New Appalachian Books

Abstract

New Appalachian Books by George Brosi The Adena People. William S. Webb and Charles E. Snow. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee Press, first paperback printing (1988) of a 1945 serial publication which became a 1974 hardback book. 369 pages. Trade paperback with photos and index. $14.95. This book is "one of the major publications on eastern United States archaeology in the first half of this century . . . and still remains a standard reference work on this prehistoric Ohio Valley occupation . . . Webb and Snow identified Adena as the first sedentary people in the eastern United States with 'developed agricultural husbandry' . . . pottery makers, smokers, mound builders, constructors of earth- *George Brosi owns and operates the Appalachian Bookstore in Berea and publishes the bimonthly AppalachianMountainBooks. Healso sellsbooks through mailorderstoclientsinallparts ofthecountry. If readers need more information about any ofthe above listings, write him at 123 Walnut Street, Berea, Kentucky 40403. 102 works, builders of wooden houses, and the first architects of ceremonial structures." -James B. Griffin in the Foreword. The Adena People were the dominant culture in northern Kentucky and West Virginia from about 2500 B.C. until about 700 A.D. Cochran, Weimer. Nantahala People and Events. Berea, Kentucky: Berea College Appalachian Center, 1987. 35 pages. Staple-bound trade paperback. $3.00. Weimer Cochran (1892-1978) was a lifelong resident of Macon County, North Carolina. A farmer and timber cutter, he only had a grade-school education, but he became a fine amateur historian and storyteller. In this pamphlet Loyal Jones edits together both written and spoken material he collected from Cochran, adding a short write-up by John Parris, in The Asheville Citizen. Cohen, Stan. King Coal: A Pictorial Heritage of West Virginia Coal Mining. Charleston, West Virginia: Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, fifth printing, 1988, of a 1984 release. 146 pages. Trade paperback $9.95. The great union drives, the terrible mine disasters, the coal barons' mansions and the miners' hovels all come to life in this attractive coffee-table book of many pictures, and short, informative text. Convicts, Coal, and the Banner Mine Tragedy. Robert David Ward and William Warren Rogers. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1987. 192 pages. Hardback in dust jacket with photos, index, and bibliography. $19.95. While this impressive book centers on the mine explosion in 1911 that killed 128 convict miners, it also illuminates many other important issues as well. The Banner mine was located in Jefferson County, Alabama, and much industrial and Alabama hill-country history is included in this book. Since so many convict miners were black, the book illuminates black history as well as criminology and the convict lease system. Deitz, J. Dennis. The Flood and the Blood. South Charleston, West Virginia: Mountain Memory Books, 1988. 245 pages. Hardback in dust jacket with index and photographs on practically every page. $20.00. This coffee-table book contains a wealth of compelling stories from local people in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek area south of Charleston, West Virginia. Most of the material deals with the 1932 flood on Paint Creek, but also included are accounts of other floods, the mine wars, and mine disasters. The old pictures and some new ones bring the text to life while the drawings by Lawrence Harper and the maps by Roy Harper clarify the commentary considerably. This book is a great combination of social history and good old-fashioned storytelling. Donald, David Herbert. Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988, paperback edition of a 1987 release. 577 pages. A trade paperback with photos, notes, sources and index. $12.95. "Easily the best biography of an American novelist." -Gore Vidal. "An eloquently told story and an extraordinary achievement." -The Boston Globe. "Supercedes all Erevious Wolfe biographies in illuminating detail, in empathy for its complex unappy subject, in sympathy for what he wanted to do, and what he did, as a writer, 103 and in its own literary distinction . . ." -Washington Post Book World. Thomas Wolfe (1900-1938) grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. The book remains in print as a hardback. $24.95. Dorgan, Howard. Giving Glory to God in Appalachia: Worship Practices of Six Baptist Subdenominations. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University...