Death in Briar Bottom

“Thoroughly researched . . . . An intriguing perspective on a lesser-known case. This book proves that history can repeat itself in unexpected ways, and not everyone is eager to revisit the past.”—Library Journal

“A gritty true crime . . . . By finding the universal dimensions in a local tragedy, Death in Briar Bottom shows how a true crime story from the past says a lot about persistent national problems.”—Foreword Reviews

“Silver explores the collision of values that are exemplified in the confrontation of Altland and his Florida friends with their hippie culture and the values personified by the Yancey County Sheriff’s Department. . . . [R]ecommended to all libraries that collect items about crimes in North Carolina or the 1970’s in North Carolina.”—North Carolina Libraries

“Silver’s material about the [1960s and 1970s]’s politics . . . is . . . necessary for younger readers.”—New York Journal of Books

“Silver admirably examines a singular, criminal event through the lens of competing social formations to create a gripping story full of tension and intellectual reward.”—Appalachian Journal

“Through meticulous research, Silver follows the story of a fatal clash of hippies and police from its occurrence in 1972 to more than fifty years later. He tells the story fully for the first time, thus adding to the countercultural corpus by documenting an event that deserves more attention than it has received. . . . He reminds us that inequities between law enforcement and justice systems are not new, nor have they disappeared.”—Journal of American History

“[This] is not your typical historical monograph. . . . Written with narrative flair and poignant self-reflection. . . . Death in Briar Bottom is artfully told, brisk, and compelling.”—Journal of Southern History

“Part true crime, part deep cultural analysis, Death in Briar Bottom offers a detailed and deeply personal retelling of a killing in deep Appalachia in the early 1970s. Timothy Silver combines excellent research, historical elements, and compelling interviews to bring this story to life.”—Amanda Lamb, author of No Wake Zone and Love Lies

“Tim Silver has provided a strong, gripping addition to conversations surrounding the justice system in the United States and its intersection with the counterculture, as well as American life more broadly, in the 1960s and 1970s.”—Jared Phillips, University of Arkansas