Cades Cove: The Life and Death of a Southern Appalachian Community

by Durwood Dunn

Book Overview

Winner of the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award

Drawing on a rich trove of documents never before available to scholars, Durwood Dunn sketches the early pioneers, their daily lives, their beliefs, and their struggles to survive and prosper in this isolated mountain community, now within the confines of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In moving detail this book brings to life an isolated mountain community, its struggle to survive, and the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870495593
• ISBN13: 9780870495595
• Release Date: August 1988
• Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Book!

Lots of good information. We have visited the Cove quite a few times over the years and still enjoy it very much each time, but it's much more interesting, learning some of the history behind it and knowing about how the settlers lived.

The most accurate account yet of Cades Cove

I've long been interested in Cades Cove history. As a native East Tennessean, I grew up with the many stories in legends that came from the area. Dunn, grandson of the last man to leave the cove, uses town records and family stories to paint a vivid account of life in the area. Dunn addresses many of the misconceptions about the town and shows a town of people that struggled from the town's beginning to the forced withdrawal to build the Great Smokies National Park. This book will most appeal to scholars, but anyone interested in Southern history would also enjoy it. Highly recommended.

Cades Cove

I have visited Cades Cove over 10 times and still find something interesting on each trip. This book was extremely insightful because I actually knew many of the names in the book and the places discussed. If you've never been to the area, you may find the book less insightful though. I love Cades Cove, and I loved this book.

A must read for those interested in Appalachian history!

After a trip to Cades Cove and Townsend to research my family tree I was intrigued by the area. Mr. Dunn's work on Cades Cove presents the history of the area in a well-researched yet enjoyable manner. I read the book in a sitting. I would really like to know more about the Chestnut Flats area!