This powerful narrative, written by a direct descendant of the princess Yani, draws on stories of incidents taken from the author's family history that were passed from generation to generation until set down here.

For a time, Yani is happy as a slave on Denfield's South Carolina plantation. She becomes the favorite of black and white alike. Denfield's sons instruct her in grammar and deportment. At a festive plantation "slave wedding," she is mated with the giant slave Koba amid much feasting and merriment.

Deep sorrow comes when Yani's slave husband and their daughter, Yola, are sold to other masters. Years pass, and Yani learns nothing of her child's fate. She does not even know that she has a grandchild. Yet why is she so strangely attracted to the slave girl Lucinda, whom she meets in Charleston?

Yani seeks consolation in the music she plays on her African harp, and in her prophetic visions, which reveal that her people will be freed from bondage and find the peace she so deeply desires. Her story, "From the Slave Cabin of Yani," is a moving account of slavery and a woman's hopes for her children and her people.

Last summer while on vacation in Myrtle Beach, I happened down to Georgetown County for a day on the Winyah. The scenery was breathtaking, as was this book. It was an excellent works and I especially liked being able to read history of places I have been. This book is absolutely wonderful.

This is a book of wonder and revelation, illuminating the history and splendor of one of America's most magical regions. It will make you want to learn more and more and then drive the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This is the story of a family feud in Edgefield Co., SC in the early 40s. Dorn does an outstanding job recreating a time and place where roads were unpaved, electrification just arrived, and acts of vengeance still expected . You can almost see the country store and feel the heat and the dust. There are a series of shootings and a shoot-out with the sheriff. The only weak part is the section in which Dorn substitutes abridged trial transcripts for his own telling of the tale.This book merits attention and readers.

Leslie A. Schwalm's text revolves around enslaved African American women on South Carolina low country rice plantations. Her focus is their transition from slavery to freedom, their push to hasten the demise of slavery, their struggle to achieve and maintain autonomy over their labor, their resistance, and their plight for dignity while they battled for respect in their own households. Schwalm contends that enslaved African American women slowed plantation production and took advantage of every opportunity presented by the Civil War to secure their freedom. Enslaved African American women were expected to be productive field laborers', in fact, they lay at the very heart of South Carolina low country rice plantation labor. With the Civil War approaching, rice agriculture in the South Carolina low country depended primarily on the hands and backs of slave women. Field labor was not the only responsibility these slave women had to keep in mind, they also had to perform motherly and household duties. Domestic production and field labor, Schwalm contends, were central to a slave women's experience. The Civil War presented enslaved African American women with opportunitites to ease the grips of slavery while they contested the terrible conditions on South Carolina low country plantations. This form of resistance eventually became more aggressive. In the early months of freedom, freed women attacked overseers, looted planters houses, destroyed planters property, and draped themselves and their children in their former masters clothing as a sign of protest and changing times. With their freedom seemingly secure, former slave women turned their attention to the control of their labor. They demanded the ability to live and work as they saw fit and seperate from white supervision. They had their own concepts of freedom and were determined to labor as free people and not as slaves. The slave womens family depended upon her work as much as the rice field did. The task system of labor afforded slave! women the opportunity to devote daylight hours to domestic production. This was crucial to family development. Slave women used their "after task time" to hire themselves out, grow their own crop, fish, and make family utensils. Slaves viewed production, independent from plantation production, as a way to elevate their standard of living and exercise control over their daily life. Slave women applied these same principles in a free labor work force after emancipation. The military experience had a dramatic impact on the relationships between freedmen and women. People believed that the military experience equated to manhood. Proving their manhood through military experience was a goal for black soldiers, their advocates and and white officers. This sentiment carried over to post was relationships between free black men and women. Leslie A. Schwalm's " A Hard Fight For We" is critical for painting a more complete picture of rice plantation labor in South Carolina's low country. We see that enslaved women were depended upon heavily and they fought for their recognition.

As a transplant to Harnett County 10 years ago, I thought I knew alot about this local area. WOW, this book opened my eyes to the many hidden historical treasures that our humble land holds. A must read for locals, visitors and anyone interested in southern heritage!

This book has excellent information on where my line came from in the Highlands. The description of the economy, the living conditions, the government and clan disharmony, as well as the religion question, all provide a good picture of where our Scots came from and the conditions of their lives. My McRae family came to Carolina in 1774, so this timeline used in this book covered the years preceding, as well as a few following their immigration. I was very interested in the motives for migration. This provided many more than I had previously read about. Because the years led directly into our revolution, it is especially relevant to read this information on the Scots question whether to serve as loyalist or as revolutionary. This proved, as well as disproved several theories which are in print. I appreciate having this book in my reference library. It has more specific descriptive information about the Scots' living conditions both in Scotland and in North Carolina than any other source I have consulted.

A great book that explores all of the regions of North Carolina's exciting history.

If you have any interest in 1)History, 2)U.S. History, 3)South Carolina History, 4)South Carolina Lowcountry History, etc. this book is a most! Two thumbs up on this very well written book!

A must-read for anyone interested in the history of the South.