Tennessee Books

Investment and insurance industry professional Renee Russell presents Kate's Pride, a novel set in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Pregnant and deserted by the man who promised to marry her, spurned by her wide network of kin and "kissing cousins", Kate is confronted with the harrowing task of building a new life on the ashes of the old. A powerful tale, vividly descriptive, about a strong woman confronted by difficult choices, and daunting repercussions.

Kate's Pride is one woman's family history brought to life in novel form. Author Renee Russell took the very colorful and inspiring story of her ancestor, Kate Randsome, and wrote a novel based on the facts she was able to glean about her life.

Kate was a very tough and determined woman. Left pregnant by her unscrupulous boyfriend in post-Civil War Tennessee, she had to deal with the prejudices of a very conservative rural southern area. When even her sister turned against her, Kate was forced to take a job working for a sickly, elderly woman. Unfortunately, the elderly woman had a very randy son who took this opportunity to force himself on Kate, threatening her with ruin if she didn't comply. The result was a second fatherless child, another son.

Out on her own again, Kate tried to make peace with a sister still unwilling to bend. She ended up staying on with a former slave and her family. Though they had every reason not to take pity on her, the family was filled with charity. Kate had a safe haven in which to bear her second baby.

Ultimately Kate struck out on her own, sharecropping to make a living. She scraped by, through her own determination and the kindness of others, until one day a tragedy happened that came closer to devastating her than anything had done before. Still, even in the face of unimaginable loss Kate moves forward, head held high.

The story is told within the framework of a manuscript given from Kate to her son. She asks him to one day give the story to his own daughter, when she's older and ready to deal with the story of her grandmother. Kate feels it's important for her story to go forward, and it is absolutely important for stories like this not to be lost. Future generations deserve to know the struggles of their ancestors. It reminds them what sacrifices others have made so that they're able to live their own lives. Keeping these family stories alive is a very noble thing.

Kate's Pride is a good example of the sort of genealogical record we should all consider leaving as our legacy. Even if you don't know the stories of those who came before you, you know your own story, and that's one of the most important legacies all of us can leave.

Though written in 1987 - this book is probably the best book covering nearly all aspects of the forming of Kingsport, history, as well as the industrial influence and background. I would love for Dr. Wolfe to revisit this book and update some of the information - as Kingsport has grown, but the Industies are suffering. I would like to know what her opinion is also, of the outsourcing of jobs to other countries and major plants shutting down in the city, leaving hundreds of workers scrambling to garner ne employment. But what employment is available is always less paying and with less benefits, and less hope of a decent retirement. It's a shame. Rambling aside, I recommend Dr. Wolfe's book because she doesn't sugar coat the facts like some of the other books about the city have done.

Kingsport's population peak during WWII has never returned again, despite a half century of growth by annexation. Professor Wolfe has done a very fine job of archival research and interviews to enlighten the reader. Though her survey is more critical, obviously, than a publication each decade of the 90's by the local Rotary Club, Wolfe ads the human element and anecdotal illustrations to complement the Rotary's advertising bent.

City builder J. Fred Johnson has become a legendary and almost apocrypha figure for this town in the foothills of Southern Appalachia. Middle class factory workers and country club executives dominated this city during the 20th century. But the 21 century has arrived as industrial downsizing is taking a toll.

Wolfe tells the true story as it really happened, 'warts and all.' Hopefully either Professor Wolfe or someone else will fill in more details and produce a future volume that fills in the gaps of the history of this city whose most prominent claim to fame is the hometown and idyllic setting of Lisa Alther's veiled trashy novel, "Kinflicks."

Professor McKenzie has published the definitive history of East Tennessee during the Civil War to compliment Temple, Humes and Seymour. Not since Dr. Digby Seymour's book, written for the Civil War Centennial Years (1961-65), has a book of this significance appeared. McKenzie explores fully both the events and the personalities of the period from the inimitable Unionist, "Parson" Brownlow, to the Secessionist, Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey. This is a "must have" for anyone studying the wartime history of a region so evenly split between North and South. Highly recommended!

Knoxville played a pivital role in the Civil War both on the battlefield, and politically. Why more isn't written on it is a mystery to me. Digby Seymour's pioneering "Divided Loyalties" has been the standard of years, now McKenzie has offered a wealth of more in depth studies where Seymour left off. The only real criticism that I have, is that I so wish that the author had made use of all the photographs that could have broken up the lengthy text more and given the reader a better visualization of an otherwise splendid text. "Divided Loyalties" would make a great companion piece if you don't have one already (the one published by The East Tennessee Historical Society being the best version printed).

Mammon and Manon in Early New Orleans is an incredibly interesting and informative book for numerous reasons. This book describes New Orleans' birth and slow evolution into one of the most important cities in the United States. This city was controlled economically and socially by slavery and Mammon and Manon reveals this in with both factual and individual accounts. The book is also excellent in explaining New Orleans' uniqueness in regards to other southern cities and Ingersoll includes many comparisons to other southern states and urban areas. Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone interested in New Orleans and/or the early African-American experience in America.

From its beginnings in the early 18th Century, New Orleans was a slave society with a black majority in its population. In Mammon And Manon In Early New Orleans: The First Slave Society In The Deep South 1718-1819, Thomas Ingersoll tells the rich and fascinating story of this city of slaves, slaveholders, and non-slaveholders and how it grew during its first hundred years. Ingersoll draws on judicial, sacramental, notarial, administrative records as well as eyewitness accounts and personal correspondence to illuminate the history of this remarkable and complex community. Ingersoll also provides informative comparative analysis of the influences of France and Spain before New Orleans became part of United States territory in 1803.Ingersoll persuasively argues that it was the lure of wealth and possessions (Mammon) that shaped New Orleans throughout its early history. Mammon And Manon In Early New Orleans is a highly recommended, scholarly, exhaustive, compelling history of a colorful, unique early American community.

Finally a book that talks about all the music from Memphis, where most books just talk about a certain type. But Memphis is a special place, a real crossroads for many different styles of American music.

Few minor glitches
- some factual mistakes
- repetition (JL Lewis always had an ill-fated marriage, a few times in the book)
- bad layout, a few white lines to seperate paragraphs would have been nicer.

But, these are just minor things, overall it's a good book.

This is one of the best books I have ever read about Memphis music. It focused on many of the things that other books overlook, while still retaining the heart of Memphis which is THE BLUES. Larry Nager has a very good understanding of the atmosphere and attitudes of the people in Memphis, since he lived there for several years. The book is thorough in its coverage of everyone from Elvis to Phineas Newborn Jr. to Otis Redding. I highly recommend this to the Memphis music novice or the avid Memphis history collector.

The former Executive Director of the East Tennessee Historical Society, present Executive Director of the Georgia Historical Society, has provided an excellent study on the East Tennessee Confederates. In this scholarly, balanced work, Todd Groce details why so many Knoxville and other East Tennessee business men who sided with the South wound up as post-war business leaders in Atlanta, Savannah and other Georgia cities. The area suffered because of this "brain drain" until the South's Marshall Plan (the TVA) arrived in the 1940s. It is interesting that the ET farmers largely sided with the North, while the more "cosmopolitan" businessmen, who had traveled to Baltimore and Philadelphia to buy goods, became Confederates. The complexity of the issue demanded this study. Perhaps no other part of the nation was so delayed in the "healing process" Lincoln had planned as was East Tennessee. Historian Groce's ten years of research bears fruit. Recommended!

I grew up hearing about the exploits of my family during the civil war and have gone to battlefields and stood in the very spots where my ancestors fought. Because of that it has always just burned me up when I hear someone say that East Tennessee's population all supported the Union during the war. Unfortunately, history is often over simplified that way and is often taught that way in our schools. Fortunately, there are people like Todd Groce to debunk these silly myths.

In this fine book, Groce points out that there were numerous Confederates in East Tennessee and that they suffered more for their cause than did most other southerners. From the first rumblings of secession to the redemption of Tennessee in 1870, Groce introduces his readers to numerous men and women from this region who gave their all for southern independence. Numerous maps, pictures, and tables help to drive the author's points home in a very clear manner. He takes particular care to clarify his theory that merchants and professional people were the leading Confederates in the region and carefully explains why he thinks this class had such strong southern sympathy. He also points out that slave owners were almost equally divided in their sympathy proving that at least in East Tennessee slavery played little part in the choice of sides. Also in this book you will find out about the unfair treatment of East Tennessee Confederates by Jefferson Davis and his government and that among the last to remain with President Davis on his flight into Georgia were General Vaughn's East Tennessee troops. Groce also goes too great lengths to expose the vile treatment of the regions defeated Confederates after the war.

The only element lacking from this book was any mention of Longstreet's winter in East Tennessee. The reaction of the citizenry when Burnside occupied Knoxville is well covered and is telling. However, the same might be said for the local reaction to Longstreet if it were covered.

Still, this is an excellent volume and helps plug a gapping hole that has long existed in Civil War scholarship. A strong work about an interesting subject.

This guidebook to the natural arches of the Big South Fork area is the only guidebook to these fascinating geologic features of the area. I have used it extensively, and it is a great addition to the growing list of books on the Big South Fork area. The author has taken care to give accurate and detailed instructions about how to get to AND appreciate these wonderful geologic features in the Big South Fork Country.

The book not only gives accurate and detailed information about how to get to these fascinating rock features, but it also gives a survey of the human history of the rugged Big South Fork country of Tennessee and Kentucky. The author, Arthur McDade, also fully stresses hiking and backcountry safety, and refers the reader to additional reference books about the area, including trail guides and topographical maps.

This book is a must for all folks who are interested in the Big South Fork country. Get it in addition to the other trail guides to the area, to round out your library. I recommend it wholeheartedly, as I have hiked and backpacked all over the country, and this book is one of the best I have seen about geologic features and history.

The bookshelf above my desk is filled with hiking guides, one for nearly every hiking destination in the eastern US. This guide is unlike any other on that shelf.

First, let me give some basic information about this book. Destinations described in this book are grouped into three geographic areas: Big South Fork NRRA, Pickett State Park (located in Tennessee just west of BSF), and southern Daniel Boone National Forest, located in southern Kentucky. These three adjacent areas contain more arches than just about any area in the east, so there is plenty of material for a book of this sort. Also, the book contains 29 photos of BSF arches and landforms, so even though they are not color photos, you can take a tour of BSF arches without leaving your living room by reading this book.

The book describes 25 hikes, each one leading to at least one arch. Most of the hikes are extremely short (0.5 mile or less), though a couple are longer. There are five hand-drawn maps in an appendix that cover areas of high arch concentration, but most hikes do not have maps accompanying them. Further, trail descriptions focus on the arch rather than the hike (see next paragraph). This fact combined with the lack of maps caused me to get lost a couple of times when I was hiking to these arches, but I always found myself easily since the hike was short and I am an experienced hiker.

Now back to my introductory thought, namely why this hiking guide is unique. Most hiking guides emphasize trail descriptions, with descriptions of scenery along the trail included as part of a trail description. This book is organized around arches with a secondary treatment given to the trails. Indeed, this book is only 100 pages long, and the first 22 are devoted to an introduction to arch formation and BSF geography, geology, and history. You won't find this much detailed information on landforms in most hiking guides, but it doesn't leave much room for trail descriptions as you would find in most hiking guides.

In sum, if you are looking for a good, general hiking guide to the BSF, this book is not for you. With the focus geared so heavily to arches, this book is simply not designed to serve that purpose. However, if you are looking for a book that specializes in BSF arches to supplement your collection of BSF hiking guides (or your personal knowledge of the area), this book would make an excellent addition to your library.

This is a great book whether you are just getting started Kayaking or already know the ropes. Tells you where to go in Tennessee and what to expect. Highly recommended.

This book gives you the goods on every navigable waterway and tributary east of the Tennessee River. Most trips are explained fully for the novice, with plenty of side trips outlined for the experienced. With a few exceptions the navigational tips are spot-on. As most Tennessee water levels are affected by releases of water you may stumble upon a stream that has dried up--but where else can you find a paddling primer that fits in your dry bag? A delightful read with plenty of shelf life.

It seems like I had read somewhere that this was a very behind-the-scenes, coaching intensive book. While there are some copies of practice schedules and some discussion of coaching decisions, the book does more reminiscing than anything else. Practice schedules are incomplete and lack explanation. About the only thing I could infer from the schedules was that UT must do their most opponent intensive practices on Wednesdays, as Wednesday schedules are never included for conference opponents. There is an overview type discussion of game plans for most opponents, which was pretty cool.

The reminiscing is not only tolerable for non-UT fans; it is also understandable. This was a great team that played a great season. I think most people forget that the '98 Vols won on a last second field goal (Syracuse), in overtime (Florida), and by taking advantage of a late turnover (Arkansas).

The books strength is the humanization of the UT coaches and players. While it is very easy to know the personalities on your favorite team, rivals are often dehumanized. Players in a top-notch program, like UT's, can seem like machines in uniform. Coach Fulmer does a good job reminding us that college football players are young men.

'A Perfect Season' has a conversational style that lends itself to fast reading. 'Fat Face' Fulmer isn't smart enough to write a book that's hard to read, so even Alabama fans should be able to make it all the way through. Ole Miss fans might want to keep a dictionary handy.

Not only great teamwork on field, but the production of the all-Tennessee book merited major coverage by Publsihers Weekly.

Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis is a thought-provoking analysis of race relations in the South. It is also one of few books which informs readers about the unique politics of Memphis. However, the book discusses politics in other urban cities as well and thus provides a framework by which Memphis politics can be analyzed in relation to politics in other U.S. cities. It is an excellent book and is very well-written.

I found the book to be an eye opening, clear view of racially segregated voting patterns. It also gave an insider's view of the difficulties minorities face when mounting competitive political campaigns. The book is a must read for anyone with political aspirations at any level. It also serves as a primer for young African-American voters. Anyone who thinks that "my vote doesn't count", will realize the importance of every vote cast. The book also proves that hard work and strong ideals, must aslo be accompanied by dogged determination. For a collegiate level text, it was a very enjoyable read.