Overview

This volume gathers personal recollections by fifteen eminent historians of the American South. Coming from distinctive backgrounds, traveling diverse career paths, and practicing different kinds of history, the contributors exemplify the field's richness on many levels. As they reflect on why they joined the profession and chose their particular research specialties, these historians write eloquently of family and upbringing, teachers and mentors, defining events and serendipitous opportunities. The struggle for civil rights was the defining experience for several contributors. Peter H. Wood remembers how black fans of the St. Louis Cardinals erupted in applause for the Dodgers' Jackie Robinson. ""I realized for the first time,"" writes Wood, ""that there must be something even bigger than hometown loyalties dividing Americans."" Gender equality is another frequent concern in the essays. Anne Firor Scott tells of her advisor's ridicule when childbirth twice delayed Scott's dissertation: ""With great effort I managed to write two chapters, but Professor Handlin was moved to inquire whether I planned to have a baby every chapter."" Yet another prominent theme is the reconciliation of the professional and the personal, as when Bill C. Malone traces his scholarly interests back to ""the memories of growing up poor on an East Texas cotton farm and finding escape and diversion in the sounds of hillbilly music."" Always candid and often witty, each essay is a road map through the intellectual terrain of southern history as practiced during the last half of the twentieth century.

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9780820352527

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Reviews

These essays have many revealing reflections on the process of writing history and are altogether fascinating and useful. Shapers of Southern History will appeal to historians of the American South above all, but also to historians in other fields. It also will be an important contribution to the literature of southern memoir. The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson, Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. -- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this. --Wayne Flynt, author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. -- Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. -- Journal of Southern History Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past. -- Florida Historical Quarterly This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general. -- Macon Magazine Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. -- Arkansas Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure.--Journal of Southern History This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general.--Macon Magazine Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past.--Florida Historical Quarterly Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph.--Arkansas Review Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner.--American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this.--Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing.--Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs.--Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure.-- Journal of Southern History This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general.-- Macon Magazine Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past.-- Florida Historical Quarterly Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph.-- Arkansas Review Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner.-- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this.--Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing.--Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs.-- Midwest Book Review

These essays have many revealing reflections on the process of writing history and are altogether fascinating and useful. Shapers of Southern History will appeal to historians of the American South above all, but also to historians in other fields. It also will be an important contribution to the literature of southern memoir. The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson, Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. -- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this. --Wayne Flynt, author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. -- Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. -- Journal of Southern History Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past. -- Florida Historical Quarterly This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general. -- Macon Magazine Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. -- Arkansas Review This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general. --Macon Magazine Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. --American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this. --Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. --Journal of Southern History Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past. --Florida Historical Quarterly Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. --Arkansas Review The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. --Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure.-- Journal of Southern History This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general.-- Macon Magazine Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph.-- Arkansas Review The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs.-- Midwest Book Review Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past.-- Florida Historical Quarterly Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner.-- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this.--Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing.--Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi

Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past.--Florida Historical Quarterly This comprehensive collection of essays by fifteen southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general.--Macon Magazine A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. --Journal of Southern History Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. --American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this.--Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. --Arkansas Review The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. --Midwest Book Review The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi

These essays have many revealing reflections on the process of writing history and are altogether fascinating and useful. Shapers of Southern History will appeal to historians of the American South above all, but also to historians in other fields. It also will be an important contribution to the literature of southern memoir. The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson, Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. -- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this. --Wayne Flynt, author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. -- Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. -- Journal of Southern History Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past. -- Florida Historical Quarterly This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general. -- Macon Magazine Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. -- Arkansas Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure. --Journal of Southern History This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general. --Macon Magazine Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past. --Florida Historical Quarterly Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph. --Arkansas Review Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner. --American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this. --Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing. --Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs. --Midwest Book Review A delightful foray into the lives of fifteen people, a set of stories that together present an eclectic selection of roads taken . . . This book, with its varied authors and multiple perspectives, presents much more to its readers than I can hope to encompass in this review. . . . Its multilayered offerings make it as flexible for classroom use as it is readable for pleasure.-- Journal of Southern History This comprehensive collection of essays by 15 Southern historians will interest not only aficionados of the South's history, but will be enjoyed by history buffs in general.-- Macon Magazine Boles's work is not merely a collection of personal memories--it is also a fairly decent recounting of southern history that adds significantly to our understanding of the region and its kaleidoscopic past.-- Florida Historical Quarterly Novice scholars and historians regardless of field of specialization would do well to peruse this monograph.-- Arkansas Review Provide[s] an interesting read about the enthusiasms and challenges of being a historian in changing times . . . a page turner.-- American Historical Review No historian of the South matches John Boles's capacity to persuade scholarly friends to tell about themselves and their region. Shapers of Southern History contains the autobiographical reflections of fifteen of the South's finest historians and will be an indispensable resource. Perhaps the best part of the volume is how marvelously most of these historians write when unharnessed from the burden of documentation and historical interpretation. Southern history simply doesn't get much better than this.--Wayne Flynt author of Alabama in the Twentieth Century The autobiographical essays in Shapers of Southern History prove that the history of the historians is as colorful and meaningful as the history of the region they study. The stories told are amazingly varied. Indeed, the only thing uniform in this collection is the high quality of the writing.--Charles Reagan Wilson Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi The essays are engaging for their personal tones as well as how the work of any historian is prompted and molded by his or her penchants, experiences, and mentors and associates. . . . The varied personal paths into the discipline evidence why history is so informative and germane. It is because identity and memories are bound into it that it is able to speak about human affairs.-- Midwest Book Review

Author Information

JOHN B. BOLES is William Pettus Hobby Professor of History at Rice University and managing editor of the Journal of Southern History. His books include The South through Time and Autobiographical Reflections on Southern Religious History (Georgia).

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