A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3
About the Book
Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks as a remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imagination stereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers—a cast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarks reflected a more complex reality.Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story. As he shows, the experiences of the Ozarkers have not diverged from the currents of mainstream life as sharply or consistently as the mythmakers would have it. If much of the region seemed to trail behind by a generation, the time lag was rooted more in poverty and geographic barriers than a conscious rejection of the modern world and its progressive spirit. In fact, the minority who clung to the old days seemed exotic largely because their anachronistic ways clashed against the backdrop of the evolving region around them. Blevins explores how these people’s disproportionate influence affected the creation of the idea of the Ozarks, and reveals the truer idea woven out of legend and history.
The conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy, The History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers offers an authoritative appraisal of the modern Ozarks and its people.
* This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
About the Author
Brooks Blevins is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks; A History of the Ozarks, Volume 2: The Conflicted Ozarks; Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and Memory in the Upland South; and Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol' Boys Defined a State.Also by this author
Reviews
"This book is superbly executed -- a fun, informative, and essential read for any scholar interested in the Ozark region, its states, and rural America." --Journal of Southern History"While taking on such a complex history in 253 pages is daunting, for sure, Brooks Blevins has delivered once again. This volume, and the other two in the series, will long stand as the starting point for any serious study of the Ozarks region. Indeed, with the completion of this monumental effort, Blevins can justifiably claim the title once proudly held by Vance Randolph as 'Mr. Ozarks.'" --Missouri Historical Review
"Blevins writes history in a way that is compelling and readable, and this work is no exception. . . . Blevins has once again managed to deliver an important, intriguing, and relevant work about the history of the Ozark region." --Arkansas Review
"The Ozarkers is a remarkable book and a fitting conclusion to a powerful historical trilogy. . . . The Ozarkers will long stand as the definitive guide to the region's modern past." --Arkansas Historical Quarterly
Praise for past volumes:"Brooks Blevins is an expert in weaving many diverse strands into a seamless tapestry."--Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"A History of the Ozarks will undoubtedly become the standard history of that upland region for years to come."--Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette
"A History of the Ozarks gives these mountains and their many folk the story they deserve, energetically told." --Arkansas Historical Quarterly
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