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Rating: 
Summary: High Expectations Exceeded
Review: I have the first edition of this book, and I've raved about it to my circle of friends. I heard this third edition was vastly improved, and I doubted this, but figured I couold always give it as a gift.
This book is going nowhere but to a choice space in my book shelf!
It covers more material, has a format which invites digging deeper into a topic at hand, highlights special topics, has a clearer type face, and is simply loaded with URL's for further cyber digging. I got out my Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer by Delorme mapping, a topo coverage of Tennesee, my state, and put a "mark" by all the towns and villages Mr. Bradley covered. Not a page without copious markings. What a living history exprience.He begins in the East as our state did, moves west, and brings out information about people, about the locale, gives historic facts and loads of human interest materal. He covers the Civil War as it progresses in various locations and is in fact more historical than a course or two I've had in Higher Eduction. And READABLE!! His wry, delightful humor graces most every entry. And as you follow this through the topo maps you SEE how history unfolds. Now I know where the Cumberland Gap is, I know where the mysterious Melungeons 'are', I've followed the tragic trail of tears, I know where to find barbeque all across Tennessee etc etc. I know where that terrific meteorite hit Tennessee, where biggie dinosaur fossils are found etc. .
What a book! What a marvelous travel companion, what a history of my state. And I have a store house of "stories and tales" I'll make good use of.
If you have an interest in Tennessee and can get only one book: THIS is it! Hands down. I'm grateful to Mr Bradley for doing it.
Hap Eliason
Rating: 
Summary: Complete guide to a wonderful state.
Review: I was born and raised in Tennessee, and I have always loved driving down the highways and seeing the little towns and the various sights. Finally I have a chance to show it off to other people. This book gives the recipe for Chocolate Gravy, talks about the restored courtroom where the Scopes Trial took place, and visits the site of the Doodle Soup Festival. And that, so to speak, is just a taste
Rating:
Summary: Best intro to Tennesee on the Market
Review: I'm a lifetime Tennesseean, and I couldn't put Mr. Bradley's book down. I know Middle Tennessee and the Smokies fairly well, but as I got into his marvelous book I couldn't believe one author could capture and capsulate so much in such limited space. I've garnered information about my State- so much new to me- that it just blew me away--some info right at my doorstep, so to speak. About locales I know fairly well his presentation is right on target. I especially value the boxes about history, personalities, buildings etc. Don't hesitate. Buy the book!
Rating:
Summary: Best intro to Tennesee on the Market
Review: I'm a lifetime Tennesseean, and I couldn't put Mr. Bradley's book down. I know Middle Tennessee and the Smokies fairly well, but as I got into his marvelous book I couldn't believe one author could capture and capsulate so much in such limited space. I've garnered information about my State- so much new to me- that it just blew me away--some info right at my doorstep, so to speak. About locales I know fairly well his presentation is right on target. I especially value the boxes about history, personalities, buildings etc. Don't hesitate. Buy the book!
Rating:
Summary: Mark Twain Lives!
Review: If Mark Twain comes back from the dead to write a guidebook of the state where he was conceived (in Jamestown, as Bradley explains on p. 196), then buy that. But old Sam Clemens would be wasting his time, because in Moon Handbooks: Tennessee, Bradley's already written the "Life on the Mississippi" of Tennessee travel guides. Like "Mississippi," Bradley's "Tennessee" is so fascinating in in its details and anecdotes that I kept finding myself reading far more than I "needed" to for the travel at hand. And like Clemens, who clearly wrote from a genuine love of the river and the bygone steamboat days that he wanted to capture on paper, all of Bradley's local lore and country cookery reviews and sidebars on everything from roots musicians to the development of the the atom bomb in Oak Ridge...well, these all swirl together to create a sort of love song to the author's native state. Bradley isn't afraid to criticize where criticism is due--look at his coverage of the outlandish developments near the Smokies. But even then, it's clear his concerns are not based on some disaffected political agenda, but from a genuine, familial concern for a cousin who has lost his way. Consequently, Gatlinburg doesn't "outrage" Bradley, it breaks his heart because of its failed potential. And even then, Bradley doesn't just sneer and proceed into the pristine National Park, shaking Galinburg's dust from his feet. Just as any good family member will make a point of telling you that old yellow-eyed aunt Ruth used to knock 'em dead at the USO dances and can still cook a mean casserole and belt out a showtune, Bradley lingers and explores Gatlinburg on its own terms. He points out its cherished place in many Volunteer hearts (including his own) as a childhood wonderland, and shows that he's not above enjoying the small simple pleasures of a candy shop, or even the more garish wonders of Ripley's aquarium.
If you don't know Tennessee, you won't find a more comprehensive introduction to the entire state. And if you already love Tennessee...you'll find all of the states most endearing qualities captured between the covers--and in the spirit--of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Pack this first!
Review: Jeff Bradley's Tennessee Handbook is the next best thing to having one of the "locals" show you around. Bradley is akin to Mark Twain, a great storyteller who spins local yarns with humor and insight. Bradley is a southerner himself, from Tennessee, and does a masterful job in painting a portrait for those of us from elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Pack this first!
Review: Jeff Bradley's Tennessee Handbook is the next best thing to having one of the "locals" show you around. Bradley is akin to Mark Twain, a great storyteller who spins local yarns with humor and insight. Bradley is a southerner himself, from Tennessee, and does a masterful job in painting a portrait for those of us from elsewhere.
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