About the Book

Discovering North Carolina: A Tar Heel Reader

Book Synopsis

This splendid anthology offers an engaging journey through four centuries of North Carolina life. It draws on a wealth of sources -- histories, biographies, diaries, novels, short stories, newspapers, and magazines -- to show how North Carolina's rich history and remarkable literary achievements cut across economic and racial lines in often surprising ways. There are selections by or about some of the state's best-known sons and daughters, from Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson to Ava Gardner, Doris Betts, and Tom Wicker; and topics covered include politics, sports, business, family life, education, race, religion, and war.

From the Back Cover

This splendid anthology offers an engaging journey through four centuries of North Carolina life. It draws on a wealth of sources--histories, biographies, diaries, novels, short stories, newspapers, and magazines--to show how North Carolinas rich history and remarkable literary achievements cut across economic and racial lines in often surprising ways.

Review Quotes

"Deserves a spot in the library of any curious Tar Heel." -- Greensboro News and Record

"I plan to treasure Discovering North Carolina. And when I teach North Carolina literature again, I plan to require it. This collection reminds me all over again, that history is people: our thoughts, our emotions, our beliefs -- what makes us mad, what moves us, what we would die for. . . . Whoever thought history could be so much fun?" -- Lee Smith, author of Fair and Tender Ladies

"The most interesting book about North Carolina I've ever read -- and one of the most interesting books about anything. . . . A lively, rich compendium, funny and poignant and inspiring, like North Carolina. And full of surprises. I really love the book." -- Charles Kuralt

About the Author

Jack Claiborne, longtime associate editor of The Charlotte Observer, is now vice president of Park Communications, Inc. William Price is Kenan Professor of History at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.