The State of Jones - Sally Jenkins (.mobi)

The State of Jones is a true story about the South during the Civil War—the real South. Not the South that has been mythologized in novels and movies, but an authentic, hardscrabble place where poor men were forced to fight a rich man’s war for slavery and cotton. In Jones County, Mississippi, a farmer named Newton Knight led his neighbors, white and black alike, in an insurrection against the Confederacy at the height of the Civil War. Knight’s life story mirrors the little-known story of class struggle in the South—and it shatters the image of the Confederacy as a unified front against the Union.

This riveting investigative account takes us inside the battle of Corinth, where thousands lost their lives over less than a quarter mile of land, and to the dreadful siege of Vicksburg, presenting a gritty picture of a war in which generals sacrificed thousands through their arrogance and ignorance. Off the battlefield, the Newton Knight story is rich in drama as well. He was a man with two loves: his wife, who was forced to flee her home simply to survive, and an ex-slave named Rachel, who, in effect, became his second wife. It was Rachel who cared for Knight during the war when he was hunted by the Confederates, and, later, when members of the Knight clan sought revenge for the disgrace he had brought upon the family name.

About the Author

Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and is the author and co-author of 12 books, including four bestsellers. In 2012 she published the No.1 bestseller Sum it Up with legendary basketball coach Pat Summitt, shortly after Summitt was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. In 2008 she combined a knowledge of sports with a moonlighting passion for historical research to write The Real All Americans, the true story of how the Carlisle Indian School took on the Ivy League in football at the turn of the century and won, pioneering the forward pass and other innovations.