What comes to mind when you think about the Ozarks? Perhaps it is its unique geographic features or rich history. It may be the hillbilly stereotype or story of the Baldknobbers.

With the goal of presenting the region’s most complete portrait, historian Dr. Brooks Blevins started to write a comprehensive history of the Ozarks a few years ago.

It resulted in a trilogy. The first and second books were “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks” and “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 2: The Conflicted Ozarks,” respectively. The final book, “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers” came out recently.

Blevins, the Noel Boyd professor of Ozarks studies at Missouri State University, shares more about volume three.

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Read the full transcript for part 1

Read the full transcript for part 2