North Carolina Books

Steinfeld's book challenges the usual view of the history of American employment law. The usual nutsell account goes: For centuries there was laissez faire; now we at least partly protect worker's rights.

Steinfeld stresses that the at-will rule is a ninetheenth century invention and a radical one at that. He examines the period before the at-will rule to show that the background of modern employment doctrine is the quasi-feudal master-servant relationship, reflected in institutions like 18th century indentured servitude. Steinfeld's achievement is to pull together relatively well known facts and show step by step, how 19th century individualism reacted to prior law by creating the otherwise puzzling body of law known as the at-will rule. A must read for any labor scholar.

The USS Monitor was a very revolutionary vessel that was the prototype for all military vessels today. The discovery of the Monitor was not by salvors or divers that regularly dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic but was found by a group of geological and oceanographic scientists that were conducting topographical measurements on the ocean floor. The wreck was discovered in 1973 by the lead scientists Robert Sheridan, Harold Edgerton, Gordon Watts and John Newton and several members from Duke, University of Delaware and University of Rhode Island. One of the best nautical books that you will ever read is Robert Sheridan's book on the discovery of the Monitor entitled Iron from the Deep - The Discovery and Recovery of the USS Monitor. The interactions between the the academic world, the military and the government is a a unique glimpse into the maniacal world of bureaucracy and ego. Although there is a fair amount of science, it is extremely interesting and lends credibility for the discovery and identification of the Monitor. I find it quite interesting that the story of the finding and recovery of the Monitor has always downplayed the role of these fine scientists. Hopefully, with the new Monitor Center, their scientific exploits and their significant role in the discovery of Monitor will be captured for the generations of future marine scientists. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in shipwrecks.

Irregardless Chef and Owner Arthur Gordon has been a significant presence on the culinary / restaurant scene in Raleigh for more than 30 years. His time-proven recipes in "Irregardless Cooks" are classics that share common roots with another of its contemporaries, "The Moosewood Cookbook".

"Irregardless Cooks" is now out-of-print with no current plans for re-issue. However, you can find it online as "used" from a variety of sources. By all means, be sure to get yourself a copy while you can still find them. And if you're ever in the Raleigh area, stop by the Irregardless Restaurant and Chef Gordon will be happy to sign your copy. Nice guy.

For those of you that already have a copy of "Irregardless Cooks" and want more great recipes from the restuarant's menu selections, Chef Gordon is writing a new cookbook which should be in print by mid to late 2007.

I have Dr. Domenico for 20th Cenutury Europe. He is one of the greatest teachers and funniest man that I have ever met

I really loved this book, this and the one before it are two of my favourite books now. I thought they were just going to be about sports, which I wouldnt have minded, but while reading them, I discovered that they were about much, much more.

I use this excellent documentary source with success in a storytelling class I've taught periodically over the past 10 years. Jack tales are a rarified regional tradition as well as a type of folk hero tale with many connections to other North American and global oral traditions. Their geneology is here traced and illustrated by phonetic transcriptions of a number of performances by different generations of Jack tale tellers from the central Appalachians, each accompanied by an introductory essay. It's a useful case study of how a particular tale type entered the country and spread among a small localized and often related group of tellers, migrated into text form and then out again, and became in one sense the archtypal tale type of the American storytelling revival, thanks to the late Ray Hicks of Beech Mountain, who leads off the bunch and headlined the first decade or so of national festivals in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

Last fall after the festival I had the good fortune to visit my uncle's church in Banner Elk, at the foot of Beech Mountain, where I met a couple of Marshall Ward's former students, who remembered him telling Jack tales to assembled students every Friday after school.

Available elsewhere are audio versions of these Jack tales by at least some of the tellers included in this book: Ray Hicks, Marshall Ward, and Donald Davis.

Whether you are a history buff, a political junkie, or just have an interest in North Carolina, you will love this book. Tracing the life and career of Jim Hunt through turbulent times in this Bible Belt state, A North Carolina Progressive will give you hope and inspiration. This book reminds us that not everyone in NC was eatin' moon pies, burnin' crosses, and votin' for Jessie Helms. And, that taking the high road in politics does not have to mean losing the race. Careful readers will see a blueprint for the kind of candidate that will take back the White House in '08.

Hammond is not a nice guy. He married for money, was not a great father, and campagined for elected office at time when no one else did and against the 'party' candidate to boot. Most interesting of all was his commitment to the Confederate cause but resistance to the call for material and manpower to help the cause. In the end, he could not believe it when his slaves were jubilant about the prospect of freedom. Through Hammond's eyes we see the south changed forever by the Civil War, not only due to the lost of their slaves but also by the unsouthern actions the Confederate government had to take and how they affected the southern way of life. Hammond is not a nice guy but this very readable book provides an excellent insight to the antebellum southern mind.

Vernon Wharton's THE NEGRO IN MISSISSIPPI, 1865-1890 is an important work, greatly aiding in the understanding of that period of Southern history which we call Reconstruction. It is an excellent example of scholarship, dealing with wider issues than is indicated by the book's title. It is well-written, insightful, and valuable to anyone interested in the post-bellum South. Wharton's finest opus should be read by all students interested in history and race relations in the United States.

The personalities, prejudices and courage of the Founding Fathers come alive in the give and take of the debates of the Continental Congress. We, who can see the results, can little doubt what each of them knew, that they were inspired by a higher power. I feel greatful to be a descendent. Dewey F. Brignone