Georgia Books

I believe the author did an excellent job in painting the climate that initiated the white mob slaughter of the black population in 1906 in Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal , other newspapers, and politicians are directly responsible for stroking racial hatred and white fear for black citizens.

People who say that the media doesn't have an influence on the mindset of the viewers are in absolute denial of the media's power to project images - positive or negative. Look at today's media and how they purposely demonize Black Americans. Images are powerful.

For black Americans there was/is no such thing as justice. It is "just us" justice. It was a painful book to read, but a must read.

I recommend it strongly.

This is a sharp, erudite, and very readable account of Atlanta's turbulent racial politics in 1906. But it is also much more than a historical study of a single year. Mark Bauerlein has produced an impressive analysis of black intellectual history at the turn of the century. His observations are precise, and his reconstruction of events vivid. I recommend this book highly.

This is an objective historical account, but I couldn't help thinking as I read it: "What a great story!" It has all the makings of a really good potboiler - an unexpected treat for such serious subjects.

As for the matters of race, anyone who wants to read about how people really experienced race relations on the ground and in their daily lives should read this book.

Scrupulously researched and well written "Negrophobia" is a gripping recount of the events prior to, during, and after Atlanta's 1906 Race Riot; a long neglected chapter of Atlanta's history. Bauerlein does an outstanding job of putting that era in context, especially the events in Georgia and Atlanta that led to, and created the environment for the riot. The race-baiting gubernatorial election of 1906, the rampant yellow journalism hyping black-on-white violence, and Thomas Dixon's "The Klansman" all play a part in creating the toxic brew. Bauerlein thankfully includes a Dramatis Personae at the front of the book so readers can keep central historical figures easily identifiable. The action is broken into four logically titled components: Prelude, Riot, Aftermath, and Epilogue. This simple elegant construction serves the native well, recreating the Atlanta of 1906, setting the riot in motion, and speaking of its aftermath. Bauerlein wisely lets the principals speak in their own words and betrays no bias towards or against anyone or anything, remaining a neutral voice leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions. Buerlein is unsparing in his recounting the events of the riot in a way that can send chills down your spine and this book isn't for faint-hearts, yet is not needlessly gory. The book fairly crackles with energy and drama but those easily offended by racism would best avoid it as Bauerlein doesn't shy away from exploring and explaining it. I immensely enjoyed this book and can't help but praise Bauerlein's writing and scrupulous research.

Having found very little about the Atlanta Race Riot of 1906, imagine my delight at coming across "Negrophobia." There's so little about this event that anything would have been fine, but Bauerlein's study is exhaustive and a damn good read.

The author made the wise choice of spending considerable time setting the scene, looking at the entire cast of characters and 1906 Atlanta. He thereby sets the stage and makes the story of this horrendous riot that much more compelling.

I was also impressed by Bauerlein's straight forward account. He does not editorialize, instead letting the facts speak for themselves.

Atlanta was a relatively progressive city in the Jim Crow South, yet was far from immune to virulent and violent racism. Indeed the state of hysteria white women were whipped into in the South was probably as bad in Atlanta as anwyhere. The demonizing of African-Americans concurrent with the paranoia they engendered is at the heart of the riots.

Baurelein's books fills a huge void and is great reading.

"Nosthimia" is the Greek word for delicious and this cookbook is filled with just that: delicious appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, desserts and so many other amazing recipes. I enjoyed this book on a number of levels from the recipes themselves, to the small side stories scattered throughout the book. I have tried a number of the recipes with my mother and I would like to share a couple of them with you. "Georgia's Famous Baklava with Olive Oil" was a fairly simple recipe to make and is absolutely delicious. Once you try it, you will find yourself flipping to that page quite often! Another recipe, "Hamburgers Stuffed with Feta Cheese", is an unexpected twist to your usual Memorial Day cookout of hamburgers and hot dogs. This Greek Style hamburger is very delicious and I hope you give it a try. This cookbook is one of a kind. It allows you to experience the foods of the Greek culture while still having an American touch in terms of the time involved and the nutritious content in each of the recipes. I hope you give the book a try because I think you'll agree that it is filled with "Nosthimia" foods.

Nosthimia! is excellent. The recipes are easy to make yet delicious, just like the recipes that Georgia makes on her tv show. Unlike many other cookbooks, the ingredients can be easily found in almost any local supermarket. I was happily surprised that I didn't have to make a trip to a specialty market. I made several of the recipes for a dinner party including the feta cheese triangles and chicken stuffed grape leaves. I have to say that both recipes were delicious and my guests loved them.

I plan on using this cookbook on a regular basis. The recipes are delicious and provide just a hint of exotic Greek flavors. As an avid cook and cookbook purchaser, this is one of the best new cookbooks on the market.

These recipes are simple enough for weeknight cooking, but they are delicious and quite good enough for entertaining as well. I recently served the 'appetizer meatballs' and 'kalamata olive spread' at a small gathering. The meatballs vanished in short order and the olive spread tempted several folks who 'don't like olives' to give them another chance. I substituted aleppo pepper for the black pepper but otherwise made these recipes exactly as printed. The spanakopita recipe has a much shorter ingredient list than my usual one, and includes fennel, which mine doesn't. As much as I like my old recipe, I like Georgia's better and will stick with it. My favorite thing about Nosthimia is the ease of preparation compared to some other Greek cookbooks I've used. This book is full of recipes for tasty, nourishing food that won't take hours to prepare but will fill your house with tempting aromas and satisfy your hunger.

I expected long complicated lists of recipe ingredients and intricate steps. Not so! The lists were short and the instructions were about as simple as possible. Some grocery stores may not stock all the ingredients as few as they are so you may have to shop around or order online. Very easy and healthy cooking!

Georgia Sarianides has owned and operated several successful restaurants in her career, as well as running her own cooking school. For the past five years she has hosted the cable television show "Cooking with Georgia". In Nosthimia!: The Greek American Family Cookbook, Georgia has distilled the best of what she knows about Greek cuisine into a compilation of truly mouth-watering dishes. From My Mother's Village-Style Veal Soup (Horiatiki Soupa); to Aromatic Grilled Chicken with Wine (Aromatiki Kota sta Karvouna); to Calzone Stuffed with Meat (Kaltsounia Gemista me Kima), Nosthimia! offers 185 recipes that are truly delicious (nosthimia)!

I have just "discovered" this poet and reading his poetry over and over again means rediscovering language, sound, wit, and everything else that I love about poetry. I consider his language Old English, with pastoral themes in a post-modern context. Very interesting.

"MC-S is an Englishman who has worked in the US for some years and perhaps the transatlantic shift underwrites the quick-change dialect of these poems--they ARE dialect poems of a kind, although they skate across a variety of vernaculars; grammar fractures without undue force, fragments of older written English float through. Quasi-folk-rhymes break up narratives, the 'songs' seem ghosts of untold stories. The title sequence formalises the multivocality by identifying speakers in the manner of a play, introducing a disjointedness I feel uneasy with; there is a more flowing transition from the opening Songs to the impressive closing sequence To Absent Minister. Good balance between sound-control and unruliness. I can't identify all the voices and prefer the mystery of it anyway, but Clare keeps turning up (rhythms and textures of the journals rather than the poems) and I hear David Jones now and again. And nice to meet Mr. Beddoes on page 16.

For some tastes, the playful mode of nonsense verse which Corless-Smith often engages in might wear thin. Yet with a little patience (and a dictionary), even the most dense passages prove inventive and rich. The style of Of Piscator is highly original, and even idiosyncratic. Given this fact, it adapts to a remarkable emotional range

"Sounded along dove dove" begins one of the best poems in this first collection. Like Hopkins, Corless-Smith moves by sound, the poems diving like kingfishers after particular fish. Syntax and spell-check, however, are pure First Folio Shakespeare--he who wrote "Hey nonny nonny" ditties into his plays. And play matters here: "the was necessity/and in the play/there was necessity." "Play" of words. Sexual "play." And, of course, theatrical "play"--most explicitly in the eponymous "Of Piscator: Five Acts" where disparate voices well up line after line. Together, the voices sometimes sound like a wild meadow chorus, and sometimes merely jangle. Whatever its consequence, the lack of design is by design, for order opposes live growth: "by order circumstance/is to be reduced." Corless-Smith's language is often dreamlike in beautiful opacity, sometimes as straight-up as Clare, but always it is after Nature, The Sublime. Starring such creatures as mud, motherchild, diablo, fence, sycamore, and cockatoo, these difficult lyrics offer a good road through difficulty: "We come to grief/here is one green leaf."

It's as if the poet managed the almost impossible: to make contemporary techniques combine with the traditional in such a way that he turns on his head both the old and the new. If the Charles Bernsteins and Bruce Andrews of the Language poets make you long for song, for feeling of the old poetries, you must turn to Martin Corless-Smith. You will not miss the disjunctive, discordant alogical manipulations of contemporary poets, but you will also hear the rich sounds of a language achieved by a poet who is as steeped in the solid rhythms of Old English monosyllables--"hound heavens house"--as in the sonorities of Chaucer...It is that retention of music in his lines that makes Corless-Smith a most uncanny, original postmodern poet, singing the contradiction and disorders of the millennium.

"Dr. Excitement" has produced a political opus, a symphony of warring factions and dueling backwoods politicians that pokes at the cerebrum and plucks at the heartstrings. Dr. Lamplugh has outdone himself yet again. Jolly, jolly good show.

Dr. George Lamplugh's use of language in this book is phenomenal. This man is by far the greatest book about Georgia politics ever written. Any true Southerner, in fact, will adore this book. The book is so fascinating that I couldn't stop reading it, even when I was driving. I had a long road trip to the beach, and I read it the entire way down, while driving. I unfortunately careened into a ditch and I lost my book. It was the worst day of my life. Much Love.

even though i'm ownlee a young school boy, i can appree-shee-ate good books when i read them. doctor lamploo is probubly the bestest author i've ever read or even heard about even bwetter then shakespeer or hemwingway , dr. zhivago or probably even ronald mcdonald. when i was sick in bed i asked my mum to read me "politics on the periphery". i couldn't fall asleep until i made her stop since its kept me on me toes and there was this one chapter on the yazoo crisis i thinks and it sounded like yahoo chocolate milk and it made me feel warm and safe, even tho i couldn't stop coffing. besides dr. seuss and the barenstein bears, dr. lamploo's book is my favurite i hope i never get better so i can listen to it every night. i am so sowy i lied and said i was thurteen but i had to let ever-wee-one kno how good this book is. i have to to to sleep now i go to braves game soon i hope we win. if you make one big hugest misstake yuore whoole life dontt let it bee not gettingg this book becuz it changes lives!

I cannot possible convey how much this book has changed my entire perception of Goergia Politics. I am stupified and would love for anyone else who thinks of themselves as knowledgeable in Georgia politics to read this book. I could not stop turning the pages. I could not wait to see what was going to be on the next page. Thanks, Dr. Lamplugh. Now I truly see why they pay you the big bucks. My eyes are open for the very first time!!!!!

A real "page-turner," Politics on the Periphery served as the sole source of enjoyment in my life. And it will for you too! You see, I was on the verge of dieing forom the rare diease, Kolioscosis (the doctors gave me a month at best), but this book gave me a reason to live. Live it said! Live! LIVE! Thank you George Lamplugh. Thank you so very much.

Working in a bookstore I often get asked for reading recommendations. Rebecca McClanahan's The Riddle Song is at the top of my list, appealing to anyone who is human.

I had read several of the stories included in Rebecca's recent compilation of essays when they appeared in earlier publications. Reading them as a whole only heightened my pleasure in each piece.

Rare is the storyteller who can summon tears or laughter in the same sentence that begs to be reread for the sheer beauty of its language. Rebecca does that. Her words create vivid images, making us feel the Prell between our fingers as we lather Aunt Bessie's "muddied gray" hair. We twinge as we witness the young bride spying from the window at her unfaithful husband below. And warm to the sight of her parents' bodies making "a spoon curve on the sofa."

I have shared Rebecca's stories with my 84 year old mother and my 14 year old son with equal success. She deserves a wide readership for her heartfelt rememberings, magically constructed.

Riddle Song is a book to savor. The language, images, and stories are beautiful, and they weave together to create a meditation on family and self that is rich with meaning.

Each piece is a world unto itself, yet each vibrates against that next so that a wonderful symphony is created in the reader's heart and mind.

I have found myself pondering Riddle Song long after finishing it. This is definitely a book to own.

This is a book of many delights. McClanahan's language is lyrical, down to earth and humorous. I find her voice clear-eyed, feisty and tender all at once, a mixture which gave me much pleasure. Her beautifully-structured essays are wrought by a fine intelligence which questions life in its own unique way; for example: "How do we navigate the spaces between ourselves and others?"

I felt that I was right there as the little girl dolls up her eccentric old aunt to go to church, or when the long-married woman packs up her beloved house to move into a new and unknown phase of life. I am especially grateful for McClanahan's exploration of loving un-motherhood by choice.

As I read I laughed often, cried more than once, and mused for days over a particular angle of perception of some human peculiarity. When I closed the book, I immediately started making a list of friends to whom I want to give it.

As I read the rememberings set fort in the Riddle Song, I felt honored to be invited into Rebecca McClanahan's world. McClanahan writes with an elegance and grace that give heft and scope to her brave honesty. I was surprised not to be able to put down a book that was not racing toward a dramatic finish, but I had trouble putting this book down. The Riddle Song is as lyrical as poetry or song and as intriguing as a novel of manners. Almost every page brought a tear or a smile to my face. I found myself caring very much for the characters in McClanahan's world. This is a special book and one I would recommend without hesitation.

I recommend this book to all who wish to read "rememberings" painted with words. It is one of the best books I have read, the writing is beautiful and puts you in the scene. The stories will bring back your own rememberings and you will get a true sense of the author and what shaped her life. As a poet, I recommend it to both poetry and prose writers as a study in the use of lanuage.

While taking an African American literature course in college I was introduced to this novella written by William Craft. It is a must-read for American and African American history classes. The novella is a quick and easy read, with the capacity for great discussion and in-depth analysis. Humor, suspense, mystery and action is all provided in this wonderful tale of escape and hypocrisey.

Ellen and William Craft were a young (mid-20's) slave couple who made a daring escape to freedom. Light-skinned Ellen cut her hair short and dressed in the suit and tophat of a white planter. Since she was illiterate, her husband William made a sling for her arm, so she had an excuse not to sign hotel registers. And since she had a womanly voice, the couple devised a poultice tied around her jaw indicating she had a bad toothache and could not speak. William played the role of his white massa's slave. And the couple traveled by train, steamship, and wagon to their destination in the north. They soon became popular lecturers in the United States and Europe. This is a remarkable story of daring and bravery and should be read by everyone. Anyone who wants to introduce their children to good historical fiction should get them The Journal of Darien Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jones, a Fugitive Slave.

This book is a captivating account of the injustices of slavery and a amazing story of two fugitives running for there freedom. This book is a great story that should be taught in schools and should not be ignored in American History classes. It opened my mind to the horrors slavery actually caused. It represents a part of our history that should never be repeated. 5 plus stars.

I read this for a college history survey course before it was mistakenly announced that the book was out of print. The book was dropped from the syllabus, but I am glad I read it anyway.

The first and shortest part of the book is William Craft's powerful account of how he and his wife Ellen executed a daring escape from servitude in Georgia. Their plan was remarkable in its ingenuity: The almost white Ellen, outfitted with a master's clothes and a poultice on her face to prevent incriminating speech with strangers, and her husband William, disguised as a servant, escaped to freedom in the north. Travelling by rail, the pair exultantly crossed over into Canada and from thence headed for England.

The second part of the book is a third person summary of the couple's travels after their ambitious escape. It follows them from Georgia through the slave and free states, in which they were well received and protected (especially in Boston), up to Halifax and across the water to England. I found the final two thirds of the book the most enjoyable, as it treated of foreign travel, in which I have a keen interest. Both portions of the book are beautifully written and often gripping. I hope a few of my classmates read this before that announcement. This book is both pleasurable to read and historically vital.

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom is a must read for all American history students and should be required reading at least at the high school level. This book gives the reader a first-person view of that "Peculiar Instition" known as slavery and to what lengths one will go to achieve personal freedom. This book will change your view of slavery forever.

I love African American photography, and this book is a wonderful example of the images that we don't often see: the African American middle class. This makes an excellent gift for a history and/or photography buff.

I first discovered this little treasure while reading a book review in Ebony magazine. I was immediately drawn to this title because 1. it was by Du Bois, 2. the book featued pictures of African-Americans that were displayed during the World's Fair in Paris-1900. I enjoyed looking at the vintage photographs but the only downfall is that some of the photographs are not labeled and i would have also appreciated a longer description on the photographs. overall this is a great book for the entire family to enjoy for generations to come.

It it the last photo in this book that I believe leaves the most indelible impression on my mind. The photo is of a young woman/girl smiling as if she hasn't a worry in the world. One cannot help but be moved inexpressively by her picture.

The book is composed of photographs of black Americans that were part of the world exhibition showing the "progess" of men in the 1900's. W.E.B. Du Bois put the photographs together for show to contradict the negative stereotypes of blacks of his day. In each of picture you see men and women at work, play, or just in imtimate photographs meant to give to a loved one, friend, or to show their own personal achievement and status to the world and their community.
There are black Americans of every beautiful hue in the book from dark to very light, each a protrait of personel dignity and integrity who did not make Faustian deals for fame and forturne like all to many blacks in the popular culture of Hollywood and the media today, especially if they are exceptioanlly light. The men and women in this book challeged the prejudices against them instead of catering to it, a lesson for anyone regardless of race, religion, or sexuality.

This is a book that should not be purchased by only blacks, but whites as well and others seeking just to understand the history and diversity of black America beyond what popular culture wants you to think or sell you.

The story of the pictures that W.E.B. Du Bois collected for the Paris World's Fair in 1900 is really inspiring and fascinating. He had only four months to make an entire exhibit -- when the vast majority of exhibitors participating had far longer. Years in some cases! And yet Du Bois triumphed. Plus the pictures are beautiful and surprising. Don't miss this book if you or your family is interested in American History.

W. E. B. DuBois says in the opening page, A SMALL NATION OF PEOPLE
is "an honest, straightforward exhibit of a small nation of people,
picturing their life and development without apology or gloss, and
above all made by themselves..." This book displays
portraits of African-Americans in a way that shows the progress made
in the 20th century, and they dispel the negative connotations we've
grown accustomed to seeing in the media, in the newspapers and even
in the history books of today.

Once part of the Paris Exhibition, these pictures speak volumes
individually and collectively and show a special type of pride, a
certain strength that isn't displayed in commercial venues such as
movies. It was wonderful seeing all types of buildings, landscapes
ranging from Georgia to Washington D.C. and also seeing businessmen,
such as Warren C. Coleman, the owner of the only Negro-owned cotton
mill in the United States at the time the picture was taken.

With essays by David Levering Lewis & Deborah Willis, centered
around the beautiful portraits of a culture, A SMALL NATION OF
PEOPLE, is a must-have for every African-American or those interested
in the diversity of our race. From the hairstyles, to the clothing,
to the actual hue of the skin, this book talks to you and shares the
pride of a people determined to make it despite having recently come
out of slavery.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This novel is so beautiful and heart-breaking. It just kicks you in the stomach, but I can't recommend it highly enough. My mother is from a small town in Georgia and I grew up spending lots of summers there and reading The Sweet Everlasting was like looking at family photographs or hearing my grandmother tell us stories. I was not expecting to love this much as much as I did.

Tremendous book. This is the best book I've read in the last 3 years. Very readible, incredibly moving. This is not brain candy. It will make you think for a long time afterwards.

Life can change in an instant. Picked an old paperback copy of this up at a used book sale. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Easily one of the best "stories" I've read in years (and I read many, many contemporary fiction novels). If you ever take your relationships (family or friends) for granted, read this book. You won't anymore. It's extremely well written; authentic without seeming contrived.

Although critical reviews for this book are accurate and give it much deserved praise, do not read them. Let Ellis Burt tell his story to you the way he wants to--give him his own timing. To know the story beforehand is to take away your involvemnent in the terrible and powerful discoveries that he must make as a human being: about others, his society, and himself. This is a tale of sin and redemption. To know his sins too soon is to underappreciate his redemption--what there can be of it.

The storyteller carefully nurtures the recollections of the people, places and events that have shaped his destiny. And, in the end, provides a powerful, emotional understanding of the importance of love.

In this slender volume of short essays, gracefully accompanied by the illustrations of 19th century naturalist and artist John Abbot, Maloof makes her impassioned plea for the lives of trees and forests by introducing them to us one by one.

Local rambles in Maryland provide the settings for her meditations on the lives and strategies of common species like beech, oak, maple, pine, and sycamore and under story trees like dogwood and holly, as well as bald cypress, walnut, redcedar, sweetgum and more. She breathes in the special qualities of "old-growth" air and mourns the lack of "grandfather trees," but most fascinating are the tales of interwoven life in the trees.

Many of these have to do with insects. Black locusts produce extra nectar, which feeds the ants and ladybugs that protect the tree from other insects. Except aphids, which the ants protect in exchange for their "honeydew," a euphemism for aphid urine. Ladybugs eat aphids, but there are still plenty of them and that honeydew is also the substance found all over your car when you park it under a tree, that stuff you probably call sap.

Exploring the teeming life of a tree (without the sycamore alone nine other species would be lost) Maloof, a biologist, distills numerous studies and traces the relationships among the insects, lizards, fungi, mammals, birds and people who obtain benefit from the tree. With a winning combination of science and poetry, Maloof makes her case for compassion and wonder.

--Portsmouth Herald

When I was young, my neighbor told me that when she was a child in early 20th century Philadelphia, she thought that a tree was a particular kind of plant and that was that. Imagine her amazement the first time she left the city and discovered that there were what seemed to be an infinite variety of trees!

Joan Maloof takes the reader to the next level. She explains that far from each tree being merely a unique organism, that each tree is an entire ecosystem; indeed, that each tree is an interdependent universe of organisms that depend on each other in the most unimaginably wonderful and intricate ways.

I have spent my entire life in a rural area surrounded by trees, yet reading this book awakened a new curiosity, a new appreciation, a need to explore and learn that I never felt before.

Anyone will be enriched by reading "Teaching the Trees", but for the young person steeped in consumer culture who thinks that trees are for shade or lumber and that "bugs" are pests, it could be a life-changing experience, leading to an appreciation of the wonders of the forest, and perhaps a lifetime of study and enjoyment of the miracles of nature.

Biologist Joan Maloof's ventures into the forests of the Eastern United states provide a series of lively, scientific essays on connections between tree species and the animals and insects which use it in Teaching The Trees: Lessons From The Forest. In leaving lab for direct environmental observation, Maloff's firsthand observations are lively and personal as well as scientific, exploring some of her favorite trees and their importance.

This is the type of book you savor, that you close your eyes at the end and feel you've received a special gift. I'm buying copies for my friends and family.

This is one of those books you read and it can change your life. It's an intellectually beautiful read by a biologist who has spent her life studying the relationship of trees, forests, organisms, insects and animals and explains their connections simply. I think it's an important book such as Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". It should be in everyone's library and read over and over.

Tiia-Mai Barrett, Seattle, WA

I bought this book two years ago, and my wife and I didn't actually use it until this weekend. We've really been missing out. The book contains 15 driving tours:

1) Northwest Georgia (Chicamauga to Rome)
2) Native American Tour (Fort Mountain, Chatsworth, New Echota, Etowah Indian Mounds)
3) N. Georgia Mountains Tour (Cleveland, Dahlonega, Dawsonville, Ellijay, Helen)
4) Northeast Georgia Tour (Hartwell, Toccoa, Clayton)
5) Fort Yargo to Tucker's Ferry (Winder, Jefferson, Commerce, Danielsville, Elberton)
6) Classic South (Oxford, Covington, Madison, Eatonton, Greensboro, Washington)
7) Plantations (LaGrange, Pine Mountain, Warm Springs, Greenville, Senoia, Newnan)
8) Middle Georgia Ramble (Jackson, Monticello, Gray, Thomaston, Barnesville)
9) Georgia Capitals Drive (Milledgeville, Sandersville, Louisville, Waynesboro)
10) East Central Ramble (Metter, Millen, Sylvania, Statesboro)
11) Southwest Georgia Ramble (Cuthbert, Lumpkin, Fort Gaines, Blakely)
12) Middle Georgia Farmland (Perry, Marshallville, Americas, Vienna)
13) Altamaha River Loop (Claxton, Reidsville, Baxley, Jesup, Hinesville)
14) Wire Grass Tour (Ashburn, Fitzgerald, Douglas, Alma)
15) South Georgia (Bainbridge, Cairo, Ochlocknee, Thomasville, Valdosta)

This weekend we took two tours: 6 and 5 (we did them in that order, but did 5 in reverse since we drove north from Washington to Elberton). Even though the book was published in 1997, we only found one driving instruction that was no longer correct (and it was easy to figure out). The driving instructions were very accurate, and the information about the various cities and the houses, graves, and people were very interesting. I've lived in Georgia all of my life and I've never been to a Revolutionary War battlefield within the state before- but the tour took us to the Kettle Creek battleground, something I'd never heard of before.

Rather than just give you small bits of information about each stop of interest and lots of information about hotels, restaurants, etc., this book gives you lots of information about what you're seeing and lets you figure out where to eat and sleep on your own (which is best- that sort of information changes frequently anyway).

The only criticism we have about the book is that the driving instructions are blended in with the narrative. We got around that with the second tour by going through ahead of time and underlining all of the driving instructions so they'd stand out. Perhaps in future editions this could be set off to the side on boxes so it's easy to find.

All in all, if you're looking for interesting tours of parts of Georgia you probably haven't seen before and won't find in other guidebooks (which spend their time talking about touristy things like Six Flags and Zoo Atlanta), this is the book for you.

Bought this as a gift for my father who recently remodeled an old Austin Healy. He thought this book was great!

I bought this book for the driving tours and I loved the one drive I have taken so far. But, I really enjoy the delightful stories that fill this book. It has the most amazing array of colorful anecdotes from Georgia history. It is a wonderful armchair book and an even better driving guide. I'm looking forward to doing more of the drives.

Frank and Victoria Logue are prolific writers. Their work covers hiking, camping and outdoor adventures in Georgia so this book is a natural extension of that work.

Touring the Backroads covers the entire state (don't be misled by the title). The tours are Northwest Georgia Drive, Native American Tour, North Georgia Mountain Tour, Northeast Georgia Tour, Fort Yargo to Tucker's Ferry, Classic South, Plantation, Middle Georgia Ramble, Georgia Capitals Drive, East Georgia Ramble, Southwest Georgia Ramble, Middle Georgia Farmland, Altamaha River Loop, Wire Grass, and South Georgia.

Our favorites: Georgia Capitals, Georgia Mountains (covers the Georgia Gold Rush), Northwest Georgia (takes you from the Tennessee State line to Rome), and the Southwest Georgia Ramble (highlights the Kolomaki Mounds and Providence Canyon, two underused state parks). The Native American Tour covers the Etowah Indian Mounds, the first capital of the Cherokee Nation at New Echota (now a Georgia State Park) and a wall built by Indians that pre-dated the Moundbuilders.

One of the things I like about this book is that Frank and Victoria don't assume you know esoteric facts about Georgia's history. They take you through the whole story, telling what you need to know to appreciate the stop.

I am a librarian reviewing this book for our school library which we purchased. Like the backroads, at first glance one might think there's nothing much there. Eventhough the photos are small and not color, this book makes up for it with surprisingly rich content. I gave it 5 stars for the content alone. The history and facts about this my home region were quite impressive. I only wanted the tour to slow down and concentrate more on some of the individual topics, but alas when you're on tour you only get a few moments before moving on. I've learned some things I did not know. The style of writing is intelligent and very readable. The research level is substantial in order to have uncovered these facts, that as a resident here in the backroads I know were not easy to come by. If you take a tour of any of these areas, take this book along because you won't find this information readily available aside from long hours of historical research. Facts about the history of growing peaches in Georgia along with recipes for peach cobbler and pecan pie are especially nice. Printed on alkaline paper, I only wish it was hardback.