Hi David,

I have the book - and wish I had just borrowed it from the library. The notes section is excellent - but a lot of the examples Ms. Stevenson uses to advance her premise are not from Loudoun. Her section on FPOC is very skimpy - and she skims over any data (or ignores it) that doesn't fit into her thesis. Loudoun county - and it's history is far more complex than the portrait she paints. The county had some townships with almost no slavery - a large Northern population, emancipationists, Quakers, and AA families that remained stable throughout slavery. It also had harsh masters, slave dealers, and elite plantations - but most slaveholders in Loudoun were of the small farmer variety. And even though VA enacted laws to rid the state of FPOC - it's interesting how many never left the area. When I bought the book I was excited - thinking I would learn more about my primary area of interest - and in depth - since the book, not counting the index is 327 pages in length.

I won't waste anyone's time with a detailed list of criticisms - but I will say that she should stick to history - when she crosses over into attempting to compare matrifocality and kinship relationships in Africa to the slave context in America she makes glaring errors that students in Anthro 101 would get failing grades for.

I would not put this one on my must read list - only on my must photo-copy the index list.

Denise