By Judy Fowler Kilgore

I don’t normally do book reviews in this column but I can’t resist telling you about this one. This is not even a genealogy book. My reasons for mentioning the book pertain to genealogy, though, because, as I’ve said many times, history and genealogy go hand in hand.

The book is a historical novel — many fictional characters in a factual setting — and concerns events prior to, during, and immediately following the Revolutionary War. Many characters are also factual — those known to have been influential and “important” during that time.

I don’t know about you, but I have trouble visualizing how life was in America more than 200 years ago. We in genealogy collect the facts ... they moved here, they moved there; they bought land here and bought land there; they had children; they died and are buried in a certain cemetery ... in marked or unmarked graves; or maybe we don’t know where they are buried at all. We find them, we lose them. We pick up a thread later and carry on with our story. But what happened in between? Why did they move? Why can we not find their graves? What was their life like on a day-to-day basis? What were the events going on around them that affected those lives?

These are the things in President Carter’s book which are so helpful, at least to me. I am beginning to learn things that may lead me to some answers. And, although some of his characters are fictional, the events in their lives probably parallel the lives of our ancestors who lived during that era. Some of the characters in the story are said to have been based on the lives of President Carter’s ancestors. And, it appears they came down the pike just as most of ours did ... from Pennsylvania, Delaware or Maryland, down through Virginia and the Carolinas, and into Georgia in the 1700s.

I always assumed that the reason for settlers moving was for more and better farmland. It never dawned on me that the political climate had anything to do with it. (Dumb me!) I’m sure it was back there in my mind somewhere, but I just never thought about it seriously.

But, President Carter’s book painfully points out that there were crooked politicians and mean spirited people since ... forever, I guess. People dutifully filed their land grants and worked their farms for no other reason than just existing from day to day. But, if the powers that be wanted the land, or didn’t like the political leanings of the resident, the land grant papers were mysteriously “lost” and settlers were forced to move.

The book also depicts in a factual way, the part that four main groups played in the Revolutionary War: The British and those colonists loyal to the King; the colonists who wanted freedom because of the unfairness of the way they were treated; the Indians; and slaves. Within these groups we find good people and bad people; some who just wanted to mind their own business and be left alone; power-hungry people and inept people; and some who were just downright brutal, crude, and mean.

That is another thing depicted with painful clarity: the brutality of those times. I never thought much about that either, but, if you think the characters in “Deliverance” were mean, you need to meet some of those in President Carter’s book. In some places, the language is quite graphic, but true to character of those who use it and necessary to paint the proper picture.

After the characters are shown moving down the path most of our ancestors took to Georgia, the setting is mainly in our state, which, of course means a lot to me because most of my direct ancestors were in Georgia early on. Some of the events also mention St. Augustine and locations in South Carolina, as well as activities taking place at the same time “up north.”

But, you have to remember that Georgia, in the beginning, was just a narrow strip of land along what is now the border of South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean. Anything west of that was Indian territory and settlers took their chances going beyond the border. Most of the action and “meat” of the book takes place from just below Savannah to just north of Augusta. The military tactics are explained, but not dwelled upon, and even I, who has never studied any war in great detail, could understand them. The book is utterly fascinating, for war buffs and non-war buffs alike. It is obvious that the research was done with great attention to detail.

Not only did President Carter write the book, but also did the illustration on the cover, which depicts a buckskin clad settler, complete with moccasins and powder horn, standing behind a tree, pointing his rifle at a flock of British soldiers across a narrow river.

If you are having trouble putting your ancestors into the proper setting in the 1700s, or understanding what they did and why, this book may help you as it did me. It’s published by Simon and Schuster and the cover price is $27.

Although I purchased mine at Scott’s Bookstore in Newnan, it is available at any major bookstore. Actually, I bought the first copy for my mother’s Christmas present (she requested it), took it home and read the inside cover flap, then went back and bought two more — one for myself and one for my son-in-law. I have not been disappointed. Every night, my bedroom walls disappear as I am taken back to the 1700s in Georgia. This is history “come alive.”

I welcome your letters about genealogy and info on your Atlanta metro families. Send them to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

(Judy regrets that time does not permit her to do personal research for others.)