Authors Series continues with historian Stephen Ash

In his most recent book, "A Year in the South: Four Lives in 1865," historian and UT history professor Stephen Ash puts a face—actually four faces—on the devastation by focusing on the daily lives of real, ordinary people.

Ash, who is the author of seven books on the American Civil War and Reconstruction and Tennessee history, discusses how he came to write the book when he speaks at Pellissippi State from noon to 1 on Oct. 23. The event will be in the Goins Auditorium. 1865. "When that year began," Ash wrote, "the Old South—incarnated forty-seven months earlier as the Confederate States of America—still stood. When that year ended, the Old South was gone and a New South was taking shape."

"Four Lives" watches the far-reaching changes unfold, from one season to the next, through the eyes of a slave relegated to the Alabama salt works, a struggling Confederate widow living in Virginia with her seven children, a Mississippi minister and son of a planter, and a former Confederate soldier from East Tennessee, 18-year-old John Collier Robertson.

"Four Lives" is, as one reader rates it, "a book you will enjoy reading even if you start with no interest in the Civil War or the South." Ash's engaging and personal writing style, coupled with the depth of his research, are what make the book so powerful—as is exemplified in this excerpt, taken from Robertson's memoirs:

There was a point where the road passed through a stretch of thick woods. As they entered it, Bacon suddenly stopped, pulled out his pistol, cocked it, and curled his finger around the trigger.
"What do you mean by treating me in that way?" John demanded.
"I mean to blow your brains out right here," Bacon replied.
"You will give me your cause first, wont you?"
"Because you bushwhacked me in Washing[ton] Co. sir."
"I never bushwhacked you in Washington sir."
"You are a d__d l[iar], and here you'll die."

  The event, the second in the yearlong Authors Series, is sponsored by Edward Francisco, who is the College's writer-in-residence, and the English Department. The presentation is free, and the public—be it the Civil War buff or the person who just likes good storytelling—is encouraged to attend. Call 694-6744 or email efrancisco@pstcc.edu for more information.