Dr. Jackson has put together a great all-around volume on four of the major rivers in Alabama. The Alabma River system played a major role in the settlement and development of the territory and the state. This is a highly readable volume that should be in the library of those interested in Alabama history and culture. Perhaps the best volume on Alabama that I have read.

In time, this book will serve as a major secondary source for Alabama historians, students of history and researchers. Much like "The Federal Road...", which this writer has previously reviewed, "Rivers Of History" is a scholarly and comprehensive work pertaining to the impact of one of the fundamental elements evident in the progression of Alabama history. From the earliest days of the Mississippi Territory, to the present day, Alabama's rivers have served as both the bloodlines and guide posts of the state - representing demarcation of counties, providing the venue by which Alabama's 19th Century cotton economy could thrive, enriching vast areas of agricultural lands with literally hundreds of tributaries of varying sizes, and allowing for Alabama's intricate network of hydro-electric power generating plants. Dr. Jackson focuses on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Cahaba and Alabama rivers, as these four bodies have been central to the aforementioned attributes of Alabama's waterways. In political, geographic and economic consequences, these four rivers constitute the very heart of the evolution of Alabama. Dr. Jackson's narrative is greatly enhanced by his natural ability to present an academic subject in an inviting, readable form. Citing the fact that "too often historians write with other historians in mind", he establishes an instant rapport with the pedestrian reader, without compromising the scholarship of the book, a fact evidenced by the book's numerous annotations. Yet, while the annotations attest to the depth of his research, Dr. Jackson's natural ability as a writer separates this book from that vast yearly output by other, less talented academicians who rely upon footnotes as a crutch upon which recitation rests as a surrogate for originality. As this reviewer consistently states, Alabama history is best studied by subject. A concentrated study of Alabama's major rivers has been sorely missing, and Dr. Jackson's "Rivers Of History" solidly fills that void. This reviewer highly recommends the book and hopes to see more offerings from Dr. Harvey Jackson.

Descendents of both sides will appreciate Larry Williamson's fair representation of the historic Battle of Horseshoe Bend, where General Andrew Jackson broke the resistance of the Muskogi (Creek) Nation in a skirmish that led to the Trail of Tears. In a clever and well-written novel, true to the historical events contained therein, Williamson brings to life what might have been the loves, emotions, fears, and ambitions of the innocent people, both European settlers and Native Americans, caught in the no-man's-land of this American Tragedy. The novel disturbs, but uplifts, as it exposes the difficult and dangerous life, for native and settler alike, on the Alabama frontier, along the Tallapoosa River. It's full of action--a good buy and a good read.