Virginia Book Notes

Some people get little or no respect, and archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni (1778-1824) is one of them.

But noted scholar Ivor Noël Hume attempts to set the record straight in "Belzoni: The Giant Archaeologists Love to Hate" (320 pages, University of Virginia Press, $34.95).

Born one of 14 children in Padua, Italy, Belzoni later immigrated to England and traveled to Egypt, where he became immersed in the nation's ancient treasures. Among the many that he took or shipped back to England was the huge head of Ramesses II, the "Young Memnon," which weighed more than 7 tons.

Later archaeologists, however, have dismissed Belzoni as a vandal and thief, and Hume's biography embraces Belzoni's worth and vividly examines his life and legacy. His work is in no way dry history, as he recounts Belzoni's life story — he once was a circus strongman — and the deprivations suffered by his English wife, Sarah Bane, in the Egyptian deserts.

Hume, a former director of Colonial Williamsburg's archaeological research program, is the author of more than 20 books.

Richmond, as anyone who lives here knows, is a city of charm and contradictions, and the Rev. Benjamin P. Campbell examines them — and suggests changes — in "Richmond's Unhealed History" (238 pages, Brandylane, $16.95).

Campbell, who since 1987 has served as the pastoral director of Richmond Hill, an ecumenical Christian community and retreat center in Church Hill, writes that Richmond has an opportunity during the next decade to live up to its potential. Race, of course, has long been a predominant factor in Richmond's culture, and Campbell examines the twin evils of slavery and segregation in detail. But he writes that Richmonders can prove to the world that race and class can be conquered:

"Many in metropolitan Richmond — patriots, citizens, and persons of faith — want to complete now — here at the falls of the James — the establishment of a great city based on our original principles, making possible a genuine citizenship that serves the common wealth. It is the most realistic aspiration for metropolitan Richmond, and it is the most moral as well. It is the ultimate redemption of Richmond's unhealed history."

A native of Arlington County and a seventh-generation Virginian, Campbell has studied at Williams College, Oxford and Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the Episcopal Church's priesthood in 1966.

With the obvious exception of slavery, Virginia's darkest hour likely came with Massive Resistance to court-ordered school desegregation. And nowhere was that history darker than in Prince Edward County, where the public schools were closed from 1959 until 1964 rather than admit black students.

In "Brown's Battleground: Students, Segregationists, & the Struggle for Justice in Prince Edward County, Virginia" (296 pages, University of North Carolina Press, $34.95), Jill Ogline Titus looks at the battle that Prince Edward residents and numerous outsiders fought — some to continue resistance even after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the schools reopened, some to ensure that every child had equal opportunity.

Titus is associate director of the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience at Washington College.

Baby boomers have heard the stories, many of their parents lived them, and Roy T. Matthews tells them in his novel "Gittin' Through: A Southern Town During World War II" (488 pages, Trafford Publishing, $24.95).

The novel recounts the lives of three generations after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Virginians will find that many of the book's aspects resonate. Charlestown is obviously patterned on Richmond and its Capital Dispatch newspaper on the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Matthews grew up in Franklin and holds degrees from Washington and Lee University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A retired professor from Michigan State, he and his wife, LeeAnn, live in Washington.

Richmonder V. Mark Covington tells his readers that "many plausible, scientific, and metaphysical theories ... contend the world will end on December 21, 2012," but that his new novel, "2012 Montezuma's Revenge" (406 pages, Solstice Publishing, $20.99), is not one of them.

In Covington's imaginative novel, cryptozoologist Lucy Poot has discovered the lost treasure of Montezuma II, but she has also discovered Montezuma himself, cryogenically frozen for 500 years. Now, Montezuma has returned with a mission, to regain his kingdom, restore the Mayan pyramids and save the planet before Dec. 21, 2012.

Covington lives in the Museum District with his wife, Beverly, and their two Australian shepherds, Journey and Opal.

Jessica James, who describes herself as "a Yankee from Gettysburg, Pa., writing about the South during the Civil War," has won the prestigious John Esten Cooke Award for Southern Fiction for her novel "Noble Cause," which is set entirely in Virginia.

The award is presented annually to encourage writers of fiction to portray characters and events dealing with Southern history and the Civil War in a historically accurate fashion.

One of the most important literary figures of 19th-century Virginia, Cooke was the prolific author of historical adventures and romances in the tradition of Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper. Cooke's work holds a significant place in Virginia's literary history and in 19th-century American literary culture.

Richmonder John Billhartz has published his first novel at age 90. "The Five Hats of Tribeca" (187 pages, Infinity Publishing, $13.95) tells the stories of five New Yorkers who find relaxation and strength in their attraction to the New York City waterfront. The story begins in the mid-1970s and covers three decades.

Shannon Bishop of Newport News has written "Zenara on the Hunt: Book 1" (212 pages, RoseDog Books, $12), the story of a vampire and her quest to avenge her lover and creator's death.

Samantha Willis has written her first book, "The Little Adventures of Bella and DJ: Travels Through Virginia" (24 pages, Capital City Books, $10.95). A children's book illustrated by Kelly Cleary and designed for kids pre-K through fifth grade, it features two Chihuahuas, Bella and DJ, who travel to five cities in Virginia. Willis lives in Midlothian with husband Jamaal and two dogs, Bella and DJ.