Product Description

A Companion to the American South surveys and evaluates the most important and innovative writing on the entire sweep of the history of the southern United States.

• Contains 29 original essays by leading experts in American Southern history.
  
• Covers the entire sweep of Southern history, including slavery, politics, the Civil War, race relations, religion, and women's history.
  
• Surveys and evaluates the best scholarship on every important era and topic.
  
• Summarizes current debates and anticipates future concerns.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #809353 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 536 pages

Review
"Teachers and students of southern history alike will owe a great debt to John Boles for years to come. The essays in A Companion to the American South, written by scholars who are themselves at the cutting edge of the new southern historiography, cover every conceivable aspect of southern history. This volume will indeed be an indispensable companion to every southern history course." Anthony Badger, University of Cambridge

"Boles has assembled a talented group of scholars to cover every important facet of Southern History. These twenty-seven essays introduce the latest interpretations and place them in the context of the major debates in American History. This is an indispensable volume for anyone interested in the American South." Orville Vernon Burton, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

"Twenty-nine essays by noted scholars compose this truly significant contribution to southern historiography ... it is refreshing to have such a wealth of valuable information gathered in one place, easily accessible and highly readable. A must for both the scholar's bookshelf and the reference shelves of all libraries" Choice

"Graduate students in southern history rejoice! Your vade mecum is here... all serious academic southernists will want to consult at least some of the chapters in this excellent collection of historiographical essays... Every academic library should add this volume to its holdings, and every serious student of southern history should consult it." H-Net Reviews

"John B. Boles, a distinguished scholar of southern religion and the South in general, has proved a wise choice as editor and both specialists and students will find the book invaluable... casting new light upon old ground and capturing the views of those at the cutting edge of southern history... In short, no stone is left unturned and this book should be the starting point for anyone interested in the contemporary scholarship of the South." David Brown, University College Northampton

From the Back Cover
A Companion to the American South surveys and evaluates the most important and innovative writing on the entire sweep of the history of the southern United States. Twenty-nine essays from leading experts in the field analyze the various interpretive schools, briefly summarize the positions and approaches of the seminal books, and suggest the range of subjects and interpretations for every important era in southern history. The coverage includes topics such as slavery, politics, the Civil War and Reconstruction, race relations, the civil rights movement, southern religion, and women's history. Each chapter includes a select bibliography as a convenient reference to encourage further reading.

Intended for students, scholars, and general readers of U.S. southern history, this timely book is a primer to this exciting body of work and will guide research for years to come.

About the Author
John B. Boles is William Pettus Hobby Professor of History at Rice University and Managing Editor of the Journal of Southern History. His recent books include The Irony of Southern Religion (1994) and The South Through Time: A History of an American Region (second edition, 1999).

Customer Reviews

Indispensable for students of the American South
This volume is both comprehensive and fresh, consolidating the best and newest scholarship on the history of the American South. The editor, John B. Boles, is perhaps the foremost authority on current southern scholarship, and he has hand-picked the author of each chapter so that the subjects are treated by the best-qualified historians. The book is designed to provide the reader a brief overview of virtually every field of southern history, and it directs the reader to the most important works on each subject. Example topics include Native Americans in the South, the Civil War, Populism, Jim Crow, Women, Environmental history, and Civil Rights. Any person wishing to gain familiarity with southern history will benefit from this book, and graduate students preparing for exams may find it worth its weight in gold. The companion is part of a larger series offered by Blackwell Publishers, and promises to serve as the guide to secondary readings in southern history for years to come.