Swallow Barn, Or a Sojourn in the Old Dominion

By John Pendleton Kennedy

Book Overview

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1015651925
• ISBN13: 9781015651920
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Legare Street Press
• Length: 546 Pages
• Weight: 2.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Intelligent and Humorous; Keep a Highlighter Handy

I chose this book for its insights into Tidewater life, since that is my heritage. (Mr. Kennedy was related to the Dandridge family.) I recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys this topic. In addition, the writing is fabulous: colorful, original, and fun. I found unique phrases and new words on almost every page (hence the highlighter); in fact, for six of the new words, this book was the only source for those words listed in the OED online. (Can you find them?) Socially, look for a northern visitor's view of early 19th-century southern perspectives on slavery; he is quite insightful.

In ol' Virginia

Basically a plotless book that contains a series of sketches depicting life on a Virginia plantation circa 1830. The main sketch involves a lawsuit over disputed land, which leads to comedy and romance. Kennedy is a skillful writer and offers up a charming picture of what life was like then. His style is light and fanciful, and one reads the book with a relaxed pleasure.