New Books
 Mississippi
Quilts, by Mary Elizabeth Johnson, is the result of a six-year project
to document this craft's heritage in the state. Of more than 1700 quilts examined,
140 were selected for full-color photographs by J. D. Schwalm, to represent the
very best from the state. The book explores the role of quilting in Mississippi's
cultural history, showing how quilts are valued not only for their artistry and
ingenuity but also for their significance to families and communities.
From
University Press of Mississippi for the Mississippi Quilt Association: cloth $60,
paper $30.
| Confederate Settlements in British
Honduras, by Donald C. Simmons, Jr., recounts how thousands of Confederate
soldiers and sympathizers, most of whom were from Mississippi and Louisiana, sought
exile in British Honduras (now Belize) during the Civil War and immediately after.
Among them were brothers of prominent Confederates Judah P. Benjamin, P. G. T.
Beauregard, and Mississippi governor John J. McRae. Governor McRae joined his
brother there, but died soon after his arrival. The foreword is by William F.
Winter, president of the MDAH Board of Trustees.
From McFarland
& Company, $27.50.
| Campus Brat, J.
Chester McKee's memoirs of growing up on the Mississippi State campus where his
father was professor of botany, will be of interest to all MSU alumni and friends.
McKee is vice president for research and graduate studies emeritus at Mississippi
State.
The book, $24.95 plus
$5 shipping, can be ordered from Friends of the MSU Libraries, P.O. Box 5408,
Mississippi State, MS 39762. Proceeds go to Friends projects. |
|  Blues
Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues, by Steve Cheseborough, is a
guidebook to birthplaces and gravesites of blues greats, juke joints, crossroads-and
the best local barbecue and greens. Famous blues locales are noted-Greasy Street
in Ruleville, Nelson Street in Greenville, the New World district in Clarksdale,
and more-and clear maps and directions are provided.
From
University Press of Mississippi, $18 paper.
| Mississippi's
Forests and Forestry, by James E. Fickle, tells the story of human interaction
with Mississippi's woodlands since prehistory. With forty black-and-white images
and extensive documentation, this history debunks long-held myths, such as the
notion of the first settlers encountering "virgin" forests. The author argues
that the early industrial foresters, some lumber companies, and pulp and paper
manufacturers practiced utilitarian conservation.
From University
Press of Mississippi: $35 cloth. | A Sherwood Bonner
Sampler, 1869-1884, edited by Anne Razey Gowdy, brings back into print
much of the author's best writing: regional and European travel columns, historical
sketches set in Mississippi, profiles, children's stories, poems, and a variety
of short fiction.
From University Press of Mississippi: $42
cloth. | |  In
The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War, 1760s-1880s,
Bertram Wyatt-Brown further explores aspects of honor that he wrote about in his
important book Southern Honor and reflects on recent advances in the historical
scholarship of the American South. His analysis includes a discussion of how honor
was defined among northerners, non-elite southerners, and slaves.
From
the University of North Carolina Press: $55 cloth, $19.95 paper.
| The Great War of Destruction, by
Russell G. LeVan, is a full account-through articles, letters, journal and diary
entries, interviews, and memoirs-of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of
southern soldiers, wives, and friends.
From Pentland Press:
$49.95 cloth. | |
![[Mississippi History Newsletter Online.]](mhnlhead012001.gif)