Rating: 
Summary: A better understanding
Review: Recently I heard Huffman speak about his book. I was unfamiliar with the story he told. Although his talk was interesting enough to result in my purchase of the book, it did not prepare me for the journey i took once I read the book. This book is a must read for anyone interested in discovering an overlooked and fascinating piece of Mississippi history and the history of slavery. The story he tells is one we all should read for a better understanding of how the intentions of one country man in Mississippi a century later can influence a country in Africa.
Rating:
Summary: Great mix of history and current events
Review: The first section of this book, in telling the events that led to the freedom of the Prospect Hill slaves, provides the reader with a detailed historical background regarding slavery, the mood of the country, and the many complex forces working both for and against those slaves in the mid-Nineteenth Century United States. For a history buff, this was lagniappe on top of what was already a very fascinating story.The second section of the book chronicles the author's trip to Liberia to contact descendants of the freed slaves. Again, in addition to a very interesting story, the reader is treated to more, from the history of the country to a detailed account of present day conditions in this impoverished, war-torn country. The author took an interesting story and did a great job of putting it on paper. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in history.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting Story
Review: What a great story. This book covers so many subjects in a complete and interesting way. There is the detective story of the slaves of Prospect Hill Plantation and their lives, a story of the current state of affairs in southern Mississippi and finally a gripping account of modern day Liberia and its turbulent history. Just a great story that I wished would go on longer.
Rating:
Summary: Reading into the wee hours!
Review: Wow! Thank you, Alan! I'm still reading this amazing book, which I began night before last. You make me feel like I am on the journey with you as you pursue the threads of this story. I couldn't put the book down the first night I decided to read a couple of pages before going to sleep. And you were talking about a crummy, boring will, for God's sake! How could you rivet me to your page by talking about a will? In spite of my promise to myself that I wouldn't stay up like that the next night, it happened again. I began to understand the part of my family that moved to Mississippi. We're white. In fact, I began to understand America better. I can place my African-American grand-niece into a better framework of 'the big picture.' Her father was African. I can understand the black man I almost married. Alan, you are a story-teller in the old tradition, the way I was raised. You invite people into your space, to walk with you and think along with you, to feel with you. Anyone who calls you 'narcissistic' or 'self-preoccupied' with your own research is probably so anesthetized against real human interaction that he or she prefers that every observation about the world be sterilized into the third person, like an encyclopedia. I'm old enough now to see through that. You hooked my interest and aroused my passion for this story. That's good. I could've put this book down after the first five pages, but now I'm going to buy it, even after I finish reading the library's copy.
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