The South: A Concise History, Volume I

The South: A Concise History, Volume I

A narrative history, this book integrates recent scholarship on race and gender into the story of The South. In clear, succinct prose, it surveys the sweep of southern history from Jamestown to the present, with special attention to the Old South and to the social, economic, and political changes that have created the New South of today. A concise, simple, narrative history is provided, leading readers into further analysis of southern history through absorbing narrative. New scholarship is integrated into the narrative. Balanced coverage of the South provides readers with equal coverage of the post-Civil War South and the Old South (five chapters dedicated to each). Historians.From the Back CoverThe South: A Concise History provides a narrative history of the nation's most distinctive region from 1492 to the present, with special attention to the Old South and to the social, economic, and political changes that helped create the New South. Designed to be accessible to college students and the average reader alike, The South provides a narrative framework' for analysis of the themes of southern and national history.Incorporating new scholarship on race, class, and gender, The South illustrates-through narrative and example-how these issues affected ordinary people while contributing to the region's history.Additionally, the text devotes as much time to the post-Civil War South as to the Old South, particularly the South after World War II, thus providing context for contemporary regional culture and politics.Volume I covers Southern history from 1492 to the Reconstruction era, investigating such topics as the role the South played in the new nation, the meaning of liberty in a slave society, southern politics from Washington to Jackson, and myths and misconceptions about the South.Volume II examines the South from the Reconstruction era to the present, including the New South economy, Jim Crow, Southern Progressivism, the impact of the World War II on the southern home front, the Civil Rights movement, and the Sunbelt economic boom.Excerpt.