Land Between the Rivers: The Southern Illinois Country

Lying in an area bounded by the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers, the Southern Illinois country is rich in history, folk­lore, scenery, and natural resources. At about the latitude of southern Virginia, and extending from the flat prairie farm­land of central Illinois to the rugged “Illinois Ozarks,” the area is the natural terminal boundary for hundreds of plant species reaching out to all points of the compass. It is also the oldest and most sparsely populated part of Illinois, a region of small towns and independent people, typical of the vast heartland of the U.S.A.

Surveying the area in words and pic­tures the authors sensitively and appre­ciatively portray the region’s special qualities. An uncommon portrayal of American life in a distinctive region, the book provides a memorable journey both in time and place.

C. William Horrell was instrumental in establishing the Department of Cinema and Photography at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC). During Horrell’s lifetime, his photographs appeared in many major metropolitan newspapers and a variety of popular and specialty magazines, including Life, Pic, Youth, and Friends. He died in 1989.

Henry Dan Piper, a former chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project before switching to the study of literature, was the dean of the College of Liberal Arts at SIUC and, later, a professor of English. He died in 1999.

John W. Voigt was a professor of botany at SIUC for four decades. He was the author of many books and articles, including Plant Communities of Southern Illinois (with Robert H. Mohlenbrock; SIU Press). He died in 1990.