South Carolina Books

"Coastal Plants from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral" is a wonderful addition to the botanical literature! For both novices and confirmed botanists, this book provides a great look at the plants of the Atlantic Coast. As someone who knows little about plants, this book provided me with clear and informative descriptions that I could easily use to identify the plants in my area. Obviously meticulously researched, this book is the first to provide such comprehensive coverage of the topic. The photographs are beautiful, helping to illustrate both the plants and their associated habitats. I highly recommend this book both to own and to give as a gift!

Coastal Plants From Cape Cod To Cape Canaveral showcases 125 commonly encountered wildflowers and plants native to coastal habitats ranging from Massachusetts to central Florida. Each entry includes the plant's scientific and common names, notes about its range and habitat, and a color photograph. Detailed species descriptions cover growth habits and life history, flowers and fruits, human uses, and importance to wildlife. A very highly recommended addition to any personal, professional, academic, or community library plant and horticultural reference collection, Coastal Plants is enhanced with a section on planning field trips to coastal areas, a glossary, and a list of selected natural areas to visit.

As a former North Carolina resident, our secret's out. "Coasting the
Mountains" depicts Western North Carolina as a magical place full of the
finest arts and crafts, antiques and an abundance of natural beauty and
outdoor activities. And it is! This guidebook covers a 200 mile
stretch from Murphy to Boone and uncovers lots of hidden treasures along
the way. It's a fun read too, with unusual facts and recipes. My
personal favorite: Kudzu Jelly!

Editorial Review

Call dibs on the shotgun seat as four enthusiastic travelers take you on a lively ride through western North Carolina in "Coasting the Mountains". The authors are friends...whose love of discovery shines through.

Their personal insights validate our enthusiasm for places we've visited and whet our appetites for those we haven't. Scattered throughout the book are recipes gathered during their rambles as well as boxes with notes of interest, little-known facts and insider tips. Plus they steer travelers to the best shopping and antiquing.

"Coasting the Moutains" is thorough and a lot more fun than most guidebooks.
Excerpted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 16, 2001

Augusta, Georgia author Elise Weston offers readers an intriguing mystery set during the time period of World War II -- August 1943 to be specific -- on the coast of South Carolina. The story begins when eleven-year-old Hugh, who is coastwatching with binoculars, spots a periscope that he believes belongs to a German submarine close to the beach.

Hugh continues to monitor the area where he's staying with his family in a beach house. A flashing light in an abandoned beach house dubbed "the spook house" by Hugh and his siblings catches his eye. As the plot unfolds, Hugh keeps a scrap book of the war, adding details and evidence that result from his coastwatching adventures.

Though this book is a perfect companion for a lazy afternoon at the beach, it is also a good reading choice for any time of the year. The plot moves fast, the setting will make the reader wish for the beach, and the historical accuracy and details bring this period to life for readers young and old. Well-drawn characters that literally step off the pages, sand, salt air, and a satisfying ending all combine to make this an outstanding read.

While scouting for books for my grandson I found Coastwatcher and read it less than 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. There is a fast paced plot which begins with a periscope sighting off the South Carolina coast by an 11 year old boy. He pursues his clues and there is an exciting conclusion. Of interest to me were descriptions of 1943 wartime America which I lived through - including rationing, radio news, blackouts, and the great volunteer war effort. It has historical interest for children and the book has useful information at the back for teachers. The descriptions of life in a south Atlantic coastal setting are beautifull and evocative of the place and time. It is wonderful to read about children playing together without so much adult supervision and the sedentary influences of TV, computers, and Ipods. All the characters, including the dog, are well drawn and charming.

This book has beautiful pictures of Columbia. I really did not realize how gorgeous our capital is until you see it through the eyes of the photographer Suzy McGrane. It would be a wonderful gift for anyone from South Carolina or even a person who just loves great photography. I am getting several copies to give as gifts to friends and family.

This book portrays in wonderful pictures and words the true heart of Columbia. The book captures all major as well as minor sites and events as well as the feel of Columbia. Columbia has a rich tradition from the founding of our Nation through the Civil War up to the modern era of the internet. The people and places are acurately represented. The book looks at South Carolina's capital from a variety of angles. It covers the Universtiy of South Carolina, one of the Nations oldest public universities and a corner stone of Columbia's soul. It touches on the state government which is the foundation of the city. Ms. McGrane captures the city beautifully with a myriad of fine photographs. Columbia's wonderful outdoor life is realistically portrayed for all to view. For those from the south, and certainly those from South Carolina, this book hits the bullseye.

South Carolina by Henry Leifermann is one of a series of Compass American Guides. Each state is written by a different author, and South Carolina is not only the best of them all, but also one of the most informative and concise guides ever written.

South Carolina is a diverse and beautiful state, and few states can boast that they begin at the Atlantic Ocean and end at the mountains. The author first provides us with a crash course in history from the geology of South Carolina, to the Colonial Era, the Revolution, the Antebellum Era, The Civil War and through to race relations and the diverse population that makes up this state. Leifermann also includes chapters on the Sea Islands, Charleston, Coastal Plantations, Myrtle Beach and Grand Strand, Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the Blue Ridge. In addition to maps, timelines, paintings, and drawings, all the chapters include wonderful photography by Eric Horan.

This book is also packed full of pertinent information such as facts about the climate, the economy, the population, and specifics (state bird, state flower, etc.). It also provides the reader with practical information such as bed and breakfasts, hotel chains, restaurants, historic sites, festivals and events, museums, parks and forests, tours, golf courses, and places to get tourist information. It even includes a recipe or two.

So, if you're planning a trip to South Carolina, forget the AAA Tourbook and pick up Leifermann's book instead. You won't be disappointed.

Leifermann is an excellent writer, and his commentary is insightful. This is not your typical Chamber of Commerce, tourist brochure type of guidebook. The book is comprehensive and attractive, chock full of useful information. It contains excellent photography and tell-it-like-it-is descriptions. It has the accurate maps that are a necessity to any adequate guidebook. If you buy only one resource on South Carolina, this book should be it.

This is a most worthy men-at-arms series; like the book's description says, it shows the much more colorful side to the uniforms of the Confederate Army. One man depicted in the color plates for Volume One that I found particularly interesting was a soldier in the Union Light Infantry, a SC unit based on the British Black Watch (42nd Royal Highlanders).
The plates are pretty much the highlight of this series, and show realistic looking soldiers surrounded by beautiful women and scenery, and baring all their various weapons. The text, nonetheless, reveals numerous interesting details. This is an excellent source on the uniforms and appearances of the soldiers of the Confederacy.

Osprey Publishing has issued Volume 5 of their popular book, The Confederate Army 1861-65. A part of their sprawling Men-at-Arms series (this is book #441 in that series), this one covers the uniforms and arms of troops from Tennessee and North Carolina. Written by Ron Field and lavishly illustrated with Richard Hook's watercolors, this book is a worthy addition to the Osprey family. Retailing for $15.95 here in the USA ($21 in Canada), the book has 48 pages, nearly all of them with period photographs or full color drawings.

The new book focuses on each state's antebellum militia and the hastily organized volunteer regiments that were pressed into Confederate service in the initial stages of the war. Using contemporary newspaper accounts, letters, state and local records, and early photographs, Ron Field presents an extensive array of early war military units, their uniforms and accoutrements, drawing heavily upon primary descriptions. He also takes a cursory, but interesting look at how the transition occurred from locally supplied clothing and equipment (which often varied widely from company to company) to state-issued regulation Confederate uniforms, particularly in North Carolina, where, by the end of the war, the term "ragged Rebel" would be made obsolete from the vast stores of supplies held by the state.



Field starts with Tennessee, looking at the outfitting of the militia and early volunteers in 1861, and examines the role various ladies aid societies played in clothing the soldiers of the Volunteer State. He then discusses the role of the state's Military and Financial Board in taking over the administration and logistics of supplying the troops. Field then shifts his focus to North Carolina, again discussing and characterizing the antebellum militia and contrasting them to how the state later took charge and made its forces appear more uniform in appearance. He also briefly compares winter clothing to summer issue for troops from both states.



The book includes a select bibliography for readers wanting to dive a little deeper into the outfitting of Confederate troops from Tennessee and North Carolina. The index is comprehensive, as is the discussion that accompanies the Richard Hook's illustrations. All in all, The Confederate Army 1861-85 (5) Tennessee and North Carolina (ISBN: 9781846031878) maintains the tradition of excellence we have come to expect from Osprey, and is well worth the modest investment.

I really liked this book. It was funny and interesting. I hated it when she died, but it was still funny. I can't wiat for the sequel!

This is a compelling diary of a young woman, dedicated to her family and community, who demonstrated great maturity during an extraordinarily difficult time. It shows an interesting side of what life was like for southern woman during and after the Civil War. Pauline was a strong and intelligent woman who had the courage to confront a Union General about a wrong done to her family. It is a remarkable account which gives much insight into the life of a woman - daughter, sister, wife and mother - in the Civil War south. Despite the comment from the reader in Moscow, those who read this book know they must be content with this one, and only, account of the author's life.

If a church is going to be discussed, it is less likely to be the Orthodox Church.
If it's an Orthodox Church, it's unlikely to be a Non-Chalcedonian Church like the Coptic.
If it's the Coptic Church, it's less likely to be the monastics.
If it's the Coptic monastics, it's highly unlikely to be a discussion of women.

So this is a rare book on a subject no one speaks of. When Abba Shenouda, the Coptic Pope, is asked about the number of monastics in his church, he lists only men. Pieternella performs a great ethnography on the Coptic Orthodox Nuns, discussing all aspects of their life in an extremely satisfactory etic study. She looks at the long history of monasticism in Egypt, and, because of the dearth of resources on nuns, we also get to learn a lot about Coptic monks and ecclesiology in the process. Pieternella lists the various forms of ministry that women have available to them in the Coptic Church- contemplative nuns, active ministry nuns, and quasi-deaconesses. She convincingly demonstrates how, in the Coptic tradition, contemplation is a more valuable pursuit for the monastic than is service for the poor and social justice work. She compares the monastic situation to the wider culture- the opportunities for women in Coptic Orthodoxy and the Muslim hegemony to show that monasticism is the best opportunity for religious advancement available to Egyptian women. It is only here, especially as Abbess, that a woman can become a spiritual authority figure, even to the point of performing the charisma of healing of men. And Pieternella doesn't just give a Western look at these monastics. She is to be highly credited for not falling into the myth of the excluded middle, in which the personal miraculous is ignored and does not exist. She looks in great detail into the supernatural, the mystical, prayer life, and saint hagiography. In this study, you get to learn all there is about a group that most don't even know exists. These are the women who have devoted their lives to love of others and serve through work and prayer to the Eternal Listener.

The general editor's preface to this volume states, "If books treating Christianity from a comparative religion standpoint are rare as hen's teeth, books in English treating Coptic Christianity from any perspective are far rarer" (p. vii). Pieternella van Doorn-Harder has thankfully reversed that trend. She reminds us of early lessons: listen to those who live their own history, write what they have said and meant to say, and write without casting too much of a personal shadow on the text.

Van Doorn-Harder's academic rigor sets her in critical solidarity with the subjects of her study and their ecclesiastical institutions. Her direct writing style joined with life experience sets a sympathetic tone for a text whose dissertational structure might otherwise have proven dull and pedantic. She aims at highlighting and describing how contemporary contemplative and active Coptic nuns have developed their place in their church and in the context of modern Islamic Egypt. The roots of this monastic tradition are found in the lives of the earliest monks, Antony (251-356) and Pachomius (292-346). The author points out without ambiguity that there is little written history of Egyptian convents, except for scant references to the twelfth century. She concludes that this "heritage is more or less confined to the centuries prior to the Arab invasion. What came after the invasion remains rather opaque" (p. 33).

The modern Coptic monastic rule of life is not a set document as it is in the numerous contemplative and active communities of Roman Catholicism. The singular rule for Coptic monastics does not yet exist. References to early patristic tradition and the needs of present-day bishops in consultation with convent superiors establish lines of authority, prayer life, ascetic practices, and bread-and-butter issues. In the case of the active convents, the type of social involvement also shapes both their ascetic life and the economic requirements of daily living.

The nineteenth- and twentieth-century revival of the Coptic Church is at the source of new religious lifestyles. Contact with European convent life and the Egyptian Islamic context have helped shape the lives of these Coptic nuns. Questions confronting all religious orders in Christianity are raised: authority and its exercise, the role of women as role models and leaders, the relations with the non-Christian community, and finally, the demands of the spiritual life in a modern society: "the key words for the situation of female monastics seem to be transition and redefinition" (p. 197).

The author neither shirks nor skirts the difficult issues. She shows a prudent restraint in being nonjudgmental with questions of possible conflict. One example is male authority and female competence, about which Van DoornHarder states, "This situation forms a potential source of friction within the highest levels of Coptic male hierarchy who on the basis of their interpretation of scripture, tradition, and culture, cannot tolerate self-reliant women" (p. 201). Photographs accompany the text. Notes, a glossary of Arabic words, a good bibliography, and an index complete a welcome and much needed study.

My daughter loves this cookbook. She was recently married and has enjoyed many of the recipes.

Having dined at The Old Post Office Restaurant on many occassions, I was thrilled to discover that Chef Philip Bardin has put some of his culinary creations to pen and paper for all of us to try at home. I'm blessed to live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, near The Old Post Office Restaurant, and therefore I have access to some of the same sources of fresh produce, fresh seafood, and quality meats and poultry that the restaurant does. Chef Bardin emphasizes that you have to start with quality ingredients like they use in the restaurant to achieve the best results. With my already having access to quality ingredients, this book provides the final piece of the puzzle and allows me, and my friends, to create some of the same dishes we crave at The Old Post Office Restaurant. This book also provides a wonderful glimpse of our local culture on and around Edisto Island, South Carolina. Living near Edisto Island, I can say that the book gets it right when talking about the local culture, and if you're not from this area the book does an excellent job of introducing you to our wonderful, unique, paradise. If you don't think you'd enjoy the taste of "The Lowcountry" then you haven't tried our food or you haven't been able to try it done right. This book from Chef Bardin of The Old Post Office Restaurant will help you do do southern food right.

Cornbread Nation 1: The Best of Southern Food Writing was edited by John Edgerton and includes fifty-one original features and selections previously published in magazines and journals, all celebrating Southern people, places, traditions, and foods. It was published in association with Southern Foodways Alliance, a group of foodies who "celebrate, teach, preserve, and promote the diverse food cultures of the American South." There are now four collections of essays thus the "1" in the title-- the "annual" has appeared four times over six years.

This volume is organized by "People," "Times," "Things" and "Places", but it's much more fun to pick and choose your dishes much as you would at a buffet in Northern Virginia -- nothing prevents you from having dessert before the soup, for example.

As Edgerton writes: "Individually, the selections in these pages can stand alone; they need no shoring up from us. Collectively, they buttress our conviction that nothing else the South has to offer to the nation and the world--with the possible exception of its music--is more eternally satisfying, heartwarming, reconciling, and memorable than its food. Our dishes and beverages express our faith, our good humor, our binding ties, our eternal joys and sorrows, our readiness for whatever awaits us."

A few of my favorites: Rick Bragg's "Dinner Rites," Thanksgiving meal in Alabama with cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese ("a vegetable in the South.") "I eat until it hurts, and my brother Sam will grin at me, because he lives here, works at the cotton mill, and can eat it all the time."

Fred Chappell on "ice" tea: "I am one southerner who detests that dirty water the color of oak-leaf tannin."

Kathleen Purvis teaches that pig liver, head parts, and cornmeal spiced with pepper and sage is called "livermush" (possibly brought south from Philadelphia by German immigrants).

This collection sets a very high and enjoyable standard for the entire Cornbread series.

Robert C. Ross 2008

I truly could not put this book down. My daughter gave this book to me for my birthday last fall. When I looked at the title, I was alittle skeptical. As soon as I started reading the book I was completely absorbed. If you want to know about Southern cooking or the Southern people this book is for you. What a fun book.