Night Comes to Cumberlands

Rating:
Summary: A significant text in understanding poverty
Review: Harry Caudill was a native of Eastern Kentucky. His narrative of life in what has become a monument to corporate greed is sensitive, feeling, and very much to the point. The people of the Cumberland Plateau are a polyglot mixture, which Mr Caudill takes great pains to unravel. This part of the book is truly exceptional, and is enriched, not cheapened by Mr Caudill's tracing of his own ancestry back to the times of the Spanish Armada.

Mr.Caudill shows how a wholly separate culture developed from the combination of escapee indentured servant, local Native Americans, and Eastern Europeans. He expertly portrays the religious fundamentalism, outsider domination, and cynical exploitation that have held these people back from self-achievement over the generations. Mr. Caudill tells you how the land, the rivers, and human lives have been repeatedly despoiled by King Coal. He feelingly describes the squalor, poverty, ill health, and tragedies suffered by the region's people. It is not a tale for the overly sensitive, certainly.

Mr. Caudill reflects the ethos of his generation by advocating large-scale government programs to allay the region's problems, a "solution' this writer views with some skepticism. Nothwithstanding this, Mr. Caudill is a genius at showing how particular regions evolve very differently from their neighbors and what happens to those who are left behind.

I recommend the book to anyone interested in regional sociology, the South, and the Appalachian country. It is well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: A significant text in understanding poverty
Review: Harry Caudill was a native of Eastern Kentucky. His narrative of life in what has become a monument to corporate greed is sensitive, feeling, and very much to the point. The people of the Cumberland Plateau are a polyglot mixture, which Mr Caudill takes great pains to unravel. This part of the book is truly exceptional, and is enriched, not cheapened by Mr Caudill's tracing of his own ancestry back to the times of the Spanish Armada.

Mr.Caudill shows how a wholly separate culture developed from the combination of escapee indentured servant, local Native Americans, and Eastern Europeans. He expertly portrays the religious fundamentalism, outsider domination, and cynical exploitation that have held these people back from self-achievement over the generations. Mr. Caudill tells you how the land, the rivers, and human lives have been repeatedly despoiled by King Coal. He feelingly describes the squalor, poverty, ill health, and tragedies suffered by the region's people. It is not a tale for the overly sensitive, certainly.

Mr. Caudill reflects the ethos of his generation by advocating large-scale government programs to allay the region's problems, a "solution' this writer views with some skepticism. Nothwithstanding this, Mr. Caudill is a genius at showing how particular regions evolve very differently from their neighbors and what happens to those who are left behind.

I recommend the book to anyone interested in regional sociology, the South, and the Appalachian country. It is well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting account of the people of Eastern Kentucky.
Review: I read this book for a rural sociology class. Being a native Kentuckian, I was amazed how much I actually learned about this part of our state. I knew all the negative stereotypes, but this book gave a foundation on which to explain them. Very good book - although depressing. For someone who loves Kentucky and thinks it's the most beautiful place on earth, to read of the exploitation of the people and the destruction of the natural beauty of the Cumberland Plateau is upsetting. Even more upsetting is that little progress has been made. A definite read if you are interested in Appalachia or Kentucky.

Rating:
Summary: From 'Root Hog or Die' to 'Can You Spare a Dollar, Please.'
Review: Taking a quote from the book, it could well have been subtitled: From 'Root Hog or Die' to 'Can You Spare a Dollar, Please.' Although it traces the history primarily of the Eastern Kentucky Cumberland Plateau area, there are probably some similarities with the character of life in similar mountain country in parts of West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee. While it describes the history from the time of the first non-native settlers until about 1963, the book is essentially a plea for outside help for the area. The author suggests the formation of a Southern Mountain Authority to be much like the Tennessee Valley Authority. He states "The T.V.A. demonstrated the means by which many of the world's trouble spots can be rescued. It's example now offers solid assurance that, for low direct cost to the taxpayers, America can successfully attack the ills of the Southern highlands in a campaign that will eventually benefit every one of the fifty states." He does not let TVA off without criticism, though, because he blames TVA for much of the motivations that lead to increased strip mining rather than deep mining. He claims that in 1953 TVA began changing from a "benevolent government agency whose masters gave every evidence of a wise dedication to public service" into "a mammoth corporation which subordinated all other considerations to low costs and balanced budgets."

Other than the concluding plea for help, the book is depressing, and offers little hope. It traces the history from fiercely independent settlers, through company coal towns, to a severely depressed welfare state with poor schools, which threaten to perpetuate the problems indefinitely. Despite the depressing aspects, the history is well written and interesting.

In predicting the continued decline of the coal industry, the author does reasonably well, but does not foresee the formation of an organization like OPEC, and he makes an interesting, perhaps over-confident comment about nuclear power. He says, "The growing petroleum glut and the network of natural gas pipelines lessen coal's importance with each passing season. Within a few years tireless atomic reactors will provide much of the electric power now made from coal."

Rating:
Summary: Night Comes to the Cumberlands Review
Review: This book would easily serve as an excellent history book for 8th graders living in and near south-eastern Kentucky. It doesn't read as easily as Caudill's stories and tales about the people and politics of this region, but it is valuable for anyone who wants to know about his or her history and why it happened the way it did. Sometimes sad and depressing but still factual and truthful, this book will define the area and its people for many years to come.