When originally published, A New History of Kentucky provided a
comprehensive study of the Commonwealth, bringing it to life by
revealing the many faces, deep traditions, and historical milestones of
the state. With new discoveries and findings, the narrative continues to
evolve, and so does the telling of Kentucky's rich history. In this
second edition, authors James C. Klotter and Craig Thompson Friend
provide significantly revised content with updated material on gender
politics, African American history, and cultural history. This
wide-ranging volume includes a full overview of the state and its
economic, educational, environmental, racial, and religious histories.
At its essence, Kentucky's story is about its people -- not just the
notable and prominent figures but also lesser-known and sometimes
overlooked personalities. The human spirit unfolds through the lives of
individuals such as Shawnee peace chief Nonhelema Hokolesqua and
suffrage leader Madge Breckinridge, early land promoter John Filson,
author Wendell Berry, and Iwo Jima flag--raiser Private Franklin
Sousley. They lived on a landscape defined by its topography as much as
its political boundaries, from Appalachia in the east to the Jackson
Purchase in the west, and from the Walker Line that forms the
Commonwealth's southern boundary to the Ohio River that shapes its
northern boundary. Along the journey are traces of Kentucky's past --
its literary and musical traditions, its state-level and national
political leadership, and its basketball and bourbon. Yet this volume
also faces forthrightly the Commonwealth's blemishes -- the displacement
of Native Americans, African American enslavement, the legacy of
violence, and failures to address poverty and poor health. A New
History of Kentucky ranges throughout all parts of the Commonwealth to
explore its special meaning to those who have called it home. It is a
broadly interpretive, all-encompassing narrative that tells Kentucky's
complex, extensive, and ever-changing story.
