This two-volume, 743-page set arrived today, and it's certainly worth the $50 I paid for a used copy. Author Norm Cohen is probably best known for his Long Steel Rail, a comprehensive collection of American railroad songs that was published in 1981 and revised and reissued in 2000. American Folk Songs: A Regional Encyclopedia was poublished in 2008. It lives up to Cohen's reputation for interesting, colorful, and comprehensive presentations of folk songs.

The book is divided into nine sections:

Volume I

1. New England
2. Midland (North Atlantic)
3. Upper South
4. Deep South and the Ozarks
   Volume II
   
5. Great Lakes
6. Midwest Plains
7. Southwest
8. Mountain Region
9. Far West and Pacific

Each section is subdivided by state, and a number of songs are presented for each state. For example, here are the songs for Maine:

• Lovewell's Fight
• The Aroostook War
• Canada-I-O
• Henry K. Sawyer
• Away Down East
• The Logger's Boast
• In the Tunnel
• The Burning of Henry K. Robinson's Camp in 1873

Each song is nicely explained and documented, and there is background information for each region and each state. The index furnishes Laws and Roud numbers for most songs, which should facilitate further study. The songs are presented with lyrics only, no musical notation. This book has been indexed in the Traditional Ballad Index.

It's a great book. I'm glad I bought it.

-Joe-