West Virginia is a state of overwhelming beauty. Shared traditions, shared tragedies, and shared histories bind its people to the land and each other with a strong sense of place, family, and home.

In striking black-and-white photos culled from state and national archives, accompanied by text from an award-winning writer, Historic Photos of West Virginia captures the history of this remarkable state. Even readers unfamiliar with its history will find a compelling drama in its tumultuous birth in the Civil War, its growth as a center for extraction industries and manufacturing, its role as a new homeland for immigrants, and its history as the birthplace of Mother's Day and of heroes like Charles "Chuck" Yeager. The triumphs of natives like Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck and tragedies like the Monongah mine disaster-all are depicted here as part of the complex, compelling story of the Mountain State and its people.