Sixty-one pages of Notes and a thirty-page bibliography should be enough to convince anyone that this topic is worthy of scholarly examination. This book examines Western North Carolina in greatest detail to provide a wide perspective on who opposed alcohol from 1790 to 1908, but also who produced it during what the author calls the Golden Age of Moonshining from 1861 to 1876. Importantly, the author, Bruce E. Stewart, also delves into how each group was viewed and their own image of themselves. “In this masterly study, Bruce E. Stewart explains a facet of the antiliquor crusade that scholars have ignored, namely, the changing perception people had of alcohol distillers from manufactures of a legitimate product to impediments to economic and social progress” – Journal of American History. "Though many historians have emphasized the role that outsiders played in developing popular Appalachian stereotypes, Stewart reveals that early anti-liquor crusaders in the region's towns contributed their share as well."―West Virginia History. "Stewart tracks important shifts in popular sentiment, politics, and laws about making and drinking alcohol from the early 1800s to the early 1900s."―Now and Then. This is the second book about moonshine by Bruce E. Stewart, a professor of history at Appalachian State University.
Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, a 2018 paperback reprint of a 2011 release. 325 pages with an Index, Bibliography, Notes, tables, and photos. Trade paperback.