This splendid anthology offers an engaging journey through four centuries of North Carolina life. It draws on a wealth of sources--histories, biographies, diaries, novels, short stories, newspapers, and magazines--to show how North Carolina's rich history and remarkable literary achievements cut across economic and racial lines in often surprising ways. There are selections by or about some of the state's best-known sons and daughters, from Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson to Ava Gardner, Doris Betts, and Tom Wicker; and topics covered include politics, sports, business, family life, education, race, religion, and war. |Desmangles analyzes the mythology and rituals of Vodou, the folk religion of Haiti and a by-product of the contact between Roman Catholicism and African and Amerindian traditional religions. Focusing on the inclusion of West African and European elements