Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend

Nelson ably weaves folklore, Reconstruction, 19th century prisons, and labor history into a readable whole. Good, but not gorgeous writing; it's the way the topics were made clear and charged me up that makes it 5 stars. Also: good use of illustrations! I would have stayed at W&M's history grad prog......more

Folktales, folksongs, and other bits of oral traditions may transmit facts more than one might think. This author set out to discover whether the legendary John Henry was a real person; it seems likely that he succeed. The case is circumstantial but compelling. He then traces how a small man, a felon......more

*initial thoughts* The topic of this book is fascinating, and I commend the author's hard work researching and discovering who most likely was the real original John Henry and revealing his tragic (even more so than the song) end of life. But in spite of finding the topic interesting, I still kind of......more

Like a steam engine pulling cars uphill from a cold start, this small but mighty book starts out slow. Don't put it down -- because as this "train" gains speed, you will NOT want to put it down. Yes a John Henry (possibly THE John Henry of legend) DID exist - his photo graces these pages. His betray......more

Unique and creative interweaving of myth, history, social analysis, and cultural critique. I had no idea how much the story/legend of John Henry has been appropriated, convolved, misappropriated, re-appropriated, and given new life throughout the last 200 years of US history. Yet, I know of the stor......more