Effie Marquess Carmack (1885-1973) grew up in the tobacco-growing region of southern Kentucky known as the Black Patch. She married at an early age and, because of economic necessity and religious commitments, moved with her husband to Utah, back to Kentucky, then to Arizona, and finally to California. Along the way she became committed to preserving the rural, southern folkways she had experienced as a child. She became a folk poet and self-taught artist. In the 1940s she began writing her autobiography. Effie's story is a charming memoir of her spirited childhood on a poor tobacco farm. She describes a wide variety of folk practices from healing and crafts to children's games. A convert to the Mormon Church, her account of southern Mormon missions contributes to the little-known record of the Mormon church's attempts to establish a presence in the South. Out Of The Black Patch is a fascinating, engaging, candid, informative autobiography.

Excellent read and addition for any hendrix fan or any interested party.The material is very well researched and provides excellent background material as well as the current status of hendrix recordings,videos,etc.What was most interesting to me were the background stories of the material itself and the authors superb presentation and style of writing .The book is simply a must.Thank you Mr.Roby

"Black Gold", written by Steven Roby, is a painstakingly accurate depiction of Jimi Hendrix' life and times. As a musician, singer and guitarist, and an avid student of music history, I appreciate an author who approaches his work with the thoroughness that Steven Roby has done with this book.
I've read many books on Jimi, as well as, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Nirvana, Miles Davis and Joh Coltrane (By the way- thanks Miles for the Wah-wah). This book is objective and lacks that selfish bias some authors instill in their writing. Some writers aren't willing to display their subject matter exposed for all to see. They don't want to fully let the readers know all the sides to a character because something captivated an author to write about a particular person in the first place. Roby gives you the places, the names, everything, and lets the reader see where Jimi Hendrix leads them. Finally, I've got a book I can reference after so many years of speculation, rumour, and hearsay. Jimi Hendrix is one of my heroes,and Steven Roby helps me keep him my hero.

This is the Hendrix book fans have waited for. While Hendrix's catalog has been messy (compared to the Beatles), Roby has researched & documented Hendrix's many amazing collaborations, unreleased gems, and new directions, both audio and video. Roby proves that Hendrix deserves another Top 40 credit with "Mercy,Mercy" with Don Covay. Very well documented (endless end notes!) and highly entertaining for any level of music fan. Check out the new stuff on Jimi with Miles Davis, Jayne Mansfield, or Frank Zappa!

I'd only heard the phrase "the black hole of Calcutta" before as "it's as dark as the black hole of Calcutta in here," never in connection with the real story. I didn't even know it was a real place! Anyways, the true events detailed in this book are enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck--the stupid decisions by the British military and the night spent in the Black Hole especially.

Noel Barber describes this history as a reconstruction. What he means is that he has had to take all the conflicting accounts and piece together a reasonable description of the events that led to the capture of Calcutta in 1756 by the NaBob, and the nightmarish situation where 146 British subjects were crammed into a 14 foot by 18 foot room. Only 23 people were still alive 10 hours later.

This book describes miscalculations taken by the British and by the Indian Ruler, the bravery, the cowardary, the ignorance, and the brutal attitudes taken by all sides.

Noel Barber does not mince words: the nightmare of the Black Hole could have been avoided over and over again, but the head of the British India Company and the Military Head mismanaged at every turn. They deserted their posts, and even when they had the means of saving the other members of the Fort (without risk to themselves), they refused.

The chapter covering the Night of the Black Hole was disturbing enough that I lost sleep that night. The situation has an unreal aspect to it that makes one wonder about the people who stood on either side of the barred windows that night. Captives and captors exhibited both the best and worst of human nature.

I suppose one would be tempted to claim that the entire story is a type of microcosm of our present world. I pray not.

I really didn't have time to read this book, given that I was in the middle of several projects. But once I started, I couldn't put it down. Good descriptive writing. Fascinating character studies pieced together from contemporary sources. Makes an interesting study of leadership (or the lack of it) and human nature. Dark and intriguing, especially because of its historicity.

First one is " A muslim Traveller of the 14th Century", and other one is "Ibn Battuta in Black Africa."I also like to review his Biography and Islamic Empire.

Ibn Battuta (born in Tangier, Morocco, 1304 AD) probably traveled more miles overland than any person in history before the invention of motor vehicles. Beginning with a trip to Mecca for the Islamic pilgrimage, he spent nearly three decades traveling and working in almost every Islamic country in the Eastern Hemisphere (He also traveled in many non-Islamic countries). His "Rihlah" ("Travels") is the monumental achievement in travel writing, made all the more amazing by the fact that he accomplished his travels almost 700 years ago. Most of his writing covers his travels outside of Africa (Arabia, Persia, India, and China). However, his written accounts of his visits to the nascent Swahili city-states on Africa's East Coast and the West African kingdom of Mali are the only primary historical sources for these civilizations in medieval times. Battuta is truly a window to the past, giving modern readers a look at the social, cultural, and political history of medieval African Islamic civilization.

"Ibn Battuta in Black Africa" is a well-edited collection of Battuta's travels in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book is not a lengthy one (it can be easily read in an evening), but it is full of useful information in the introduction and notes on Battuta's text. This is a very good introduction to Ibn Battuta for the student of African history.

Also see "The Travels of Ibn Battuta" (three volumes) by Sir Hamilton Gibb: an unabridged translation with excellent notes.

A Good Book to explore the culture and history of the pain that they went through. The struggle which we don't see or realize.