Walking toward the Sunset is a historical examination of the Melungeons, a mixed-race group predominantly in southern Appalachia. Author Wayne Winkler reviews theories about the Melungeons, compares the Melungeons with other mixed-race groups, and incorporates the latest scientific research to present a comprehensive portrait. In his telling portrait, Winkler examines the history of the Melungeons and the ongoing controversy surrounding their mysterious origins. Employing historical records, news reports over almost two centuries, and personal interviews, Winkler tells the fascinating story of a people who did not fit the rigid racial categories of American society. Along the way, Winkler recounts the legal and social restrictions suffered by Melungeons and other mixed-race groups, particularly Virginia's 1924 Racial Integrity Act, and he reviews the negative effects of nineteenth- and twentieth-century magazine and journal articles on these reclusive people. Walking toward the Sunset documents the changes in public and private attitudes toward the Melungeons, the current debates over Melungeon identity, and the recent genetic studies that have attempted to shed light on the subject. But most importantly, Winkler relates the lives of families who were outsiders in their own communities, who were shunned and shamed, but who created a better life for their children, descendants who are now reclaiming the heritage that was hidden from them for generations.

Most of us probably think of America as being settled by British, Protestant colonists who fought the Indians, tamed the wilderness, and brought democracy-or at least a representative republic-to North America. To the contrary, Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman's research indicates the earliest settlers were of Mediterranean extraction, and of a Jewish or Muslim religious persuasion. Sometimes called Melungeons, these early settlers were among the earliest nonnative Americans to live in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. For fear of discrimination-since Muslims, Jews, Indians, and other persons of color were often disenfranchised and abused-the Melungeons were reticent regarding their heritage. In fact, over time, many of the Melungeons themselves forgot where they came from. Hence, today, the Melungeons remain the last lost tribe in America, even to themselves. Yet, Hirschman, supported by DNA testing, genealogies, and a variety of historical documents, suggests that the Melungeons included such notable early Americans as Daniel Boone, John Sevier, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Andrew Jackson. Once lost, but now, forgotten no more.

Having lived on Cumberland Island for more than forty years, Carol Ruckdeschel's goal has been to document present conditions of the island's flora and fauna, establishing a baseline from which to assess future changes. Since the late 1960s, she has witnessed many changes and trends that are often overlooked by those carrying out short-term observations. This compilation of data, along with historic information, presents the most comprehensive picture of the island's flora, fauna, geology, and ecology to date. This volume will satisfy a general interest in the ecology of Cumberland and other Georgia barrier islands. New information on individual species is presented, contributing to its value as a reference for the Southeast.

WHILE THERE WERE STILL WILD BIRDS is a personal history of Southern quail hunting as it was lived at three different South Carolina quail hunting clubs and by related dog trainers, hunting guides, and hunters. The author's father, Richard E. Rankin, Sr., belonged to the first hunting club in Kline, South Carolina, and was a founding partner in the second hunting club, the Quail Roost Hunt Club, outside Manning, South Carolina. The third club featured was the Foreston Hunt Club, an adjoining neighbor of the Quail Roost Hunt Club. As both a family member, hunt club partner, and historian, Richard E. Rankin, Jr. tells this story as both a participant and as an objective observer. This study covers a span of time from the mid 1930s through and after the mid 1980s when the massive collapse of the quail population ended wild bird hunting. The book explores the character and meaning of Southern quail hunting in a particular setting. It emphasizes the importance of hunting fellowship (especially between the author, his friends, father, and other hunting associates) and the way in which bird hunting leads to a dramatic encounter with wildness.

In the first chronological and gripping narrative of the events that crippled Phenix City, Alabama, Margaret Anne Barnes tells the true story of how economic hard times in the Depression led a mayor to barter immunity from prosecution to gamblers and gangsters in exchange for money to save the town from going into receivership. By mid-century, the criminal element managed to buy or infiltrate every office of government in the city. When their control was absolute, no crime was beyond their commission, no citizen safe, and no constitutional right could be relied upon.