West Virginia Books

I am addicted to The Cabin Series! I cannot wait for the 4th novel to come out. I met the author, C.J. Henderson, and she is a wonderful compliment to her books. A lovely lady.

My husband bought me "Cabin II" for my
birthday. I was happy, but his ulterior
motive was obvious when I caught him reading
"The Cabin Misery on the Mountain!"

Sandy

Well, she did it again. A great story and some very
different twists. The novel is very intriguing. I'm settling
down to read Cabin III.
Mr. Monroe

I loved the continuing story of Tuesday and Jacob. The author captures the evil and control Jacob had over the women and children on the mountain. He took everything away from them so he could control them and when he wasn't around Aunt Aggie took on the role as tyrant. You want to dislike Aunt Aggie and Big Bessie, but then again you must remember they were controled as much as the others.
The author offers twist and turns throughout the story. I can't hard wait to read the next book of this series.

I was amazed when I read the reviews on here. How could anyone actually enjoy reading one of these books? I rated it 1 star because that was the lowest rating allowed. I grew up in the hills of WV and this is the most preposterous and disgusting story I have ever read. The author's use of "knowed" in the present tense was a sure sign that she knew nothing about WV slang or mountain people. Knowed is often used by uneducated people as the past tense of know, but I have never heard it used in the present tense the way her characters did. It simply appeared to me to be an attempt to show how backward the characters were, but actually served to show how ignorant the author was about her subject. I hate to think that people in other places get their ideas about WV life from trash like this book. We bought these books as a gift for my mother, but thankfully I decided to read them before giving them to her. After reading the first one, I asked my sister to read it just to verify that I wasn't over-reacting, but her opinion was even lower than mine!! Don't waste your time or money on this.

I was 12, growing up a couple of counties away, when the dam burst at Buffalo Creek in 1972. It was just the latest disaster in less than a decade to afflict what I thought was my cursed native state: The Silver Bridge collapse, the explosion at the Farmington No. 9 mine and the Marshall University plane crash.

This book is in three parts, the first describing the disaster, the second a historical overview of Appalachia in general and the Buffalo Creek area in particular. The third is on the effects on the survivors of the flood.

Though the Buffalo Creek flood happened more than 30 years ago, its lessons are as current as the destruction of New Orleans.

Kai Erickson writes quite well for a sociologist and the book only begins to drag a bit at the end, in the sociology part. Maybe it's just the (justifiable) litany of complaints from the survivors. If this account is any measure, the survivors of Hurricane Katrina will be suffering in psyche long after their material losses have been recouped.

Anyone with further interest in the Buffalo Creek flood ought to also read Gerald Stern's "The Buffalo Creek Disaster," written from the point of view of one of the lawyers who took part in the resulting litigation.

On Feb. 26, 1972, a mining company dam broke, sending 132 million gallons of water rushing down Buffalo Creek in Logan County, West Virginia. Death and property destruction were great, but even worse was the devastation of the community spirit and the long-lasting mental trauma suffered by the inhabitants. Erikson explores what he sees as a major dichotomy in the ethos of the "mountain people" involved in this disaster: a sense of independence versus a need for dependence. Erikson believes this seems to breed inaction and a total feeling of loss for these people in disasters such as this. There are, of course, other factors at work here, but it's an interesting theory. Comparisons to other similar disasters (hurricane victims in Florida, for example) would make for a worthwhile study.

This was a very intersting book for me. I was looking for information on this flood & I found the information plus more. I didn't really realize it was going to deal so much with "how the person works" in tragedies. I came to understand the Appalacian people as a unique group. I also understand how & why the flood started. But I also learned a lot about how people's "mind" deals with events such as this type of tragedy. And I also can understand how people in general, including myself, react to events in much smaller every-day problems. I can now understand many of my "reactions" & how they are normal & very unique to each individual. It helped me a lot Plus I learned a lot about the needless tragedy. It made me think a little. Good Read.

In February of 1972, the town of Buffalo Creek in West Virginia was devastated by a flood, which was, in a way, 'man-made'. Water from heavy rains collected in a pile of coal slag, eventually working through and sweeping the town, killing over a hundred people. Erikson recounts this disaster in his first chapter, but devotes most of the book to describing the culture of Appalachia, and how it affected the people's psychology and recovery.

For the most part this is a sociological study. Erikson examines the people of West Virginia and Buffalo Creek to discover why they think and act as they do. Culture, it turns out, made this disaster even worse than it might have been in other communities. Survivors could not handle the disruption brought about by the flood. Many said they just didn't feel like themselves anymore, with all that had changed.

While I would recommend this book to anyone, I do think we should have been told a bit more about what eventually happened to Buffalo Creek and its people. Perhaps the book was published before this was fully possible. If so, Erikson might see fit to revisit the town and its survivors again.

In the summer of 1948, we lived in Lorado, West Virginia (Logan County). The Buffalo Creek ran behind `our' house, while a road and the tracks of the C&O Railroad ran just beyond our front yard. The photo on page 37 shows those tracks that we often walked from Lorado towards Man, WV. It could well be a picture of our former front yard.

I , of course, remember the news accounts of the 1972 disaster.

So, I have a personal outlook at this sociological follow-up of the lives wrecked when the earth dam and mine tailings gave way.

Kai Erickson has done a deeply moving and eloquent account of the ramifications of this recent tragedy.

I recommend it to all interested in mankind and the factors that fall upon our fellow travelers as we all 'work our way through life.'

First of all I have to say that Virginia A. McConnell did fantastic work on the Case of William Henry Theodore Durrant and the two young victims.I thought in the last chapter of the book she speculated very well on what happened on the night Durrant supposedly murdered those young girls. But I have to remind myself it's just a speculation. I do not think Theo got a fair trial and the book gave me the impression that they wanted to hold somebody accountable than doing thorough investigation. There is no absolute proof that Durrant did these
heinous crimes so the guilty verdict was not right at all!!

I don't want to hold him accountable just because the media wants him to be. The was no concrete evedience to support his guilt. Besides there were no draw backs in this book from begnning to end. Durrant was a good boy and never had any strange behavior until that massive brain fever he suffered which I'm sure
left his brain with sever damage and I do have sympathy for him for that. Back then very few people survived brain fever in Theodore's day. If someone did survive they were never the same.

The victims of this tragic story I also have deep sympathy for and they were murdered in such tragic circumstances that never should have happened.

This book is great for every crime buff...and a great story to be made into a movie!!!!

Being a "true crime" book lover since Ann Rule wrote "A Stranger Beside Me", I was looking forward to this book which follows a pair of murders in 1895 San Fransisco. It is a fascinating read - really fun to see how over a hundred years ago this was investigated, tried and reported on. The only draw back came at the end when the author expressed her personally sympathy for the murderer because of possible brain damage. The account was very fun to read. The "he who is without sin...cast the first stone" sentiment is preachy and uncalled for. I look forward to more books of this type!

The second book by this author is even better than the first! The story gives insight into both the murderer and his victims.
It was done with great care to detail to compare the cultures present and past, which is fasinating. Could a young man who seemed to have a good future ahead of him have commited these crimes? What possibly could have drove him to do something like this? If not caught, would he have become a serial killer much like modern day Ted Bundy or was it a simple crime of passion and a cover up?
You MUST read this book!

What exactly is a Victorian murder case anyway?

There's a mystique about "Victorian murder cases" that is possessed by devotees of true crime non-fiction, but it sounds as though all that must happen for a murder or series of crimes to be so regarded is that they take place during the Victorian Era (1837-1901).

Of course, the Jack the Ripper murders from 1888 are regarded as the best and the darkest of all Victorian murder cases. The brutal serial killings of prostitutes, the sexual nature of the crimes themselves, accentuated by the certain body parts which were particularly violated by the Ripper's knife, the exposure of proper British society to the world of prostitution and the seaminess of London's East End - even today, all of these cause right-minded people to solemnly nod their heads and remark on how atrocities are regularly caused by the hypocrisy of blue-blooded aristocrats toward sexual matters. But does the Theo Durrant case, circa 1895, really fit neatly into this same criminal category just because of its chronology?

For the most part, Virginia McConnell is to be commended for her well-researched and comprehensive presentation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church murders. Durrant was regarded by his contemporaries and by many later researchers simply as a monster, and McConnell's contrary theme, as hinted by the title, is that Durrant was a decent man and a genuine religious devotee of decidedly non-murderous disposition for whom these two murders were isolated acts that likely would not have been repeated.

Notwithstanding her moral judgment, she is unsparing in her examination. She marshals the facts impressively and in chronological order, particularly the testimony of the witnesses who observed Theo Durrant in the company of Blanche Lamont as he escorted her to the church, in which belfry her body was later found. The circumstantial evidence which led to the quick conviction of Durrant for the murder of Blanche Lamont (in light of the death sentence imposed upon him, he was never tried for Minnie Williams' death) is impressive for its volume and its probity. The evidence proffered by Durrant and his attorneys in defense is shown to be wanting; and there is even a suggestion of one or more aborted private confessions by Durrant.

McConnell also provides several interesting scenarios as to how and why Durrant murdered the two young women and plausibly maintains that neurological influences (Durrant had suffered from bacterial meningitis) and biochemical influences (she diagnoses Durrant as manic-depressive) likely accounted for his uncharacteristic behavior. But she also seems inclined to portray the murders as peculiarly Victorian crimes - erotic bloody affronts to a repressive 19th century society, in which some elements were struggling for freedom.

However, apart from chronology, it's difficult to see why the Bell Tower murders would be thought of as Victorian crimes. Apparently, it's not even necessary that a crime be committed in Victorian ENGLAND to be so classified. The Emmanuel Baptist Church in San Francisco's Mission District was a good 6000 miles away from Windsor Castle. More importantly, 19th century San Francisco, with its gin joints and Barbary Coast dens of iniquity, frequented openly by all classes, must have been equally distant from Victorian London in the cultural sense.

While McConnell delves extensively into Durrant's family life, she seems to largely overlook its significance. Papa Durrant was a weak impotent father figure, and Mamma Durrant was an overbearing overly-possessive mother whose affection for her son (as well as the affection that she demanded in return) was unhealthy and unnatural, just the sort of mother that has produced monsters on many other occasions. Yet McConnell barely acknowledges these elements as contributing factors to the murderous personality that Durrant temporarily developed.

The fact is that as over the years that have elapsed since the Bell Tower case, as fatherlessness has become more and more prevalent, the combination of overbearing mothers and weak or absent fathers has been the cause of many thousands of particularly brutal murders and perhaps at least one presidential assassination. The Durrant case isn't a Victorian murder case at all; it's a 20th century murder case reflecting what would become that century's principal social epidemic.

On the other hand, what exactly was Theo Durrant's precise role in the deaths of the two women? As convincing a case as the author makes for his guilt, she passes lightly over the possible role played by a figure whose shadow never seems entirely absent from this case: the mysterious Reverend J. George Gibson, pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

A man of very peculiar tendencies, a man who seemed overly eager to protect the church's reputation by hiding the murders from the authorities, a man who brought in handlers from the outside specifically for the purpose of handling inquiries from a suspicious press, a man who indeed should have known the contours of the church at least as well as Theo Durrant (though he denied this in his testimony), Reverend Gibson was widely suspected at the time and was named by Theo's partisans as an alternative suspect.

And as unlikely as that might appear, McConnell runs too lightly over Gibson's tendency to "hide, ostrich-like and pretend that nothing had happened". She runs too lightly over his flippant and suspicious testimony at the inquest and preliminary hearing and passes these things off as products of his fragile and eccentric nature. This is particularly faulty in light of her own curiosity as to how Durrant managed to carry Blanche Lamont's body to the belfry by himself. Her later explanation that adrenaline gave him the strength to do so is not necessarily satisfying. Was Blanche carried to the belfry by two men?

McConnell's book is an impressive work whose narrative delivers slightly less than the research promises. But it may yet prove to be the Warren Commission Report of the Bell Tower murder case - a weighty tome that is the start of all inquiries but which raises at least as many questions as it answers.

Well researched and cleanly written, Sympathy for the Devil relates the events of 2 murders in San Francisco in 1895. The author painstakingly recreates the events leading up to the murders, the media coverage to rival that of the OJ trial, the trial itself, and the subsequent appeals. You can tell the author did her homework. Each chapter is filled with footnotes that provide not only the source of the information, but at times additional facts about the time period, the city, and the mores of the time. It was fascinating to read about a city I visit regularly and recognize some of the places mentioned.

However, the most fascinating part of this book was the trial itself. The media circus surrounding the trial was phenomenal; the 3 major newspapers took turns printing sensational accounts of the murder, the trial, and the defendant as well as out and out lies in the form of forged letters and false testimonies of people involved in the case. Additionally, the differences between trial procedure and proper behavior then and now are astounding. For example, in the trial, jurors actually stood up and asked questions of the witnesses.

The only negative comment I have is that the author waited until the very end of the book to discuss the possible reason behind the murders. Granted, this was her opinion (though backed by facts) so I can understand why she placed it outside the narrative of events from murder to trial, but it was frustrating at times to read the story without any idea why these murders occurred.

Despite this one drawback, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in mysteries, history, and human behavior.

Like other Delorme atlases, this is nicely detailed - though like other atlas, it can be annoying to use when you have to move from one page to another to follow a route. We also purchased (on Amazon) a Martinsburg - Charles Town - Eastern West Virginia road map that would be a better choice if you are looking for something to use while driving around Eastern West Virginia.

Once again this series of maps has been outstanding. The ease in reading and applying the info to the road is way above par. And for railroad enthusiasts, this is the only map published with railroad details that are current and precise.

This book provides complete and thurough topographical maps for the entire state of West Virginia. If you enjoy hiking, fishing, camping, exploring in this great state, you need this atlas. At first I was surprised at the details provided in this book. I was able to find even the smallest of streams and geographical features. Now, after using it so many times, I would be surprised if a stream is not on this map.

The bottom line is that you need this atlas if you enjoy the West Virginia outdoors.

This atlas fills a void because it gives a very clear picture of the terrain as well as roads. I like having these atlases along to give the context for hiking excursions, as well as showing the back road ways to get there. The section on special sights to see in WV is very helpful as well. There is no substitute for more detailed topographical maps for actual hiking trails, but this atlas is a necessart intermediate step between topos and road maps.

I bought this West Virginia Map and Gazetteer in order to help my husband and I find our way through WV. We're most interested in the topography - elevations, rivers, creeks, etc. I would recommend using this book map in conjunction with a regular road map, because there isn't quite enough detail for smaller roads, but it's a great place to start.

What is being sold here, the 4th or 3rd edition? The above book description makes it sound like its the 4th edition, with a total of 117 pages, but the book cover shown is the 3rd edition (99 pages). This is very confusing.

EXCELLENT BOOK. THE VERY BEST FOR THE AMERICAN COLLECTOR. I NOW HAVE ALL (4) EDITIONS AND IT SURE HAS HELPED ME WITH MY COLLECTION. SIDNEY SELIGSON DID A FIND JOB AND I WANT TO COMMEND DARA FOR COMPLETING THE 4TH. EDITION. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ALL COLLECTORS.

This is the 4th edition of this book. I previously had purchased all three of the other editions. I am a major collector of Fostoria American Glassware, and this book tells it all. Very helpful in describing items. Highly recommend.....

I AM INTERESTED IN THIS BOOK AND YOUR ON-LINE CATALOG OFFERS SAMPLE PAGES. HOWEVER, THE PAGE CONTENTS YOU OFFER,PARTICULARY THE FRONT AND BACK PAGES, OFFER NO USEFUL INFORMATION. WILL YOU PLEASE REVISE THE SAMPLE CONTENT TO INCLUDE A PAGE WITH PHOTOGRAPHS? THAT REVISED INFORMATION WILL GIVE ME WHAT I NEED TO DECIDE ON A PURCHASE.

This is a must for serious collectors. It has saved hundreds of times the price. There are many glass pieces out there called "American Fostoria" that are not. The description and pictures make it much easier to tell the real items. The prices are quite accurate, but seem to be quite low on the really rare ones.

The book sounded good when I picked it up, but really, it is incredibly cliche and has an overused theme. Not worth reading

Gretchen Moran Laskas's The Miner's Daughter is a haunting story of poverty set in a Depression-era mining town in West Virginia. Willa Lowell and her large, loving family are trapped in a mining ghost town with no chance for work, meaning no food other than meager rations of soup beans and thin cornbread. Willa's mother has just completed a difficult, dangerous pregnancy, and as the eldest daughter, Willa is responsible for household chores and for watching the other children while her mother recovers.

The other mining families are just as hard-hit by the Depression, especially those who are foreign-born like the Olivettis, immigrants from Italy. Willa is sensitive and intelligent, and loves to read, so when a missionary comes offering a large library of pristine books, Willa devours them in-between chores, beginning with classics such as Little Women and working her way into more difficult poetry by Poe and Whitman.

When Willa's father and half-brother Ves leave to search for work at Hawk's Nest, Willa is left to hold down the precarious fort. As her mother's too weak to work, and the next-oldest is only ten years old, Willa must masquerade as a boy in order to pick in the fields; otherwise, the family would starve. She meets Johnny Settle, a boy around her own age who is smitten by her intelligence and courage, and the two begin a bashful courtship.

The remainder of the novel chronicles Roosevelt's projects as part of the New Deal, including a personal visit to the Riley Mines by Mrs. Roosevelt that has a huge impact on the Lowells' lives. The author includes brief notes as to actual New Deal settlements created by the Roosevelts, as well as several websites that give further information about real places and events in the story.

Miner's Daughter is written with great sensitivity towards the harsh realities of poverty, including poignant contrasts between the haves and the have-nots in a nearby town. This is a book that is just as pertinent today in a time of recession, inflation, and rising unemployment, and a book that speaks volumes on the warmth and love of family and the need for all of us to realize our dreams.

Pour yourself a cup of tea and spend an evening viewing a Depression-era mining camp through sixteen-year-old Willa Lowell's eyes. When the story opens, Willia worries about the health of her ailing, pregnant mother while dealing with the difficult task of feeding and caring for her family. A difficult childbirth threatens Mama's life, but Willa's strength and hard work helps this close-knit family pull through a hard winter. An African-American midwife, Granny Maylie, is the only person who comes to Mama's aid when the company doctor turns his back. When the mine closes, Daddy and older brother Ves go south to look for work while Willa helps Mama care for three younger siblings. The arrival of Miss Grace, a missionary, opens Willa's eyes to the beauty of books and education. Willa, along with her Italian-American friend Roselia, visit Miss Grace's home in a larger town. For the first time, Willa realizes not every family lives in poverty. Conversations with her older brother, Ves, add to her confusion as he opens her eyes to politics and the unions.

Willa disguises herself as a boy to pick vegetables as a farm worker. Her budding romance with her brother's friend, Johnny, is overshadowed when her father returns home, sick with a lung infection. Miss Grace brings a visitor, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, to visit the Lowells. This visit results in an offer for the family to move to one of Roosevelt's New Deal towns, Arthurdale. Willa must choose between marrying Johnny, or staying with her family. Offers of education and opportunity make her choice even more difficult.

The quiet strength of this book lies in its vivid and detailed descriptions of life in the mining camp, and in its deftly-characterized picture of an affectionate and tightly-knit family. The relationship between Mama and Daddy is particularly noteworthy. Their real, but nondemonstrative, love for each other has a positive impact on each of their children. As Willa faces choices related to her own romance and future life, she draws on the lessons she has learned from watching her parents. Willa's younger sister, Seraphina, draws reader sympathy with her awkward and clumsy energy. I couldn't help hoping that there would be more books about this family, especially about Seraphina.

If this book were a photograph, it would focus tightly on one family, while letting the larger political and social picture blur slightly into the background. It's true that the novel delves only briefly into issues such as racial and ethnic prejudice, labor relations, union organization, and politics. But by focusing so tightly on one family, the reader learns much about the gritty day-to-day reality of life in a mining camp. It piques reader curiosity, and leaves you wanting to explore more about the larger issues raised in the story. A brief author's note at the end of the novel links readers to sources for further investigation.

Altogether, a quiet jewel in the world of historical fiction for young readers. If you enjoy the novels of Ruth WhiteSweet Creek Holler (A Sunburst Book), Kerry MaddenLouisiana's Song, Delia RayGhost Girl: A Blue Ridge Mountain Story, and others, you'll find a place on your bookshelf for this novel.

i thought this was an absolutley great book.historically accurate. i met Gretchen in person and thought that she was a very nice person, and she is thinging of doing a sequel to miners daughter.

Willa Lowell is a 16-year-old girl living the harsh realities of a Depression-era mining camp. She has always lived a hardscrabble existence with only one dress to wear, little food to eat, and a house so poorly insulated that the family stuffs their mattresses with newspaper to help keep warm in the winter. But things become more difficult when the mines shut down and her father and brother must look for work elsewhere, leaving Willa behind to care for a sickly mother and three younger siblings.

THE MINER'S DAUGHTER is a testament to the ordinary lives people build despite impossible circumstances. Most of the book deals with the emotional ties Willa has with her family and various members of her community, whether it's her best friend Roselia, an Italian immigrant, or Miss Grace, the missionary who introduces Willa to poetry. These relationships are somewhat idealized, the author only occasionally referring to the impact poverty has on human relationships. There is subtle discussion of families breaking up in search of work or under the pressure of too many mouths to feed. There is mention of the competitiveness and jealousy between neighbors all fighting to find work, but these conflicts don't enter much into the plot.

Instead, Willa and her family are lifted out of their poverty by Roosevelt's New Deal when they are chosen as one of the families for Arthurdale, an experimental community designed to alleviate rural poverty by forming planned communities based around skilled laborers. Willa's family qualifies because they are white, non-immigrant Protestants, and Willa's father has experience woodworking. This causes some tension in the mining camp, most of which is alleviated when one of Willa's letters is published in a newspaper drawing attention to the arbitrary standards by which her family is chosen:

Willa writes: "I worry about my friend Roselia, who couldn't come to Arthurdale because her mama and daddy were born in Italy. The government tells too many people 'no.' Washington D.C. demands too much from the people they are supposed to serve.... They judge and find wanting those like Granny Maylie, who cared for my mama when no company doctor would, only because of the color of her skin."

The book ends with Willa's family safely provided for and Willa looking to a bright future where she will use the power of words to make the world a better place. It adheres strictly to the middle-class values of hard work, education, virtue and cleanliness, leading to a miraculous transformation of impoverished lives. Little is said about the controversy surrounding the New Deal, or about the Mine Wars that occurred previously in West Virginia in an attempt to better the conditions of workers prior to winning the right to organize unions in 1933.

The strengths of THE MINER'S DAUGHTER lie in the specificity of its details. Readers unfamiliar with rural poverty may be surprised at the conditions in which Willa and her family live. Gretchen Moran Laskas describes their diet and apparel carefully, but only briefly mentions the company system under which a working man and his family owe their entire livelihood to a company. Often isolated from larger towns, company camps owned not just the mine but also the workers' houses and all the stores where workers could go for supplies. This meant that companies could charge exorbitant prices for basic necessities, charging them against the future earnings of an employee and miring workers in debt from which they could never emerge.

Working conditions were dangerous, profits often taking precedence over human safety. Most companies employed guards who would beat employees at any sign of disobedience and punish them for trying to better their conditions. Although the novel alludes to the terrible conditions in many mines (including the Hawk's Nest Tunnel cave-in that claimed the lives of nearly 500 miners), for the most part these conflicts take place outside the margins of the book.

Also missing is a larger discussion of the process of unionization. At the end of the book Willa's brother leaves to fight for the right to organize, but there is little context about what this means for workers or their families. Thankfully, the author adds some online resources at the end of the book for curious readers to learn more about the period, but that does little to alleviate the sense that many of the realities that would've impacted someone like Willa are omitted in this coming-of-age story.

THE MINER'S DAUGHTER will appeal most to readers interested in historical fiction about young women, particularly those who are outgrowing series like the popular American Girls.

--- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

These are the words of Jefferson himself, in the only book he ever printed. In all his failings, yes, he was a raciest, he has to be still looked at carefully as one of the chief architects of American democracy. This is great reading for students of Jefferson.

The book is written much like an epic poem- with lists of river, towns, economic conditions etc in 1780s. But also much more: His feeling on race. He obviously did not hate blacks, proposed a theory that they were less intelligent, had an aesthetic view of man akin to Gulliver's Travels and the horses. Theory of education is much akin to European model of today, much better than current theories in use. He opposed multiculturalism and opposed teaching children religion in schools or anyplace else, preferring Greek, Roman and European histories and philosophy for guidance of children. The difference between the America he wanted and the reality of today is striking. Which is better? Each must judge, but this is a must read book.

I'm preparing the CAPES (French Certificate to teach English to 11 - 18 year olds) and "Jefferson and the West/ the Lewis and Clark expedition" is part of our program. I needed to familiarize myself more with Thomas Jefferson: who he was, his way of thinking etc., and reading "Notes on the State of Virginia", among others, was one way to do that. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as pleasure reading. You'd have to have a specific reason. To sum up: considering my purpose, I am fully satisfied with my purchase.

I am so tired of people praising Thomas Jefferson as if he were not a racist, hypocritical adulterer. He was also a rapist! Sally Hemings was a child and a slave! She was incapable of giving her consent. She had no choice but to comply with his wishes even if he allowed her the illusion of thinking she did. I would recommend this book because of Jefferson's historical significance and to confirm how racist this "founding father" was. Thomas Jefferson was NOT brilliant or even original. Do you think he invented democracy? Please read Lies My Teacher Told Me if you want to know where Jefferson and his peers gleaned their ideas from.

Thomas Jefferson's " Notes on the State of Virginia" is a brilliant piece of history, sociology, law, geology, government,and science. This work, Jefferson's only book, shows his powerful, brilliant mind at it's best. Jefferson shows the depth of his knowledge, not just on his own beautiful state, but on human nature itself. Some of the gems in this work are his views on education, advocating free public education for all, free government, advocating a revisal of the defective original Virginia Constitution. His knowledge of slavery, and the Indian races before his eyes are from personal experience and observation. Although painted by the deconstuctionist left as a "racist" Jefferson was a dangerous radical to the Virginia gentry due to his advocacy of emacipation and deportation of slaves. His views on black inferiority are exaggerated since he placed them forth as a scientific hypothesis based on personal observation. Jefferson could not see a "multicultural" society in America made up of former masters and slaves with resentment and prejudice still in the hearts of both. Many of his predictions about race relations have come true: hate, resentment, power struggles, and a continuing obsession which he forsaw would destroy the America Republic.

The best edited version of the is Koch and Peden's edited on in "The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson", but the full Notes is very good, but the reader must be prepared for numerous charts and tables. Overall a great book, and buy!

Without Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia would not be what it is today. That may be a weird statement, seeing it isn't much now, but it would be nothing. Senator Byrd lobbied hard to get funding for a state the nation forgot about. Robert C. Byrd helped propel West Virginia into a state now gaining national recognition (President Bush likes it for a 4th of July stop). Like him or hate him, you got to respect the man.

I was a little hesitant to buy a biography of over 800 pages. However, I was quite surprised by the content and layout. Although the book is divided into chapters dealing with specific areas of Senator Byrd's life, the narrative is more along the lines of storytelling. I have enjoyed the fact that the format is in small little stories; a motivator to complete a book of this size.

This is an enjoyable, well written book. Although I am originally from West Virginia and thus hold a stronger interest for Senator Byrd, I believe that many will enjoy learning about one of our country's most interesting Senators. Yes, this book does confront the fact that Senator Byrd was in the KKK, unlike what is said in other reviews.

Sent this book to my 89 year old dad who knows Mr. Byrd and who also ran several coal mines in the 50's. So much of the book is true to every detail - this book tells of a time of hard work, good people, company ownership of it's employees, labor unions, and of times that only few know. It is a very pure piece of American History.

Although the Democrats pride themselves on civil rights issues (never mind that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed due to Republicans, not Democrats, who were opposed) they have a lot of 'splainin to do. Apparently, the KKK was "a fraternal group of elites - doctors, lawyers, clergy, judges and other 'upstanding' people". Wow! That's neat... I wonder if anyone will question Senator Byrd about this. People ignored his comments that "(...)", so I suppose he'll get a pass on this, too.
The next time you hear about those "racist Republicans", ask yourself, which party has the dubious honor of having a real life Klansman as their leader in the senate.

An autobiography this book surely is. all 770 pages! I read it with great interest from beginning to end, tho it is a heavy book and could have been shortened considerably.

Senator Byrd published this memoir in 2005 at the age of 87. As a West Virginia senator in Washington, DC. for more than 50 years, he is well qualified to inform us of the workings of government. He manages to convey the story of his entire life and career, as he witnessed and helped shaped American history.

The book is very readable and filled with opinions on most all subjects. Several pictures are appreciated as the reader digests 87 years in the making of a fine gentlemen who, as an orator, a historian, a debator, and a patriotic American, as well as a proud West Virginian, is respected and who inspires us to reach out and make a difference in our corner of the world.

Of course, if you are from the beautiful state of West Virginia, or know someone who is, or have relatives there, or live in neighboring states, or if you, like me, just enjoy learning how our legislative branch has evolved, especially the past half century, you'll enjoy this book also. You may want to visit the
state aptly nicknamed "Mountain Mama" and drive on the highways Senator Byrd helped fund, see the schools and industries named after him, and the bridges, tourist attractions, etc. etc. with his stamp of approval. If it were not for him, a native son who was raised near the coal mines, attended a two room schoolhouse, and worked his way up from a butcher to a senator who "delivered" to his state, we would not be appreciating the wonders of West Virginia, as John Denver portrays in his song "Country Roads".

I was impressed with Senator Byrd's insights. His campaigns over the years had a unique flavor - he played the fiddle and sang mountain music, visited, enjoyed, and helped fund useful projects in every county in his state, made some mistakes, learned from them, and grew into a skillful politician with an attitude - to stand up for what is right, to uphold the Constitution, and to keep America one nation, under God.

I learned a great deal from reading the book and perhaps you will ask legislators from your own state "What have YOU done for us lately!" - It appears to me that Robert C. Byrd, a proud super intelligent West Virginian will be a tough act to follow. Americans will do well to get on the websites of state legislators and voice their concerns.

Incidentally, this reviewer is not from West Virginia, tho I have visited there and studied the history and people. It is a great state for geneology purposes with beautiful websites for every county. Its citizens can be proud and grateful that Senator Byrd's loyalty, influence, support, courage, and calm reasoning has never wavered and that when he speaks before the senate, and to presidents and leaders all over the world, they listen attentively.

To be concise--this is one of the best books on the Civil War. It is accurate, informative and very easy to read.

I'm not a student of the Civil War, so I cannot comment on the merit of McMurry's main points, but as a student of the Old South I thoroughly enjoyed this book. McMurry's analysis of the two armies is very well organized and easy to read. Simply, it's a page turner. This book is at once both highly focused on a single topic and illuminate of larger Civil War issues. I really enjoyed this book and will read it every so often in the years to come. I recommend McMurry's book without reserve.

Mr. McMurry's purpose in writing this book was to try and explain why the Army of Northern Virginia was so successful, and why the Army of Tennessee so awful. Although I did not agree with some of his conclusions, he does provide some compelling evidence to support his arguments.

I found this book to be very informative, and an easy read. I recommend it for anyone looking to better understand how the South fought the war, why the two great rebel armies had such different levels of success on the battlefield, and possibly why they did not have the ability to win the war.

The title definately underscores how masterful Mr. McMurray has been in detailing the main differences between the Army of Northern Virginia and The Army of Tennessee. From the basics of command on through key strategy and deployment, both armies are beautifully dissected by McMurray's research, mirrored with an easy to understand style of writing.

This book not only discusses how important the upper command structures were to both armies but how the various infrastructures such as railroads, food supply, communication and weapons production differed from east to west.

This book can be summed up as an impressive literary study of the two great armies. It sheds light on the many differences as well as similarities and gives the reader new insight into the complex study of military history.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in an intense study of both armies.

Well done Mr. McMurray!

Richard McMurry takes a look at the two largest armies in the Confederacy in what is, as the title indicates, an extended essay. The Army of Northern Virginia, ably led by Robert E. Lee, was able to compile a large number of impressive victories during the war. The Army of Tennessee, led by various men of less than stellar ability, was only able to win at Chickamauga, and even that victory proved barren strategically. The author considers various factors that affected the two, including geography, logistical concerns, leadership on all levels (particularly among lower level officers), pre-war militia systems in Virginia and Tennessee, and even the Federals who faced each army. He concludes that in every case, the Army of Northern Virginia benefited from these factors while the Army of Tennessee was negatively affected. I have seen it stated in several places that McMurry is saying that the men of the Army of Northern Virginia were better than the men of the Army of Tennessee. I did not get this sense from my reading of the book. Instead, McMurry is stressing that the men in leadership positions in each army were very different. The vast majority of the men who had graduated from military schools such as West Point, VMI, and the Citadel were concentrated in the Army of Northern Virginia to that army's immense benefit. The Army of Tennessee started out with many men who were untrained in the art of war, and that army's problems were exacerbated as casualties started to deprive it of even the small number of leaders who had that previous military experience. In other words, McMurry believes the raw material was there to work with, but the Army of Tennessee did not have experienced men available in large enough numbers to work with this raw material.

The last chapter of the book discusses the views of historians Thomas Connelly and Albert Castel on Robert E. Lee and also looks at the ways in which the Confederate government, specifically Jefferson Davis, could have prosecuted the war. McMurry sides with Castel in defending Lee from Connelly's attacks, and stresses that the Confederates were right to try to win the war in the east. With that said, the author believes the war was eventually won in the west by the Federals. I found it somewhat odd that McMurry would quote Connelly's entirely negative opinions on the western generals and agree with them while at the same time defending Lee from the same negative opinions. In a way, this did make sense, as it fits McMurry's own views on the generals of each theater. Perhaps Connelly is just a negative historian in general, however. Reading this book has increased my interest in Connelly's two volume history of the Army of Tennessee, and that set has moved much higher up my reading list as a result.

Overall, I enjoyed McMurry's short work, finishing it over one weekend in just three sittings. It really is startling to see how many trained military men ended up in the Army of Northern Virginia for various reasons at the expense of other Confederate armies. Likewise, it was illuminating to see all of the other advantages, intentional or otherwise, which were routinely provided to the Confederacy's largest army. This particular book is directed at students of these two largest Confederate armies and of Confederate grand strategy during the Civil War. I definitely recommend it to any student of the war.

After the wonderful Storming Heaven I was so excited to read this book, and then so disappointed. The plot is melodramatic, the characterizations cardboard.

I really liked this book. Did I like it as much as it's predecessor 'Storming Heaven'? No. But for a sequel, it was very good, and it takes you right into the lives of the offspring of the main characters from the first book.

In fact...this book is much like the first, just in more recent times. It spans from the 1930's to 1990. But to really understand the depth and tragedy of this town, you have to have read 'Storming Heaven' first. It will help you to understand just how long the fight has been going on, where Carrie, Rachel, Dillon, and Jackie all came from, and just how much this town has already been through.

Overall, I'm very glad I found these books. It was interesting to read about the coal strikes, the floods, and all the heartache that plagued the people of this small Appalachia coal mining town. If your at all interested about life in the mountains, and how these folks lived, then definitely pick these up. Ms. Giardina grew up in a town much like the one she portrays in her books, so you can be certain she knows what she's talking about. These may be fiction books, but they're a very real look at coal miners and their families, and all the hardships they had to face.

I loved The Unquiet Earth... I loved the relationships and determination of the characters.... After I read this book, I wanted to read it again and again.... There is one thing I suggest you do before you read this one... I suggest you read Storming Heaven.... Storming Heaven is about Dillon's mother and father, and about Tony Angelelli's mother.... If you read this one first you can get their background.... But, Unquiet Earth is hands down my favorite book!! I highly recommend reading this book! The way it is written is really good to understand what each person is thinking during each situation.... You should definitely buy this book! I hope this persuaded you to buy this book...

This was one,if not the only, book that I was forced to read in college that I came away from adoring. The story, which is based on real events (national coal strikes, and the Buffalo Creek Disaster)with a small fictional liberty, is a wonderful piece of American literature that I believe can cross cultural and geographical lines of America. I loved how it followed the lives of two generations during sweeping national events and how it effected everyone, even in a little hamlet in West Virginia. I believe this movie is excellent potential for a movie adaptation. If you want to see a MOVIE that relates to this book, watch John Sayles "Matewan".

This true story takes place in the area where I grew up; I was familiar with its happening. My father was involved in these events. Although I cannot say I enjoyed the book, ( because it was so realistic and tragic), I found it very ,very well written and so moving I lived with it for weeks. It is written entirely from the miners view, and is therefore one sided, but is nevertheless accurate in content. It is obvious that the author knew these people. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the history of this area. katydid