The title and sub-title say it all. Lots of pictures here encapsulate what is disappearing from East Tennessee, but it is the interviews and the commentary that establish what is uniquely Appalachian about these particular barns, houses, stores, bridges, churches, schools, and other features. This is an endearing book to have accessible to look through and enjoy from time to time. It would be hard to find well published book authors who could do a better job of finding and portraying old-fashioned East Tennessee. Harry Moore is a geologist by training who worked for the Tennessee Department of Transportation and knows the area’s roads like the back of his hand. Fred Brown is a journalist who did human interest features for the Knoxville News Sentinel for decades and thus got to know the area’s most fascinating people. It shows.
Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2021. 240 pages with a Bibliography and lots of black-and-white photos. Trade paperback.