South Carolina Books

I wanted to read this book, which actually covers the subject from 1910 to 1948, rather than as the title listed here indicates (1920-1948) because I wanted to know more about the flamboyant and racist Coleman Blease who in the early part of this century was such a prominent figure in South Carolina's politics. This book does tell a lot about Blease and his connection with the mill workers of South Carolina, but I found even more interesting the account of the career of Olin D. Johnston. Those who only watched his career in the U.S. Senate, once he finally got there, on his third attempt, in 1945, may not (as I did not) realize the extraordinary positions he took while Governor from 1935 to 1939--he took over the highway department by force, defying a Supreme Court ruling--and that he ran in 1938 against Cotton Ed Smith on a platform of 100% support for FDR. The racist climate of South Carolina got to him, however, and not till he became more anti-Negro was he finally elected. The book also relates the fascinating account of Peter Richard Moody, a student at Wofford College, and the poem he wrote in 1936 which led the Legislature to order a mental examination of Moody, and the funny account of the result of the mental exam. The book traces the efforts and hopes of the disadvantaged millhands, and amply justifies the title of the work. Anyone interested in Southern politics should read this enlightening and well-researched book. The bibliography alone runs 30 pages, and I found the book unique in its subject. A minor note: a footnote on page 291 says poet Moody became a professor at the U.S. Military Academy, whereas it appears that actually he was at the Air Force Academy.

Fabric of Defeat's title sounds like a downer, but this is an wonderful book that is fun to read. Simon does a particularly good job of talking about race in an industry that was "lily white," as the saying goes. He manages to discuss racist white workers without either apologizing for them or indicting them. Rather he gives texture to their racial ideas, explaining how views of race and class changed in relation to each other as the New Deal broadened the political vision of South Carolina's millworkers. This is a book I would certainly assign to undergraduates.

I'm just about a third of the way though the book. It is very informative, but also enjoyable and accessible to one not very knowledgeable about the topic. Browsing though Amazon and the local bookstore a few times in years past, I have looked for broad-based books such as this to help me understand the area I live in. This book does that better than any I've come across.

Field Guide to the Piedmont is a magnificent, vividly described journey through the Piedmont, a unique ecosystem which stretches from the Hudson River Palisades to the Georgia plateau. The theme of succession dominates and illuminates the book, while Godfrey's literary descriptions of the landscapes reads like a Southern, landlocked Melville. I have used this book as my guide to understanding the ecology of where I live - a fundmental gift, and thank you, Michael Godfrey. I write about this at RaleighNaturalist.com. I highly recommend this book.

Those who have a passion for understanding the often complex, and sometimes, ambiguous, relationship between slavery and freedom in the colonial world will be pleased to read Anthony Parent's new work - Foul Means. This well written and exhaustively researched work discusses the aforementioned dilemma in Virginia from the mid-seventeenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The central argument is that the planter elite in Virginia, or "great planters," established America's racial dilemma. Modifying traditional colonial arguments, the author advances the thesis that planters were not conscious of their actions. "The analysis," contends Parent, "challenges the generally accepted belief that the shift to racial slavery was an `unthinking decision' on the part of a wide variety of aspiring planters who were responding to market and labor forces." (2) According to Parent, they knew that slavery was a pivotal cog in the colonial power wheel, and they carefully and consciously leveraged all available resources to tilt the balance in their favor. As for motivation, the planters were inspired by the ever shifting economic tides that existed between the New and Old Worlds.

The author emphasizes the importance of labor in the early American south and in England. The crown initially supported servitude in the colonies as means to promote and encourage economic development in the New World, but as Parent carefully articulates, the English economists came to realize the pitfalls of this arrangement. Charles II implemented this philosophy and "promoted the slave trade to preserve English labor for England." (60) The development of the slave trade became, in essence, more economically and lawfully viable for the crown.

Continuing with a tightly weaved chronological narrative, Parent discusses the role of tobacco as an impetus for class divisions in, and outside of, colonial Virginia. The lower prices of tobacco prompted the planters to look elsewhere for economic fervor. In short, they "promoted slavery as a remedy for the troubled tobacco economy." (81) The theme that planters were opportunists who monopolized each, and all, opportunities to suppress threats is well articulated by the author, and it is evident that their calculated manipulations shaped colonial America. Furthermore, their economic well being became a euphemism for freedom and the planters became so enmeshed with "white society in 1705," that they were "prepared to preserve racial slavery to the death." (129)
Highlighting the significance of slave rebellions, Parent is one of the first scholars to illuminate that insurrections "threatened the order of Virginia society." (172) He pays particular attention to the Chesapeake Rebellion and ties it to the dual role Christianity played in the early seventeenth century. Initially viewed as a way of controlling slaves and Indians, it later became a catapult (i.e., rumors of Christianity leading to emancipation) for prompting slaves to rebel against the white Virginia society. This interesting and insightful approach, paints a clear picture of how religion and freedom were interconnected entities in colonial society.

The only somewhat troubling portion of Parent's narrative was his constant referral to the ruling class in Virginia as the "great planters." They were not "great" in the pejorative sense, and perhaps the author struggled to label them. But were they really great at all? These elitist, such as William Byrd, had a large hand in creating an environment which supported and embraced racism. The lasting consequences of their actions have colored and corrupted American society for centuries. Why not assign a more appropriate title to these men, such as "economic tsars," or "colonial corrupters?"

The complexities of Parent's narrative touch on a wide array of facets, and in sum they advance a novel paradigm in colonial history. He convincingly demonstrates how slavery emerged in early Virginia history. Academics and peers should applaud Parent for this highly readable and carefully argued account of colonial history. This work should be required reading for all history students and economic historians.

"Foul Means" is a powerful expose' of the history of slavery in the Virginia Commonwealth. Because of its importance in earlier American history, one can say, "As Virginia goes, so goes America." Thus, in many ways this book traces the course of slavery throughout the thirteen colonies and beyond and provides a moving picture of the ruthlessness involved in the enslavement of an entire race.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction .

What a wonderful book for the 9 -12 child. It goes the distance in providing INTERESTING historical information. This book has inspired my "non-reader" to investigate more on Francis Marion.

South Carolina was the setting of more battles during the American Revolution than any other state. This Palmetto State had its share of heroes, foremost among them Francis Marion. Veteran storyteller, Kay Cornelius, colorfully details Marion's life from his plantation childhood through his valiant fight for freedom and his return home after the war. Marion's Brigade made a name for themselves in outwitting the British by slipping in and out of their headquarters deep in the swamp. British cavalry who tried to pursue them sank into mud. A British commander said, "We'll never find that cursed Swamp fox!" From then on Marion became known as the Swamp Fox. This Revolutionary War figure deserves attention as a hero and worthy role model. Young readers need more books like this. The addition of a glossary, chronology relevant to Marion's life, Revolutionary War time line, index, and suggestions for further reading make this book enticing for classroom study.

Received my book "The French Broad", and I am really pleased with the book. If I find a book that has a hand written message to someone, I am delighted. Really pleased with the book, and the arrival was FAST. Be back to see you...

Wilma Dykeman spent six months in the early 1950's, driving with her husband through the mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee to research this book. She spoke with local farmers and loggers, visited libraries and newspaper offices, and read numerous accounts of the history of the French Broad River bioregion. The result is a very solid history of the region, spiced with plenty of local color. Although her prose is at times dry, and although her attempts to include quotations and jokes from local people sometimes come off as awkward, her fidelity to the people who are the subjects of her book is unwavering, and she makes numerous insights about the region's history and future which remain true today. The chapter, "Who Killed the French Broad?" is particularly prophetic; no doubt Ms. Dykeman must be happy in her Newport, Tennessee, home to see that the river runs cleaner than it did back in 1955, when the book was first published. A classy book by a classy woman.

In the preface, the author notes that although Hampton's life story is inherently interesting, book writers have neglected Confederate General Wade Hampton III. The author addresses this problem writing a biography that concentrates on Hampton's Civil War activities telling the story of a remarkable and fascinating general. Born into a wealthy family in antebellum South Carolina, he was active in the family's business affairs, was an accomplished horseman and inherited from his paternal grandfather a sense of duty. While a slaveholder, Hampton he remained a moderate and supported preserving the Union.

When South Carolina seceded Hampton wrote the governor offering to recruit, organize and finance a combat unit. Hampton was made a colonel in command of his unit. The text gives an interesting account of Hampton and his unit's baptism under fire at the First Battle of Manassas. Hampton was a military amateur, however, the author notes his first combat "... was a performance that would have done credit to a twenty-year veteran of the regular service."

Hampton was promoted to brigadier general but was wounded at Fair Oaks and invalided to Richmond. When his unit was reorganized, Hampton was offered a command in J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry. The author notes Hampton's critical opinion of cavalry units in general and Stuart's flamboyant style in particular. Throughout the book, these criticisms of cavalry, J.E.B Stuart, and R.E. Lee are a most interesting. However, the author writes "The criticism that Hampton leveled at Stuart from time to time was not always accurate or fair." Nevertheless, Hampton was a quick-learn on operations and cavalry tactics and received praise from Stuart and Lee.

His first dose of cavalry combat was at Second Manassas followed by Lee's Maryland campaign. He called the Maryland invasion a strategic miscalculation apparently ignoring its strategic potential. The author provides interesting narratives of Hampton's cavalry experience with Stuart. The cavalry operations as Lee moved north into Pennsylvania. are described culminating with the July 2, 1862 cavalry engagements north of Gettysburg where Hampton received two serious head-wounds.

After recovering from his wounds, Stuart assigned Hampton a division where he participated in the Mine Run campaign. The spring of 1864 saw the Grant/Meade campaign from the Wilderness to Petersburg. The text describes the several cavalry actions in which Hampton was engaged. Following J.E.B. Stuart's death at Yellow Tavern although Hampton and his command often received praise from Lee, Hampton was not formally made commander of the Cavalry Crops for three months. Hampton cavalry operations a Petersburg are well described. As commander Hampton was often praised and showed a "preference for dismounted fighting, a stark departure from his successor's reliance on mounted warfare with saber and pistol." In an action that even Stuart would have been proud, Hampton and his cavalry rustled 2,486 Union cattle that helped to relieve the chronic hunger pangs of the Petersburg defenders.

Convinced that he could stop Sherman who was headed for South Carolina after capturing Atlanta and northern Georgia, Hampton applied to R.E. Lee and received permission to go to South Carolina "to oversee his commands rehabilitation and then lead it against Sherman...." Before leaving, Hampton was promoted to the rank lieutenant general, making him the highest-ranking cavalry commander of the war. However, as Columbia's local commander he made several mistakes trying to save the city and was accused by Sherman as being responsible for the fire that ravaged Columbia. When Joe Johnston was reinstated as overall commander in the western theater Hampton reported to him. The text describes Hampton's involvement in the military actions leading up to Johnston's surrender to Sherman. While his men were bound by the surrender, Hampton was unsure of his own status and proposed to fight on with Jefferson Davis.

However, because of the wretched state of his family's finances he returned home to Columbia where he took an oath to abide by the constitution and was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson on November 13, 1865. The story of Hampton's postwar experiences is fascinating. His debts were enormous and his assets were destroyed so that he was forced to declare bankruptcy in December 1868. He took a position in the life insurance industry, and in 1876 was elected governor of South Carolina. The author notes "His repeated calls for patience and restraint won him much favorable publicity not only locally but on the national level." He continued to support and argue for fair and just treatment of black citizens. Less than six weeks after election to a second term he was elected to the US Senate where he served for 12 years. During his Senate terms, political enemies in South Carolina gained control ultimately ending his political activities. Still beloved by the people, when his home burned down in 1899, his neighbors built him a new and larger house. On April 11, 1902, surrounded by loved ones, at age eighty-four he died uttering the words "God bless all my people, black and white."

Edward G. Longacre has written many books dealing with subjects relating to the Civil War and has added greatly to the accumulated knowledge of that era. In this biography of General Wade Hampton, the author has again contributed to general Civil War knowledge but he has also accomplished much more. With this, the first full biography of Hampton since 1949, Longacre has rescued the name of this great soldier from anonymity and introduced him to a new generation of Civil War readers.

Longacre points out, early and often that Hampton's reputation has suffered the fate of many other highly successful Confederate leaders who weren't from Virginia. This bias against non-Virginians has been a major topic in some of Longacre's other books and the author may well be on a crusade to rectify this situation. It is a crusade that is long overdue in both academic and popular history.

Most of this book is concerned with Hampton's war career so his antebellum and post-war life is kind of skimmed over. Still, the subject's forward looking and enlightened views regarding race are relatively well covered, as is his political career. Still, his war service is the center of the book and it is handled very well. The reader will follow Hampton as he rises in rank and proves himself to be one of the best fighters in the Confederate Army. Longacre describes the General's tactics and campaigns thoroughly but without resorting to the tedious details many other authors use. Also covered is the discrimination suffered by Hampton and his non-Virginia command at the hands of J.E.B. Stuart and Robert E. Lee. The author takes great pains to point out Hampton's disgust with this discrimination and his later reconciliation with Lee after the Confederate commander finally began to recognize Hampton's vast abilities.

One escapade of Hampton's that I found very interesting was his raid on General Grant's beef herd during the siege of Petersburg. Hampton's scouts alerted him to the presence of the lightly guarded herd and according to Longacre, Hampton couldn't resist the temptation to steal all of those steaks on the hoof for the hungry Rebel Army. This raid was made famous in an old William Holden movie, but until I read this account I never knew it really happened. Anecdotes like this help Longacre bring his subject to life for the reader and as I read this story I could almost see the sly grin on Hampton's face.

Thanks to his excellent writing style and his in depth research, Longacre has turned out a fine book that deserves a place on every Civil War reading list. Readers from Virginia may be a little miffed at times but sometimes the truth hurts. Wade Hampton of South Carolina has long deserved a good biographical treatment and now, thanks to Edward Longacre, he has one.

As a Georgia native and an amateur historian, I was shocked by my own level of ignorance about the history of Georgia Gold Rush. While there has been a great deal of literary and historical attention given to the forced removal of the Cherokee nation from Georgia and the tragic journey of the Trail of Tears, there has been relatively little recent scholarship devoted to the historical events that precipitated that exile and the utter disregard shown to the Cherokee people as well as their private property by speculators, the state of Georgia and the Federal government in concert. I highly recommend this volume for the general reader of US and southern regional history as well as for Georgians who are willing to develop a more complex appreciation of their state's history.

I just recently moved to Wilmington and was looking for something to give me a little info on the town and a few chills. I was not disappointed.

Ghosts Of Old Wilmington combines a little local history with a little spooky stuff. It is not written in a tongue-and-cheek fashion, nor does it take itself too seriously. Rather, the author (who runs the local Ghost Walk, which was featured on The Travel Channel on one of their Top 10 Best shows)gives a nice history of each haunted place, then tells you about it's ghostly activities in a fun way. great book for a cold winters night or a day at the beach.

What an incredibly frightening book! It reads like Stephen King, only this stuff is real. I couldn't sleep for two days after reading it! I love the fact that the book is so well researched (giving you a good sense of where these ghosts come from), and that each story talks about recent occurrences. The photos are also great. I recommend this book for anyone interested in unusual history or a good scare!

Henry Wise is an interesting and enigmatic character in himself, but he is brought to life with brilliance by Dr. Simpson. This well written, scholarly work brings the person of Henry Wise into our lives as a real erson, and puts us into Wise's world. We realize the relationship between the "Good Southerner" and the other leaders who populated his world. It offers a fresh look at the period that must be seen as the most interesting and highly influential period. We anxiously await your next great volume, Dr. Simpson.

Professor Simpson's scholarship is an admirable feat. He provides an extensive biography of Henry A. Wise, and the politics of the union, with the purpose of asserting the supremacy of individual agency. Simpson's treatment of the John Brown raid, and the over laying psychology behind it, is of particular interest. The work's oratory and articulation is of the highest quality.

An erudite yet entertaining account of early 20th Century Charleston and the construction of its bridge to the North. An unusual mix of engineering, history, and social commentary. Great old photos and drawings of old Charleston. Written with the charm and grace befitting one of America's greatest historic Old South towns.

This book is a must for anyone who loves Charleston, SC, and wants to know how this Holy City grew into the gem she is today. The story centers around the city's ancient bridge but really tells the history of Charleston in the early twentieth century. The authors have done an excellent job spinning history with personal vignettes and memories from older Charlestonians. The quirkiness of old Charleston shines through. I read the entire work in one afternoon and at times forgot that I was reading a history--it felt more like a novel.