Synopses & Reviews
Providing a chronological and interpretive spine to the twenty-four volumes of
The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, this volume broadly surveys history in the American South from the Paleoindian period (approximately 8000 B.C.E.) to the present. In 118 essays, contributors cover the turbulent past of the region that has witnessed frequent racial conflict, a bloody Civil War fought and lost on its soil, massive in- and out-migration, major economic transformations, and a civil rights movement that brought fundamental change to the social order.
Charles Reagan Wilson's overview essay examines the evolution of southern history and the way our understanding of southern culture has unfolded over time and in response to a variety of events and social forcesnot just as the opposite of the North but also in the larger context of the Atlantic World. Longer thematic essays cover major eras and events, such as early settlement, slave culture, Reconstruction, the New Deal, and the rise of the New South. Brief topical entries cover individualsincluding figures from the Civil War, the civil rights movement, and twentieth-century politicsand organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Daughters of the Confederacy, and Citizens' Councils, among others. Together, these essays offer a sweeping reference to the rich history of the region.
Review
"Does a fine job of outlining the high points of the South's cultural history. . . . It remains the sort of encyclopedia that one can refer to for serious work or just thumb through for a lazy hour, discovering something new with a turn of the pages."
-Western Folklore
Synopsis
Providing a chronological and interpretive spine to the twenty-four volumes of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, this volume broadly surveys history in the American South from the Paleoindian period (approximately 8000 B.C.E.) to the present. In 118 essays, contributors cover the turbulent past of the region that has witnessed frequent racial conflict, a bloody Civil War fought and lost on its soil, massive in- and out-migration, major economic transformations, and a civil rights movement that brought fundamental change to the social order.
Synopsis
Rev. ed. of: Encyclopedia of Southern culture. 1991.
About the Author
Charles Reagan Wilson is director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi and coeditor, with William Ferris, of the original Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.