Why read Contested Borderland?

Book cover of Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia

Book description

From 1861 to 1865, the border separating eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was more than just a geographic marker -- it represented a major ideological split, serving as an "international" boundary between the United States and the Confederacy. The loyalties of those who lived in this mountainous region could not…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Contested Borderland as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Brad Asher

Author

I once stumbled onto a celebration of Confederate Memorial Day in a small Kentucky mountain town, but I had always been told that the mountains of eastern Kentucky were a stronghold of Unionism during the Civil War. McKnight’s book helped me understand the complexity of the Appalachian region and its experience of the war. Both armies used the mountain gaps as gateways to invasion, exploited the local residents, and despoiled the landscape. Life in the mountains in the 19th century had always been hard; the Civil War made it a lot harder.

From Brad's list on the Civil War and the Lost Cause in Kentucky.