South Carolina Books

An interesting collaboration between an older pilot and a young photographer making for an excellent book. Having been raised in Charleston, I especially enjoyed it.

Wonderful book about furniture of this period. Especially interesting for me as I had numerous relatives living in Charleston during this period and up to present. It gives insight into how people lived in Charleston during these times.

Accomplished gardener Louisa Pringle Cameron and free lance photographer Lauren Preller Chambers collaborate in The Charleston Gardener to explore the lush and varied private gardens that have made the city of Charleston horticulturally famous, -- along with its numerous instances of Georgian and antebellum architecture. Brief yet thoughtful commentaries on the individual gardens showcased, along with the wonderful full-color photography, work in perfect tandem. Also very highly recommended is the previous and companion volume: The Private Gardens Of Charleston.

Without a doubt, this book is one of the best information sources on Charles Town in the 18th Century available. As a living history interpreter, I am constantly on the lookout for books which fill in minute details for my character. This book provided some of the best base information I've found to date on day to day life and events in the port city. I strongly urge anyone doing living history for characters in SC in this period to read and absorb this work. It's outstanding!

Hamer does an excellent job in this work of describing the challenges faced by Charleston and its residents on the eve of World War II. Hamer's research is impressive, but it is the stories from those who witnessed the changes first-hand that stood out and stayed with me after reading it. I would definitely recommend it to any reader, you don't have to neccesarily be interested in history to enjoy this book.

W. Chris Phelps has done a masterful job of creating what is both a wonderful coffeetable book, and an excellent "touring guide" to Charleston. His other books on Charleston during the Civil War are exceptional as well!

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As a tour guide in Charleston, I have come to love the buildings that make up our city. But finding that information can be frusterating, even with the amount of preservation that we employ. Giving ghost tours on a nightly basis, I am always asked questions about our locations we tour. So it was refreshing to read Charleston's Old Exchange Building. It finally shed a lot more light on the history of this fascinating building. Starting from the preceding building up to modern times, you get an overall glimpse as to what this building has endured and witnessed. There are fantastic illustrations and photographs both from modern and older times. Not only does it cover the history, but some fantastic stories of people imprisoned in the Provost Dungeon (the basement of the Exchange Building) as well as some major historical events. My only complaint is that it leaves you wanting to know more. But one may argue, is the mark of a great writer.

If you have any sort of interest in architecture, history, the revolutionary war or a fan of Charleston in general, or are a Charleston Tour Guide, you will find this book a great addition to your personal library.

totally correct and professional. With this book's help I knew what I wanted to visit and its' history.

I loved this book so much that I was moved to come on here and tell you all about it. I had always heard of Mary Lee Settle, but had never read her work. I picked this book up in a used bookstore and feel so thankful that I did. Her writing is gorgeous, mesmerizing, full of truths and observations that we all see, but so few can articulate. It's a slender novel and yet rich with detail so you end up feeling like it's much longer than it is. Settle represents this entire community and culture so well that you feel like you know these people, and the love story at the center of the novel is utterly timeless. The book is romantic and heartbreaking and painful not in the popular "pink roses" sense of romance, but so much like the way many have lived romantic love....aching and bittersweet and complicated. I am a writer and an avid reader and this book knocked me out in a way that so few do. Highly recommended. I plan to read all of her other books now.