Carved in Stone:  The History of Stone Mountain by David Freeman tells the story of  Stone Mountain from its geological beginnings, its colorful Native American past, its becoming the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and a Civil War shrine, to its creation as a recreational area. 

The book recounts the history of the Mountain's famous north face carving, the largest of its kind in the world, of the three famous Civil War figures Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee.  The Mountain's stories are told not from the traditional neutral historian's perspective, but as a narrative from which to better understand the inner workings of the American South, from Georgia's decision to fund the completion of the Mountain's Civil War carving in the 1950's during the tumultuous beginnings of the Civil Rights Era, to the opening of the Stone Mountain Theme Park in the 1970's as way to draw in much needed tourism dollars.

The book makes an excellent read for anyone thinking of visiting the Stone Mountain area as well as for anyone who is interested in the history of the Civil War and the American South.   Carved in Stone is available at most book stores and at Amazon.com.