MIDDLE GEORGIA BOOKSHELF: 'Fuller E. Callaway: Portrait of a New South Citizen'

By Buckner F. Melton Jr. and Carol Willcox Melton, of Macon

320 pages, $31.67 (Looking Glass Books)

What it's about: Fuller Earle Callaway, a man of inexhaustible energy, relentless drive and visionary, calculated risk, became a personification of the New South following the devastation of the Civil War. Fiercely independent, Callaway was foremost among progressive industrialists and became a noted advisor to Woodrow Wilson's administration.

The author says: The work is filled with memorable characters, from Callaway's colorful hometown cohorts to famous friends, like muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell, who once asked the legendary businessman, "What do you do in LaGrange?" and reported Callaway's reply: "We make American citizens, and run cotton mills to pay the expenses."

Where to find it: www.fullercallaway.org; www.amazon.com

Other books by Buckner F. Melton: "Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason"; "A Hanging Offense: The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers"; and "Sea Cobra: Admiral Halsey's Task Force and the Great Pacific Typhoon"

Other books by Carol Willcox Melton: "Between War and Peace: Woodrow Wilson and the American Expeditionary Force in Siberia, 1918-1921"

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "MIDDLE GEORGIA BOOKSHELF: 'Fuller E. Callaway: Portrait of a New South Citizen' ."