Virginia Books

This is a great easy to understand overview of African History in that it is decently comprehensive, and doesn't bog the reader down in a million names and dates. The best feature of this book is its focus on Africa, for it's own sake, instead of in relation to others. It also talks more about what the people were doing than kings and other heads of states, and how people interacted together, in such forms as trade, cultural difussion, and yes, wars.

While dry in parts, as it is in fact a textbook, it makes African history accessible to one who hasn't gotten enough of it. I recommend it highly.

This is a great pictorial book chalk full of historic photographs of Clarksburg, West Virginia. The text and photo captions are clear and informative. I found "Clarksburg - Images of America: West Virginia" an incredible resource and highly recommend it to any enthusiast of Americana, Photography, History, and Sociology... and for anyone and everyone who likes pictorial books!

Despite the mixed review from Booklist, I would argue that this book is excellent at doing what it does. Brackett is an excellent writer, and her descriptions are vivid and thorough. Of course any book about literature is subjective. This one, however, does just what it claims to do.

Finely detailed in research and detailed photos of an oten overlooked period of American furniture.

Between 1910 and 1930, one million people moved into the coal fields of central Appalachia. The biggest concentration of the half of them who were African Americans moved into West Virginia's southwestern counties, especially McDowell county where my mother was born a Black miner's daughter. Yet, when folk think of West Virginia and the Appalachians, these Black folk are ignored or forgotten. When people think of the battles of the coal miner's union, they neglect the question of Black folk. Likewise, to understand African American history properly, it is important to understand the struggles and life experience of such significant sections of the black proletariat like these Black miners, the Black autoworkers of Detroit, or the Black steel workers of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Chicago.

Trotter provides an exhaustive study of the whole process of Black proletarians moving to West Virginia's coal fields, the construction of Black communities, and the lives of African Americans in the mining camps and mining towns. He presents a very good picture of the conflicting forces involved including the mine owners and the state and local governments they controlled, white American and immigrant miners, the bureaucrats who ran the UMWA, as well as the black middle class that grew up in West Virginia.

What interests me is the way he shows that the mine companies increased segregation and racism in West Virginia in an attempt to stem the unity of Black miners with white miners in the many battles that took place over unionization. He is also quite good at showing that the rising African American middle class came to serve the interests of the mine owners and the white ruling class in attempting to dampen the militancy of Black miners on both the working class and black rights fronts.

What is interesting is the glimpses Trotter gives of the potential power of Black miners in West Virgnia. He gives one instance where an African American was lynched were hundreds of Black miners marched on the coal camp where the lynching took place.

It is unfortunate that his study ends in 1930 so he does not cover the successful battles in the 1930s by the UMWA that organized many of these miners and provided one of the basis for the mass organizing campaigns of the CIO.

In 1986 an up and coming cable television producer discovered twenty-three-year-old Cole Raburn doing magic tricks in Joe's Stardust Bar in upstate New York. After a brief conversation the savvy producer recognized talent and with Cole's ability to mimic accents, the magician Joe Ray Stardust was born.

Ten years later in West Virginia Holly Hawkes is fighting for custody of her children. Her ex, who ran away to work for the famous magician Joe Ray Stardust, was a womanizing cheat who apparently didn't want his kids, however his wealthy and powerful parents do. By coincidence Joe Ray is performing in town and the children want to go. After the show, Holly runs into Joe Ray in the parking lot. He can tell she wants nothing to do with him and wants to know why. Her trunk is open, he thinks he knows her from his past when he worked as a bartender and he tries to kiss her, why, I don't know. She has a croquet mallet in her hand, she steps back, pushing him away and accident brains him with the mallet and boom he falls into the trunk. Holly, afraid of how this will affect the custody hearing, closes the trunk and takes Joe Ray home.

When he comes to he has no memory. He knows his name is Cole and he believes he is married to Holly and the father of her children.

Does this sound a little like the plot of a movie starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell? Still, you know, this was a darned enjoyable book and I've giving it five stars even if the plot was a little contrived.

This book is very near and dear to my heart as I am a descendant of R.M. Ward. I grew up hearing these stories and I also knew the author Richard Chase who was a family friend. I went to sleep almost every night with one of the Jack Tales as my bed time story and always asked for" just one more daddy". I am glad that this book is still in print so that I might pass on these beloved stories to my two children in hopes that they will in turn pass them on to their children. These "Tall Tales" will keep your children asking for "just one more".

This paperback textbook was required for a college course. Since I could purchase a new copy of the book for over $20 less than the college bookstore was selling it for and I wanted to get it as quickly as possible, I paid the extra $20 for overnight delivery. The book came the next day, as promised, was packed well and arrived in excellent condition. Plus, even with the extra shipping charge, I came out ahead of the game.

Hello Stanley I have a RAY.O.VAV Hunter LANTERN and all I want to do is to find out how old it is. If I give you the Patten # could you find out how old it is for me.

HERE IS THE PATTEN # U.S.PAT.D.173423

Well researched, well written. A fascinating read and reference if you're into colonial history.