Explains to outsiders the conflicts between the financial interests of the coal and land companies and the moral rights of the vulnerable mountaineers.

This ethnography details the people of Little Laurel Valley of western North Carolina & takes the reader beyond the stereotypes & into the Appalachian folk culture.

"In this pithy ethnography detailing the people of the Little Laurel Valley of western North Carolina, Hicks has accomplished an anthropological ideal--he takes us beyond the caricatured features of the hillbilly image and into the Appalachian folk culture, examining the surroundings with a compassionate and observant objectivity. While no longer completely isolated from the mainstream of American culture, the Little Laurel Valley preserves its cultural uniqueness in its local attitudes, speech, kinship relationships, and a strongly felt, cohesive identity based upon a knowledge of positive distinction. Characterized by an emphasis on egalitarianism, the strong belief in personal independence and individualism, clearly defined sex roles, a great regard for the rural life and the household within it, and a pervasive suspicion of urban things and people, the culture of the Little Laurel is reminiscent of earlier colonial American culture, and the small communities of rural Great Britain."--Publisher description.

A searing, on-the-ground examination of the collapsing coal industry—and the communities left behind—in the midst of economic and environmental crisis. Despite fueling a century of American progress, the people at the heart of coal country are being left behind, suffering from unemployment, the opioid epidemic, and environmental crises often at greater rates than anywhere else in the country. But what if Appalachia’s troubles are just a taste of what the future holds for all of us? Appalachian Fall tells the captivating true story of coal communities on the leading edge of change. A group of local reporters known as the Ohio Valley ReSource shares the real-world impact these changes have had on what was once the heart and soul of America. Including stories like: -The miners’ strike in Harlan County after their company suddenly went bankrupt, bouncing their paychecks -The farmers tilling former mining ground for new cash crops like hemp -The activists working to fight mountaintop removal and bring clean energy jobs to the region -And the mothers mourning the loss of their children to overdose and despair In the wake of the controversial bestseller Hillbilly Elegy, Appalachian Fall addresses what our country owes to a region that provided fuel for a century and what it risks if it stands by watching as the region, and its people, collapse.

A collection of intriguing ghost stories & delightful folktales & legends of southern Appalachia. Most of these tales have authentic historical settings dating from the early days of settlement of this region to recent times.