Georgia Books

An engaging narrative of the founding and growth of this town-turned-city in southwest Georgia. The authors captured the flavor and spirit of the area, enhanced by the intriguing photographs. A coffee table book that's "good to the last drop". --Brenda--

Rarely does a photographer inspire such consistent emotion as you will find in this beauitful book. Craig Tanner shares an intimate love of Georgia with his breathtaking photography. This man is destined to be one of our most treasured artists in landscape photography.

Tanner has yet again a stunning selection of Georgia's beautiful places. Each year's calendar is a delight.

When you learn about the Original 13 Colonies the emphasis is always on Jamestown in Virginia, because it was first, Massachusetts Bay, because that is where the Pilgrims landed, and Pennsylvania, because that is where Ben Franklin ended up. Georgia, as the southern most colony, receives scant attention and all you really learn is that it was settled by criminals. But as Nancy Robinson Masters points out in this look as "Georgia" for the America the Beautiful, Second Series, it was not exactly criminals in the same sense that the English sent convicts to settle Australia, but more of a second chance for those who had ended up in debtor's prison. Consequently, when young readers finish this book they are going to remember the name of James Edward Oglethorpe.

Oglethorpe is introduced in Chapter One, "A New Settlement," which explains why Georgia was named for King George II (the good one, not the bad one of the American Revolution who is King George III). The next three chapters cover the history of Georgia, starting with Chapter Two, "People and Pathways of the Past," which goes back to the original nomads who settled the area and then looks at the Cherokee and Creek native tribes, as well as the Spanish explorers, French Huguenots, and English settlers who arrived. After laying out Oglethorpe's Grand Plan, the chapter ends with the American Revolution. Chapter Three, "Troubled Times," covers the Civil War and Sherman's March to the Sea along with Reconstruction. Chapter Four, "The Twentieth Century and Onward," starts with the Weevil War and ends with the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Chapter Five of these books always looks at the geography of the state, but "Natural Georgia" is different because it does not look at the topographical divisions of the state, which, I admit, is one of the things I have been finding interesting about these books. But Masters ends up doing that in Chapter Six, "Highways and Byways," just to be different. The politics of the state is covered in Chapter Seven, "The Power of the People," which includes a look at some of the political leaders the state has produced, such as Jimmy Carter and Newt Gingrich. This is also the chapter where you find out how "Georgia on My Mind" as sung by Ray Charles became the state song and the controversial history of Georgia's state flag.

The Georgia economy is covered in Chapter Eight, "Progress and Prosperity," which is more than peanuts, cotton, and peaches. In fact, Georgia is first in the nation in selling chickens. Chapter Nine, "The Many Faces of Georgia," looks at not just education and religion, but also integration. Then in Chapter Ten, "The Arts, Architecture, and Athletics," we find out about the writers (Margaret Mitchell, Flannery O'Connor, Alice Walker), musicians (Johnny Mercer, Jessye Norman), and athletes (Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Mel Blount) the state has produced.

As always, you will find a Timeline comparing U.S. and Georgia state history in the back of the book along with several pages of Fast Facts. Then there is a list of books, organizations and Internet sites where you can to To Find Out More. There are also lots of full-color photographs and original maps, along with the informative sidebars where young readers will find out some of the most interesting things about Georgia. This includes people like the Revolutionary Heroine Nancy Morgan Hart and Eli Whitney the Father of Mass Production, things like the Colossal Fossil of a 40-million-year-old whale skeleton and a recipe for Peach Pie, and places like the mounds built by the Mississippians in Georgia. Young readers will discover that for a place that was settled by "criminals," a lot of impressive people came from Georgia, from Sequoyah and Stonewall Jackson to George Washington Carver and Ted Turner.

The "Portrait of America" series is a wonderful introduction for pre-teens to the 50 states and to the places and events that shaped the history of the United States. This "Georgia" installment is particularly good. The book is broken down into sections like "History", "Culture", "Economy" etc., and each section is thoughtfully written and edited. The "History" section is especially good and is very inclusive. This wasn't just Scarlet O'Hara's homeland, everyone. The rich heritage of the Peachtree State is finally given its just due.

This book, as well as the entire "Portrait of America" series, will prove to be a valuable teaching tool to all primary school educators.

I would be willing to bet all the American history textbooks I had in school had the same sentence about the colony of Georgia, which was essentially to say that the place was founded by convicts. However, Christina M. Girod in this informative volume on Georgia for The Thirteen Colonies series shows that what I was taught way back when does not provide an accurate picture of the southernmost of the original American colonies. Girod acknowledges that Georgia had perhaps the most unique beginning of all the English colonies established in America, but focuses more on the colony banning slavery and any activity with Native Americans that could be harmful to the natives instead of on the English colony that supplanted the Spanish one being founded by those from debtor's prison. Girod also emphasizes that Georgia was unique in that no single ethnic group of immigrants dominated the colony's population. By the end of this informative volume young readers will have a much better appreciation for what Georgia was like before it eventually developed a society and economy more like those of the other southern colonies.

The Thirteen Colonies books cover each future state in five chapters: (1) Precolonial Times: Conflict and the Struggle to Dominate Georgia begins with the original inhabitants--the Cherokee, Creek and other tribes--and the exploration of the area by Hernando de Soto which led to the establishment of the Guale District (and the rise of Pirates like Blackbeard); (2) Establishing the Colony: A Noble Experiment explains the plan of James Edward Oglethorpe, the "Father of Georgia," to solve the English unemployment problem and overflowing debtor prisons by sending colonists to Georgia, where the colony of Savannah was established and eventually a war was fought with Spain over the area; (3) Changes in Daily Life in Georgia covers how Oglethorpe's egalitarian ideal eventually gave way to developing a prosperous economy; (4) The Revolution and Georgia's War looks at how Georgia reacted to the Stamp Act and the capture of Savannah during the war, which the British held until the end; and (5) Rebirth in the New Union details how the rise of King Cotton wrought significant changes in Georgia's economy and the colony became the fourth state to ratify the new federal Constitution.

"Georgia" is illustrated with historical black & white etchings, drawings, engravings, and paintings, as well as maps that flesh out Girod's text. The back of the book contains Notes, a colonial Chronology of Georgia, sources For Additional Reading, Works Consulted, and an Index. As is the rule of thumb with this excellent series, the less you know about a colony from your American history textbook the more informative you will find a volume to be. I would like to think that there are school systems in the state of Georgia that have adopted this particular volume for students to learn about their home (6th grade perhaps?). I certainly know a lot more about Georgia than I ever did before.

EXCELLENT!!! I ordered several 24/7 books new and used.
Then ordered covers from the 24/7 web site with pictures of family members.
Many with old candid long forgotten pictures.
These were given to family members from Coast to Coast. Even though
I wasn't with my family for the holidays I was a hit at every gathering.
For the uniqueness and the thoughtfulness of the Gift..

Bought this as a gift for Christmas.......person loved it. Didn't know there was a specific book for her state!

Always a treat instruction wise,this one offers totally new ideas.. great color reproductions and an overall theme to follow.

I would recommend this book to any teacher or parent of a middle grade students!