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The South
A tour through the history, politics, and culture of the South is complemented by interviews with such figures as William Fulbright, Daisy Bates, Rosa Parks, Jimmy Buffett, and Shelby Foote
- GenresHistory
395 pages, Hardcover
First published April 10, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 25, 2012
"The South" is like spending a day with your favorite uncle, the rascally, well-traveled black sheep on the family. Every moment is entertaining. He makes you think. You don't know what will come next, for he is great storyteller. But like your rascally uncle, you can't believe anything JC Hall and CT Wood say. The book is filled with errors. Raleigh NC is not in the Triad: it is part of the Triangle. The Shenandoah River does not flow "down from Harper's ferry". White Oak Georgia is not near Augusta. Tupelo is not a "delta town". Andrew Johnson did not come from South Carolina. Birmingham is not the capital of Alabama. In the Civil war, Confederate President Jefferson was not captured near Lynchburg. Thousands of Blacks did not die in the siege of Richmond. The memory of the Civil war is not alive because "there are too many tourist bucks riding on the tragic memory". It is very much an emotionally charge issue that tourism has little to do with. The list goes on and on. And then it goes on some more. That being said, this is s fun romp through the South, state by state. The authors do make some interesting and even valid observations. But tread carefully and double check the information.
December 16, 2015
Wow, what an unusual and powerful book this is! It is a consistently damning account of the South's history by two of its native sons--how can they be so divorced from their mother culture and condemn it so roundly?
I learned a LOT about southern history, particularly the earliest settlements. Unfortunately, the authors totally reinforced my Yankee view of the South as unrelentingly racist, violent, cruel and vainglorious--but is that just to be expected? They see the Civil War as completely avoidable and needless--a radical departure from usual Southerners' views. They also roundly condemn the redneck and vain chivalry aspects of the South. I also liked the prescient analyses of the Horse Trader and pseudo-aristocracy types. Of course, the crazy-ass religious zealots also take a lickin'.
I was also fascinated to see analyses of people I don't think of as Southerns--Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson--and how the region shaped their thinking.
The prose is just delightful, constantly doubling back on itself with surprising (and often laugh-out-loud) turns of phrase.
I learned a LOT about southern history, particularly the earliest settlements. Unfortunately, the authors totally reinforced my Yankee view of the South as unrelentingly racist, violent, cruel and vainglorious--but is that just to be expected? They see the Civil War as completely avoidable and needless--a radical departure from usual Southerners' views. They also roundly condemn the redneck and vain chivalry aspects of the South. I also liked the prescient analyses of the Horse Trader and pseudo-aristocracy types. Of course, the crazy-ass religious zealots also take a lickin'.
I was also fascinated to see analyses of people I don't think of as Southerns--Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson--and how the region shaped their thinking.
The prose is just delightful, constantly doubling back on itself with surprising (and often laugh-out-loud) turns of phrase.
June 5, 2008
Snapshots of my beloved homeland. I've enjoyed it, but not as much as Bill Clinton who is quoted on the book's jacket. Some cool stuff.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews