cycle and spread throughout the country. The picture that Daniel paints of organizations like the USDA and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) helps to support his thesis that the South was changing out of conflict.

Lost Revolutions gives the history of displaced southerners who banded together, despite having different skin colors. " ... when it came to exchanging something offensive to the upper class, racial barriers collapsed" (92). The Lowdown culture of the South thrived on being unruly, unrespectable, hard-drinking, and rough. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) has roots in bootlegging and quickly became something that the Lowdown culture gravitated to in the 1950s. The drivers, mechanics, and fans typically put pleasure over values by their bad behavior on and off the track. Additionally, the Lowdown culture produced, "jazz, blues, country, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock On'roll, and soul music" (122). People like Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Willie Mitchell, and Otis Redding were the sounds of the 1950s and the music had no color barrier. The culture that the displaced southerners found joy in reflected their beliefs and could have helped to end segregation in the South. The author describes the South in the 1950s by looking at the continuation of segregation as something that came from the white middle class and the elite. Daniel argues that the working-class southerners were typically not fighting against integration in the South. This is seen through the crisis at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Daniel describes why many whites and blacks feared integration at Central High School. The nine black students who attended Central were kept from major physical harm by the 101st Airborne, which was sent by President Eisenhower. Segregationists saw this action as a threat to state rights and a throwback to
Reconstruction. The strength of Daniel's account of this well-known event lies in his telling of the rest of the story. He tells how the "Littlerock Nine" were subjected to being hit, having hot soup dumped on them, seeing racial words written in the bathroom, and having to be submissive. In the end, Daniel notes the opportunity for positive integration was lost when, "Segregationists policed the color line with a vengeance and intimidated and white person who deviated from their code" (283).

Lost Revolutions is a book that looks at the driving forces behind the Southern culture in the 1950s. The author focuses on segregation as a major topic, but also looks at the cultural collision brought out by the upper-class, middle-class, and the Lowdown cultures. After WorId War II many people in the South favored integration, civil rights, and a positive change in culture. However, "The white elite engineered agribusiness, migration, and massive resistance, a counterrevolution that poisoned both the environment and race relations" (305). The damage done to race relations is to take many years to heal, and in many places is still waiting for resolution. The Blues and NASCAR are proof that race relations in the South could have come from positive cultural influence. Daniel does not look at the South as being predominantly full of segregationists. Rather, he points to lack of leadership, ignorance, and fear as the major reasons that the South had an uneasy end to segregation. Daniel claims that the working class
people of the South were swept away in the racial tension that embattled the 1950s. Segregation in the South ended through laws and intervention rather than a belief in equality. "Before they [the working-class] were divided or tamed, these people redefined the South and established enduring cultural monuments" (305).

As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I recommended this book for anyone interested in American history, civil rights era history.