The Ballad Book of John Jacob Niles

Niles's stories and the songs themselves flesh out the line drawings of preservationist recordings.

~Green Man Review

The histories accompanying each ballad in this work are delightful histories, anecdotes and vignettes, interesting in and of themselves.

~Kentucky Libraries

Niles has really given us two books in one: a superior 'Child-ballad' songster, [and] a series of descriptions, anecdotes, and folksay from informants.... For more than fifty years he has made a traditional culture seem as beautiful as his own devoted and dignified spirit.

~New York Herald-Tribune

His most ambitious effort in a long and rich career.

~New York Times

A treasure trove for musicians, living history enthusiasts, and many other readers.

~Reviewers Consortium

His comments are as valuable as the songs are beautiful.... A marvelous book.

~Washington Post

[...] Pen provides us with, hands down, the ablest guide to understanding an artist who might otherwise be an enigma. It is in that capacity that his book most excels.

~Journal of Folklore Research