This book examines the often tortured relationship between the American South and the federal government. Taking its title from W. J. Cash's famous line about the South being “not quite a nation within a nation, but the next thing to it,” the volume takes the form of a collection of cutting-edge essays by, predominantly, historians but also several political scientists and a human geographer. The anthology is divided into five parts that closely study issues such as race, politics, war, culture, southern nationalism, neo-Confederate thought, economic development, reform, the Tea Party, and res ... More

This book examines the often tortured relationship between the American South and the federal government. Taking its title from W. J. Cash's famous line about the South being “not quite a nation within a nation, but the next thing to it,” the volume takes the form of a collection of cutting-edge essays by, predominantly, historians but also several political scientists and a human geographer. The anthology is divided into five parts that closely study issues such as race, politics, war, culture, southern nationalism, neo-Confederate thought, economic development, reform, the Tea Party, and resistance to taxation—among other topics. The book is especially timely as it directly concerns the question of whether or not the South is distinctive and exceptional relative to the rest of the United States.