The jacket encapsulates the book: For about two centuries Due West has claimed attention for its unusual name and for its long and interesting history.

That history began during the 1760's when this place played an important part in colinial South Carolina's relations with the Cherokees and in the Revolutionary War. Since then this place has primarily been know as a college town and as a center for the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination. Erskine College and Erskine Theological Seminary date from the 1830's, and Due West Female College from 1859. Families moved there to secure an inexpensive education for their sons and daughters, and its weekly paper, the Due West Telescope, became the unoffical denominational newspaper.

It was distant from population centers and such "evils" as alcohol, and its strict observance of the Sabbath became legendary. In the ante bellum years it was notable for its paternal treatment of slaves, and later for its peacefulness in a region which was know for racial turmoil.

Due West sometimes attracted national attention. In the 1870's the National Police Gazette featured its calaboose which was "at a place called Due West, said to be somewhere in South Carolina." Two recent biographies of Erskine Caldwell have highlighted the unusual character of the town where he attended college for three years, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault's autobiography, In My Place, describes the town where she was born in 1942. K.T. Oslin, country music's songwriter and singer, has frequently cited Due West in the last dozen years as the place which inspired her career.

The book is available exclusively through the Erskine College Bookstore. It can be ordered by phone with Visa or MasterCard for $19.95 + tax and $3.00 shipping and handling at (864) 379-8846.

Check are also accepted. The total cost is $24.15 (which includes tax and shipping and handling) made out to Erskine College. Send the check along with your name and mailing address to: