Dr. Steve Ausband's book Byrd's Line: A Natural History has been nominated for a Library of Virginia Literary Award.
Byrd's Line: A Natural History by Averett University professor of English Dr. Stephen C. Ausband is now available. In the 180-page book, Ausband re-traces the steps of William Byrd as he drew the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina.
“It's a conversation between two men looking at the same piece of territory but separated by 300 years,” said Ausband. “I started about four years ago pulling it together as a book. I visited the places he visited, looked at his text and tried to develop a conversation that was truthful to both set of eyes.”
Byrd, who Ausband describes as an astute naturalist, kept detailed records of how the land looked and what wildlife he observed on his 241-mile journey. Ausband does the same but from his modern day vantage point. He found some areas, like the Dismal Swamp, still very much as Byrd described them in 1728 but also found significant differences. Some wildlife Byrd observed, for example, is now extinct.
“People who read this book probably already have an interest in history, in the outdoors or in both,” said Ausband. “If you read this book you will have a clear sense of what it (the land Byrd explored) is like now, what it was like then and what happened in the ensuing years.”
“Byrd's Line: A Natural History was published by The University of Virginia Press. It is Ausband's second book. He is also a frequent contributor to Virginia Wildlife and other publications.
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Copyright © 2003 Patricia B. Mitchell.