VA Bookshelf
Virginia politics, history, and everything you need to know about the Commonwealth.
- The best little bookstores in Virginia
- Virginia History
- 20th Century Virginia Politics
- New and Current
- The Bay and its Tributaries
- Other Books of Interest
The best little bookstores in Virginia
Heartwood Books, 5 Elliewood Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22903, (434) 295-7083 (off The Corner)
Prince Books, 109 E. Main Street, Norfolk (recommended by Barbara Klear)
Riverby Books, 606 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, Va
Barrister Books, 1 Lawyers Row, Staunton Va 24401, timshelbks@earthlink.net (great quality used books – not law books)
Give me have your nominations for other good ones, click here.
Best bookstores not in Virginia:
San Fransisco – City Lights - 261 Columbus Avenue at Broadway, San Francisco, CA 94133
Denver – The Tattered Cover - 1628 16th Street at Wynkoop in Denver, CO 80202.
Paris – Shakespeare and Company - 37 rue de la Bucherie, Paris, France (by the Siene)
Seattle – Elliot Bay Book Co. – 101 S Main St, Seattle 98101
New York City — Strand Book Store – 828 Broadway, NY NY 10003 (@12 St., below Union Sq.)
Virginia History
Virginius Dabney, Virginia, the New Dominion, Doubleday & Co: 1971- There may be more recent comprehensive histories of Virginia, but this was good enough for my Virginia history class at the U. Covers 400 years in 614 pages and does so very well.
Guy Fridell, What is it about Virginia, Dietz Press: 1966 – worth reading – short, lyrical essays about Virginia history and attitudes; too light a review of desegreation, however.
Virginius Dabney, Virginius Dabney’s Virginia: Writings about the Old Dominion, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: 1986 – Some articles and excerpts from his books (many listed here) on Virginia and its history – good start, but read the books too.
Tim Lewis, The Virginiad, PWI: 2008. [An epic poem of 400 years of Virginia history. Really. I look foward to reading it. (Note - on page 583, that's Chuck Robb, not Dobbs; and he was very distinguishable from Republicans.)]
Elizabeth Valentine Huntley, Penninsula Pilgimage, Payne Press: 1941 – “Delightsome adventure” — tour of Richmond, Tidewater and places in between with a one page summary and one photograph of each site. The main buildings haven’t changed, but I don’t know if all the houses remain.
Guy Fridell, We Began at Jamestown, Dietz Press: 1968 – Norfolk newspaper editor Fridell takes his family on a journay of Virginia historic locations – an interesting and well written tour of mostly familiar places, except this one.
Thomas Barden, Ed., Virginia Folk Legends, U.Va. Press: 1991- Interesting collection of tales collected between 1937 and 1942 by the WPA — southside and southwest Virginia well represented.
James Webb, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America, Broadway Books: 2004 – Virginia figures prominently in this very readable account of who the Scots-Irish are, how they settled in western Virginia (and elsewhere), and their impact on American culture. The book also provides some insights as to the thoughts of our terrific senior Senator from Virginia.
Richard B. Drake, A History of Appalachia, Univ. Ky. Press: 2001- Relatively brief, but comprehensive history of settlement, Indian conflict, Civil War, and development and change over the 20th Century.
Helen C. Roundtree, The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture, Univ. Oklahoma Press: 1989 – a very good “historical ethnography” (description of culture based on historical documents) of native americans who lived in tidewater Virginia. The book uses as its source materials English observations, but focuses on native american society.
David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown, John Smith, Pocohantas, and the Heart of a New Nation, Alfred A. Knopf: 2003 – well done story of the Jamestown settlement, focusing on a historically correct account of John Smith, Pocohantas and Powhatan.
Ivor Noel Hume, Martin’s Hundred, University Press of Virginia: 1991- Very good account by the Colonial Williamsburg archaeologist of the research and discoveries of this early (1618) settlement site which was decimated by Native American attack in 1622. See also APVA, Martin’s Hundred Sites. http://www.apva.org/resource/jt2000/martin.html
William Seale, Virginia’s Executive Mansion, Virginia State Library and Archives: 1988.
Joel Achenbach, The Grand Idea: George Washington’s Potomac and the Race to the West, Simon & Schuster: 2004 – Washington as post-presidency businessman and his effort the use the Potomac, and connecting canals to forge a trade route to the West. It didn’t work, of course, but he made a good try of it and the book is an excellent account of the tale. Check out the ruins at Great Falls Park.
Fergus M. Bordewich, Washington: The Making of the American Capital, Amistad: 2008. Excellent account of the improbable location of the nation’s capital on the Potomac, focusing on the contributions of African Americans, and giving full credit to the determination of President Washington.
Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Vintage Books: 2002 – Pulitzer Prize winning account of the founders and how they got along.
Garry Wills, James Madison, Times Books: 2002 – Good, brief history of the sometimes troubled presidency of Virginia’s own James Madison. War of 1812 and all that. On your next trip to C’ville, don’t forget to stop at the recently restored family home, Montpelier.
Virginius Dabney, The Jefferson Scandals: A Rebuttal, Dodd, Mead: 1981 – Pre-DNA analysis response to Fawn Brodie’s claims about Jefferson and Sally Hemings.
Jack McLaughlin, Jefferson and Monticello: The Biography of a Builder, Henry Holt: 1988 – My favorite 
Jefferson book – a fascinating view of the great man through his constant working and reworking of his house and estate. A pilgrimage to the site is required, but the book lets you see behind the walls. http://www.monticello.org/ Also, check out Jefferson’s retreat at Poplar Forest. http://www.poplarforest.org/ When last I was there, it was being restored – hopefully not overly restored.
Nick Taylor, The Disagreement, 2008 – [Historical fiction account of the Civil War and the University of Virginia].
Virginius Dabney, Mr. Jefferson’s University: A History, University Press of Virginia: 1991.
Joseph L. Vaughan, Rotunda Tales: Stories from the University of Virginia, 1920-1960, U.Va. Alumni Ass’n: 1991.
Donald R. Hickey, The War of 1812: A Short History, Univ. Illinois Press: 1995 - Very good brief history of the relatively obscure war that gave us the Star Spangled Banner, and battles in places like Niagara Falls, New Orleans (technically after the war was over), and Bladensburg, Md. The upcoming bicentenial offers a good time to understand and appreciate the conflict, including at nearby sites. http://www.chesapeake1812.org/.
Christopher P. George, Terror on the Chesapeake: The War of 1812 on the Bay, White Maine Books: 2000.
Virginius Dabney, Pistols & Pointed Pens: The Dueling Editors of Old Virginia, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: 1987. In the 19th century, Virginia had “newspapers” whose editors were as bitterly partisan as today’s TV commentators, although generally more literature. Interesting view of competing (and sometimes dueling) editors, primarily of Richmond and Tidewater papers.
Lenoir Chambers & Joseph Shanks, Saltwater and Printer’s Ink, Univ. of NC Press: 1967.
Hamilton James Eckenrode, The Political History of Virginia During the Reconstruction, Johns Hopkins Press: 1904 (Kessinger Reprint)
A.E. Dick Howard, Commentaries on the Constitution of Virginia, University Press of Virginia: 1974 - U.Va. Law Prof. Howard’s commentaries on the current (1971) Virginia Constitution.
Virginius Dabney, Richmond: The Story of a City, University Press of Virginia: 1990.
William L. Tazwell & Guy Friddell, Norfolk’s Waters: An Illustrated History of Hampton Roads, 2000.
Anne M. Whisnant, Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History, U.N.C. Press: 2006.See also: The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography – published quarterly by the Virginia Historical Society (since 1893) — contains essays, edited primary documents, and book reviews on Virginia history and related topics.
20th Century Virginia Politics
Edward Younger, Ed., The Governors of Virginia 1860-1978, U.Va. Press: 1982.
Allen Welsey Moger, Virginia, Bourbonism to Byrd 1870-1925, University Press of Virginia: 1968.
Nelson M. Blake, William Mahone of Virginia, Garret & Massie: 1935.
Charltes Chilton Pearson, The Readjuster Movement in Virgnia, New Haven: 1917.
Allen W. Moger, The Rebuilding of the Old Dominion, 1880 to 1902, Ann Arbor: 1940.
Charles E. Wynes, Race Relations in Virginia, 1870-1902, University Press of VIrgini: 1961.
William E. Larson, Montague of Virginia: The Making of a Southern Progressive, Baton Rouge: 1965.
E.F. Pat Striplin, The Norfolk & Western: A History, Norfolk & Western: 1981.
Gene Gottmann, Virginia in Our Century, Univ. Press of Virginia: 1969.
Virginius Dabney, Accross the Years: Memories of a Virginian, Doubleday & Co.: 1978 [Memoir of Pulitzer prize-winning editor of the Richmond Times Dispatch and writer on Virginia history].
Raymond H. Pulley, Old Virginia Restored: An Interpretation of the Progressive Impulse, 1870-1930, Univ. of Virginia Press: 1968.
Ralph C. McDaniel, The Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1900-1902, Johns Hopkins Press: 1928.
William L. Royall, Some Reminiscences, New York: 1909.
Andrew Buni, The Negro in Virginia Politics, 1902-1965, Charlottesville: 1967.
Virginius Dabney, The Last Review: The Confederate Reunion, Ricmond, 1932.
Henry C. Farrell, Jr., Claude Swanson of Virginia, University Press of Kentucky: 1985 – intensively researched and densely written biography of 5th District Congressman, Governor (1906-1910), US Senator, and FDR’s Secretary of the Navy. Apparently a self-described “Liberal Democrat,” Swanson is described as a free silver, pro-labor, Wilsonian internationalist, who at times was at odds with the Martin and Byrd organizations.
Jack Temple Kirby, Westmoreland Davis: Virginia Planter-Politician, U.Va. Press: 1968 – very interesting account of Davis who was a reform governor from 1918 to 1922 and an opponent of the Martin and Byrd organizations. He pioneered “progressive farming” methods, and you can visit his house and fields at Morven Park, Near Leesburg (right). http://www.morvenpark.org/history.htm
Virginius Dabney, Dry Messiah: The Life of Bishop Cannon, Alfred A. Knopf: 1949. Biography of the Pat Robertson of his day – Methodist Bishop James Cannon was an international leader in prohibition and other moral crusades, and in the 1910s had great influence in Virginia politics. Then came personal, financial, and political scandal.
James Cannon, Jr., Bishop Cannon’s Own Story: Life as I Have Seen It, Durham, NC: 1955.
Palmer, James Edward, Jr., Carter Glass, Unreconstructed Rebel, Roanoke: Institute of American Biography, 1938.
Ronald L. Heinemann, Harry Byrd of Virginia, University of Virginia Press: 2006.
Heinemann, Ronald L, Depression and New Deal in Virginia: The Enduring Dominion . Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983.
Guy Friddell, Colgate Darden, U.Va. Press: 1978 – Interviews with the only person to hold the two highest honors in the Commonwealth — Governor (1942-1946) and President of the University of Virginia (1947-1959). Darden was part of the Byrd organization, but was a man of courage and vision, and the book gives his candid recollections.
Francis Pickens Miller, Man from the Valley: Memiors of a 20th Century Virginian, Chapel Hill: 1971 – interesting but too brief first hand, and honest, accounts of Col. Miller’s brief tenure in the house of delegates, 1949 governor and 1952 senate races, and desegration of Charlottesville schools. Suprisingly (to me), most of the book is an account of his life in service in two world wars, in national policy groups like the Council of Foreign Relations, at the State Department, and working progress through regional, national, and international christian groups (like the World Council for Churches).
William Bryan Crawley, Jr., Bill Tuck: A Political Life in Harry Byrd’s Virginia, University Press of Virginia: 1978 – Biography of Virginia Governor (1946-1950) and later Congressman; an interesting character (i.e. more personality that most Byrd leaders), but a strong opponent of labor unions and a strong proponent of segregation.
V.O. Key, Jr., Southern Politics, Vintage Books: 1949 – Every Sabato student knows Key’s description of Virginia as a “political museum piece.”
Frank Atkinson, The Dynamic Dominion: Realignment and the Rise of Two-Party Competition in Virginia 1945-1980, Rowman & Littlefield: 2006, 2nd Ed. – Very interesting review of elections during that critical period. Atkinson was an aide to George Allen, and the book is generally fair, although his viewpoint comes through in discussions of Linwood Holton and Henry Howell. Good use of unpublished materials such as interviews, thesis, and state Republican party archives.
J. Harvie Wilkinson, Harry Byrd and the Changing Face of Virginia Politics 1945-1966, U.Va. Press: 1968 – Possibly the best book on Virginia politics. Brilliant former UVa law professor and current federal 4th Circuit Judge Wilkinson did a wonderful job in interviewing the people who were there and explaining the rise and primarily the fall of the Byrd organization. (Wilkinson taught criminal procedure – I always remember his views on traffic stops – “what do you have in your glove compartment anyway? What are you worried about?”)
Steven F. Lawson, Black Ballots: Voting Rights in the South, 1944-1969, Rowman & Littlefield: 1999 [sufferage expansion from WWII to the end of the LBJ admnistration]
Oliver W. Hill, The Big Bang: Brown v. Board of Education and Beyond: The Autobiographyof Oliver W. Hill, Sr., Four-G Publishers: 2000.
Numan V. Bartley, The Rise of Massive Resistance: Race and Politics in the South during the 1950′s, Louisiana State Univ. Press: 1969.
Richard Kluger, Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality, Alfred F. Knopf: 1977 — Not just limited to Virginia, but does describe the desegregation efforts of the NAACP in Prince Edward county and elsewhere.
Journal of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1956, Commonwealthof Virginia: 1956 – Proceedings of the convention called to amend Virginia’s Constitution to allow state funding for private schools, as part of the massive resistance plan to close the public schools.
James J. Kilpatrick, The Sovereign States: Notes of a Citizen of Virginia, Chicago: 1957. [Richmond News Leader editor's defense of segregation.]
Ben Beagle & Ozzie Osborne (no, not that one), J. Lindsay Almond: Virginia’s Reluctant Rebel, Full Court Press: 1984 – biography of Virginia Attorney General and then Governor (1958-1962) who initially fought integration, but then accepted it, much to the chagrin of Senator Byrd. Awkwardly written, but has some information from interviews with Gov. Almond and his wife.
Harry S. Ashmore, An Epitaph for Dixie, Norton: 1958.
Marshall W. Fishwick, A New Look at the Old Dominion, Harper: 1959.
Howard Carwile, Speaking from Byrdland, Lyle Stuart: 1960.
Benjamin Muse, Virginia’s Massive Resistance, Indiana Univ. Press: 1961. Excellent chronological account of the rise and fall of massive resistance, written by a Manassas journalist, former Democratic State Senator, and Republican candidate for Governor (losing to Colgate Darden in 1941). It’s a very sincere and clear account.
Sarah Patton Boyle, The Desegregated Heart: A Virginian’s Stand in Time of Transition, New York: 1962. [memior of an opponent of segregation]
Robbin L. Gates, The Making of Massive Resistance: Virginia’s Politics of Public School Desegregation, 1954-1956, Univ. of North Carolina Press: 1964. [Focuses on formulation of resistance legislation.]
Andrew Buni, The Negro in Virginia Politics: 1902-1965, Charlottesville, Va: 1967.
Benjamin Muse, Ten Years of Prelude: The Story of Integration since the Supreme Court’s 1954 Decision, New York: 1964.
Bob Smith, They Closed Their Schools, Chapel Hill: 1965. [The "standard account" of the school closings in Prince Edward county.]
Len Holt, An Act of Conscience, Boston: 1965 [account of the Danville disturbances]
Reed Sarratt, The Ordeal of Desegregation, New York: 1966.
C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, New York: 1966.
J. Douglas Smith, Managing White Supremacy: Race, Politics, Citizenship in Jim Crow Virginia, Univ. of North Carolina Press: 2002.
James W. Ely, The Crisis of Conservative Virginia, University of Tennessee Press: 1976. A very useful book (cites to unpublished thesis, personal papers, and interviews), but takes a disturbing “unbiased” view of massive resistance, failing to recognize the extraordinary injustice of the segregationist position. Its viewpoint is perhaps explained by the fact that it was written during the debates about busing for integration in the early-mid 1970s.
Andrew B. Lewis & Michael D. Lassiter (Eds.), The Moderates’ Dilemma: Massive Resistance to School Desegregation in Virginia, University Press of Virginia: 1998.
Larry Sabato, The Democratic Primary in Virginia: Tantamount to Election No Longer, U.Va. Press; 1977 – Oh would that it still were. Dr. Sabato’s excellent brief account of Virginia political history from the turn of the century until the early 1970s is a must read.
Margaret Edds (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot journalist), Free at Last – What Really Happened When Civil Rights Came to Southern Politics, Adler and Adler: 1987 – [Overview of change in Southern politics since the Voting Rights Act was enacted].
M. Carl Andrews, No Higher Honor: The Story of Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Dietz Press: 1970.
Andy McCutcheon & Michael P. Gleason, Sarge Reynolds in the Time of His Life, Gleason Publishing: 1996 – A good recollection of Virginia’s JFK - the young, popular, moderate-progressive Lt. Governor, who left us well before his time.
Linwood Holton, Opportunity Time, U.Va. Press: 2008 – Memoir of first 20th century Republican Governor and father-in-law of Governor Kaine; an informal, but interesting book.
Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Defying the Odds: An Independent Senator’s Historic Campaign, self-published: 1998 – Byrd’s appropriately lightweight (100 page, large type) account of his 1970 campaign and victory as an independent. Byrd never admits that the reason why he didn’t run as a Democrat is that he thought he would lose, instead referring to some nonsense about a ”loyalty oath.” He also manifests no apologies about massive resistance, reciting his attacks on the judiciary.
Garett Epps, The Shad Treatment, G.P. Putnam’s Sons: 1977 – Novel based on on Virginia politics, particularly Henry Howell (“Thomas Jefferson Shadwell”) and the 1973 election. Lots of fun trying to figure out who’s who.
Frank Atkinson, Virginia in the Vanguard, 1980-2000, Rowman & Littlefield: 2006 – I haven’t read it yet – his take on more recent events will be interesting.
Donald P. Baker, Wilder: Hold Fast to Dreams, Seven Locks Press: 1989 - Biography of the always 
fascinating governor issued on the eve of his election.
Dwayne Yancy, When Hell Froze Over: The Untold Story of Doug Wilder, A Black Politician’s Rise to Power in the South, Taylor Publishing: 1988 – very interesting behind the scenes look at Wilder’s 1985 successful campaign for Lt. Governor.
Margaret Edds, Claiming the Dream – The Victorious Campaign of Douglas Wilder of Virginia, Algonguin Books of Chapel Hill: 1990 – a chronicle of the 1989 Wilder campaign for Governor.
J.L. Jeffries, Virginia’s Native Son: The Election and Administration of Governor L. Douglas Wilder, Purdue Univ. Press: 2000.
Barnie Day & Becky Dale, Eds., Notes from the Sausage Factory, Brunswick Publishing: 2005 – Short essays from legislators and journalists on Virginia politics and government collected by a former member of the House of Delegates with a good sense of humor. Most written between 2001-2005 and some are a bit dated, but worth a skim.
Jim Webb, A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America, Broadway Books: 2008 – experiences, philosophies, and public policy priorities from Virignia’s senior US Senator.
Larry Sabato, Virginia Votes– Initially published in book form, these periodic election results and analysis are now available from the UVa Center for Politics, Reports page.
New and Current
Terry McAuliffe, What a Party! My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and other Wild Animals, Thomas Dunne Press: 2007 – Ever-confident Democratic Party fundraiser, and former DNC Chair recounts his many successes.
Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, Three Rivers Press: 1995 – A must read to understand the origins of President Obama.
Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, Crown Publishers: 2007 – Candidate Obama’s vision for America.
The Bay and its Tributaries
William Warner, Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay, Back Bay: 1976 – Deserving of its Pulizter Prize, this is the best book on the Bay, focusing on the blue crabs and the folks who harvest them.
Tom Horton, Bay Country: Reflections on the Chesapeake, Ticknor& Fields: 1987 – Second best book on the Bay. Wonderful and well written essays about the ecology, wildlife, and human life.
John H Whitehead, III, The Watermen of the Chesapeake Bay, Tidewater Pub: 1979 – Very good book of pictures of those who make (or made) a living on the bay, with very pithy and amusing qoutes.
Richard Harwood, Ed., Talking Tidewater: Writers on the Chesapeake, Literary House Press: 1996 – Series of essays on the Bay, reflecting autobiography, culture and ecology of the Bay. I’m not sure how Eugene McCarthy’s essays from Rappahanock county got in there, but worth reading anyway.
John Wennersten, Chesapeake, An Environmental Biography, Maryland Historical Society: 2001 – A 
very good environmental history of the Bay, and the impacts of agriculture, aquaculture, culture in general, and pollution.
John Page Williams Jr., Chesapeake Almanac, Tidewater Publishers, 1993 – enjoyable natural history discussing the goings on of the crabs, otters, sea grass and the rest of the flora and fauna of the bay on a month to month basis, over the course of a year.
Richard L. Standon, Potomac Journey, Smithsonian Institution Press: 1993 – very good short tour of history and sites along the Potomac.
William Styron, A Tidewater Morning: Three Tales from Youth, Random House: 1993 – brief, fictionalized account of growing up in Tidewater in the 1930s.
Ann Woodlief, In River Time: The Way of the James, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: 1995 – Good book reviewing the natural and human history of the James from Jamestown to Kepone to the beginnings of the improvements at Richmond, which now include Belle Isle and the Tredegar Iron Works. See Falls of the James Sites.
Howard R. Ernst, Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay, Rowman & Littlefield: 2003.
Eugene L. Meyer, Chesapeake Country, Abbeville Press: 1990 – Nice coffee-table book on the Bay.
Other Books of Interest
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