An excellent study of how a group of people (the slave-owning planters) can be completely blind to the reality of their lives and the world around them. And since they were the power in the Old South, how they could lead a people into following those misconceptions into a war that would destroy the system they were protecting. A bit bolder conclusion on the aftermath of the war would have been nice. The book was a bit repetative (thus only 4 stars), but is well worth reading. An excellent history of the death of Antebellum South and the culture that came apart during the Civil War, despite the war being fought in order to save that culture. The war itself is used as a backdrop of the breakdown of southern society, this is not a battle history of the civil war nor does it claim to be. Instead, the Civil War magnifies the cracks in southern society that predate secession. Not just the conflict between slave and master but the conflict between poor whites and the minority of slave owners who wield the majority of the power.My only real complaint about the book is that it spends only an epilogue on reconstruction. While that does make sense as the old southern society had gone by then, it would have been illustrative to see the old aristocracy try and move the clock back and regain their standing, first with the black codes and then later with jim crow. Otherwise a very good and well researched and written book about a culture that has passed from the earth.
Didn't finish it - it is interesting, but not a story, and that was what I was in the mood for.
—jake
So many Civil War books, so little time. But 'The Fall Of The House Of Dixie' is a must.
—taytay166
Interesting subject. Great title. Poorly written. Don't waste your time.
—surtle
Wonderful addition to the study of the social history of the Civil War.
—Torrey
