The Vital South

Harvard University Press has partnered with De Gruyter to make available for sale worldwide virtually all in-copyright HUP books that had become unavailable since their original publication. The 2,800 titles in the “e-ditions” program can be purchased individually as PDF eBooks or as hardcover reprint (“print-on-demand”) editions via the “Available from De Gruyter” link above. They are also available to institutions in ten separate subject-area packages that reflect the entire spectrum of the Press’s catalog. More about the E-ditions Program »

“Among the several useful and perceptive books about American politics that have of late been published, The Vital South stands out not merely for the acuity of its analysis but for the broad statistical evidence upon which that analysis is based. For strategists in both parties and for interested observers on the sidelines, it is essential reading.”—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

“The Blacks clearly map out the past and current political terrain…their masterful book is must reading for anyone who takes the American political process seriously.”—S. Keith Graham, Atlanta Journal Constitution

“The Vital South is…a fascinating and fundamental exposition of the pot of gold at the end of the Southern rainbow and how it got there…The longer historic record of Southern cohesion is awesome and the Blacks tell the story well…The Vital South is well organized by historic and partisan divisions.”—Martin F. Nolan, Boston Globe