Kentucky Books

This is a very well written, photographed and illustrated book that reveals many little known truths about the origins of Kentucky and the migration west through Cumberland Gap. It is a must read for all students of early Kentucky history. Virtually every other page contains either a map, illustration or beautiful photograph. The photography by world-renowned photographer, Adam Jones, is simply stunning! In truth, it is the photography of Adam Jones that first attracted me to this outstanding book. As a student of early Kentucky history, I consider this book in particular to be indispensable to understanding the truth surrounding the opening of Kentucky and all points west. This is a truly great historical work, replete with bibliograhical references, indicative of the author's extensive research. Therefore, I highly recommend it!

Sticklin's study of Southern Baptist progressives basically contends that a vibrant, although small and loosely organized, strain of progressivism flourished within the SBC. This strand of dissent stood in stark contrast to the confident triumphalism of the Southern Baptist institutional machine and wondered what might happen if Southern Baptist energies and organizations were directed away from self-promotion and toward alleviation of human suffering. Stricklin illustrates how various personal connections created this genealogy of dissent. He then explains the dominane SBC position consensus on race, peace and justice, and women in ministry, and then shows how progressives pursued a more radical response to these issues. He then contends that the agitation of progressives, especially in the area of women in ministry, was a key factor that set in motion the fundamentalist take over of the SBC.

Stricklin understands both progressives and fundamentalists as "outsiders" to the SBC moderate leadership. Thus Stricklin divides the SBC into three groups: 1. moderates, who placed their faith in tolerant leadership and the cooperative work of the institutions as the best way to accomplish God's will; 2. fundamentalists, who placed their faith in pure doctrine and who would rather limit the effectiveness of the institution in order to maintain doctrinal purity; and 3. progressives, who placed their faith in local congregations and informal networks and who wanted to use this grassroots movement of faith as a way to change the political and economic world.

Fundamentalists won control of the SBC because they were able to mobilize their supporters against the moderates, who were often characterized as "liberal" because of their willingness to tolerate the progressives. While the book could do more in explaining the theology of the dissenters, it succeeds in showing the various ways of being Baptist and suggesting why these ways could no longer coexist within the SBC.

Art Palmer has been caving in the area seemingly forever, and the book shows it. Written for the non-geologist yet with plenty of details (& black-and-white pictures), it gives you the tools to understand the cave & it's setting. By using examples from the cave, as well as maps & simple diagrams, the complex nature of cavern formation in this area is explained. The ways that the geology influence the layout of the passages is particularly informative, and the detailed step-by-step evolution of the various levels & passages is covered in detail. Finally, the chapter on the geology of the various tour routes changes the tours from interesting walking trips to a virtual feast, with well-written descriptions and detailed maps. If you like caves like Mammoth and want to learn more about the geology of the longest cave in the world, turn to this book.

This book is a must read for any fan of history, George Washington or Kentucky. The research done to create this book was incredible because it gave me a real sense of what was actually transpiring during the US expansion toward the West and of the speculative land acquisitions by the property barons and the politically elite of the day. It was also very interesting to read some of George Washington's letters which provided me with real insight into his intelligence and wit. In my opinion, this is history at its best, which sheds light on the self interest that motivated many of our founding fathers, which motivation has fostered one of the greatest economic powers of all time, the United States of America. This is far from the normal, dry and boring history book that I have become accustomed to over the years. I recommend it highly.

Donna Gholson Cook has written a book that is as readable as it is interesting. She discusses more than just Texas history. The book is sprinkled with photos from yesteryear and from the Gholson family, adding a dimension of reality to her stories.

This book is similar in style, layout, and contents to Sulzer's other books. It has lots of anecdotes and human interest stories about hardscrabble lines (and pieces of bigger roads) that operated for a time in Kentucky, and then vanished. You'll find a wealth of material in here about local history and economic development in the Blue Grass State. Buy it - you'll enjoy it.

Jack Vitek has written a fascinating biography of the peculiar founder of The National Enquirer, Generoso Pope and, at the same time, a biography of the American icon that he spawned.

Pope was the son of a powerful Italian-American who lived in New York. Pope senior was purported to be connected --- or as some people say --- associated with the Mafia. This connection would later provide seed money with which to start the National Enquirer.

A young Roy Cohn was a friend of the young Pope junior. And he too would contribute money to found the paper. It is thought that the majority of the money came from the infamous Frank Costello, a New York gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence like no other La Cosa Nostra boss. He was called "The Prime Minister of the Underworld."

It is into this world that Vitek takes us right from the beginning of the book. Vitek is an associate professor of journalism and English at Englewood College in Madison, WI. So one would assume his interest in this subject would be his natural curiosity of this tremendously successful, yet little written-about publication.

When I was a young freelance writer, I wrote for The National Enquirer. I was deeply impressed with the fact that it was harder to get a story published in the Enquirer than any other publication I wrote for, including the newspaper I was on at the time. The reason? They checked their facts so well. When I discovered that, I had a new respect for them and I tended to (and still do) believe most of what I read in the paper. Pope ran the publication with an iron hand.

Every reporter and editor had a hot line, a private phone, on his or her desk. That phone was for a call from Pope. When a reporter got that call, he stopped doing whatever he was doing, regardless of how important it was. A summon to see Pope came before anything else. No one called him his nickname, Gene or by anything but Mr. Pope of G.P.

In the beginning, Pope published gore. He discovered that was what people wanted and would pay for. He also published articles that may have had a grain of truth but no more than a grain. The paper later became somewhat more mainstream --- at least to the extent that it publishes true stories and it does check facts.

That may be the reason the circulation is less than it was in its "gore" days.

Pope was an illusive and private man. He had very little sense of humor. And certainly during his lifetime, he did not get the attention or respect that such people as William Randolph Hurst and Rupert Murdock got. Yet he accomplished as much and earned as much money. His was as important a publication as any in America.

I generally don't enjoy books written by professors or people with Ph.D degrees as they tend to be academic and stuffy. This book, however, is well written. He did a number of telephone interviews with people who knew, and in most cases, work for Pope.

The author does take the liberty to guess what might have happened in a number of cases. But he says things like, "It may have . . ." so you know he is considering a possibility and not stating a fact.

The National Enquirer would, and will, send a reporter anywhere, anytime to get the big story. It will spare no expense. And it very often scoops other publications.

When I was doing a story on Roe Messner and Tammy Faye Baker, I was in the courtroom. Next to me was a friend of Messner's former wife. She looked at me and said, "Are you with the National Enquirer?"

"Yes", I replied.

"I could tell. You dress better than the local media," she said.

And that in essence is why the Enquirer can get the get better than anyone else. It pays well. Pope set a high standard. The paper may have been an investment and, perhaps even a tool, of the mob. But it was and is one of the greatest parts of the average American citizen's life.

When the paper published a photo of Elvis in his coffin, it sold more papers than at any other time and the circulation continued to grow. It now is not doing well and stopped doing well right after Pope died and the paper was sold.

However, the author tells us that mainstream publications and tabloid television have now turned to yellow journalism and that the National Enquirer is basically now mainstream and even respected by traditional media.

Whether a person admits it or not, he is drawn to The National Enquirer. Pope was not the kind of journalist that Hurst was. But he knew his reader. And that knowledge paid off.

Pope was a man of privilege but he split with his family after his father's death. He was close to broke when he started the publication. It was the investment of the Mob and Cohn that created his paper. But it was Pope who made it great.

This book is a valuable and, I think, important book. It's a book that gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the power of one man and his publication. Pope was not a colorful man. He had little life outside his paper. He was odd. Yet for all that, his story "is" the story of The National Enquirer.

This is a tremendously entertaining book and I highly recommend it.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson

The best thing about Golden Cables of Sympathy is that it introduces many more questions than it answers. The real historians who'll review this book will praise its scope (75 years, dozens of countries and the works of hundreds of women), its research (McFadden visited libraries on three continents, and even went so far as to search an Irish courthouse to uncover the death certificate of Anna Doyle Wheeler, whose date of death had been lost), and its indisputable place in women's history. But I more appreciate the fact that Golden Cables of Sympathy will open doors for many college students. Undergraduate history majors and master's candidates will find a hundred topics that beg for further research and analysis. Golden Cables of Sympathy treats many of the "stars" of women's history (George Sand, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, Harriet Martineau and others), but students will profit more from learning for the first time about Ernestine Rose, Phoebe Palmer, Anna Knight and more who were absolutely part of the developing women's movement; they influenced, assisted, argued with, changed and were changed by those with more familiar names. McFadden's book (and the depth of her research), will surely generate more discovery, and her research lays the groundwork for a generation of great student work. Read this book for pleasure, but read first for inspiration.

Yep, that's right, Janice Holt Giles, a woman, wrote an incredible and well-researched novel about the life of the mountain men. I'd say this is right up there with Mountain Man by Vardis Fisher. With so many books to read in this lifetime, I hope I get to read this one again. Also check out Johnny Osage by Giles.

This book is a very well written work of fiction that provides a positive picture of the pioneers of traditional America. The author combines detailed historical knowledge of the life and customs of Seventeenth and Eighteenth century America with superb writing skills. Her descriptions of nature are unmatched. This work has been too often ignored in contemporary America.