Walt Haskins’ Field Guides

The Hidden South

48 true stories from the back roads of the American South, with a map to every place.

The Hidden South e-book, with Walt Haskins on the cover
$26.99USD$29.99Save 10%

Launch price until Nov. 24

Get the book — $26.99

Large-print PDF e-book · Instant download · 30-day money-back guarantee

Walt explains

What’s inside, and how it works

What the stories are, the two editions, and how to download and keep your book. Under two minutes.

Walt Haskins, the author

A note from the author

“The history I love is out on the ground.”

I never could sit still in stuffy libraries. I learned history where it happened: at digs, at ancient burial grounds, at the old places themselves, and from the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the people who were there.

With this book I’ll take you down the same back roads I walked. You’ll stand where it happened and hear the stories as the families kept them, and for a while you’ll be back in those places and those times.

— Walt

What you get

  • 471large-print pages
  • 270+photographs and pictures
  • 48maps, one for every place, with notes on getting there
  • 17.5 ptlarge, clear type (most books use 10 to 12)
  • 4 × 12four parts of the South, twelve stories each
  • Any screentablet, phone or computer, or print it at home
The same story on a tablet and on a phone: full-size pages on the tablet, extra-large print on the phone

Two editions, one purchase

Easy to read on a tablet or a phone

  • For tablets and computers. Full-size pages, laid out like a printed book.
  • For phones. The same book in extra-large print. No squinting at small type.

You get both right after checkout. Just open the one that fits your screen.

Inside the book

Stories told as scenes, from an ancient trading town on the Arkansas River to a poet’s goat farm in the Blue Ridge.

An open copy of the book: the Part One opener with a relief map of Eastern Oklahoma and its 12 story sites, beside a page with a large photograph of a shell gorget from Spiro, engraved with a spider and open hands
12 stories. Green hills, frontier forts and the nations of Indian Territory, from an ancient trading town to a mining town that had to be abandoned.
An open copy of the book: the Part Two opener with a relief map of South Texas and its 12 story sites, beside a page with a large photograph of millions of bats on their evening flight out of Bracken Cave
12 stories. Spanish missions, shipwrecks and border battles, from a treasure fleet wrecked in 1554 to fifteen million bats that still fly tonight.
An open copy of the book: the Part Three opener with a relief map of North Alabama and its 12 story sites, beside a page with a large photograph of the bronze Noccalula at the rim of the gorge
12 stories. A cave lived in for ten thousand years, a painted cliff, Helen Keller’s pump and the rocket test that shook Huntsville.
An open copy of the book: the Part Four opener with a relief map of Western North Carolina and its 12 story sites, beside a page with a large photograph of the view up into Guastavino’s tile dome
12 stories. A carved giant’s stone, Spain’s lost fort, the Brown Mountain lights and a poet’s goat farm in the Blue Ridge.

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Choose your copy

The Hidden South

The large-print e-book, ready to read or print.

$26.99USD$29.99Save 10%

Launch price, then $29.99

Get the e-book — $26.99

The Road-Trip Edition

The e-book plus printable trip maps and story cards.

Coming soon

The Complete Series

Book One now, Books Two to Four as they come out.

Coming soon

Have our reader’s code? Code:

Code is applied. The prices above include it.

Questions

30-day money-back guarantee. Read it. Try a story on the grandchildren. If the book isn’t for you, just reply to your Gumroad receipt or email us within 30 days, and we’ll refund your money. No forms, no hard feelings.

Is this a paper book?

No. The Hidden South is an e-book in two editions, one for tablets and computers and one for phones. You download both right after you pay, and you can print any pages you like.

What can I read it on?

Any iPad or other tablet, iPhone or Android phone, Mac or Windows computer. On a tablet or a computer, open the edition for tablets and computers. On a phone, open the Phone Edition: every page is set for a phone screen in extra-large print. Kindle e-ink readers can open it too, but the pages look small there.

How do I get it after I pay?

Right after checkout you’ll see your download page, and you’ll also get an email with a link to it. Each book file is about 25 MB, so Wi-Fi is best.

I paid, but the book hasn’t arrived. What should I do?

Don’t worry, we’ll sort it out. Here’s what to do:

  1. Find the email. Look for an email from “Your Handy Guide” (our store on Gumroad) titled “You bought The Hidden South…”, and check Spam and Promotions too. Its “View content” button opens your book, even if you closed the page after paying.
  2. Check the payment. Look for a charge from GUMRD.COM on your card statement. If there’s none, the payment didn’t go through, and you can simply order again.
  3. Still no book? Write to us. Perhaps the email address had a small typo at checkout, or something else went wrong. Send your name and the date you ordered to [email protected], and we’ll find your order and get your book to you.
Can I print it?

Yes. The edition for tablets and computers has US Letter pages, so they print on ordinary paper at home or at a print shop. The “Visit today” pages are handy to print and take along on a trip.

Is it really large print?

Yes. The text is set at 17.5 points with wide spacing (most books use 10 to 12), in dark, clear type. On a phone, the Phone Edition makes it bigger still.

Is paying safe?

Yes. Every payment goes through a secure checkout and is protected by encryption, and your card details are never shown to us. If you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac, you can pay with Apple Pay and won’t even need to type a card number. On any other phone or computer, a credit or debit card works just as well.

How do I get a refund?

Reply to the receipt email Gumroad sent you (your reply comes straight to us), or write to [email protected], within 30 days of your purchase. We refund the full price through Gumroad; most banks show it within 5 to 10 business days.

How do I reach you?

Email [email protected]. We read every message and reply as soon as we can.