Bluegrass, Belles, and Bourbon: A Pictorial History of Whisky in Kentucky by Harry Harrison Kroll. New York: A.S. Barnes and Co., Inc., 1967, Contents, Index, Illustrated, pp. 224.
This book is one of the classics of bourbon history. Kroll is a master wordsmith who tells an interesting story and in this volume he tells many interesting stories. Each chapter really is a stand alone article about a different subject in bourbon history. To add to this great narration he has added many illustrations to each chapter. Some of the photographs are indeed seen only in print in this book. The book's only drawback is that Kroll get a lot of his information from the marketing departments of the distilleries. This means that some of the stories are based more upon legends than history.
Kroll has chapters that discuss many distilleries and people that are ignored in many of the books today. There are familiar names such as "The Mark of the Maker", "The Caw of the Crow" and "The Hill of Heaven". There are also chapters titled "Grand Old Name H. McKenna", "The Ghost of Old Tom Moore", "A Medley of Medleys" and "The Last of the Great Old Distillers". This last chapter has an interview with Pappy Van Winkle and that alone makes the book worth having in your library.
This is a book that should be part of every great bourbon library. It has its flaws but it is still a very interesting read filled with many facts.
Mike Veach