A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks

Geologic forces raised the Ozarks. Myth enshrouds these hills. Human beings shaped them and were shaped by them. The Ozarks reflect the epic tableau of the American people-the native Osage and would-be colonial conquerors, the determined settlers and on-the-make speculators, the endless labors of hardscrabble farmers and capitalism of visionary entrepreneurs. The Old Ozarks is the first volume of a monumental three-part history of the region and its inhabitants. Brooks Blevins begins in deep prehistory, charting how these highlands of granite, dolomite, and limestone came to exist. From there he turns to the political and economic motivations behind the eagerness of many peoples to possess the Ozarks. Blevins places these early proto-Ozarkers within the context of larger American history and the economic, social, and political forces that drove it forward. But he also tells the varied and colorful human stories that fill the region’s storied past-and contribute to the powerful myths and misunderstandings that even today distort our views of the Ozarks’ places and people. A sweeping history in the grand tradition, A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks is essential reading for anyone who cares about the highland heart of America.

Reviews of A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks

"The story of the Old Ozarks is richly compelling and frustratingly complicated. There is no person better equipped to tell that story than Brooks Blevins. He has the research skills to pull together the disparate threads of Ozark history and the skill to weave those threads into a beautiful tapestry that combines the fine attention to detail possessed by the best historians and the artistic flair of a master storyteller."–Daniel S. Pierce, author of The Great Smokies: From National Habitat to National Park