Customer Reviews

Secret History II: Stories About Knoxville, Tennessee

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Writing quality: 5 stars Entertainment value: 5 stars Historical accuracy: 5 stars Educational value masquerading as fun: 5 stars

Every city should have a Jack Neely. This book consists of 1 to 3 page vignettes of local, often-offbeat history of Knoxville, Tennessee. Most were originally published in MetroPulse, the town's alternative newspaper. (For a sample of his work, his latest column can usually be found on the newspaper's web site.)

Neely is insightful in his choice of topics and his historical accuracy is top-notch. While focused on Knoxville, Neely ties his stories into broader trends in Southern and US history. Reading this book, you get a feeling for what daily life was really like in small American cities at various times in the past.

Neely has two of these books, Secret History and Secret History II

This book should be required reading for anyone from Fountain City to Cherokee Blvd.

If you liked vol. 1, then here's more of the same great stories about that "scruffy little city" in the middle of East Tennessee. Neely not only knows his stuff, but he also has a great way with words.