Long before the official establishment of the Commonwealth, intrepid
pioneers ventured west of the Allegheny Mountains into an expansive,
alluring wilderness that they began to call Kentucky. After blazing
trails, clearing plots, and surviving innumerable challenges, a few
adventurers found time to pen celebratory tributes to their new
homeland. In the two centuries that followed, many of the world's
finest writers, both native Kentuckians and visitors, have paid homage
to the Bluegrass State with the written word.
In _The Kentucky Anthology_, acclaimed author and literary historian
Wade Hall has assembled an unprecedented and comprehensive compilation
of writings pertaining to Kentucky and its land, people, and culture.
Hall's introductions to each author frame both popular and
lesser-known selections in a historical context. He examines the major
cultural and political developments in the history of the
Commonwealth, finding both parallels and marked distinctions between
Kentucky and the rest of the United States.
While honoring the heritage of Kentucky in all its glory, Hall does
not blithely turn away from the state's most troubling episodes and
institutions such as racism, slavery, and war. Hall also builds the
argument, bolstered by the strength and significance of the collected
writings, that Kentucky's best writers compare favorably with the
finest in the world. Many of the authors presented here remain
universally renowned and beloved, while others have faded into the
tides of time, waiting for rediscovery. Together, they guide the
reader on a literary tour of Kentucky, from the mines to the rivers
and from the deepest hollows to the highest peaks.
_The Kentucky Anthology_ traces the interests and aspirations, the
achievements and failures and the comedies and tragedies that have
filled the lives of generations of Kentuckians. These diaries,
letters, speeches, essays, poems, and stories bring history
brilliantly to life. Jesse Stuart once wrote, "If these United States
can be called a body, Kentucky can be called its heart." _The Kentucky
Anthology_ captures the rhythm and spirit of that heart in the words
of its most remarkable chroniclers.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780813128993
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
The University Press of Kentucky
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok