North Carolina Books

Hiwassee is a gem of a novel set during the Civil War in the mountains of North Carolina where undisciplined regiments, home guard, and bands of renegades terrorize people who have little to gain and everything to lose if trust is misplaced. Major characters are introduced in this novel, showing their best and worst impulses during a time of trial and tribulation, but the best is yet to come when they are fleshed out in the three novels that follow: Freedom's Altar, The Cock's Spur, and Where the Water-Dogs Laughed. Price's novels are textured with all the elements of good historical fiction overlaid with his own remarkable style and voice, and the result is a body of work that is beautiful and lyrical. I recommend you treat yourself to a real feast by reading all four novels in the order they were written.

This book grabs your interest from the beginning and leads one into caring about each of the characters and what they suffer as a result of the Civil War as experienced by families living in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. It is a rare view of what took place because of deserters from both sides and their raids of family farms. It also gives a more realistic picture of the thoughts and actions of the common soldier than is usually found.

This book was especially interesting to me since I live in the area where this story took place. It was fascinating to see how each family dealt with war, family upset, loss and neighbor against neighbor. This is a book that should be read by every student in America. Everyone can relate to the turmoil and tragedy of the Civil War (or as they say down here - The War of Northern Aggression) on a personal level through the skillful writing of this author. Tremendous first book!

A great "story" based on obviously a thoroughly researched topic. I knew little about the subject at first, which is why it got my attention. My wife was also a little incredulous at first, but then we realised it was all factually based. I will be looking out for this author's next book.

I also wonder if this book will turn up as a swashbuckling movie down the road. I plan on sending copies as presents to friends who love history based books. It makes one want to go to the Carolinas to check out the scene - perhaps we have our next vacation destination determined.

I waited over a year for this sequel to Invasion and Conquest of North Carolina: Anatomy of a Gunboat War to become available. Being from Elizabeth City, NC, Lt. Flusser's exploits were of great interest to me. (He played a major role in the Battle of Elizabeth City.) I was surprised to find out how much action took place on the local waterways during the war. The best part of the book is the emphasis on the people involved in the action. You get to know the characters personally. They become real.

This is a unique and fascinating book about the most successful Confederate ironclad of the Civil War. The book is rich with detail, much of which has never been seen before. Being a resident of Plymouth, NC where the events took place, my reader's copy of this book is filled with highlighted text that reveals facts that had not been brought to light, including never before published letters between Commander Cooke and his wife!

Mr. Hinds provides a new perspective by focusing on the personalities of the opposing naval commanders as well as the events that forever changed people's lives. Have you ever read a non-fiction book and wondered what happened to the characters later in life? Well Mr. Hinds does a great job of telling the "rest of the story", not only the major players, but also many of the minor characters.

This is a timely written book since a replica of the CSS Albemarle was recently launched in Plymouth and there is renewed interest in the subject. I highly recommend the book!

Anyone who knows a little bit about the Civil War knows something about the battle between the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimack_, the novel ironclad ships that dueled in the waters off Norfolk in 1862. The story has been told many times, but recently there was a high tech twist as the _Monitor_'s turret and other artifacts were reclaimed from the sea bottom. The story of the ship and of the successful salvage operation 140 years later are told in _Ironclad: The Epic Battle, Calamitous Loss, and Historic Recovery of the USS Monitor_ (International Marine / McGraw-Hill) by Paul Clancy. Clancy is a journalist who was a witness to the recovery of _Monitor_ artifacts, and thus can tell of the excitement and dangers of the dives, as well as of the large egos involved, but his look back at the revolutionary ironclads is equally fascinating. He has cleverly combined the stories, devoting alternating chapters to each, so that there is a satisfying build up to the paired climaxes of the sinking of the _Monitor_ and it's re-arising.

The Union answer to the challenge of the _Merrimack_ was found through the inventor John Ericsson, who presented his invention to the Navy's "Ironclad Board" in 1861, which approved the strange vessel. It was really more of submarine, with only thirteen inches of freeboard. A Confederate sailor eventually confronted with the _Monitor_ gave a description that stuck: "an immense shingle floating in the water, with a giant cheesebox rising from its center." That cheesebox was Ericsson's chief innovation (of possibly forty patentable gadgets on the ship). It was the 120-ton turret, a cylinder 22 feet in diameter, wrapped in iron plates, and able to pivot so that its two eleven-inch cannons could fire 168 pound shot at will. Its four-hour battle with the _Merrimack_ was a stalemate; no sailors were killed, and the armor kept either vessel from being seriously damaged, but all navies thereupon realized the advantage of iron over wood. The ship was sunk in transport to the Carolinas, but was found in 1973. The modern part of Clancy's book has to do with the effort to bring up the turret, mostly by skilled Navy divers in saturation diving, breathing just the right combination of oxygen and helium. The area of the dive is one of cold, silt, and fast currents, and there is the constant threat of rough weather, as well as running out of funds, that make the recovery, even if we know the result, exciting.

A wealth of artifacts were brought up, as well as two skeletons which are being treated to the best identification procedures government pathologists can muster. The turret would have slowly and gracefully continued its deterioration in the sea, but in sunlight and air, the salt crystals within the metal were ready to expand and cause the iron to break away; it has had to be bathed in an electrolytic solution to leach out the salt crystals. It and the silverware, guns, engine parts, and more are to be shown in a special hall for the _Monitor_ at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News, opening next year. Clancy's book is a satisfying recounting of the _Monitor_'s important history within the Civil War and within naval history, as well as an exciting tale of a technologically advanced mission to bring the artifacts of that history back for research and display.

I really liked this book except for two things.

First the title. Ironclad is to me a basically wooden ship that is clad in iron. 'Merrimac' was an ironclad. 'Monitor,' in my mind was not. It's turret, was all iron. This book is mostly about the Monitor. 'Monitor' would have been a better title.

Second is the comment that bringing up the 200 ton turret was the largest, most complex and hazardous ocean salvage operation in history. Bigger and more complex than the 'Glomar Explorer' bringing up the Soviet Golf-II sub in the mid seventies. The Glomar Explorer venture cost in excess of $200 million. I can't believe that we spent that much on the Monitor turret. As for hazardous, what about the rescue of the crew of the 'Squalus?'

Now having finished bitching, this is a great book. Paul Claney has been involved with naval writing, naval history and underwater operations for a very long time. He knows whereof he writes. Living in the Virginia area, he was in the area where the story was happening so he had some personal insite. And finally he is a good writer, able to make this story almost read like a novel.

Anyone interested in the Civil War should find this of interest.

Now, one question I've never even seen asked. During the middle of the battle between the two giants it should have become clear that it was unlikely that they would be able to hurt each other. Why didn't the Confederates simply ignore the 'Cheesebox on a raft' and go sink some more yankee ships?

Warning; once you start this book cancel your other plans. This is definitely a cover to cover read. Clancy skillfully weaves the tale of Monitor from its conception to the Battle of Hampton Roads, through its untimely demise to its remarkable recovery. His approach it unusual in that he weaves the two tales of the 19th century Monitor against the drama of the recovery of the ironclad's turret.

While Clancy is admittedly not an engineer he is an accomplished sailor with a sense of history. He draws extensively on this knowledge to explain the Battle of Hampton Roads, why the ironclad sunk and how it was recovered (not salvaged). His descriptions of the rising seas and pending storm off Cape Hatteras and how the 19th century sailors judged the weather gave one an insight as to why this area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic.

Equally as insightful is the story of the recovery which was woven directly in with the history. This part too is a tribute to brave and dedicated sailors and archeologists whose willingness to commit everything to the task made you race through one chapter if for no other reason than to find out how the "other" story was unfolding.

It's a masterful book, full of information well told. Look out Tom, there's another Clancy on the radar screen.

In the contemporary professional world of academic writing current history professors have unfortunately succumbed to falling back on the traditional stereotypical role of pretentious writing, utilization of uncommon vocabulary, complicated imagery relating to their historical subject, and hard to understand primary evidence that the general public can not relate to in their own lives and era.
However, Jonathan Earle effectively demonstrates in his book with superlative ease how past U.S. politics, its parties, and the era in which they were at it's apex, can indeed be interesting to the general public again. Jonathan Earle counter poses the traditional stereotypical role by using interesting primary evidence through out his book, in which he makes you feel like you were actually participating in the events and conversations that took place almost 182 years ago.
Earle uses fascinating historical imagery that not only correlates to what he writes about, but makes you want to explore the images away from the fascinating and important emergence of the Free Soil Party, which defied the traditional system of U.S. politics up to that point in our brief history as a nation. With just a brief emergence of a new century this book shows that our young nation was already facing dire dilemmas that would eventually divide a nation into half for four bloody years. With more men, women, and children who were murdered on both the Union and Confederate sides, then both World Wars and contemporary wars that the U.S. has been involved in to this day.
This is an outstanding read that will take your imagination on a wild adventure back to a time period and political party that is too often negated in U.S. history. In my view Jonathan Earle's book and his writing has triumphantly pounced the traditional stereotypical role. That historical subjects and academic writing can not only appeal to the general public again, but more importantly Earle's book shows just how significant past key historical events and U.S. politics have shaped our lives to this very day.
Erica Hare

Jonathan Earle's deftly written, lively account of the Free Soil Democrats' role in the antislavery effort challenges traditional interpretations of the movement, showing these politicians played a critical role in this country's push toward equality. But more than that, Earle makes you feel like you were at the dinner table with these folks as they debated the central issue of the day, and that's worth the price of the book alone.

I picked up this pounder in hopes of gardening on the cheap, but little did I know what pleasure I would find delving into this well-written account of a fertile time in our nation's history that doesn't get much play in the schools. And, so informative for any one interested in history, and history of the US. Even the garderner in me was gratified: I never knew that hickory needed a split to thrive. What's the sequel?

The closing book of T. R. Pearson's Neely trilogy, "The Last of How It Was" seems to ramble, but is tight as a drum. Does murder run in the family? Young Louis Benfied, Jr., listens raptly as Daddy and Momma and Aunt Sister explain.

The closing book of T. R. Pearson's Neely trilogy, The Last of How It Was seems to ramble, but is tight as a drum. Does murder run in the family? Louis Benfied, Jr., listens raptly as Daddy and Momma and Aunt Sister explain.

The town of Neely, North Carolina is just as Gothic as anything Faulkner ever wrote, with murders, adultery, accidentally slaughtered mules, Stonewall Jackson, escaped convicts, dropped coffins, and Injun fights, but T. R. Pearson makes Neely one hell of a lot funnier than Yoknapatawpha County. In the final volume of the trilogy that also includes _A Short History of a Small Place_ and _Off for the Sweet Hereafter_, narrator Louis Benfield relates stories of his family as told by Louis's daddy Louis, with interruptions, corrections, and emendations from Aunt Sister, Louis's maternal great-aunt, and from Louis's mother. The story rambles like a footpath through the North Carolina hills, with sentences that continue for whole paragraphs and paragraphs that continue for pages, creating a style that seems incomprehensible on the page but which reveals its meaning when read aloud, in all its Southern baroque glory.

_The Last of How It Was_ has the flavor and feel of a long Sunday afternoon visit, sitting on the front porch, listening to family tales that don't go anyplace much or have any enormous meaning, but which, for that very reason, are nonetheless a delight.

Skip Crayton pulls you into the world of Sandra Mercer and makes you laugh, cry, and appreciate that love exists. Forget Nicholas Sparks, Skip Crayton is the author from New Bern, NC, to look out for.

I read this book in two days, and it was most enjoyable. It was wonderfully written, bringing both Eastern North Carolina and a romantic love story together. You will be delighted when you read it, though be prepared to not be able to put it down.

This is such a beautiful love story. But more than that, it gives hope--hope that even in the middle of personal trials, love heals.

I have read quite a lot on the Civil War and the events leading up to it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the period. It is a a history of the Northern polical crisis from the time of the election in 1860 to the firing on Sumter. It is completely from the Northern perspective, the South perspective is completely ignored (it was about 4/5 through the book before the election of J. Davis is mentioned). With that in mind, the story that comes to life in this book is fascinating. This is a period that tends to be glossed over by most histories. The author does a phenominal job at putting the reader in the mindset of the times as the crisis evolved. I learned quite a few new things and enjoyed it.

McClintock's first historical non-fiction fully engages the reader in the politics and personalities that defined the most important four months in the history of the United States, the months between Lincoln's election and the firing on Fort Sumter. Although clear that the ultimate decision for the war lied with Lincoln, McClintock provides insight into the significance of other key players, from Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to Republican party leader William Seward. However, more than just a politcal history, letters and quotes from common townspeople provide a complete view of the perceptions of the time. As an avid reader of history, I can safely say that this work combines the detail of Shelby Foote with the adventure of David McCullough. Bravo McClintock!

The normal historical point of view for November 1860 to April 1861 is Southern. Lincoln and the efforts to find a comprise are noted but the main story is what the South is doing. This book changes that by concentrating on Northern politics and reactions. Secession and all the maneuvering for and against it, take place off stage. Except for South Carolina, leaving the Union was a wrenching process. Many Southern states resisted secession until the very end. Kentucky was not able to make a choice and Maryland may not have been able to choose. Their stories are the subject of most histories about this period.
What about the North? How did the political, personal and public opinion shape a response to the crisis? This book tells that story and what a story it is. The Democrats, badly damaged by the events 1860, try to blame everything on the Republicans. While they work to construct a comprise to save the Union one more time. The Republicans are not united nor are they sure how to proceed. A substantial part of the party sides with the Democrats in trying to find a comprise. Another large faction is ready to allow the South to leave the Union. Large numbers feel that secession is wrong but that the Federal government lacks the authority to force states back into the Union. Many question if it is desirable to use force to maintain the Union and if doing so would not destroy the Union. Added is the plea of Southern Unionists for something to stop secession.
Lincoln, Douglas, Seward stride across these pages. Each man with multiple agendas that create and destroy alliances. Each man trying to lead his political party, maintain the Union and do what he feels is best for the nation. Shifting priorities, new developments, regional pride and abrupt changes of position make this a rollercoaster ride even if we know the story.
Russell McClintock is an excellent author. He tells this story in a straightforward manner with minimum back tracking. This allows each event to be placed in the proper perspective of the time and almost makes the reader forget we know the story. While moving from Washington to Springfield to New York, we never lose the story line nor the reason for the trip.
The decisions made during this time were difficult ones. The issues were complex and the correct response unclear. This book captures that and explains it to the reader in an informative and enjoyable way.

Whether you are a dedicated medieval scholar or merely have a layman's interest in the area, there is much insight to be gleaned from this highly expository and very readable treatise.
Ever wonder what all that symbolism meant in thousand year old Christian art? Or how it related to those who created and heard the oral histories of the time? This fascinating book ties together explorations of language, medieval history, religious mythology and physical as well as spiritual pilgrimage, and their impact on modern understanding of this turbulent period.

Tom Spaccarelli was one of my professors at the University of the South (Sewanee TN). He was a major influence as a teacher -- fanning the flames of my passion for Medieval and Renaissance literature -- and has remained a major influence as a friend. I hear his voice on every page of this book. But for those who don't know him, I'll let him introduce the work himself (from Chapter I, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS). "The codex traditionally known as Ms. h.I.13 of El Escorial, which I have named the *Libro de los huespedes,* has generally been edited by medievalists as nine separate works ... "This now traditional fragmentation of the codex has resulted in our failure to perceive that the book was compiled and comprehended in its own time as a unified work. Modern editions of the separate chapters, produced in the tradition of scholarly concepts such as source texts, regularization of language, literary genres, the primacy of the relationship author/work, etc., have diminished our ability to comprehend the unique and unified nature of the LH, thereby distorting our knowledge and appreciation of the canon of medieval Spanish literature. I intend to show in this study that the LH is a text intimately related to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and to various religious, literary, and artistic traditions associated with it. To restore the integrity of this text, I believe, is also to provide a more historically accurate view of medieval Spanish culture and of the concerns and issues that fired the enthusiasm of medieval people."

Tom Spaccarelli was one of my professors at the University of the South (Sewanee TN). He was a major influence as a teacher -- fanning the flames of my passion for Medieval and Renaissance literature -- and has remained a major influence as a friend. I hear his voice on every page of this book. But for those who don't know him, I'll let him introduce the work himself (from Chapter I, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS). "The codex traditionally known as Ms. h.I.13 of El Escorial, which I have named the *Libro de los huespedes,* has generally been edited by medievalists as nine separate works ... "This now traditional fragmentation of the codex has resulted in our failure to perceive that the book was compiled and comprehended in its own time as a unified work. Modern editions of the separate chapters, produced in the tradition of scholarly concepts such as source texts, regularization of language, literary genres, the primacy of the relationship author/work, etc., have diminished our ability to comprehend the unique and unified nature of the LH, thereby distorting our knowledge and appreciation of the canon of medieval Spanish literature. I intend to show in this study that the LH is a text intimately related to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and to various religious, literary, and artistic traditions associated with it. To restore the integrity of this text, I believe, is also to provide a more historically accurate view of medieval Spanish culture and of the concerns and issues that fired the enthusiasm of medieval people."

Historians and musicologists have contributed very little to the heritage of military music in America. Professor Raoul Camus in his work Military Music of the American Revolution has traced the development of early American military, which was patterned after the British drum calls and drill manuals. The book is a virtual encyclopaedia of interesting facts and examples.
Dr. Raoul Camus is professor emeritus of music at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York and director emeritus of the Queens Symphonic Band, a community organization. He earned his Ph.D. in music administration from New York University, and spent a number of years teaching instrumental music in secondary schools. Prior to teaching, he managed a major music-publishing firm, and performed professionally on the french horn. For many years he was director of New York's famed 42d (Rainbow) Division Band, and is a retired army reserve bandmaster.
A past president of the Sonneck Society for American Music, he is active in many band organizations, including the College Band Directors National Association, the Association of Concert Bands, the International Military Music Society, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and Windjammers Unlimited.
In his book Professor Camus describes how the Continental Army had bands from it's inception The bands in early America had drummers and fifers who played signals to keep garrison activities on time and signalled the troops in battle. Brisk marches and quicksteps kept soldiers moving together in cadence and specific drum beats or tunes were used to send messages to all the troops within earshot. These musicians were referred to as the "field music," never as a band or band of music. Most of the time, they played alone or in pairs for their own companies. For special reviews or ceremonies, all the drummers and fifers would practice the same music and play together. Drummers and fifers were paid by the army and performed other military duties as well as playing their instruments. They were soldiers first, then musicians.
Much later Bands of music, on the other hand, were professional musicians who agreed to become part of an army although they were not expected to carry guns or participate in battle. The officers of the regiment supplied their pay, uniforms, instruments, and music privately. They supplied music when and where the officers wanted them to play, usually for ceremonies in which the troops were massed for review and for private parties and dances at which the officers of the regiment associated with the local citizens.

Professor Camus has researched the historical progress of military music from the European and |British Traditions and the impact that the "Red Coats" had on American music. The book has numerous illustrations and re-introduced extant musical examples. Another highlight of the book is his closely aligning the major battles of the American Revolution with military music. In chapter 3 he lists the Preparations For War, the Siege of Boston and the Continental Army of 1776 and 1777.
The role of military music is shown in the Surrender of Charleston, the Arrival of Rochambeau and the world turned upside down at Yorktown. His scholarly treatment of the bands of music and the appendix are an excellent historical resource for further study in this art form. One of the musical examples is the famous Rogues march which is no longer employed but is historically priceless, The Grenadiers march which also is featured as an example is amazingly still in use today by military bands and may be heard every day during the summer months in Ottawa Canada for the Guard Changing on Parliament hill by the Ceremonial Guards band.
The book, which was originally published in 1975, is available from Amazon or .No school or historical society should be without this book it is a historical testament to America's past.

This relatively short book contains many fascinating details about military music in the 1700s. The author provides a background of martial music during the Revolutionary War period showing the development of bands and music in this period. The book probably should have spent more time on the British, German and French military bands of the day as these were far more advanced than anything in Washington's army.

Military music was certainly in its infancy during this time. The standard regimental band was little more than eight wind instruments usually composed of the following: 2 Bassoons, 2 Clarinettes, 2 French Horns and 2 Hautbois or Hautboys (oboes). This chamber music certainly could not have done much on the battlefield, nor was it intended to for that matter. Officers supported these bands as they were not supported by their respective governments. Regiments and their officers tended to regard these ensembles as their private musical resource. They were often employed for internal purposes, and for the growing amount of military ceremonial of the period.

American music of the Revolutionary is usually associated with Fife & drum. Indeed this was the standard Field Music that accompanied soldiers onto the battlefield. This classic combination remains with us today in various guises, but in its basic form was without base drums or cymbals.

The author spends a lot of time discussing the actaul army calls that Von Stueben put together or adapted at Vally Forge in 1777. Again, much of this is conjecture, and is aimed more at the music student because of its technical content. The author does include a lot of useful printed music which would be useful for re-enactors and those interested in re-creating this music.

There is a distinction to be made between the purposes of Harmoniemusik, or wind band of the period, and Field Music. Both served different purposes and rarely if ever played together. Field music musicians were virtually soldiers in that their duties could take them into the firing line during battle. This was not the case with Harmoniemusik. American bands were small in number compared to their European rivals, but they did exist. The author points to three ensembles in some detail, and mentions the creation of a central instructor of music, an important development for sure. Still, the predomiant influences were undoubtedly from the British and German bands which were much more fully developed and which left their mark where ever they went. Americans eagerly sought desertions from these bands to fill out their own scanty musical resources.

The advent of the French in the latter part of the war gives rise to the Turkish or Janiassry music which had become all the rage in Europe at that time. French bands probably incorporated this new perceussion influence more than the British bands in North America since their duties in the war cut them off from musical developments on the Continent. These French bands had probably close to a dozen players or more and were dazzling to all who heard them. Not surprising that French military music influences would leave their mark on later US bands. The USMA band at West Point when combined with the famous Hellcats drums & Bugle corps presents a distinctly French sound in their music. Although most Americans would not know this fact! British influences are also there today in many of the army's bugle calls.

Military music certainly developed during the American Revolution, which would set the tone for the larger bands of the Napoleanic period and the 19th century. Still, these early ensembles are compelling in their elegant simplicity, and show how the military band has evolved over the years. The author also provides a nice summation of the course of the Revolutionary conflict, as well as a complete appendix listing which British regiments in North America had bands. A fascinating look at an interesting topic. Well worth reading. Hopefully this work can be reprinted and expanded since its first edition some years ago.

This wonderful book contains tons of useful and interesting information if you are at all interested in 18th century military music. It can be a bit of a dry read, but if you are doing any kind of research for period fifing and drumming, you must read this...

Professor Peniel Joseph writes that, "Historian Komozi Woodard's `A Nation Within A Nation' ... stands out as the most important book to be written about the Black Power Movement. `A Nation Within A Nation' is really several books rolled into one. First, it is a well-researched and painstakingly detailed case study of the dramatic consequences of Black Power politics on [the] racial and political dynamics of Newark, New Jersey during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Second, it is a political biography that underscores the significance of Amiri Baraka to the Black Power Movement's rise and eventual decline in American politics. Third, the book explores the transformation of black cultural nationalism during the Black Power era and Baraka's pivotal role in contemporizing black nationalism as an expressive political and cultural vehicle. Finally, it's a study of the divese and complex matrix that produced black political thought and practice during the period; a historical interrogation of the national and international implications of radical anti-colonial discourses that undergirded Black Power politics."

Woodard writes about the relationship of black power, black cultural arts, and the black nationalist movement with LeRoi Jones, later Amiri Baraka, one of its main supporters. ... He concludes that Black America requires an ideological and political arsenal of both nationalism and Marxism. But at no time can the emphasis be purely Marxist or nationalist without doing damage to the black community. In other words, sectarianism is the enemy of black liberation and the fight for equality. This is a must read for all interested in politics and race in the U.S. Recommended for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. -- P. Barton-Kriese, Indiana University East, Choice July/August 1999

According to Publishers Weekly, "Woodard examines the role of poet Amiri Baraka's `cultural politics' on Black Power and black nationalism in the 1960s. After a brief overview of the evolution of black nationalism since slavery, he focuses on activities in Northeastern urban centers (Baraka's milieus were Newark, NJ, and, to a lesser extent, New York City). Taking issue with scholars who see cultural nationalism as self-destructive, Woodard finds it "fundamental to the endurance of the Black Revolt from the 1960s into the 1970s." California Senator Tom Hayden, says: "The fascinating story of a struggle that nearly succeeded in creating self-determination in the urban ghetto" And, in Professor Robin D.G. Kelley's assessment, the book "will be one of the most important studies of black urban politics and culture in the postwar period." As far as Professor Michael B. Katz is concerned, it "breaks new ground and revises standard interpretations of the era. I am particularly impressed with the way he has connected political mobilization to movements in the arts, literature, and intellectual life, on the one hand, and to the restructuring of American life, on the other. It's a hardheaded, unflinching analysis, and he tells it well and with great feeling." Finally, Professor John Dittmer found it "Balanced and moving." "It should be required reading ... for all citizens who care about the problems of race and class in urban America. ... quite simply, one of the most important books we have on the black urban experience in the twentieth century ... by one of the leading scholars of the African American experience in this country." The book concludes that there have been five distinct phases in the history of black nationality formation in the U.S. The first phase was the ethnogenesis of African Americans during slavery; that established the social and cultural foundations of Black America. The second was the black nationalism that flowered before the Civil War among free Blacks in the urban North. A third phase resulted from the failure of the Civil War and Reconstruction to guarantee full citizenship for African Americans; under racial oppression and Jim Crow segregation, a subject nation developed in the Black Belt areas of the South. The most vivid example of that phase of nationality formation was the great Kansas Exodus. The fourth phase of black nationality formation resulted from the Great Migration of perhaps 1.5 million African Americans and from the development of large, compact, black concentrations in the ghettos of America; the flowering of that nationalism is seen in the Garvey Movement of the 1920s. And finally, a fifth stage of nationality formation ensued from the migration of 4 million Black Americans form the South between 1940 and 1970 and the development of dozens of "second ghettos," that generated hundreds of urban uprisings during the 1960s; that sense of modern nationality was heralded by the Black Power movement and the politics of Black cultural nationalism.