Thompson brings the area to life, offering a portrait of a place that the government forgot, a blue-collar town run amok with barefoot children and well-armed men. . . . A meticulous, exhaustive history of moonshining, poverty and Blue Ridge culture.--Kirkus Reviews
A well-researched and well-written study and a thought-provoking portrait of 1930s Appalachia.--Library Journal
An exceptionally passionate, sensitive, and complex analysis of Great Depression-era life in rural Virginia.--The Journal of Southern History
An informative and entertaining account of one of Appalachia's most enduring symbols, the moonshiner.--Virginia Magazine
This fascinating book convincingly argues the importance of national policy in creating and sustaining what has been perceived as a regional phenomenon. Thompson refutes easy stereotypes and instead gives us a well written and well researched account of what Edith Wharton called 'the hard considerations of the poor.'--Ron Rash, author of Serena: A Novel
A fabulous and thorough collection of stories, facts, drama, character portraits, and court proceedings, including a chronicle of the Great Moonshine Conspiracy Trial of 1935. . . . It reads smoothly and cleanly, like a tightly woven novel. And it's about far more than bootlegging, as Moby-Dick is about far more than whaling.--Garden & Gun
This informative, engaging work wonderfully reveals the culture and colorful history of a region with intimate ties to the illegal production and distribution of alcohol during 'Prohibition.'--Booklist
Thompson's book is eye-opening not only about the illicit liquor trade but also about the big stage on which moonshining occurred. He paints a rich picture of life in Virginia's mountains in the 1930s. . . . Moonshining has been written about before. But it's unlikely any previous treatment compares to Thompson's in doing justice both to the business and its setting in a certain American time and place.--Washington Independent Review of Books
Thompson tells an important and colorful story.--West Virginia History
Worthy of the attention of both scholars and an interested public.--The Historian
Spirits of Just Men is an example of microhistory at its best.--H-Net Reviews
A wonderful book! Nobody has ever brought more passionate interest, love, and real connection to a subject than Thompson, whose roots run deep in Franklin County. His examination of the economics of 'blockading'--or moonshining---is fascinating. And his evocation of the lost community of Endicott, its people, and its whole way of life is very moving. A native of southwest Virginia myself, I sat right down and read this book straight through, like a novel, with little shocks of recognition and pleasure all the way.--Lee Smith, author of Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger
A fascinating narrative of how mountain farmers responded to the challenges of making a living during hard times. Charles D. Thompson Jr. animates his rich and vivid story of the moonshine business in the 1930s with memorable characters and unique voices.--Patricia D. Beaver, coeditor of Tales from Sacred Wind: Coming of Age in Appalachia
In Spirits of Just Men, Charles D. Thompson Jr. takes us from a documentary of moonshining in a mountain community to a history of the nation. All in all an excellent read. We are grateful to him.--Will D. Campbell, author of Brother to a Dragonfly
