Putting "Loafing Streams" to Work: The Building of Lay, Mitchell, Martin, and Jordan Dams, 1910-1929

This superb anthology describes not only the hydrology of dams and rivers but uniquely and interestingly presents the people, culture and the period of the early 20th Century deep south. It also portrays, in an intimate manner, the formation of a great company, the Alabama Power Company. I recommend this book without qualification and do so quite often. AGK Southern Reader

I have lived in central AL all of my life and this book shed a lot of light onto the dams I have benefitted from all of these years. I grew up near Jordan Dam and now work near Thurlow and, I found this book to be very educational. Although it doesn't go into much detail about Thurlow it does cover Jordan extensively. One problem I had with the book is how the author will jump around in time in some sections. It can sometimes be confusing. I had also hoped the book would go into more detail about the building of the dams, but this book is more of the humanitarian side of things such as living conditions, health, entertainment, etc. My dad worked over 30 years for the Alabama Power Company before he retired with them and one thing I really enjoyed about this book was how it covered the rise of the Power Co. and its struggles. I recommend this book for any Alabamian.