In Search of Appalachia by Nancy Brown Diggs

Nancy Brown Diggs lives in Dayton, Ohio, and has a PhD in East Asian Studies from Union Institute in Cincinnati. She has written books about charter schools, Japanese people, and Northern Ireland. “Having written several books that touched on other cultures,” she writes in her introduction to this book, “I thought it was time to look at one closer to my own, geographically, that is.” This book takes a chronological approach, starting with the white Europeans who moved into our region, although her index does list four pages that touch upon the Cherokees, and nine pages that touch upon African-Americans. Of those nine, two deal with music, two with coal, and two deal with “heroin addiction among.” The ten chapters in the book cover subjects like music and coal and faith and migration. Two focus on addiction. The last chapter deals with future prospects, and quotes Michael Bloomberg. “In Search of Appalachia paints an intimate and respectful portrait of the people of Appalachia. In a con