From the Introduction by Thomas H. Landess:
WILSON "IS THE LAST PTERODACTYL, soaring close to the sun, casting a long, cold shadow over the politically correct landscape. This volume ... provides Wilson's growing readership with more of his observations on an astonishing variety of subjects. ... worried over by a mind as precise and expansive as an encyclopedia....
"The importance of this book lies in its originality, which derives from the operation of Clyde Wilson's creative intellect on disparate and wide-ranging bodies of knowledge. These are the same old preoccupations given new life and meaning by a real mind-as opposed to what passes for minds in the current intellectual establishment. The book is a joy to read for one more reason: its clear and imaginative prose. Most historians write like sociologists.... Wilson writes like a good novelist....
DEFENDING DIXIE is the kind of book whose prose you can read for sheer pleasure."
"Finally, be fore-warned. If you hate the South and don't like to hear good things about the region, you might want to skip this book and pick up a copy of anything Southern that'sfavorably reviewed by the New York Times. As measured and objective as his arguments may be, Clyde Wilson is always the good Southerner.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2006, DEFENDING DIXIE has established itself as essential reading in the study of the South. During the years this book has been out of print, copies could be obtained only at very high prices. Persistent interest, evidenced by numerous inquiries regarding its availability, has persuaded Shotwell to republish this Southern classic.
The current edition is a newly produced version that maintains the original content of the first publication but differs only in format from the original. The companion volume to this work, FROM UNION TO EMPIRE-the initial book in Dr. Wilson's two-volume series-will be released subsequently....
