The largely untold story of the great migration of white southerners to the industrial Midwest and its profound and enduring political and social consequences Over the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, as many as eight million whites left the economically depressed southern countryside and migrated to the booming factory towns and cities of the industrial Midwest in search of work. The "hillbilly highway" was one of the largest internal relocations of poor and working people in American history, yet it has largely escaped close study by historians. In Hillbilly Highway, Max Fraser recovers the long-overlooked story of this massive demographic event and reveals how it has profoundly influenced American history and culture—from the modern industrial labor movement and the postwar urban crisis to the rise of today’s white working-class conservatives. The book draws on a diverse range of sources—from government reports, industry archives, and union records to novels, memoirs, oral histories, and country music—to narrate the distinctive class experience that unfolded across the Transappalachian migration during these critical decades. As the migration became a terrain of both social advancement and marginalization, it knit together white working-class communities across the Upper South and the Midwest—bringing into being a new cultural region that remains a contested battleground in American politics to the present. The compelling story of an important and neglected chapter in American history, Hillbilly Highway upends conventional wisdom about the enduring political and cultural consequences of the great migration of white southerners in the twentieth century.

Capitol HillBilly Elegy: J.D. Vance From Appalachia to Vice President: A Journey of Hope and Transformation Dive into the incredible life story of J.D. Vance in "Capitol HillBilly Elegy." From the rugged hills of Appalachia to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., this book charts an inspiring journey of resilience, determination, and transformation. Explore how Vance’s early life, marked by hardship and perseverance, propelled him to serve in the military, graduate from Yale Law School, and rise as a prominent political figure. With a unique blend of conservatism and populism, Vance has become a powerful voice for the forgotten and a symbol of hope for the American dream. Uncover the untold stories behind his bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," his ideological evolution, and his vision for the future of America. Whether you're a fan of political biographies, an admirer of Vance’s work, or someone seeking inspiration, this book offers a captivating and motivational read. Join J.D. Vance on his remarkable journey from Appalachia to the vice presidency and be inspired by a story that embodies the spirit of transformation and the promise of a brighter future. Get your copy of "Capitol HillBilly Elegy" today and witness the power of hope and determination!

This book represents 27 compelling conversations with the creme de la creme of country music. 27 photos.

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Hillbilly Elegy tells you what you need to know—before or after you read J.D. Vance’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Hillbilly Elegy includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Character profiles Important quotes Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance: Hillbilly Elegy is both an honest, heartbreaking memoir about what it’s really like to grow up in poverty and strife and a searing, thought-provoking take on the growing class divide in America. Hillbilly Elegy touches on how, as a country, we got here—and what, must be done to reverse the damage. As Ivy League–educated lawyer and Sillicon Valley principal J.D. Vance looks back on his childhood in Jackson, Kentucky, and Ohio, he recalls a youth marred by violence, poverty, and substance abuse, but also one of deep love and family loyalty. He tackles difficult questions about social class, upward mobility, and what it means to feel disenfranchised in your own country. His highly personal account guides readers to an understanding of rural conservatives, and how an entire segment of people transformed from New Deal democrats to right-wing Republicans. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER IS NOW A MAJOR-MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD AND STARRING AMY ADAMS, GLENN CLOSE, AND GABRIEL BASSO "You will not read a more important book about America this year."—The Economist "A riveting book."—The Wall Street Journal "Essential reading."—David Brooks, New York Times Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for more than forty years, has been reported with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually one of their grandchildren would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that J.D.'s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, never fully escaping the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. With piercing honesty, Vance shows how he himself still carries around the demons of his chaotic family history. A deeply moving memoir, with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER / OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD From Donald Trump's 2024 Vice-Presidential Candidate ‘Essential reading for this moment in history’ New York Times

Interweaving social, political, environmental, economic, and popular history, John Alexander Williams chronicles four and a half centuries of the Appalachian past. Along the way, he explores Appalachia's long-contested boundaries and the numerous, often contradictory images that have shaped perceptions of the region as both the essence of America and a place apart. Williams begins his story in the colonial era and describes the half-century of bloody warfare as migrants from Europe and their American-born offspring fought and eventually displaced Appalachia's Native American inhabitants. He depicts the evolution of a backwoods farm-and-forest society, its divided and unhappy fate during the Civil War, and the emergence of a new industrial order as railroads, towns, and extractive industries penetrated deeper and deeper into the mountains. Finally, he considers Appalachia's fate in the twentieth century, when it became the first American region to suffer widespread deindustrialization, and examines the partial renewal created by federal intervention and a small but significant wave of in-migration. Throughout the book, a wide range of Appalachian voices enlivens the analysis and reminds us of the importance of storytelling in the ways the people of Appalachia define themselves and their region.

"On August 28 Vermont was struck by Tropical Storm Irene. ... As much as seven inches of rain fell on an already saturated Green Mountain state. What resulted was a most "imperfect storm" that devastated some watersheds while leaving others relatively unaffected. Nowhere were the inequities of this storm more apparent than with the White River and its colorfully named tributaries ... Stony, Gilead, Thayer, Riford, Flint, Jail, and Camp Brook. This is the story of a storm, but also the storm stories that resulted."--Cover.

On August 28, 2011, after pounding the Caribbean and the U.S. Eastern seaboard for more than a week, Hurricane Irene finally made landfall in New Jersey. As the storm headed into New England, it was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm. And by Sunday afternoon, national news outlets were giving postmortems on the damage. Except for some flooding in low-lying areas, New York City--Irene's biggest target--had escaped its worst-case scenario. Story over. But the story wasn't over. As Irene's eye drifted north, its bands of heavy rains twisted westward over Vermont's Green Mountains. The mountains forced these bands upward, wringing the rain out of them like water from a sponge. Streams and rivers were transformed into torrents of brown water and debris, gouging mountainsides, reshaping valleys, washing out roads, pulling apart bridges, and carrying away homes, livestock, and automobiles. For weeks, mountain towns were isolated, with no way in or out, and thousands of people were left homeless. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, it fell on the shoulders of ordinary Vermonters to help victims and rebuild the state. Deluge is the complete story of the floods, the rescue, and the recovery, as seen through the eyes of the people who lived through them: Wilmington's Lisa Sullivan, whose bookstore was flooded, and town clerk Susie Haughwout, who saved the town records; Tracy Payne, who lost her home in Jamaica--everything in it, and the land on which it sat; Geo Honigford in South Royalton, who lost his crops, but put his own mess on hold to help others in the town; the men who put U.S. Route 4 back together at breakneck speed; and the entire village of Pittsfield, completely isolated after the storm, and its inspirational story of real community.