Author Richard Grimes speaks truth in a way that so very few dare. He touches on the much under-documented Rockefeller Administration during the 70s and 80s in poverty stricken West Virginia. In this feeble age where family dynasties permeate our American landscape, the Rockefeller name is no small player in the game. One could never know just how powerful, and yet decievingly humble the now Senator Jay Rockefeller was during those dusty days of Mountain State politics. Grimes shows what those in West Virginia must have known for decades: Rockefeller played savior to a needy state, but only got as far as his family dollar would allow. Grimes' evenhanded, yet painfully honest writing represents last from a rare breed of 'old school' journalists. The writing in this book is some of the best that this generation has to offer. His work continues to serve as an inspiration to me. Kudos Grimes!!!

Absolutely amazing, chilling real-life story and government cover-ups. This stuff still happens today in the 'free world' aka usa.

KIDS LOVE THE VIRGINIAS has been kid-tested and the descriptions include great hints on what kids like best. This informative guide contains almost 300 pages packed full of over 900 places and events specifically designed for children between the ages of 2 - 15. Kids can discover where ponies swim and dolphins dance, dig into archaeology and living history, or be dazzled by record-breaking and natural bridges. It'll tell you how Colonial, American Indian and Pioneer folks lived and even how to dance the Virginia Reel or cook with stones. You'll know where to go to stand side-by-side a coal-miner, watch a glass vase "blossom" before you yes or learn the secrets of making clay bricks, digging for fairy stones, commanding a battleship or spaceship, or making pinch pots. Another weekend you'll have all the travel details you need to go behind the scenes of famous parade floats or walk through HolyLand. Of course, there's plenty of kid-friendly details on nationally known sites like Mt. Vernon, Luray Cavern's fried eggs, the Bee Beard Man, places where the Civil War began (Harpers Ferry) and ended (Appomattox), Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown or "Stonewall Country" (freak-out). Want Action? Trolley, trot or walk past famous homes. Drive your car underwater or through a zoo. Kayak many quiet rivers or raft the whitewaters. Ride a batteau on the James, touch a starfish, or catch a wink from a mermaid. Pack your knapsack as you follow "A Soldier's Life". Or, ride the rails past old depots and small towns through old coal and timber lands. If you're hungry, KIDS LOVE THE VIRGINIAS knows where to buy a skipjack sandwich, be a salsa taste-tester, or make potato chips, gourmet cakes & curds. It'll tell you how to eat your way through apple, birthday cake, pumpkin & peanut festivals. Unusual theme restaurants include old taverns or railroad depots, a gristmill serving yummy corn cakes, dining in the same room Washington once celebrated birthdays, or reminiscing simpler times on Walton's Mountain. The book is formatted in 8 geographical zones providing phone numbers, websites, directions, admissions, hours and descriptions to save you lots of time. It's a wonderful resource to make short vacation plans or to get to know your hometown area better. You will probably find there are at least 50-100 things to do within an hour of your home! Best of all, if you have a limited budget, don't worry - the book has found lots of places to visit for little or no charge! Other 'family-friendly' favorite travel guides available for Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, & Kentucky

Also recommended: Other 'family-friendly' favorite travel guides available for Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, & Kids Love Travel Memories, the Perfect Scrapbook and Travel Journal Companion

I had vainly considered myself to be fairly knowledgable about current American writers until that beautiful Sunday morning of 7 September 97 when I turned to the Book World section of my Washington Post and read an essay written by a septuagenarian author named Mary Lee Settle. She told it like it is, revealing how the literary marketplace of modern-day America has slid into a disgraceful period of not publishing unless it has a virtual guarantee of profit. Their business theory: only young writers can bring us a long stream of profit. I read her personal revelations with interest, likening them to my own experiences. For I, decades ago, had four hardcover trade books published by three different,notable publishers, and now - after a hiatus self-imposed in order to make myself financially secure - was finding it difficult to get published again. My age?

"Who is this woman?" I asked myself. "Her statements," I know, "are nothing but the truths. She tells it like it is. How refreshing!"

Then, on the subsequent Sunday, I was joyriding around on the net, accessed Amazon.com, and saw that this lady who was apparently considered "over-the-hill" had 39 - yes, 39! - books listed.

How could I not have read her? "I must correct my deficiencies," I told my deficiencies," I told myself. So, I scanned up-and-down, perusing the titles of her 39 entries. So many made the decision hard. Probably because I am, as she, a native Virginian and had just returned from a short vacation exploring the back roads of West Virginia, I chose her "Know Nothing" - a book billed as a novel that is a history of the western part of the State of Virginia, just prior to the Civil War and that land subsequently becoming the State of West Virginia.

I found it to be more than a history. I marveled at its rare eloquence; the conversations of Blacks with Blacks, Blacks with white people, and white people about Blacks. The vernacular and patois were perfect. Except, true to the actual;ity of that era, the term 'Black' was never used. It had not been invented at that time. It was always 'nigger' - a designation then, of itself, mot bearing any rancor or disrespect.

Soon, I was in love again. I saw that there existed out there, somewhere in the netherland of authors personally undiscovered, a will-o'the wosp who eluded me. She piqued my imagination. She of the intriguingly-beguiling persona - a mature person of the same generation as I, who had been blessed with the gift of verbally portraying people and events as they really were. I must meet her, I thought. She lives in Charlottesville, only about a 2-hour drive from my home in Fairfax.

Then, after the impetuosity of initial fascination wore off, I realized I am still in love with love. It would be best for us to never meet. What if a faux pas were to burst my bubble? I have found that the older one gets the more he or she needs a visionary shelter, a person who serves as an icon of one's dreams. That is the raison d'etre' of writers; to be the untouchable cloud in a heaven of imagination.

I recommend this vintage book to any and all, especially the current generation of "people of color."

Basically well written and excellently researched , this book offers insights on the critical battles of the Civil War in western Virginia during the Spring of 1864, a subject usually not covered in detail. The details provided and the sequence presented on military operations give a very useful overview of strategy and tactics in this area in 1864. Richard Duncan, the author, details the unsuccessful attempts by General Hunter's army to live off the land which contrasts with Sherman's success in Georgia. While Sherman's effect on the civilian population is well known, the harsh treatment of civilians in the Shenandoah Valley is not as widely covered in print; and Richard Duncan's account provides much useful information and references on the subject of the Union Army's relationship with the area's civilians. The importance of the campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley during the Spring of 1894 should not be ignored. Had General Hunter been successful, the Civil War

may have ended six months earlier. This book well describes Grant's strategy, Lee and Davis responses and the numerous mistakes made by both armies. Making this account enjoyable, is the inclusion of brief biographical sketches of the field officers involved before discussing each operation.

The book suffers from a lack of good and sufficient maps. The maps provided do little to support the text. Critically needed are maps on individual battles. This is especially true of Chapter 2, The Dublin Raid, where maps are provided only on Crook's and Averell's routes to and from Dublin; however, maps on some of the raid's engagements/battles would greatly enhance the text. In addition, maps are badly needed for the engagements fought near Lynchburg. However, both the professional historian and the Civil War buff, would do well to read this work.

I own several of the mobil travel books and I have found them very useful. I have tried some of their restaurant recommendations and places to visit and I have been very happy with the results. Try, other Mobil travel guides too.

Very well done reference book. Many well done pictures and large variety of product. I highly recommend this book.

Serveral years ago I wrote a story about my beloved and beautiful first grade teacher, Mrs. Parker. That experience was almost 50 years ago and my memory of her is fading. I was looking through the index of this wonderful book, "Mountain State Stories of the People" and saw her name. I flipped to that page and was delighted to see a picture of her taken in 1954, the same year I was her student! That picture helped me to recover more memories from that time period in my life. By reading the story "Generations" I learned about her family history and the history of my hometown, Fairmont, WV. I was inspired to continue to read all the 200 plus stories. This wonderful collection of stories is a West Virginia treasure!

This book is great, with some close details on horses and their history. There are some really good pictures, and I really enjoyed this well-written book!

Charlottesville, VA, home of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe and of the University of Virginia, now offers up a new contribution: Mary Lee Settle. This book is a thrilling read, yet it's so evocative of the time in which it is set that Prof. Stephen Innes of UVa assigns it to his undergrad's (of whom, by the way, I've never been one). Try it, you'll like it!