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Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry Hardcover – December 26, 2007

by Scott Reynolds Nelson (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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Who was the real John Henry? The story of this legendary African-American figure has come down to us in so many songs, stories, and plays, that the facts are often lost. Historian Scott Nelson brings John Henry alive for young readers in his personal quest for the true story of the man behind the myth. Nelson presents the famous folk song as a mystery to be unraveled, identifying the embedded clues within the lyrics, which he examines to uncover many surprising truths. He investigates the legend and reveals the real John Henry in this beautifully illustrated book.

Nelson’s narrative is multilayered, interweaving the story of the building of the railroads, the period of Reconstruction, folk tales, American mythology, and an exploration of the tradition of work songs and their evolution into blues and rock and roll. This is also the story of the author’s search for the flesh-and-blood man who became an American folk hero; Nelson gives a first-person account of how the historian works, showing history as a process of discovery. Readers rediscover an African-American folk hero. We meet John Henry, the man who worked for the railroad, driving steel spikes. When the railroad threatens to replace workers with a steam-powered hammer, John Henry bets that he can drive the beams into the ground faster than the machine. He wins the contest, but dies in the effort.

Nelson’s vibrant text, combined with archival images, brings a new perspective and focus to the life and times of this American legend.
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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    10 - 14 years
  2. Print length
    64 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    5 - 9
  5. Lexile measure
    1030L
  6. Dimensions
    9.48 x 0.42 x 11.21 inches
  7. Publisher
    National Geographic Kids
  8. Publication date
    December 26, 2007
  9. ISBN-10
    142630000X
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1426300004
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

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*Starred Review* Not many history books are written in first person, but this is no ordinary history book. It traces a historian’s quest for the man behind the legend of John Henry. Nelson’s research involved listening to hundreds of variants of the song “John Henry,” learning about post–Civil War railway construction projects, visiting possible sites for the legendary contest between man and steam drill, and in one groundbreaking moment, glancing at the 1910 postcard on his desktop, hearing the lyrics of a version of “John Henry” in his mind, and making a connection that no other modern historian had considered. Based on Nelson’s Steel Drivin’ Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend (2006), this large-format volume retells the story for young people. Many period photos, paintings, and engravings, reproduced in shades of rust and sepia, are shown to good advantage in this handsomely designed book. Appendixes include suggestions for further reading and Nelson’s notes on his sources and on the “John Henry” song variants, as well as the ongoing search for information about John Henry. Marc Aronson contributes a section on “How to Be a Historian,” using Nelson’s search as a model. A lively, insightful introduction to the active pursuit of history. Grades 6-9. --Carolyn Phelan

About the Author

Author and historian Scott Reynolds Nelson is the Legum Professor of History at The College of William and Mary in Virginia. His previous book on John Henry, Steel Drivin’ Man, was awarded the Organization of American Historians Merle Curti Prize and an Anisfield-Wolf award. He lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ National Geographic Kids; Illustrated edition (December 26, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 64 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 142630000X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1426300004
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 - 14 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1030L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 5 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.24 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.48 x 0.42 x 11.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Marc Aronson

    Marc Aronson

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    All of my books start with questions, and I hope they prompt readers to ask questions of their own.

    I find history history endlessly fascinating. It is the detective story that yields us as the answer.

    I try to write each book with the same care I would put into a novel, but with the same respect for truth as a judge in a court of law.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Scott Reynolds Nelson

    Scott Reynolds Nelson

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Scott Reynolds Nelson has been an opera supernumerary, dishwasher, and network engineer. He found his calling in his twenties and now writes about African American history, railroad history, and the history of commodities. He has taught at William & Mary and the University of Leiden, and has been a research fellow at the EHESS in Paris, Harvard's Warren Center, and at the Newberry Library in Chicago. A Guggenheim Fellow in 2019-2020, he now teaches history at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. He has been known to annoy his family by singing too loudly or muttering complaints to dogs that have long since died.

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Stavros Macrakis
5.0 out of 5 stars Real history for smart kids (grownups, too)
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2008
Verified Purchase
We've all heard songs and stories of John Henry, the "steel-driving man". But is there a real man behind them? And what is his story?

Scott Nelson has written a fascinating book which not only digs deep into the John Henry story, but also shows how historians approach the past through a variety of sources, including dusty archives, obscure books, and even buried skeletons. With a light hand, he sketches the industrial, economic, and political landscape of the 19th century South and brings it to life for the reader through John Henry.

Based on his adult book "Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry: the Untold Story of an American Legend", this short book is a great way to transition middle schoolers from the idea that history is official and dry to the realization that history is active detective work, and that the life of the past is very relevant to the present.

I bought this book for my 6th-grader, who enjoys it, but read it myself, and found myself drawn into Nelson's approach and wanting to learn more -- so I'll be reading Steel Drivin' Man soon....
9 people found this helpful
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mmz
4.0 out of 5 stars the story of research
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2009
The author made an interesting choice to make the story of his own research the focus of this book. I think it worked really well in this case, given that there's so little known about the actual John Henry. Nelson is very up-front about the fact that much of his results are based on theory or conjecture, but overall the transparency of his research process gives a lot of weight to his conclusions. This is an interesting book both for what it tells us about the research process, but also for what we learn about John Henry's world.
3 people found this helpful
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Rose T.
5.0 out of 5 stars this is an excellent narrative of how historians do history
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2015
Verified Purchase
As well as being a fascinating history of a well-known song, answering questions folkies have asked themselves for a long time, this is an excellent narrative of how historians do history, thus worth adding to any unit on archaeology, research, or an intro to historical themes.
One person found this helpful
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Cass
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
Good read for my son.
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Lee A.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
awesome for my boys
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John Garst
3.0 out of 5 stars Great Production, Skimpy Facts, Wrong Conclusion
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2007
This is a beautiful, well-produced volume that tells a nice story.

In my opinion, however, that story is wrong - the convict laborer John William Henry is not the legendary steel driver and the contest did not take place at Lewis Tunnel.
One person found this helpful
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Sally L.
4.0 out of 5 stars Accessible presentation of the research/inquiry process
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2009
In this title author Scott Reynolds Nelson addresses the process of his quest to find the real John Henry. Chapter one is titled "Stuck" where Nelson admits, "I was surrounded with research, and I did not know what to write." Who hasn't been in that position? This book is accessible in modeling the research/inquiry process - it's simple, not foreboding. This would be an additional resource in addressing the Reconstruction Period; it touches on reconstruction. I found his results convincing.
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N. S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2008
"One way for local whites to take the strut out of a black man's step was to put him in prison...Southerners who had just lost a war managed to convince courts to put hundreds of black men in prison, including black soldiers." -- from AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN

"But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people...then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait."
-- the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Over the past 24 hours, I've been watching television news shows marking the fortieth anniversary of the assassination of MLK. I've seen in-depth features that examine the known facts and present snippets of conversations with those who were there at the time of the tragic events of 1968 Memphis.

What is the real truth concerning the FBI's, the Mafia's, or the Klan's role in the assassination of Reverend King? Will there one day be new evidence unearthed when someone leaves behind a deathbed confession? Will someone's private papers reveal unimagined and startling revelations? Might one of today's adolescents grow up to employ the Freedom of Information Act in a way that significantly enlightens us about events from the days of my own childhood?

History is a mystery, a swirling jigsaw puzzle, which is repeatedly being reworked and reinterpreted. Anyone who has done research -- whether a simple Google search or a rigorous extended process employing database searches, examinations of primary source materials, and interviews -- will readily appreciate the detective work of Professor Scott Reynolds Nelson, author of AIN'T NOTHING BUT A MAN: MY QUEST TO FIND THE REAL JOHN HENRY.

"Studying history may seem to be about filling up with knowledge -- like a car pulling into a gas station. Once you have a full tank, you are done. But it is just the opposite. The more you know about the past, the more questions you ask. Once you have a handle on what others have found, you can see the gaps, the spaces, the places that have not been covered. This is exactly what happened to me, for even before I ever thought about John Henry, I discovered that some 40,000 men, the largest railroad workforce in the South, were hardly mentioned in the history books. Why? I set out to learn more about those men. That was the big mystery I was trying to solve."

Professor Nelson eventually set his sights on also determining whether a real man amongst those 40,000 inspired the many generations of songs and stories about John Henry, the guy who supposedly outdid a steam drill with the hammer in his hand and then died. And in recounting a research process spanning many years -- a process of exploration, investigation, and interpretation -- along with revealing the fruits of that quest, Professor Nelson illustrates how our knowledge of history is the result of historians working long and hard to ferret out and make sense of clues about events from years ago. We learn from him that luck and inspiration, as well as determination, can play a role in what the world comes to know about the truth of the past.

"If I was right, and the song was talking about the Virginia Penitentiary, why was John Henry in prison? Why would he have been buried in the sand? And how did that connect to the C&O and steam drills and a contest of man against machine? Every question I asked led to more questions."

Through his work to shed light on these mysteries, Professor Nelson uncovered details of railroad construction and maintenance, historical tunnel excavation techniques, the development of and purpose for work songs, and even the possible genesis of the term "rock and roll."

In tracking down information on Nineteenth Century railroad workers and an imprisoned black man named John Henry -- a man who had been rented out by a warden during Reconstruction as part of a work crew -- Professor Nelson has provided readers an exceptional and fascinating look at how historians create the written record of the past.
9 people found this helpful
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