Spirits of Just Men: Mountaineers, Liquor Bosses, and Lawmen in the Moonshine Capital of the World
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate"This informative, engaging work wonderfully reveals the culture and colorful history of a region with intimate ties to the illegal production and distribution of alcohol during 'Prohibition.'"--Booklist
"Thompson brings the area to life, offering a portrait of a place that the government forgot, a blue-collar town run amok with barefoot children and well-armed men. . . . A meticulous, exhaustive history of moonshining, poverty and Blue Ridge culture."--Kirkus Reviews"A well-researched and well-written study and a thought-provoking portrait of 1930s Appalachia."--Library Journal
"Worthy of the attention of both scholars and an interested public."--The Historian
"An exceptionally passionate, sensitive, and complex analysis of Great Depression-era life in rural Virginia."--The Journal of Southern History
"Spirits of Just Men is an example of microhistory at its best."--H-Net Reviews
"This fascinating book convincingly argues the importance of national policy in creating and sustaining what has been perceived as a regional phenomenon. Thompson refutes easy stereotypes and instead gives us a well written and well researched account of what Edith Wharton called 'the hard considerations of the poor.'"--Ron Rash, author of Serena: A Novel
"A fascinating narrative of how mountain farmers responded to the challenges of making a living during hard times. Charles D. Thompson Jr. animates his rich and vivid story of the moonshine business in the 1930s with memorable characters and unique voices."--Patricia D. Beaver, coeditor of Tales from Sacred Wind: Coming of Age in Appalachia
"A fabulous and thorough collection of stories, facts, drama, character portraits, and court proceedings, including a chronicle of the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935. . . . It reads smoothly and cleanly, like a tightly woven novel. And it's about far more than bootlegging, as Moby-Dick is about far more than whaling."--Garden & Gun "Thompson's book is eye-opening not only about the illicit liquor trade but also about the big stage on which moonshining occurred. He paints a rich picture of life in Virginia's mountains in the 1930s. . . . Moonshining has been written about before. But it's unlikely any previous treatment compares to Thompson's in doing justice both to the business and its setting in a certain American time and place."--Washington Independent Review of Books