Families, communities, and the nation itself were irretrievably altered by the Civil War and the subsequent societal transformations of the nineteenth century. The repercussions of the war incited a broad range of unique problems in Appalachia, including political dynamics, racial prejudices, and the regional economy.

Andrew L. Slap's anthology Reconstructing Appalachia reveals life in Appalachia after the ravages of the Civil War, an unexplored area that has left a void in historical literature.
Addressing a gap in the chronicles of our nation, this vital collection explores little-known aspects of history with a particular focus on the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction periods. Acclaimed scholars John C. Inscoe, Gordon B. McKinney, and Ken Fones-Wolf are joined by up-and-comers like Mary Ella Engel, Anne E. Marshall, and Kyle Osborn in a unique volume of essays investigating postwar Appalachia with clarity and precision.

Featuring a broad geographic focus, these compelling essays cover postwar events in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. This approach provides an intimate portrait of Appalachia as a diverse collection of communities where the values of place and family are of crucial importance.
Highlighting a wide array of topics including racial reconciliation, tension between former Unionists and Confederates, the evolution of post–Civil War memory, and altered perceptions of race, gender, and economic status, Reconstructing Appalachia is a timely and essential study of a region rich in heritage and tradition.

Introduction
Reconstruction-Era Violence in North Georgia: The Mossy Creek Ku Klux Klan's Quest for Local Autonomy
UnReconstructed Appalachia: The Persistence of War in Eastern Kentucky
The Other War Was Just the Beginning: The Politics of Loyalty in Western North Carolina, 1865-1867
Resistless Uprising? Thomas Dixon's Uncle and Western North Carolinians as Klansmen and Statesmen, 1871-1872
Reconstructing Race: Parson Brownlow and the Discourse of Race in East Tennessee
Gathering Georgians to Zion: John Hamilton Morgan's 1876 Mission to Georgia
Neither War nor Peace: West Virginia's Reconstruction Experience
A House Re-Divided: From Sectionalism to Political Economy in Post-Emancipation West Virginia
Grudges and Loyalties Die So Slowly: Contested Memories of the Civil War in Pennsylvania's Appalachia
The Lost Cause That Wasn't? Refugees, Republicans, and teh Construction of Unionist East Tennessee in the New South
A Northern Wedge Thrust into the Heart of the Confederacy: Explaining Civil War Loyalties in the Age of Appalachian Discovery, 1900-1921
Civil War Memory, in Eastern Kentucky, is predominantly white: The Confederate Flag in Unionist Appalachia