The West Virginia story stretches back to the mists of prehistory and forward to the day before yesterday. During those many years, our land has been inhabited by the mysterious Mound Builders, by the Native American who followed them, and by the explorers, pioneers, slaves, and immigrants who contributed to the present population.

This book, by gifted storyteller Anna Egan Smucker, presents the history of the Mountain State as a lively tale of conflict and triumph, as West Virginians have stood up for themselves and the place they love. The larger-than-life figures – John Henry, John Brown, Mother Jones, the Hatfields, Chief Logan and Stonewall Jackson, among others – who populate our past are shown here as the rightful forebears of today’s generation of Mountaineers.

“The history of West Virginia is the story of a place whose hills and hollows are a part of its people, a place where family has always been important,” Ms. Smucker writes in her Introduction. “It is the story of people proud to call this beautiful, rugged land home.”