Appalachia in the Making

The Mountain South in the Nineteenth Century

Edited by Mary Beth Pudup, Dwight B. Billings, Altina L. Waller

402 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 2 halftones, 6 maps, 34 tables, appends., notes, index

  • Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-4534-9
    Published: November 1995
  • E-book EPUB ISBN: 978-0-8078-8896-4
    Published: November 2000
  • E-book PDF ISBN: 979-8-8908-6445-1
    Published: November 2000

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Appalachia first entered the American consciousness as a distinct region in the decades following the Civil War. The place and its people have long been seen as backwards and 'other' because of their perceived geographical, social, and economic isolation. These essays, by fourteen eminent historians and social scientists, illuminate important dimensions of early social life in diverse sections of the Appalachian mountains. The contributors seek to place the study of Appalachia within the context of comparative regional studies of the United States, maintaining that processes and patterns thought to make the region exceptional were not necessarily unique to the mountain South.

The contributors are Mary K. Anglin, Alan Banks, Dwight B. Billings, Kathleen M. Blee, Wilma A. Dunaway, John R. Finger, John C. Inscoe, Ronald L. Lewis, Ralph Mann, Gordon B. McKinney, Mary Beth Pudup, Paul Salstrom, Altina L. Waller, and John Alexander Williams

About the Authors

Mary Beth Pudup is associate professor of community studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
For more information about Mary Beth Pudup, visit the Author Page.

Dwight B. Billings is professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky.
For more information about Dwight B. Billings, visit the Author Page.

Altina L. Waller is professor and chair of the history department at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.
For more information about Altina L. Waller, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"Enriches our knowledge of the southern mountains and suggests exciting possibilities for where future studies might go."--Journal of Appalachian Studies

"Appalachia in the Making is required reading for historians of whatever altitude."--Journal of Southern History

"Appalachia in the Making is, unquestionably, the most important book on the transformation of the mountain South in the nineteenth century to be published in years."--West Virginia History

"This volume stands alone in its attempt to treat Appalachia as it really is or was, over a century or more, without special pleading derived from some presumption about the essential exceptionality of the region or its people."--Appalachian Journal

"There is not an essay in it that does not significantly advance our thinking about, and understanding of, not only the particularities of Appalachian mountain life but also the Great Topics of historical study--modernization, westward expansion, the capitalization of new world enterprise, the relationship of culture and place. . . . All together, it feels like the real Appalachia at last--and welcome."--Henry D. Shapiro, author of Appalachia on Our Mind: The Southern Mountains and Mountaineers in the American Consciousness