Killings

"Montell has once again provided a compelling look at mountain people, and he has challenged scholars to think more deeplhy about the world in which these people live."—Georgia Historical Quarterly

"A captivating book of interest to the general reader as well as to the specialist in oral traditions and cultureal history . . . with ample oral narratives of killings as macabre as any story written by Flannery O'Connor."—Indiana Magazine of History

"Montell has provided a model for local studies tht can contribute to a better understanding of the broader patterns of regional violence."—Journal of American History

"Provides material that other will find highly suggestive about a subject still poorly understood."—Journal of Southern History

"Skillfully reconstructs the lives of real and troubled people in the upper Cumberlands, and his sympathetic reading even of their lethal habits of folk justice lends needed balance and rich texture to a literature that has been too heavily and judgementally focused on the carnage."—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

"An importatnt contribution ot the ongoing dialogue between history and folklore, with much to say to both disciplines."—Southern Folklore

"An important book for a number of reasons. First, it demonstrates the value of folklore in historical work. Second, it provides an excellent example of the significance of oral narratives in determining traditional attitudes. Third, it refines some earlier broader studies of Southern homicide."—Western Folklore