South Carolina Books

William Gilmore Simms published The Golden Christmas, A Chronicle of St. John's Berkley in 1852. It is a treasure for anyone interested in antebellum Southern history and mid-nineteenth century mores and manners among the genteel class of planters who resided in Mr. Simms' native Berkley County in South Carolina. It vividly details Charleston and the Carolina Low Country plantation life of that period set against the backdrop of the Christmas season.

This tale of romance and family intrigue is narrated by one of the principal characters in a gentle humorous style. The story flows easily and the plot twists and scenes move like a Shakespearean light comedy set within Jane Austen style vignettes. There are some wonderful portrayals of holiday pursuits and pastimes: a boar hunt in which the hunters take on the personae of Sir Walter Scott-like romanticized knights is rendered in graphic and chilling detail. The arrival of Father Chrystmas and Yuletide customs unique to Southern society - inclusive of the unveiling of the decorated tree in the parlor, a custom newly introduced from Europe at the time of the book's publication- is a magical moment for characters and readers alike. We are treated to feasts and dances, fashion and courting customs rendered in delightful colloquial language and descriptions of the place and period. There are also some fascinating glimpses into Christmas celebrations among the servants and slaves of the plantation.

Mr. David Aiken provides a marvelous introduction with much historical detail and background in the book's preface whetting the reader's appetite for the tale that follows. One of my favorite books is Swallow Barn or a Sojourn in the Old Dominion about life in antebellum Virginia by John Pendleton Kennedy who was a contemporary of Mr. Simms. I found The Golden Christmas comparable in many respects to Swallow Barn and quite fell in love with Mr. Simms' charming story.

Charleston, South Carolina is my 'Soul City'. I have loved this place since I was stationed there in the Navy 40 years ago. 'The Golden Christmas' brings to life the culture and people who lived lived in Charleston and its environs prior to the War Between The States. I enjoyed the humor, wonderful descriptions, and sense of southern gentility that the author shares in this book. For anyone who loves history and especially southern history, this book will be a joy to read!

Lou Towles's THE PALMERS OF SANTEE publishes a collection of letters that originate in the time and place of Simms's novel of manners. They prove with priimary sources the accuracy of Simms's portrayal here. That this civilised world was invaded and destroyed with malice a decade later makes the loss a tragedy indeed. No longer will the historian be able to see these folks as "monsters" deserving of invasion and the terrorism that accompanied it. For that, see Aiken's other newly published edition A CITY LAID WASTE.

When one thinks of the Civil War one usually congurs images of courageous men fighting for their convictions. Dr. Revels shows us another side of this conflict--courageous women, fighting for their homes, their husbands, their families. This she does with humor (describing the Crackers) and pathos (letters written from the war front to the home). I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in History and Women's Studies.

Well written and fun to read. This may be the first history book I've read since high school and certainly the first to make me appreciate how much of history is really about pretty ordinary people.

I am a high school United States history teacher in Florida and I wanted to learn a little more about what life was like in Florida during and after the civil war. I found this book online and bought it. What a pleasant surprise! I was not expecting such a well-written, well-researched and endearing true account of the lives of these Florida women during the Civil War. Not only is it replete with first hand documentation, but it is comprehensive of all aspects of life and circumstances faced during that time. And what I didn't expect was how involved I became in the lives of these women. I was reading it primarily for research, but certain women's letters and diary entries kept popping up and it started to paint a complete picture of their life, so much so, that when I neared then end of the book and it talked about the loved ones they lost in the war, or how they themselves died... I actually grieved. I didn't realize that I was being emotionally pulled into their lives as I was taking notes and highlighting bits and pieces of information. If you are the least bit interested in Florida history, or women in the civil war (it speaks almost equally about their menfolk as well) YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED with this book. Highly recommended!

I was excited to see a book published that was specific to the coastal area of the Carolinas. The book contains information on all of the most common landscape plants used in the area including a month by month guide to the care for each species. It has been very helpful to me in planning and caring for my "garden."

I love this book! I picked it up at the library and had to buy a copy of my very own. Detailed, month-by-month directions for caring for the best southern plants. I highly suggest this for anyone in the south for easy to use, definitive directions for keeping your plants happy and healthy.
Go Will Rehder, Jr.!

Profusely illustrated with more than one hundred color photographs by Freda H. Wilkins, Henry Rehder's Growing A Beautiful Garden: A Landscape Guide For The Coastal Carolinas is an informatively written, superbly presented, "reader friendly" compendium of horticultural advice and insights for establishing a flourishing and esthetically pleasing regional garden landscape. Gardening expert Rehder offers a wealth of practical ideas and suggestions for choosing and maintaining plants that will thrive under coastal conditions and offers a step-by-step, month-by-month guide for more than a hundred ornamental shrubs, trees, perennials, and lawngrasses. Very highly recommended for personal and professional gardening, landscaping, and horticultural reference collections, Growing A Beautiful Garden also covers the mechanics of plant installation, weeds, insects, diseases, animal pests, and fertilizers.

This is a first-rate history of the Communist Party and its fellow-travelers in Alabama during the depression. It describes the Party during the "third period" and the popular front era. While it does not discuss the ulterior motives of the Party in any great detail, it does help to establish the positive role of the Communists in the prehistory of the civil rights movement. It also gives glimpses of the life in the Party in Alabama including Communist songs sung to the tune of spirituals, and African-American Young Pioneers. In addition, book discusses the courage of the Communists in resisting racism.

The attempt by radicals in the 1930's to change this country for the better has not found its rightful place in popular or high school history. This book helps to remedy that omission.

Kelley has produced a powerful and startling history of the deep south in the 1930s. He tackles a difficult subject both historically and ideologically (the relationship between poor black sharecroppers and the American Communist party). His tireless efforts at writing this book shine out of the pages unquestionably as does his deep, thoughtful intelligence. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in subversive U.S. history or just in a good read.

This book is great, it undermines the conventional treatments of afro-american history and although it is focused in the south it takes a genuine look at the struggle to free the shackles from Afro-americans and lift the blanket of opressions.

I really enjoyed this book! What makes it even more special is that I got to visit with the author, Andie Weathers, at Christmas time. She graciosly spent the time discussing the whole process of writing and publishing a book. I highly recommend this picture book for any child who wants to learn about sea life and Charleston, South Carolina!...I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot from it. I look forward to Andie's next book!

This beautifully illustrated book is an engaging tale about a little hermit crab that travels to various real-life destinations looking for a new shell (because Hermy has outgrown his old shell). Like most children, my kids (ages 8, 6 and 4) love the beach, and they were captivated by the Hermy story and illustrations. The main character is a hermit crab, but the cast of characters includes some other ocean favorites, such as a sand dollar and a sea horse. The lighthouse and shipwreck captured my son's attention. The innovative format includes a map of Hermy's journey, and an informative "Hermy's Beachside Glossary" that answered many questions that my children had. There is also a detailed write-up of the biology of the hermit crab included at the end, which provided enrichment for my 8-year-old and me! My children are avid readers and it is often difficult to find new books that capture their attention---Hermy the Hermit Crab was a welcome, rare find. We have given this book to other kids for a birthay present, and it was a winner.

The book is well written for children of all ages. It is a wonderful lesson about the creatures of the sea. While it captures the true essence of the sea life of the South Carolina coast, it is a book that anyone across the country will enjoy and relate to.

However, it is the incredible illustrations that make the book come to life. The animated creatures appear human-like but do not lose their sea creature-like quality. The vivid colors and attention to detail will capture the attention of the reader (young or old) for hours.

I was expecting a droll history of Beaufort County and was pleasantly surprised by a very thorough and engaging account spanning three centuries. A must read for those wanting a strong foundation from which to view current events in coastal South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Looking forward to 1861 and beyond.

A wonderful account of the history of one of the most important counties in South Carolina. An easy read, reads almost like a novel, but well detailed and extremely well researched. The best book of it's kind.
No matter what era or subject it is very well covered here. Tells not only the story of this small coastal county but tells the real story of the founding of this nation and the triumphs and hardships of the founding fathers. Not afraid to point out the excesses good and bad of it's inhabitants this book is a must read for the serious reader as well as a casual reference. Not many books can say that. This book just made me want more!

If you have any interest in 1)History, 2)U.S. History, 3)South Carolina History, 4)South Carolina Lowcountry History, etc. this book is a most! Two thumbs up on this very well written book!

Home by the River by Archibald Rutledge provides on with such a down to earth experience, that Hampton Plantation seems to come to life. The author describes his days growing up on the plantation, his leaving, and his returning home to restore the house and grounds. He finds some unique treasures, such as a letter written to his great-great-grandmother from George Washington, a secret passageway inside the house, and a cache of twenty-eight Delft tiles dating from medieval times.Also described in the book are the close relationships with the resident Negroes who helped him restore portions of the house and grounds. One acquires a deep affection for the author and his "home" by the river upon reading this book. My copy of the book is signed by the author and a descendant of one of the plantation's slaves, Will Alston

"Home by the River" refers to Archibald Rutledge's home on Hampton Plantation near the Santee River near the coast of South Carolina. The river here is the Santee. (When Mr. Rutledge was young the Santee was a greater river than today, because in the 1930's much of it's flow was diverted to the Cooper River and Charleston when dams were built upstream in Berkley County.)

Hampton is no longer a plantation-the Civil War put and end to that-but when Archibald lived there it still had all the requisite amenities: a Greco-style mansion with porticos and widows walk, rice fields with floodgates and dikes, and acres of pines and hardwoods forest. Some of the blacks who lived on or near Hampton and who worked there had been Hampton slaves in their youth.

Hamton Plantation fell into disrepair during the 30 plus years that Archibald Rutledge lived in Pennsylvania where he worked as a school teacher. Much of this book describes his efforts to restore Hampton to its former splendor.

One can imagine Hampton in it's heyday when the mover and shakers of Colonial and ante-bellum society frequented the plantation. Great piles of ham, turkey, and duck greeted George Washington, the Marquis de Lafeyette, and other visitors. It seems General George Washington and his French military peer stayed in every notable house along the Carolina coast. There are signs all over reading "George Washington" slept here. I read about a Lafayette visit in a history of Edisto Island. South Carolinians are guilty of ostentatious name dropping when it comes to the father of our country. It is a point of which we are obviously proud.

Archibald Rutledge didn't have a lot of money to rebuild Hampton. (I wonder how he paid the taxes on several thousand acres of land on a teacher's pension and meager book royalties. The tax bill handed over to his heirs must be one reason the land now belongs to the state.) Yet archibald restored each dusty room of Hampton with the help of local carpenters and back-breaking work. We see the old history of the mansion revealed to us layer by layer as he peels away plaster and paint.

I found most enjoyable the sections of the book on hunting and gardening. Archibald Rutledge was a writer and poet whose hunting stories were printed in Field and Stream magazine. He also wrote for Harpers and the Saturday Evening Post. That hunting remains popular while poetry does not must account for the longevity of his printed material. Had he only written poetry his work might have fallen into obscurity-this is not to say it is not good. Rather, people simply don't revere poets like the used to. (Quick: name two poems by Robert Frost. How about Wallace Stevens?)

I read carefully as Archibald Rutledge describes how he carefully transplanted live oak trees, myrtle bushes, and planted azaleas and camellias around Hampton. He describes the tricks he discovered for making these plants thrive and survive relocation. Botanists take note. Live oaks adorned with Spanish Moss, myrtle bushes, azaleas, and camellias are the foliage that defined the Carolina coast. Their great beauty was much appreciated at Hampton.

Of course hunting was Archibald Rutledge's passion and this is where the sports enthusiast will enjoy "Home by the River" most. I read with envy his description of great clouds of ducks as they flew up out of his rice fields. (These great clouds are still there albeit diminished by market hunting which has since been outlawed and wetlands destruction which has been outlawed as well. Most of the ducks still on the Santee River flock to the government-owned Santee Gun club where they are relatively safe from the average hunter who is without political connections. There is much to be said about this government hoarding of ducks I believe.)

Archibald Rutledge hunted turkeys in the fall. Now we hunt turkeys in the spring because that is when the old toms gobble seeking to mate. Such relatively easy prey seemed unsporting in Archibald's day. Then you could only hunt them in the fall. Archibald would sleep in the swamp and crawl on his belly just to get close to one. For the whitetail deer hunter there is plenty of narrative on that sport too. Mr. Rutledge not only hunted deer he observed them as a naturalist to learn their habits. He would sit in a tree all night long to watch when they came out to feed.

It is too bad that Rutledge's book "God's Children" is out-of-print and not listed in the Amazon.com index. No doubt it has been purged from certain card catalogues because the modern reader might find it racist. In it Archibald Rutledge paints portraits of the blacks who worked at Hampton. He talks of one man's great skill with an ax. Of another he marvels at the grace with which he flings a castnet to catch fish. Of others he talks about their propensity to drink, sleep to excess, beat their wives, or fornicate. His greatest reverence is reserved for Old Tom, the man with whom Mr. Rutledge spent countless hours hunting deer, duck, and turkey. (There is a book on Old Tom listed in the amazon.com index.) Some might be aghast at his glowing admiration for the supposedly simple tasks of cutting wood, netting fish, or calling turkey--maybe that is all these simple people can do? That benevolent, paternal manner harkens back to the plantation days when the negroes look admirably on their masters with upturned eyes and cherub faces. But I find "God's Children" a heartfelt memoir and a glowing testimonial to people who Mr. Rutledge considered true friends and skilled workers. And anyone who has fell a tree, tossed a cast net, or hunted turkey will tell you that it is not simple.

In the amazon.com index I also don't see "Old Flintlock" the biography of Archibald Rutledge written by his son.

An intetresting story of the South Carolina Lowcountry, it's history and wildlife. Anyone who enjoys the outdoors, history, or wants to know more about South Carolina should read this book. It is an excellent book by the famed poet laureate of South Carolina, Archibald Rutledge.

I was born in Havelock, a Marine brat. I lived there twice, and a piece of my heart will always be there. It was fascinating to read the details of how my tiny home town came to be.

I always thought that prior to Cherry Point, Havelock was just a trading post. It was great reading and very educational. Mr. Thomas would be very proud that his former students are still interested in history.

In this book, Eddie Ellis has given me a gift ~ the gift of depth as I drive these roads and walk the woods of this place. He has brought to my imagination the images of Craven County long ago.

Having read Ellis' work, one can no longer run the paths aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, no longer drive through the front gate or down Highway 101, without imagining the people who were here before us. The imagined ghosts of this place now entertain me as I sit on the porch and enjoy this beautiful place. Their stories are here all around us, and I never would have known it had it not been for this wonderful book.

Ellis' history of Havelock called "In This Small Place" is comfortable and conversational. One feels as though one is sitting in a firelit room with Eddie telling a tale, the wonderful tale of the many folks who once peopled this small place.

For some reason, my local library had all but this novel in Settle's excellent series. I've read The Beulah Quintet twice now and find the books rich and well written.

Novel set just before the Civil War and tells the tragic tale of Peregrine Catlett and his second son, Johnny. As Peregrine considers freeing his slaves, he realizes all his children have left, and he feels there's no recourse but to remain a slaveholder. Tied by a special bond to the land, Johnny returns, but only until the outbreak of war, when he joins the Confederate forces. But he loses sight of his reasons for joining the war...and ends up fighting both family and friends with disastrous results.

I had vainly considered myself to be fairly knowledgable about current American writers until that beautiful Sunday morning of 7 September 97 when I turned to the Book World section of my Washington Post and read an essay written by a septuagenarian author named Mary Lee Settle. She told it like it is, revealing how the literary marketplace of modern-day America has slid into a disgraceful period of not publishing unless it has a virtual guarantee of profit. Their business theory: only young writers can bring us a long stream of profit. I read her personal revelations with interest, likening them to my own experiences. For I, decades ago, had four hardcover trade books published by three different,notable publishers, and now - after a hiatus self-imposed in order to make myself financially secure - was finding it difficult to get published again. My age?

"Who is this woman?" I asked myself. "Her statements," I know, "are nothing but the truths. She tells it like it is. How refreshing!"

Then, on the subsequent Sunday, I was joyriding around on the net, accessed Amazon.com, and saw that this lady who was apparently considered "over-the-hill" had 39 - yes, 39! - books listed.

How could I not have read her? "I must correct my deficiencies," I told my deficiencies," I told myself. So, I scanned up-and-down, perusing the titles of her 39 entries. So many made the decision hard. Probably because I am, as she, a native Virginian and had just returned from a short vacation exploring the back roads of West Virginia, I chose her "Know Nothing" - a book billed as a novel that is a history of the western part of the State of Virginia, just prior to the Civil War and that land subsequently becoming the State of West Virginia.

I found it to be more than a history. I marveled at its rare eloquence; the conversations of Blacks with Blacks, Blacks with white people, and white people about Blacks. The vernacular and patois were perfect. Except, true to the actual;ity of that era, the term 'Black' was never used. It had not been invented at that time. It was always 'nigger' - a designation then, of itself, mot bearing any rancor or disrespect.

Soon, I was in love again. I saw that there existed out there, somewhere in the netherland of authors personally undiscovered, a will-o'the wosp who eluded me. She piqued my imagination. She of the intriguingly-beguiling persona - a mature person of the same generation as I, who had been blessed with the gift of verbally portraying people and events as they really were. I must meet her, I thought. She lives in Charlottesville, only about a 2-hour drive from my home in Fairfax.

Then, after the impetuosity of initial fascination wore off, I realized I am still in love with love. It would be best for us to never meet. What if a faux pas were to burst my bubble? I have found that the older one gets the more he or she needs a visionary shelter, a person who serves as an icon of one's dreams. That is the raison d'etre' of writers; to be the untouchable cloud in a heaven of imagination.

I recommend this vintage book to any and all, especially the current generation of "people of color."

I have found this book to be an indispensable resource for discovering new places to see and experience. The book is laid out in an easily accessible style and is full of charming descriptions of many of the various locales. A personal favorite appears on page 11 where the author informs me (with the sort of emphasis normally reserved for the color commentator at a college football game) that I can see baby goats. I find that sort of enthusiasm infectious and find myself wanting to visit Split Creek Farm at the earliest opportunity. I find this book to be not just a compendium of locations and resources, but rather an adventure guide. Each destination leading to the next, just a little further down the road. If you are traveling in these areas or plan to, I cannot recommend this book enough. Now if you will excuse me I have to make plans to head for Anderson South Carolina to see a few baby goats.

Connor Macleod

As a travel agent I am always looking for good resources.
I've found this book to be a great guide and especially useful.
These days our Atlanta agency has seen a surge in travel within a days drive of the city and this book has helped me help them.
Now if only I could get in the car and GO!!

We travel through these areas for vacations. We bought the Lake Hartwell Recreation Guide to assist us with ideas for family outings. The websites help us find the best places for eating and different outings. We bought some of the books for our extended family.