The Oxford handbook of Southern politics /

In this impressive overview of the politics of the American South, Bullock (Univ. of Georgia) and Rozell (George Mason Univ.) bring together a valuable collection of analyses and insights for a region that at times still mystifies non-southerners. Within their edited volume, the South is explored through demographics and political attitudes (e.g., the effects of urbanization, religion, economics, race, gender, and ethnicity), political behavior (e.g., parties, voting, and the influence of the South on the modern Republican Party), and finally an understanding of the region's impact on state and national politics, especially the role of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and presidential and congressional elections. All of the chapters are well conceived, well written, and thorough in their examinations, and provide a comprehensive introduction and understanding of southern politics. Just as many of the contributors attribute the foundation of their study of the region's politics to V. O. Key's classic Southern Politics in State and Nation (1949), current and future scholars of US politics will find this exploration and confirmation of the distinctiveness of the South a worthy addition. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. J. Michael Bitzer Catawba College