Death in Briar Bottom

 

Death in Briar Bottom is a fact based true crime history by historian Dr. Timothy Silver. Released 12th Nov 2024 by the UNC Press, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. 

This is a straight unvarnished retelling of the events of one night in the July 1972 at a US forest service campground in western North Carolina which resulted in the shooting death of one young man and the resultant trauma and search for justice by his friends and family in the aftermath. 

Although written in entirely layman accessible "everyday" language, the author is a historian, and the book is meticulously annotated throughout. Facsimile records and black and white archival photos accompany the text. Interspersed throughout are the first hand accounts and records of what happened (widely conflicting stories from eyewitnesses) as well as modern interviews with people who still live in the area of the shooting as well as the surviving witnesses. 

Much of the story is infuriating: the author relates shocking racism and aggressive abuses by law enforcement with unvarnished dispassionate neutrality. It was quite difficult to read in places.  

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 6 hours and 7 minutes and is capably read by Andre Bellido. He has a young, neutral tenor voice and a very faintly discernable coastal accent (but absolutely no "twang"). He does a good job of reading the dispassionate facts and recollections and adds a lot of warmth and humanity to the sometimes difficult read. Sound and production quality are high throughout the recording. 

Four stars. It would be a good choice for public or university library acquisition, home library (especially for readers who are interested in modern rural political/cultural history), or possibly as a support text for allied classroom subjects (American rural history, culture studies, anthropology, etc). 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.