North Carolina Books

Compiled and written by educator and Civil War expert Glenn Dedmondt, The Flags Of Civil War North Carolina is a very straightforward reference presenting photographs, color illustrations, descriptions and history of the titular flags that flew over North Carolina when it seceded from the Union and fought on the side of the Confederacy during the years of the American civil war. Each page or two-page spread features the different flags of the various North Carolina regiments. A meticulously detailed resource offering very specific information for history and civil war buffs, The Flags Of Civil War North Carolina is a welcome contribution to the growing library of Civil War Studies and could well serve as a template for similar volumes for the other Confederate as well as Union states.

Charles Harry Whedbee captures the attention of the reader in the very beginning of this book as any good storyteller can. From swashbuckling pirate tales of Blackbeard on Ocracoke Island to stories of lost loves or any Native American tales and legends on the Outer Banks, Mr. Whedbee does a spectacular job of pulling you out of the present day and time to the time of the story. It is my recommendation that if you love legends and ghost stories, you should get this book!

Thorough and thoughtful, Galen Reuther has accomplished that which I have always wanted to do. Flat Rock is rich in history and she has succeeded in presenting the subject with depth and sensitivity. I spent many happy weeks and months in that area just a few miles south of hometown Hendersonville and recognized most of the "summer cottages" of its first and present owners. Thank you Galen Reuther for a marvelous work worthy of your prolific genius. Phillip Elliott

Hugh Douglas has produced a very well researched and lucidly written book on the famous highland heroine.
The sometimes complicated family and clan relationships are very well and easily explained in this volume.
This book debunks many of the myths and legends that have grown around this singularly impressive woman. She was most certainly legendary and deserving of the status which she attained, and it is refreshing to read the facts of her saga.
Hugh Douglas is to be congratulated for this highly commended work.

In Fly-Fishing The South Atlantic Coast, seasoned angler Jimmy Jacobs shows the reader where to find game fish from North Carolina's Outer Banks down to through the Florida Keys. With an introductory chapter surveying the species of fish commonly sought during each season along the southeast Atlantic coastline, Jacobs provides advice on gear selection and saltwater flies, how to fish the different types of inshore waters from ocean inlets to tidal creeks to oystershell bars. Fly-Fishing The South Atlantic Coast also provides the aspiring fly-fisherman with information on weight records, regulations, and angling calendars for each state. With its detailed maps of each area to make trip planning easy, anyone considering a fishing trip anywhere along the southeast Atlantic coastline should begin with a careful reading of Jimmy Jacobs' Fly-Fishing The South Atlantic Coast!

Barbara Weinstein's study of the Sao Paulo, Brazil working class covers much more than labor relations in that city. As US and European social scientists and labor historians seek to broaden their understanding of labor/management relations in other parts of the world, they will find this an invaluable source. Extremely well-documented, with evidence from oral histories, interviews, newspapers, government documents and secondary sources, Weinstein tells the story of a ruling elite that tried to tame its workers in novel ways. In everything from cooking classes for women to soccer and volleyball games for male and female workers, the Sao Paulo manufacturers tried to lure their workers away from the anarchist meeting hall, or even the local bar, and into increasing productivity (and profits) for the company. They succeeded in some ways, but mainly failed. Sao Paulo's workers are some of the most militant in the world today. This is a fascinating story that should be! told in every labor, urban or social history class.

This is one of the best works of African-American film studies to come out in years. Many of us who have found the work of David Bogle (Toms, Mammies, Mulattoes, Bucks & Coons) wanting on several levels will have their prayers answered with Robinson's impeccable scholarship and far-reaching analysis of the changing perceptions and representations of African-Americans after the Civil War, Reconstruction and the release of Griffith's BIRTH OF A NATION (1915). What was important for me in reading this book was Robinson's astute ability to discern the origins of the specific caricatures of African-Americans in the traveling minstral shows that circulated throughout the country before the invention of cinema. He also reveals how early American Cinema was predicated upon these caricatures of African-Americans as a revenue generating source of "entertainment". He then reveals how these caricatures were employed by African-American actors as a means to gain employment within the movie industry. The chapters on early American Theatre, Oscar Micheaux, and The Birth of a Nation are the best written efforts I've read in years: fresh and full of new insights. Robinson discusses the duplicitous nature of minstrelsy for whites and African-Americans. This was a throughly engrossing read and a book that will be referenced by scholars, students and filmmakers for years to come.

Unique tales of the Old North State; not the same ones as every other NC story books

This is a deeply informative and highly personal diary (edited by the author after the fact, as most period diaries have been), especially valuable as the story of a soldier less than enthralled with war.

Berkeley spent most of the war in Kirkpatrick's Battery, attached to the Second Corps. His long account includes Yorktown, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Monocacy and a full recounting of the Valley Campaign of '64. (His repeated blaming of the Stonewall Brigade at Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek should not be taken as gospel, though.) He was then captured and describes unpleasant experiences at Fort Delaware, with rampant illness the primary hardship.

Berkeley seems to have been quite war weary by '63, sooner than many of his comrades, and his depressed commentary punctuates his narrative--though he didn't take the oath until late April of '65, during imprisonment. Many of his quotes are worth keeping, and he gives an excellent picture of experience in the artillery.

This anthology includes the complete novel "Dagon," something of a literary oddity. It's part of a subgenre of horror fiction known as the Cthulhu Mythos, which comprises stories that make use of supernatural elements found in the stories of H.P. Lovecraft--mostly having to do with evil godlike monsters (or monsterlike gods) that ruled the Earth before the dawn of time. "Dagon" takes this premise, twists the genre from supernatural horror to Southern gothic, and presents it with utter psychological realism. The result is shocking and fascinating--sort of like reading a horror comic book written by William Faulkner. I wonder what fans of Southern literature make of "Dagon"--there's a few bits that must be baffling if you've never heard of Lovecraft. But the rest of the book isn't like this at all, so don't be scared off if this doesn't sound like your cup of tea. This is surely the best-written Cthulhu story ever. But few Lovecraft fans will ever find it here, with a generic title and a cover completely devoid of squiggly monsters. (The novel, I should note, has no squiggly monsters either--on the surface. But they're there--oh, boy, are they there.)