{"product_id":"9780817388645","title":"The Forge","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Forge\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book in the Vaiden Trilogy by award-winning Alabama author T. S. Stribling. Originally published in 1931, \u003ci\u003eThe Forge\u003c\/i\u003e introduces the Vaiden family, residents of the rural north Alabama of Stribling’s own youth. The Vaidens are a family of white yeoman farmers who scratch out a living in the social and financial shadow of the Lacefields, masters of an opulent plantation nearby.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The novel opens on Alabama’s secession and the onset of the Civil War. It traces the story of Miltiades Vaiden, who enlists in the Confederate army, and explores the ways the Vaidens, Lacefields, and freed slaves attempt to adapt to the collapse of southern society on the home front.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e After \u003ci\u003eThe Forge\u003c\/i\u003e, Stribling continued the Vaiden saga in 1932 with \u003ci\u003eThe Store\u003c\/i\u003e, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize. He completed the trilogy in 1934 with \u003ci\u003eThe Unfinished Cathedral\u003c\/i\u003e. Together, the three books paint a portrait of the agrarian South of the mid-nineteenth century, its destruction, and the beginnings of a mercantile future.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069535011056,"sku":"9780817388645","price":39.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780817388645_p0.jpg?v=1763753491","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780817388645","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}