The Old South is a collection of primary documents and previously published essays introducing students to recent themes found in scholarship on the social and cultural history of the Old South. The documents are drawn directly from the essays not only to vividly illustrate the events, but also to show students how historians construct arguments based on archival evidence. Smith introduces the collection with a detailed essay, and provides study questions, suggestions for further reading, a map, and a chronology of significant events creating a highly useful student-friendly reader.
This is an exceptionally well-conceived and well-executed collection of documents and scholarly essays. Mark Smith deserves high marks for at once presenting and recasting the antebellum South in bold and original ways. The Old South is absolutely first-rate." Peter Coclanis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "This book provides an excellent introduction to the study of the antebellum South, covering the salient topics in the region's economic, political, and cultural history. Mark Smith's essay on the historiography is elegant and informative, and his choice of readings is judicious. Undergraduates will learn a great deal from this volume, and it is perfectly suited for course adoption." Joan E. Cashin, author of Our Common Affairs: Texts from Women in the Old South
