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In this anthology of Civil War memoirs, we get a clearer impression of some of the chaplains who served during that Great Conflict. Chaplains were among the most omnipresent observers on the battlefield, and some wrote extensively about their experiences. Eighty-seven of the 3,695 chaplains who served in both armies wrote regimental histories or published personal memoirs, not counting a multitude of letters and more than 300 official reports. Yet, there has never been an extensive collection of memoirs from chaplains of both the Confederate and Union armies presented together. In this groundbreaking work, many of the Confederate chaplains write that they opposed secession and submitted to it only when war was inevitable. Moreover, some of the ministers who became chaplains were active in ministry to black slaves. They spoke out against the neglect and abuse of those held in bondage both before and during the war. For example, Reverend John L. Girardeau formed a large mission church for slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, before the war; Reverend Isaac Tichenor criticized the abuses of the slave system before the Alabama Legislature in 1863; and Chaplain Charles Oliver preached to black laborers in the Army of Northern Virginia in 1864 with the thought that more needed to be done for them. While these efforts may appear trivial in the face of the enormity of the entire slave system, they do reflect that a social conscience was not completely lacking among the Southern chaplains. From the battlefield to the pulpit, Confederate chaplains were surprising and complex individuals. For the first time, explore this aspect of the great struggle in each chaplain’s own words.

Doug Kershaw's musical career as a fiddler, songwriter, and singer has spanned more than seventy years. Born on a houseboat tied to a cypress tree in the swamps of Southwest Louisiana, his family followed the fishing up and down the Mermantau River. Alligators and snakes lurked beneath the waters. Alcoholism and violence lurked above. The fais do-dos, those popular houseboat dances, were the only escape from a harsh way of life. Until the Kershaws were forced to move into town following a family tragedy, Kershaw spoke only Cajun-French. He got his first pair of shoes when he was eight years old, the same year he began supporting his mother by playing fiddle and shining shoes. Throughout his career, he has mastered twenty-eight instruments. Because of his signature style of music-making and entertaining, Kershaw is considered by many to be a consummate performer and storyteller.

Bill Merritt grew up in Atlanta, Georgia during the turbulent years between the end of World War II and the Vietnam War. A joyously unreconstructed Southerner, he looks on with amazement as Atlanta changes from a sleepy Southern town into the City Too Busy to Hate. This was the time of Martin Luther King and Ivan Allen, but also the time of Lester Maddox, the Temple Bombing, great moral certainties, Elvis, Klan rallies, the Cuban Missile Crisis, a corrupt political system keeping some of America’s finest statesmen in office (some since the Teddy Roosevelt administration), and a man named Armstrong walking on the moon. Merritt’s family is eccentric and colorful, occasionally courageous, often self-centered. This is the story of the way the Civil Rights Revolution looked to Southerners: to decent people trying to honor their heritage while realizing the time had come to let go of parts of that heritage, and how difficult that letting go was made by the outsiders who most wanted change. This is the story the way Southerners remember it—and tell each other.

What does it take for a regular guy to climb some of the highest mountains in the world? FIVE BIG MOUNTAINS takes you there, instantly placing the reader and the author on a steep glacier on Pico de Orizaba with equipment trouble and the tough decision any high altitude climber inevitably faces--should he turn back or keep going to the summit? The central theme of the book is that with proper preparation, careful planning, persistent training, and the best guides, even an amateur with little mountaineering experience can climb and reach the summits of some of the most famous mountains in the world, though there are risks involved that need to be minimized.

Martha M. Ezzard and her physician husband John are among the pioneers in the movement of professionals trading busy city careers for a return to the land. While this story about saving a family farm is distinctly Southern, it typifies the national locally grown movement which has begun to sweep the country. Locally grown foods call for wines that are a taste of the local earth—what wine aficionados call the terroir, the soils and climate that give them unique flavors not found in California or Burgundy or anywhere other than, in this case, Tiger Mountain. The Ezzards undertook their risky wine growing venture in rural North Georgia where sweet tea has long been the drink of choice. John chose some unique European vinifera that would produce quality fruit in southeastern growing conditions, while Martha worried that she would be peddling such weird wine grapes out of the back of a pickup truck. Eventually, the forlorn looking sticks in the ground produced wines that won gold and silver medals in top east coast and California competitions.

Mercer University Press proudly revives this acclaimed real-life account of what the fictional Scarlett O’Hara saw. Life in Dixie During the War, first published in 1892, ranks among the best first-person accounts of the American Civil War. Mary A. H. Gay eloquently recounts her wartime experiences in Georgia and bears witness to the “suffering and struggle, defeat and despair, triumph, and hope that is human history.”

Life of Dreams is the first complete biography of Fred McFerrin Russell, one of the all-time stars in sports journalism. This biography details how the Vanderbilt man started with the Nashville Banner in the late 1920s, ascended to Sports Editor and remained with this paper loyally for sixty-nine years. Russell built long-lasting relationships with coaches, players, and other writers in the business, and he wrote with a style that reflected his personality: fair, informative, and always with a sense of humor. He was a storyteller, whether it was athletes such as Bobby Jones or Red Grange; or coaches such as Red Sanders or Paul “Bear” Bryant, one of his closest friends. Outliving almost all of his contemporaries, Russell rubbed elbows with some of the greats of the twentieth century, with men such as Sparky Anderson, George Steinbrenner, Archie Manning, Vince Dooley, and Lou Holtz.

Back to the Garden: The Goal of the Journey is the sixth book in the Journey series by beloved Southern author Jackie K. Cooper. The stories in this new book, as well as those in the past books, are based on Cooper’s memories of his life in the South. Each story emphasizes an event in Cooper’s journey through life and builds an overall picture of a man who is trying to live a life that will get him “back to the garden” where he will be eternally happy as well as at peace. The stories vary in their portrayal of this everyman’s ability to deal with the humorous and the dramatic events we all encounter on our journeys.

Rebel Yell: An Oral History of Southern Rock presents the story of a musical genre born in the backwoods, highways, and swamps of Macon, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 and peaking in popularity during the 1970s. This history of Southern rock is told by the musicians, roadies, fans, and recording industry folk who lived it. Drawn from literally hundreds of hours of interviews with the author, the book focuses on the "big four"--The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Marshall Tucker Band, and The Charlie Daniels Band--while delving into the careers of other great bands like The Outlaws, Bonnie Bramlett, Cowboy, Wet Willie, and Molly Hatchet. The story is enhanced by the photography of Kirk West, Bill Thames, and others, and includes many never-before-published images. Also included are a series of "Top 20" lists--including the best Southern rock vocalists, guitarists, songs, and more.

To celebrate baseball and sing the national anthem for more than 100 minor league baseball games during a single summer, Joe Price drove more than 25,000 miles through forty states. Accompanied on the zig-zagging, cross-continental trek in an RV by his wife who had not been a baseball fan, he often shared games and baseball stories with relatives and friends along the way. Throughout the journey he experienced how baseball brings people together. Grounded in their respective communities, each ballpark reflected specific products, habits, and values associated with its location, and often evoked and formed distinct baseball memories and stories.

Born 9 June 1838, James H. McNeilly grew up near Charlotte in Dickson County, Tennessee. At age thirteen, McNeilly was sworn in as deputy circuit court clerk of Dickson County. Raised in a devout Presbyterian home, he received his undergraduate degree from Jackson College in Columbia, Tennessee. Just as the Civil War broke out, he had earned his Doctor of Divinity from Danville Theological Seminary at Danville, Kentucky. As McNeilly returned home to Dickson County, in the summer of 1861, he preached on Sunday and recruited troops for the Confederacy during the week. In October 1861, McNeilly traveled to nearby Fort Donelson, where he offered his services to the South.

Interweaving his memories of boyhood Christmases in the dark days of the Depression and the details of present-day holidays with his grandchildren, Ferrol Sams demonstrates the deep, inescapable role of rituals in our lives and the importance of passing them on to each succeeding generation. Includes audio CD read by the author.