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In the spring of 1861, a 22-year-old Alabamian did what many of his friends and colleagues were doing - he joined the Confederate Army as a volunteer. The first of his family to enlist, William Cowan McClellan, who served as a private in the 9th Alabama Infantry regiment, wrote hundreds of letters throughout the war, often penning for friends who could not write home for themselves. In the letters collected in John C. Carter's volume, this young soldier comments on his feelings toward his commanding officers, his attitude toward military discipline and camp life, his disdain for the western Confederate armies, and his hopes and fears for the future of the Confederacy. McClellan's letters also contain vivid descriptions of camp life, battles, marches, picket duty, and sickness and disease in the army. The correspondence between McClellan and his family dealt with separation due to war as well as with other wartime difficulties such as food shortages, invasion, and occupation. The letters also show the rise and fall of morale on both the home front and on the battlefield, and how they were closely intertwined.Remarkable for their humor, literacy, and matter-of-fact banter, the letters reveal the attitude a common soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia had toward the day-to-day activity and progression of the war. John C. Carter includes helpful appendixes that list the letters chronologically and offer the regimental roster, casualty/enlistment totals, assignments, and McClellan's personal military record. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Alabama's Civil Rights Trail
This is an excellent book that tells the story of many of the historical sites in Alabama. The author's writing style is clear and informative, and readers should be inspired and enlightened while learning about the various events associated with the places mentioned in the book. Anyone interested in the Civil Rights struggles in Alabama should add this work to his/her collection.

Walking in the Steps of Alabama's History
In the history of Civil Rights, Alabama can rightfully be considered "ground zero." From Tuskegee's Airmen in World War II (and the shameful Syphilis study which began in the 1930's), the "Scottsboro Boys" case and Rosa Parks and the Birmingham bus boycott to Bloody Sunday in Selma, the Selma to Montgomery march, Freedom Riders being beaten and water hoses and dogs being unleashed on marchers - Alabama's involvement in Civil Rights extends throughout the 20th century. Now these stories are gathered together for the state to guide the reader across the highs and lows of this aspect of American history. Other books ("On The Road to Freedom", "Weary Feet, Rested Souls") have very ably guided the traveler to sites of importance in the Civil Rights Movement across the south, this book benefits from the focus on the single state of Alabama. The result is an invaluable guide to this history in the state. Each area of the state that is explored is accompanied by a map of the area with the landmarks being talked about located on the map. Each story is given a quick synopsis, then a more detailed 4-5 page retelling, and then commentary and photos of places being written about. The extra space allows the author to focus on some of the people and events that are lesser known and often less explored in other guides. The writing is lively and engaging and show the author's passion for the these stories, and the first hand research done in preparation.The recollections of the Reverend John Cross of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that killed four little girls is 1963 brings a gut wrenching perspective to the event that is often missing in other narratives. The history is not all bombs, fire hoses and lynching. Gaillard also includes the triumphs of native sons like Jesse Owens and Joe Lewis. For those interested in walking the ground of Civil Rights history in Alabama, this book is an invaluable reference to help prepare and plan the trip, and an indispensable guide to hold when exploring historic ground. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Perfect gift-type book
I enjoyed giving it to my father as a gift.Pictures are spectacular and the narrative is just so interesting! ... Read more

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From 1936 to 1938, the Federal Writers' Project (FWP), a part of the New Deal's Works Progress Administration, hired writers, editors, and researchers to interview as many former slaves as they could find and document their lives during slavery. More than 2,000 former slaves in 17 states were interviewed. With Weren't No Good Times, John F. Blair, Publisher, continues its Real Voices, Real History ™ series with selections from 44 of the 125 interviews now archived in the Library of Congress that were earmarked as interviews with Alabama slaves.

Alabama was a frontier state. From the beginning, its economy was built on cotton and slavery and its laws were fashioned to accommodate both, which becomes obvious when related through the experiences of Alabama's slaves. A year after it obtained statehood, Alabama had a slave population of 41,879, as compared to 85,451 whites and 571 free blacks. By 1860, the slave population had swelled to 435,080, while there were 536,271 whites and 2,690 free blacks. When emancipation came to the slaves, Alabama's slave owners lost an estimated $200 million of capital.

These narratives will help readers understand slavery by hearing the voices of the people who lived it.

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Customer Reviews (3)

Good oral history
Very revealing history. Reader can find the roots for some of today's social problems in the lives of slaves.

Weren/t No Good Times
This book is the result of much thoughtful work by the editor in wading through the massive collection of information from the FWP (Federal Writers' Project - 1930's), and serves two purposes: it gives us the original language of people who actualy experienced slavery in this country, and it is an example of the many beneficial programs the government funded under the new deal to both give Americans jobs and to chronical our history.

A must-have for any Alabamian - or anyone for that matter - who is interested in the history of our counrty.

Presenting individual voices with a loud and clear message
Compiled and edited by Horace Randall Williams, Weren't No Good Times is an anthology of 46 of the 125 interviews of former Alabama slaves, conducted from 1936 to 1938, presented with the express purpose of thoroughly documenting and creating a record of life during slavery in the southern state of Alabama. A powerful primary source, presenting individual voices with a loud and clear message of what slavery itself was truly like, Weren't No Good Times has the absolute highest recommendation and is a must for school and community libraries and American History and Black History reference collections and reading lists. ... Read more

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More powerful than a book probably ought to be...
This is a stunningly beautiful book.

Allen Shelton's prose is tremendous - richly textured sentences packed with almost too much imagery, metaphor and pain to process. In his rawest, most powerful moments, Shelton overwhelms you, a dizzying barrage of lightning-fast slaps across the face - one side,then the next, then back again - leaving you desperate for the smallest chance to catch your breath and surrendering to the intensity nonetheless.

There are many, many of these moments, but the book stops just short of relentless emotional assault.You emerge deeply affected, but uninjured.You can catch your breath, every once in a while (particularly if you don't know the work of Proust or Walter Benajmin) but you are never quite released.
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Walker County is a unique place inhabited by a unique people. Characters including George Goober Lindsey, Tallulah Bankhead, Sybil Gibson, and Eric Butterbean Esch, and communities including Cordova, Carbon Hill, and Day's Gap and Horse Creek or as we know them today, Oakman and Dora have all contributed to the county's rich history. In this volume of vintage postcard images, readers will learn how the town of Jasper avoided extinction, visit the old Walker County Courthouse that burned six times, and discover which town in Walker County began as Bald Eagle. ... Read more

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Walker County Postcard History
It is truly a "postcard" history.Minimal words or captions. Would have liked more information or pictures of other mining camps (Goodsprings, Americus, Gorgas,. . .). ... Read more

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The best preservation book on Mobile's historic homes
This book needs to be back in print!It is the best book I've found on Historic Mobile, once the 3rd largest port in America in the early 1800's.So sad to see the pictures of the many houses that have been destroyed.Fortunately, there are still many left for us to see.If you love Mobile, you must add this to your collection.Great coffee table book. ... Read more

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This first history of cattle raising in a southern state documents the development of the industry in Alabama from colonial times to the present within the broader contexts of southern and American agricultural history. Cattle raising today is the most widely practiced form of agriculture in Alabama and ranks second only to the poultry industry in terms of revenue. Brooks Blevins not only relates the development and relative importance of the industry to agricultural practices but also presents it as an integral component of southern history, inextricably linked to issues of sectional politics, progressivism, race and class struggles, and rural depopulation. Blevins's study increases our understanding of the history of southern agriculture by providing a valuable model of a story repeated throughout the South. ... Read more

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Wonderful
Cattle in the Cotton Fields is a wonderful account of thecattle history in Alabama.I was very impressed by the writing ofMr. Blevins.I highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested in the subject matter. ... Read more

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"In this lucid and supremely readable study, Brian Kelly challenges the prevailing notion that white workers were the main source of resistance to racial equality in the Jim Crow South. Kelly explores the forces that brought the black and white miners of Birmingham, Alabama, together during the hard-fought strikes of 1908 and 1920. He examines the systematic efforts by the region's powerful industrialists to foment racial divisions as a means of splitting the workforce, preventing unionization, and holding wages to the lowest levels in the country. He also details the role played by Birmingham's small but influential black middle class, whose espousal of industrial accommodation outraged black miners and revealed significant tensions within the African-American community." ... Read more

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A History of the Town of Livingston, Alabama
This is a great book about the area and the people who lived there. If you are into genealogy you will find that this book has a lot of families listed and who they are related to and if and when they left the area..I have enjoyed it very much.. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1901.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more