Customer Reviews

Rivers of History: Life on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Cahaba, and Alabama

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Jackson has put together a great all-around volume on four of the major rivers in Alabama. The Alabma River system played a major role in the settlement and development of the territory and the state. This is a highly readable volume that should be in the library of those interested in Alabama history and culture. Perhaps the best volume on Alabama that I have read.

This well-written book is a superb rendering of history and southern landscapes. Mr. Jackson synthesizes a vast amount of material in a seamless narrative that flows as strong and unimpeded as Alabama's once wild rivers. The chapters on frontier Alabama are especially good. You come away from this fine work with a keener sense of loss but also with a deeper understanding of this place we call the South, and you want to fight to help save and restore the best of it.

I learned to swim in the Cahaba River in the 60's, what wonderful childhood memories I have from that river. Dr. Jackson has written an interesting, readable history of the Alabama and Coosa Rivers. However, very little text is given to the Tallapoosa, and even less to the Cahaba. That said, I still enjoyed the book and I agree with the other reviews. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in Alabama history.

As an Alabamian with an interest in our rivers, I was delighted to read this book on the Alabama river and its tributaries. Harvey Jackson is a historian who writes with a balance of history and human interest. He takes the reader into the story of these rivers including the people and their times. If one is interested only in the historical aspects of the river, there is ample information here and the book is heavily footnoted for those with a greater historical appetite. But you need not be an avid student of history to appreciate the stories that are set in time beginning with the earliest records.

The story is about the river, but it also gives us glimpses of the changes along the river through time. Along the way we encounter all sorts of surprises, from the keen competition between the British and French for this resource, the era of the steamboats, the industrial development, and perhaps most of all, the riverfolk and their part in telling the story. Superb job Mr. Jackson!