Barbara stopped by the local
library for the first time in our new town in Massachusetts. The old, classic library with
stained glass, tall wooden shelves and no air conditioning seems to have a small
collection of books.
A handful of books were propped for display. Barbara did a double take when she noticed one of the books which was titled King’s Mountain. She picked it up thinking it can’t be the same Kings Mountain that we’re heading for in 8 days, but when she read the back of the book she realized it indeed was. The book by Sharyn McCrum is a historical fiction account of the battle.
Barbara checked out the book and read it. It’s hard to believe that this book that was not a #1 NY Times best seller and was not a famous historical event and did not happen anywhere near Massachusetts and wasn’t even one of those beachy summer reading books happened to be one of the few featured books in the library! In fact, we are pretty sure the book isn't even in print any longer.
A handful of books were propped for display. Barbara did a double take when she noticed one of the books which was titled King’s Mountain. She picked it up thinking it can’t be the same Kings Mountain that we’re heading for in 8 days, but when she read the back of the book she realized it indeed was. The book by Sharyn McCrum is a historical fiction account of the battle.
Barbara checked out the book and read it. It’s hard to believe that this book that was not a #1 NY Times best seller and was not a famous historical event and did not happen anywhere near Massachusetts and wasn’t even one of those beachy summer reading books happened to be one of the few featured books in the library! In fact, we are pretty sure the book isn't even in print any longer.
We are indeed heading to Kings Mountain
National Military
Park in South Carolina in just a few days for a
three month volunteer stint. We visited the park back in April and wrote about
that visit in a previous post. Now in the midst of getting settled in to
our new home, we are also preparing for our time at Kings Mountain.
The National Park rangers
lent us some books on the battle which we read.
They included a concise
summary of the battle, a collection of eyewitness accounts, and what is
considered the classic historical account, a well-researched history written in
the 19th century.* Interestingly the
author of the historical fiction book used the latter two books for her
research. Barbara also read through our friends’ blog posts on their experience
volunteering at Kings
Mountain (one of their posts), which
offered invaluable insight into the area, the history, and volunteering.
In the meantime we’ve
scrambled to get things completed with the house. We closed on the house three
weeks before our scheduled departure, so most of our focus has been on moving,
unpacking and setting things up. We tried to schedule all remaining work on the
builders’ punch list to be completed before we left. Hopefully all will be in
place before we leave.
 |
|
among other things, Bill
installed the mailbox & blinds,
Barbara watered bushes,
and the contractor replaced
the damaged toilet
|
Now we need to buy some
Dockers and hiking boots. Our Kings
Mountain adventure is
about to begin.
* Wilma Dykeman, With Fire and Sword; The Battle of Kings Mountain 1780, Robert M. Dunkerly, The Battle of Kings Mountain Eyewitness Accounts, and Lyman C. Draper, Kings Mountain and Its Heroes.
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* Wilma Dykeman, With Fire and Sword; The Battle of Kings Mountain 1780, Robert M. Dunkerly, The Battle of Kings Mountain Eyewitness Accounts, and Lyman C. Draper, Kings Mountain and Its Heroes.
