Painting Dixie Red - (New Perspectives on the History of the South) by Glenn Feldman (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"An eloquent and important examination of one of the most significant political trends of the last fifty years, revealing how prescient President Lyndon Johnson was on the occasion of his signing of the 1965 Civil Rights Bill when he made his famous comment about handing the South over to the Republicans for a generation."--Ralph Young, author of Dissent in America

Has the South, once the "Solid South" of the Democratic Party, truly become an unassailable Republican stronghold? If so, when, where, why, and how did this seismic change occur? Moreover, what are the implications for the U.S. body politic?

Painting Dixie Red is the first volume to grapple with these difficult yet critical questions. In this fascinating and timely collection, a distinguished group of scholars engages in an enlightening debate. Some make the case that the South has become Republican, and some contend that it has not. Some outline the region's exceptionalism, and some reject the idea of regional distinctiveness. Some point to white discontent over civil rights as the root of political changes, and some cite color-blind factors. All offer invaluable insights into U.S. politics during these ultra-partisan times.

Review Quotes

Glenn Feldman is professor in the Department of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author or editor of numerous books including Nation within a Nation: The American South and the Federal Government and The Irony of the Solid South: Democrats, Republicans, and Race, 1865-1944.


"A remarkable series of insightful essays."--Florida Historical Quarterly


"A useful addition to the substantial array of scholarly literature addressing the topic."--Historian


"An important addition to the literature on the politics of the South."--Arkansas Historical Quarterly


"An informative and entertaining collection of essays on the rise of the Republican Party in the South."--North Carolina Historical Review


"Enlightening. . . . Feldman brings into conversation twelve essays dealing with divergent locations, issues, and people to demonstrate the South's nuanced transition from solidly Democrat to reliably Republican."--Southern Historian


"Makes a reasoned argument that we must go far deeper and farther afield to explain the change of parties."--Alabama Review

About the Author

Glenn Feldman is professor in the Department of History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author or editor of numerous books including Nation within a Nation: The American South and the Federal Government and The Irony of the Solid South: Democrats, Republicans, and Race, 1865-1944.