Few scholars are as widely respected as teachers, researchers, writers, and public actors as Ron Eller. Now retired from the University of Kentucky where he taught history and headed their Appalachian Center, he still lives near Lexington, Kentucky, but spends much time at his cabin in the Smokies. First he published Miners, Millhands and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930 in 1985. In 2008, he brought that history up-to-date with Uneven Ground: Appalachia since 1945. These two books together give as good a perspective on the economic history of our region as any other windows into the industrial era of our history. "Uneven Ground is the culmination of more than 40 years of teaching and working for change in the mountains by one of the region's most esteemed scholars." ―Kentucky Monthly. "Uneven Ground covers a staggering amount of historical terrain and fills along-overdue gap in the region's historiography. . . .[The book] is a must read for scholars, students, activists, and policymakers who hope to make sense of Appalachia's modern landscape." ―H-Net Reviews.
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2008. 326 pages with an Index, Bibliography, Notes, photos and a poem. Hardback in dust jacket.