{"product_id":"visions-of-the-black-belt-a-cultural-survey-of-the-heart-of-alabama","title":"Visions of the Black Belt","description":"In \u003cem\u003eVisions of the Black Belts\u003c\/em\u003e, Robin McDonald and Valerie Pope Burne offer a richly illustrated tour of the Black Belt, the fertile arc that represents the cultural efflorescence of Alabama’s heartland. Like knowledgeable friends, McDonald and Burnes guide readers through the Black Belt’s towns and architecture and introduce the region’s great panoply of citizens, farmers, craftspeople, cooks, writers, and musicians.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA constellation of Black Belt towns arose during Alabama’s territorial decades, communities like Selma, Camden, Eutaw, Tuskegee, Greenville, and many more. \u003cem\u003eVisions of the Black Belts\u003c\/em\u003e recounts their stories and others, such as Demopolis’s founding by exiles from Napoleon’s France. As an escarpment of clouds scuds across an indigo sky, the ruins of Alabama’s lost capital of Cahaba reveal the secrets of its lost squares. Also on this picturesque tour are the Black Belt’s homes, from artless cabins wreathed in fern to ozymandian manses wrapped by stately columns, such as Kirkwood and Reverie.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmong the emblematic houses of worship lovingly photographed in \u003cem\u003eVisions of the Black Belts\u003c\/em\u003e is Prairieville’s St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, noted for its “carpenter gothic” style. Also reflecting the region’s history of faith are poignant graveyards such as Greenville’s Pioneer Cemetery with its homespun memorials of seashell-and-concrete and the elegant marbles clad in ebon lichen of Selma's Live Oak Cemetery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn photos and text, McDonald and Burnes bring to life the layers of history that shaped the Black Belt’s tastes, sounds, and colors. Their gastronomic discoveries include the picant crawfish of the Faunsdale Bar \u0026amp; Grill and GainesRidge Dining Club’s famed Black Bottom pie. They bring the sounds of the Black Belt to life by presenting a wide range of musicians and musical events, from bona fide blues and soul masters to Eutaw’s Black Belt Roots Festival.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIncluding two maps and more than 370 full-color photographs, \u003cem\u003eVisions of the Black Belts\u003c\/em\u003e offers a timeless message of faith, determination, and the rich simplicity of living in harmony with the rhythms of the land and nature.","brand":"The University of Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54187146477912,"sku":null,"price":40.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780817318796_82820ae8-3b21-4063-9430-b163788d8d10.jpg?v=1778672752","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/visions-of-the-black-belt-a-cultural-survey-of-the-heart-of-alabama","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}