NewSouth

From the BOOKSHELF page of the Anniston Star, 2/??/01
Editor: Bruce Lowry: 235-92O5

Legends of the Still
Moonshine Memories holds distinctly Southern voice
MOONSHINE MEMORIES
Thomas R. Allison: New South Books, Montgomery, 2001, 376 pp. Illustrations, special signed, leatherbound limited edition, $45.00; hardcover, $28.95; paper, $19.95

Reviewed by Harvey H. Jackson

Some time back a Montgomery friend asked me to read a memoir that had been written by a former agent for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division -- a "revenuer" as they once were called. The author was Thomas R. Allison.

Since much of Allison's career had been spent in northeast Alabama, my friend figured I would be interested, and he was right. So the manuscript was delivered. I read it. Encouraged my friend to encourage the author, and that was all I heard of it until a few months ago, when a copy of Moonshine Memories arrived on my desk, along with a note thanking me for all I had done.

Understand this. I didn't do anything. This is the author's work and he should be justly proud.

Begun as a way to tell his grandchildren about the life he led, Allison's tales grew into a full-fledged account of one of the most legend-filled conflicts in Southern history -- the cat and mouse contest between moonshiners and revenue agents. lt is the story of lawmen chasing rumors, of stake-outs, of raids, of successes, and of failures, of excitement and danger, of painstaking investigations and boring deadends. Anyone who loves a good adventure story will love this book.

But there is more to Moonshine Memories than ripping good yarns.

Woven into the stories is one of the best accounts of how the illegal liquor business worked and how the men assigned to stop it did their job. Here is a look into an aspect of Southern culture that, until now, has been obscure if not unknown. If you want to know what inspired songs like Mountain Dew and Thunder Road, read this book.

Best of all, if you like to read about Southern "personalities," this book is for you. It is a fact that law enforcement and law-breaking are two professions that attract unique individuals, some of whom could easily move from one profession to the other, and frequently did.

Allison captures these people in print and reveals to readers a cast of characters that will delight and perplex. And don't be surprised if you find some familiar names in the process.

To sum it up, in Moonshine Memories, Thomas Allison tells a good story, a funny story, an exciting story. But more than that, the story he tells preserves a part of Alabama history that is both important and entertaining. What began as a legacy for his grandchildren has become a legacy for us all.

Harvey H. Jackson is professor and head of the Department of History and Foreign Languages at Jacksonville State University.