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  • JSF Associate Memberships

    $15.00$1,000.00
    Becoming an Associate Member in the JSF is an important way to support efforts to preserve the human and literary legacy of Jesse Stuart and the Appalachian way of life. An Associate Membership lasts one full year. At the time of joining and renewing, Associate Members receive:
    • a gift premium in the form of a discount on the first purchase or a gift certificate that can be used at any time by anyone;
    • a 10% discount on all purchases in the JSF Bookstore;
    • the JSF Update newsletter (via e-mail or US mail) and invitations to all JSF events
    NOTE: After purchasing, you can expect to receive a communication from the JSF with details of your membership benefits.
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  • Sale!

    True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia (Buy 4, Get 1 Free)

    Original price was: $125.00.Current price is: $100.00.
    This book captures the spirit of Christmas in 43 true stories by 39 authors. Thirty-five of the stories are set in Kentucky and the others are from neighboring states. All of these powerful and well-written stories emanate from the heart of Appalachia, and many attach themselves to your heart. This is a great Christmas gift book! SOFTBACK VERSION FULL COLOR INTERIOR (You will receive 5 copies of this book for the price of 4)
  • Eckert published six novels in his The Winning of America series that include accounts of frontiersmen and notable Native Americans. He conducted extensive research for his works — and inserted fictional dialogue for his historical figures. The series includes the six books below and is a perennial JSF best seller:
    • The Frontiersmen
    • Wilderness Empire
    • The Conquerors
    • The Wilderness War
    • The Gateway to Empire
    • The Twilight of Empire
  • Sale!

    8-Book Christmas Package

    Original price was: $125.00.Current price is: $75.00.
    8-Book Christmas Package

    $75.00 Sale Price ($125.00 Retail)

    I’ll Be Home for Christmas, by The Library of Congress True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia, compilation published by JSF in 2019 Appalachian Christmas Stories, JSF published Snow Day, by Billy Coffey The Christmas Quilt, by Thomas J. Davis The Beatinest Boy, by Jesse Stuart Missing Christmas, by Jack D. Ellis Christmas Day in the Morning, by Pearl S. Buck, illustrated by Mark Buehner
  • The Jesse Stuart Foundations Monograph Series. By Jesse Stuart
  • When Thomas D. Clark was hired to teach history at the University of Kentucky in 1931, he began a career that would span nearly three-quarters of a century and would profoundly change not only the history department and the university but the entire Commonwealth. His still-definitive History of Kentucky(1937) was one of more than thirty books he would write or edit that dealt with Kentucky, the South, and the American frontier. By Thomas D. Clark
  • Jesse Stuart Junior Book Set (9 Books)
    • Andy Finds a Way
    • Beatinest Boy
    • Bluetick Pig
    • Come to My Tomorrowland
    • Huey the Engineer
    • Old Ben
    • Penny's Worth of Character
    • Red Mule
    • Rightful Owner
    SOFTBACKS By Jesse Stuart
  • Morehead Memories recalls the struggle of a city and a county to advance from a raw, violent, feud filled region into a modern educational, commercial, cultural and medical center in Eastern Kentucky. The author uses interviews, documented research and personal memories to vividly tell the story of the people, places, institutions and events through which this marvelous transformation was accomplished. HARDBACK By Jack D. Ellis
  • "In Kentucky Memories: Reflections of Rowan County, Jack Ellis has demonstrated an awareness of the important role of local history. During the past century-and-a-half, the human population of this amoeba-like area, carved out of Fleming and Morgan Counties, has matured into an Appalachian folk, cultural, economic, educational, and medical center. Literally scores of people have contributed both positively and negatively to the history of this community, and each of their acts in some form or another should remain as a record of their presence and activities. In the same way, every important human act documenting the past should should be passed on to future generations as a foundation for its presence and actions." — Dr. Thomas D. Clark HARDCOVER By Jack D. Ellis
  • No part of American history is more exciting than the 1770s, when Europeans first settled west of the Appalachian mountains in the land now known as Kentucky. Simon Kenton’s story is synonymous with the story of that era. His life of excitement, adventure, and danger on the frontier made him one of the leading heroes of that time and, eventually a Kentucky legend. By Thomas D. Clark
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  • Patriots & Heroes: Eastern Kentucky Soldiers of WW II profiles the physical pain, and also the psychological and emotional stress suffered by a dozen of America's Citizen Soldiers in WW II. Their stories are representative of the courage, suffering, sacrifice and separation faced by the American GIs of that war. Included among these twelve are stories of POWs, KIAs, MIAs and many that returned home safely to become valuable, productive members of their community. The author uses interviews, letters, documents, and personal experiences to poignantly present their stories. HARDBACK By Jack D. Ellis
    • Song of the River
    • The Trail of the Hunter's Horn
    • Riverboy
    • Useless Dog
    • The Mooneyed Hound
    By Billy C. Clark
  • Prepare to Meet Me in Heaven: The Story of Gertrude Ramey SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Dr. Robert Emerson French
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  • Out of stock
    Winning of the West: Book 2 The Infinite Dream: The Opening of the Great American West, told with all the historical detail which made Allan W. Eckert famous, explores America’s westward expansion beyond the Mississippi River, 1834-1848. In this period before the Civil War, restless pioneers were casting eager eyes on the lands between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
  • Winning of the West: Book 1 This riveting book may well be the most historically accurate and detailed telling of the 1846-47 Donner-Reed Party's traumatic journey to California. Of the hundreds of wagon trains traveling west, only the Donner Party left an indelible imprint on our national imagination, the wagon trains fame sealed by its terrible fate. Eckert's masterful telling brings alive the Donner Party's 88 members and the fates of the eleven families and numerous single men who risked all, of whom just 51 survived. He enriches the compelling tale with vivid descriptions of the colorful characters, both in the party and among those they met: mountain men, native peoples both hostile and helpful, and more. This poignant and dramatic account provides a rigorously accurate and comprehensive telling of one of America's great pioneer sagas. SIGNED HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
  • Winning of the West: Book 3 Gold Fever focuses upon the early phase of the Gold Rush era, beginning in early 1848 and concluding in September, 1849. Allan Eckert, a widely admired historian, relates in compelling detail the intriguing chain of developments in this great national obsession, including the following profoundly influential ones:
    • Gold's initial discovery
    • The early-spring local gold rush
    • The entire country's evolving response to the California gold rumors
    HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
  • Gateway to Empire

    $19.00$35.00
    The Winning of America Series: Book 5 of 6 With his unmatched ability to bring our vibrant early history to life, Allan W. Eckert now presents his latest saga of the battle for the North American wilderness. Here, in all its fascinating human drama, is the struggle to control the "gateway to empire" — Chicago Portage, the vital link between the East and the untapped riches of the west. Caught up in the turbulent sweep of events are two men--John Kinzie, a successful trader with a heroic taste for a new frontiers who fought to live in mutual respect with the Indians, and Tecumseh the Shawnee leader, a man of unparalleled wisdom and courage who would see his dream of a united Indian empire betrayed. As the British move toward the war 1812 both men and their people would be trapped in a tragic conflict that would threaten the land they so passionately loved. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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  • The Wilderness War

    $24.00$35.00
    The Winning of America Series: Book 4 of 6 From Niagara Falls to Lake Champlain, the warriors of the mighty Iroquois ruled supreme. Not even the savagery of the French and Indian wars could cool their fury or halt their power. But by 1770 the restless white men were warring once again. Thayendanegea, the valiant Iroquois war chief, allied his fierce tribes with the one white man the Indians loved and trusted, Sir William Johnson. Once more the frontier would erupt, pitting the Indians' unvanquished spirit against the white setters' relentless challenge. Allan W. Eckert's Narratives of America are true sagas of the brave men and courageous women who won our land. Every character and event in this sweeping series is drawn from actual history and woven into the vast and powerful epic that was America's westward expansion. Allan W. Eckert has made America's heritage an authentic, exciting, and powerful reading experience. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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  • The Conquerors

    $24.00$35.00
    The Winning of America Series: Book 3 of 6 The Conquerors, the third volume in Allan Eckert's acclaimed series, The Winning of America, continues the narrative of The Frontiersmen and Wilderness Empire: the violent and monumental story of the wresting of the North American continent from the Indians. But the locale has moved westward—to the northern frontiers of Pennsylvania, to Michigan and the Green Bay area, especially the crucial outposts of Fort Pitt and Fort Detroit, Sandusky and Mackinac. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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  • Wilderness Empire

    $19.00$35.00
    The Winning of America Series: Book 2 of 6 For over two hundred years no Indian force in America was so powerful and feared as the Iroquois League. Throughout two thirds of this continent, the cry of "The Iroquois are coming!" was enough to demoralize entire tribes. But these Iroquois occupied and controlled a vast wilderness empire which beckoned like a precious gem to foreign powers. France and England secured toeholds and suddenly each was claiming as its own this land of the Iroquois. Alliance with the Indians was the key; whichever power controlled them could destroy the other. Wilderness Empire is the gripping narrative of the eighteenth-century struggle of these two powers to win for themselves the allegiance of the Indians in a war for territorial dominance, yet without letting these Indians know that the prize of the war would be this very Iroquois land. It is the story of English strength hamstrung by incredible incompetence, of French power sapped by devastating corruption. It is the story of the English, Indian and French individuals whose lives intertwine in the greatest territorial struggle in American history--the French and Indian War. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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  • The Frontiersmen

    $24.00$35.00
    The Winning of America Series: Book 1 of 6 The frontiersmen were a remarkable breed of men. They were often rough and illiterate, sometimes brutal and vicious, often seeking an escape in the wilderness of mid-America from crimes committed back east. In the beautiful but deadly country which would one day come to be known as West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, more often than not they left their bones to bleach beside forest paths or on the banks of the Ohio River, victims of Indians who claimed the vast virgin territory and strove to turn back the growing tide of whites. These frontiersmen are the subjects of Allan W. Eckert's dramatic history. Researched for seven years, The Frontiersmen is the first in Eckert's "The Winning of America" series. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By Allan Eckert
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  • On September 26, 1918, during the devastating Battle of the Meuse-Argonne Forest, Kentucky native Willie Sandlin, acting alone, attacked and disabled three German machine gun nests and killed all twenty-four occupants. During the day’s fighting, Sandlin “voluntarily and deliberately” raced forward into dangers so great that he could hardly hope to survive. For his “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty,” Sandlin received the Medal of Honor, which was presented to him by General John J. Pershing before Sandlin returned to America at the end of the war. HARDBACK VERSION FULL COLOR INTERIOR By James M. Gifford
  • The Hunters of Kentucky: A Narrative History of America’s First Far West, 1750-1797 covers a wide range of frontier existence, from daily life and survival to wars, exploits, and even flora and fauna. The pioneers and their lives are profiled in biographical sketches, giving a rich sampling of the personalities involved in the United States' westward expansion. Author Ted Franklin Belue's colorful, vivid prose brings these long-forgotten frontiersmen to life. HARDBACK VERSION By Ted Franklin Belue
  • Sale!

    True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia & Appalachian Christmas Stories

    Original price was: $35.00.Current price is: $30.00.
    True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia SOFTBACK VERSION ~ FULL COLOR INTERIOR Appalachia Christmas Stories SOFTBACK
  • Jesse Stuart was a paradox. For a period of his life, Jesse slept with a loaded gun under his pillow, yet he also carried a typewriter with him wherever he went. He courted woman with mud on his boots and pistols on his hips, but he had wildflowers in his hands and envelops completely covered with chicken-scratched poems in his pockets. He was petty yet often kind, mean-spirited but truly helpful to beginning writers, clannish yet hospitable to visitors HARDBACK By James M. Gifford
  • Originally published in 1934, this book was so successful that the first printing of the first edition sold out in less than a month! Man With a Bull-Tongue Plow is a collection of sonnets that Stuart weaves into a personal narrative describing the rural Kentucky life and events he knew so well. Packed with emotion, and sometimes harsh observations, the poetry in this book comes from the heart of a young man who was always full of enthusiasm. At this stage of his life, Jesse Stuart was bursting with pure expression and had not yet learned to polish his poetry in an effort to make it more palatable to a broader audience and Interestingly, that's exactly what made this volume so popular. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and selected as both One of the 100 Best Books in America and One of the1000 Great Books of the World. An introduction by John H. Spurlock adds context and insight to Stuart's writing. HARDCOVER By Jesse Stuart
  • Jesse Stuart wrote a collection of poetry, Songs of a Mountain Plowman, that was published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation in 1986, two years after Stuart's death. The book was edited by the late Jim Wayne Miller, a great Appalachian scholar and long-time member of the JSF Board of Directors. Twenty-five years after its first appearance, the JSF re-issued this Special Edition hardback, an important book for Stuart fans who wish to understand Stuart's development as a poet. HARDBACK By Jesse Stuart
  • Jesse Stuart began this book in 1932 at Vanderbilt University as a paper for an English professor who asked his seminar students to turn in a maximum of 18 typewritten ages. In the 11 days allotted for the assignment, Stuart crammed 322 pages with the story of his young life. These ageless, universal experiences were told by a vibrant, precocious young man who became one of the most widely read American authors of the 20th century. For the young reader who has yet to experience the transition from childhood to adulthood, this book can be an inspiring guide. For older readers, it may be a beautiful trip down memory lane. HARDBACK By Jesse Stuart
  • Jesse Stuart labored eleven years over Album of Destiny. The idea for this work came to him in 1932 as he idly turned through the pages of an old family album which contained pictures of his youthful mother and father, posing before apple trees in bloom. Later pictures showed them worn and aged, and Stuart thought how he who was now young and in the vigor of his life must complete the same cycle that his parents had gone through. He began to write poetry for this volume in the 1930s. Before he was through he had written two thousand poems. HARDBACK, LIMITED EDITION By Jesse Stuart
  • The Big Sandy Valley — sometimes called Kentucky's last frontier — has been shaped by a series of extraordinary individuals and families over the course of the past 200 years. Hidden Heroes of the Big Sandy Valley profiles and celebrates an exclusive group of these people. The book contains 22 biographical essays and one cultural essay by 17 authors. The people who are profiled in this book are true representatives of millions of people who have populated the Big Sandy Valley for more than two hundred years. HARDBACK Compiled and edited by James M. Gifford
  • This book examines Jesse Stuart's life in a broad historical context and shares his enduring legacy through his broad range of accomplishments as an author, educator, conservationist, spokesman for Kentucky and Appalachia, compulsive correspondent, world traveler, father, husband, and community-minded neighbor. In a broad historical context, it shows how Stuart has immortalized himself through personal relationships as well as through people who read his books. SOFTBACK & HARDBACK By James. M. Gifford
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  • Appalachian Murders & Mysteries: True Stories from West Virginia, Kentucky, and Southern Ohio, 23 stories by 17 authors compiled and edited by James M. Gifford and Edwina D. Pendarvis. The tragic events described in this book could have happened anywhere, but they happened here in central Appalachia. They are a part of our history. Together, these stories create a literary “mourning quilt,” commemorating the innocent and the guilty and piecing together significant remnants of 200 years of life in eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio, and West Virginia. HARDBACK Compiled and edited by James M. Gifford and Edwina D. Pendarvis
  • Articles from the Ashland Daily Independent by George Wolfford. Compiled & Edited by David Wolfford. HARDBACK VERSION George Wolfford
  • Presidents have been visiting Kentucky since 1819 arriving by horseback, carriage, train, steamboat, bus, and airplane. Presidential Visits to Kentucky: 1819-2017 details more than 120 occasions when the President of the United States came to the Commonwealth. It chronicles when the president came, why, where he went, and who he saw as he made history. HARDBACK VERSION By Wayne Onkst
  • This book contains the memoirs of Harry J Rust, a lifelong Kentucky attorney and farmer. The significant events are written from family accounts, written history and office records retained in Rust's 52 plus years of legal practice. Details of his farm life, particularly from the 1930s through the 1960s, are intertwined with his legal beginnings and career with Appalachian culture as the backdrop. HARDBACK VERSION Harry J. Rust  
  • It is the mid-1700s, and England’s colonists in North America are eager to explore and settle the forest frontier west of the Appalachian mountains.  This is the setting of the new book (2021), “Blood and Treasure.”  The guide to this epic narrative is America’s first pathfinder, Daniel Boone – not the coonskin cap-wearing caricature of popular culture, but the flesh-and-blood frontiersman and Revolutionary War hero whose explorations would become the stuff of legend. HARDBACK VERSION By Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
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