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THE SOUTH SINCE APPOMATTOX by

THE SOUTH SINCE APPOMATTOX

By

Publisher: Oxford

A Century of Regional Change,"" these authors have subtitled their huge, comprehensive volume. Dealing with social, political, religious, economic, legal, and literary factors in turn, they have sought to demonstrate how ""every decade"" since General Lee's surrender ""promised revolt,"" either against the old system itself, or against ""pressures"" imposed by ""special interests."" Radical change, however, did not get fully underway until after World War II; since then, say Clark and Kirwan, the only word to describe its scope is ""revolution."" And in their opinion, ""Above the shouting of extremist and crusader there can be heard the voice of a sturdier South already committed to the acceptance"" of this revolution. The ""shackles of colonialism"" have been loosened, they are sure, and there is no longer any profit in continuing to harass the Southern Negro. Many readers, Southerners and Northerners alike, will find a large part of their claims to be over-optimistic, but they have done an impressive job of documentation, and no one would hope to prove them too far wrong.