Customer Reviews

Slaves, Salt, Sex & Mr. Crenshaw: The Real Story of the Old Slave House and America's Reverse Underground R.R.

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This has to be one of the most poorly written and edited books that I have ever read. What could have been an excellent story was rambling, disjointed and riddled with mistakes in spelling and grammar. The information that the book contained could probably been edited down into a magazine article and would have made much more sense. Save your money.

The overall concept of the book is fine but it is simply un-readable. It is filled with rambling tangents, copious typos, and barely a page goes by without a sentence fragment or run on. Several hundred pages into it, the point of the book begins to emerge, but it is never developed. Many of this author's sources come from websites, e-mails, and personal communications, which betrays how sloppy this book is. If you enjoy local history there are a few pages in this book that are interesting. If you like academic rigor and the written conventions of the English language, look elsewhere.

Excellent book. Superbly researched. Detailed accounts and documentation of the history of the Old Slave House in Southern Illinois. As a native of this area I grew up with the stories and lore of this historic site. I was happy to read this book and I appreciate the years of diligent effort Mr. Musgrave and his associates put into accomplishing this work. The Old Slave House is a building that is not only important to Illinois history, but also important to U.S. history because it is one of only a few remaining buildings that was specifically dedicated to the business of capturing and holding runaway slaves. The story of Mr. Crenshaw, the salt mines, the captured freedmen and runaway slaves is a sordid and horrific tale, but the history should be preserved and told. Kudos for Mr. Musgrave and his associates.