North Carolina Books

My mother gave the book to me as a gift as it is about my hometown of Granite Falls, North Carolina. The book presents a lot of early history of the town, much of it I didn't know about when I lived there. There are a lot of interesting tidbits about a lot of the families there, past and present. It is written in the style of most Heritage books. If you have ancestors from this town, it would be very helpful with genealogy research.

I 'found' this book while browsing in the public library, waiting for my kids as they participated in the summer reading program. Living in NC, the subtitle, 'A Novel of Passion and Mystery in the Blue Ridge' caught my eye. This was a great book. Too bad it's not easy to find as you don't have to live in NC to appreciate and enjoy it. EVE'S MOUNTAIN is about a mountain owned by a wealthy businessman who has promised to keep the place as is, in memory of his wife who went missing there one summer many years before. Now the owner is there trying to recover from a stroke, bringing family members and others who all seem to be trying to escape from something. The mystery of Eve's Mountain eventually involves them all, for better or for worse. Once I got into who was who and what was what, this is one I couldn't put down.

I ordered this book because I know the author, and knew that it would be helpful for churches who are seeking to become open to persons regardless of their sexual orientation. To be frank I have not yet read the book, but knowing the author and his experience with the subject, I am sure it will be very useful.

When my colleagues and I planned the conference upon which this book was based, we wanted to make sure we would come to understand why Hurricane Floyd wreaked such devastation upon Eastern North Carolina in September of 1999 so we could better inform the public as to the causes and remedies. What we found was that many of the disastrous consequences could have been avoided. A series of freakish natural events, combined with thousands of political and individual property development decisions over a 50 year period, converted Eastern NC into a giant bathtub with many of its key drains clogged. Some have described the flooding that occured as "Biblical" in nature. And it can happen again unless community leaders show the courage to make the necessary modest and reasonable changes to their respective communities. This is a book from which scientists, politicians, agency personnel and the general public all can benefit. It is based on research in the physical, environmental, and social sciences as well as "on the ground" experiences. All net proceeds go to projects for improving our understanding of the impacts of hurricanes.

Cabarrus County in south central North Carolina was formed in 1792 from Mecklenburg County and is today situated between Mecklenburg and Rowan counties. Mrs. Marler's new work on Cabarrus County is the first effort we know of to systematically present information on all families in that county from its inception until the end of the War of 1812. The author extracted her findings from the 1790 Mecklenburg County census, the 1800 Cabarrus census, court records, Mecklenburg county deed records, marriage records, wills, and newspaper obituaries. She has arranged the families alphabetically according to the surname of the head of each household, incorporating all available data and its source in an outline format. Whenever possible, Mrs. Marler embellishes the limited content from these early censuses with information such as the name(s) of neighboring families, persons who bought/sold land to the principal householder, details of a marriage, and so forth. In all, the volume identifies 2,000 early families in Cabarrus County and perhaps five times as many persons overall. Can there be any doubt that Families of Cabarrus County, North Carolina must be reckoned as the new starting point for research in this early North Carolina county?

Are cooperatives for farmers like labor unions? Are they like corporate monopolies? Are they another sort of entity? These questions were directly relevant for the raisin growers of California in the early 1900's and for the federal government. Saker Woeste provides detailed analysis of legislation and federal court decisions about the thorny status of the cooperatives--a debate in which the involved parties were creating their own precedents.

Saker Woeste's book has a liveliness beyond what the legal topic might lead us to think. Mixed with these discussions of the law are colorful episodes that few of us outside California realized before. The book features violent night riders, tales of ethnic pressures and prejudices (especially regarding the Armenian- American community), eccentricity and idealism in the characters of the Cooperative's leaders, and the marketing story of how Sun-Maid got lots of Americans to gobble their raisins.

So the book features lots of law with lots of social history, marketing, even violence. And a wealth of pictures helps the reading. Especially interesting are the early Sun-Maid advertisements. Fans of the histories of California, of agriculture, or of American law would enjoy the book.

For Easterners, good comparison/contrasts are studies of Kentucky's Black Patch War--Night Riders among the tobacco farmers.

Excellent book with lots of good information. I highly recommend this book if you're heading to see the beauty of Western NC! And if you're not, why not?! It's beautiful!

This is a well-researched work that's easy to recommend. Doyle is an excellent historian who is well-versed in Faulkner.
The combination makes this fine book both an interesting history of Faulkner's native "postage stamp of soil" and an excellent introduction to Faulkner's world. It also provides a wonderful example of what a historian actually does (although not without some cautions along the way).

This book is incredibly well researched and nicely written. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the arts and/or arts policy in the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

the 57th North Carolina seems to have been all over the war from late 1862 to the end. But I had thought at first this was going to be just another Civil War Journal or history book on a unit. But it turns out to be the best of both. It never jumps around in dates, and not only has the letters of JC Zimmerman but other family members too. You get to know all of them. It is also full of Official reports that support where and what the 57th NC did and where they were at. It even has direct quotes of offiers about the 57th NC and or the Brigade they were apart of that come right from there own post war writings. This is truly a must have for any Civil War buff.