John Ehle

John Ehle is the author of seventeen books--eleven fiction and six nonfiction-- including Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation. His novel, The Land Breakers, first published in 1964 by Harper & Row, was the first in a seven-book series that begins with the settling of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina.

Mr. Ehle is a member of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame, and has received the North Carolina Award for Literature, the Thomas Wolfe Prize and the Lillian Smith Award for Southern Fiction. He is also a five-time winner of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction. He has been recipient of the Mayflower Award, the Governor's Award for Meritorious Service and the John Tyler Caldwell Award for the Humanities. Mr. Ehle holds honorary doctorates from UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Asheville, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Berea College.

June 3, 2006 – Harper Lee Praises John Ehle and The Land Breakers

Harper Lee, renowned author of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, sent a personal, hand-written letter to Press 53, praising John Ehle's talent as a writer, and his novel The Land Breakers. In part, she wrote: "John Ehle’s meld of historical fact with ineluctable plot-weaving makes The Land Breakers an exciting example of masterful storytelling. He is our foremost writer of historical fiction." Press 53 will publish Ms. Lee's comments on the cover of The Land Breakers, along with comments by Robert Morgan, Pinckney Benedict and Ron Rash.

We have limited quantities of several hardcover first editions in "very good" to"as new" condition from Mr. Ehle's personal inventory. If you would like to own one or more of these rare and valuable books, click here.

We get lots of questions about John Ehle's popular 7-novel Appalachian Series that begins chronologically with The Land Breakers and ends with Last One Home. To the right we have listed all seven books in chronological order with the date of publication in parenthesis, including current publication status.

John Ehle's Seven-novel Appalachian Series

The Land Breakers (1964) reprinted 2006, Press 53

The Journey of August King (1971) reprinted 1995, Miramax

Time of Drums (1970) Currently out of print

The Road (1967) reprinted 1998, University of Tennessee Press

The Winter People (1982) reprinted 1999, John F. Blair, Publisher

Lion on the Hearth (1961) Currently out of print

Last One Home (1984) reprinted 2009, Press 53

The Land Breakers

by John Ehle

9 x 6 paperback

$19.95

Last One Home

by John Ehle

9 x 6 paperback

$19.95

Move Over, Mountain

by John Ehle

9 x 6 paperback

$19.95

John Ehle's first novel, published in 1957

The Free Men

by John Ehle

9 x 6 paperback

$19.95

In 1963-64, John Ehle chronicled the civil rights protests as they took place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This award-winning work of historical nonfiction was written as history was happening. Complete with original photos.

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