This is a well-researched work that's easy to recommend. Doyle is an excellent historian who is well-versed in Faulkner.
The combination makes this fine book both an interesting history of Faulkner's native "postage stamp of soil" and an excellent introduction to Faulkner's world. It also provides a wonderful example of what a historian actually does (although not without some cautions along the way).

Doyle traces the transition years between Old South and New South in Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston and Mobile between 1860 and 1910. Wonderful compilation of both quantitative and qualitative sources; the sources from newspapers during the time act like time capsules into the period. The newspaper sources combined with some photographs and maps make Doyle's book a well-researched place for students of Southern history and culture to enjoy an insightful glimpse into particular loci in the south. Chapters include:
Preface
Acknowledgments
Urbanization of Dixie
The New Order of Things
Ebb Tide
Patrician and Parvenu
The Atlanta Spirit
The Charleston Style
New Class
Gentility and Mirth
The New Paternalism
Paternalism and Pessimism
Epilogue
Notes
Index

Students interested in the too-often forgetten urban south should get this book

The problem with this book is that it doens't have enough pictures. I like the cover of the book, but Larry Griffin seems like he's forcefully yelling at the reader through his text. I just feel queasy thinking about it.

When I think about the South I don't think about all these problems and stuff, I just think about big ole biscuits and Nascar. I think Larry Griffin must just sit around and think about all kinds of nasty bad bad things.

Though I found some of the essays exteremely interesting and helpful in my studies (this was the textbook for a southern music class), other essays were just a waste of my time. The book and class did give me a different perspective of my southern heritiage and helped me understand southern slavery, poverty, and renewal after the civil rights movement.

A significant contribution to the study of the Southern United States. The selections and analysis therein provides the reader with an opportunity to analyze the most recent and important intellectual assessments of Southern culture, traditions, and influence toward the rest of the nation and Southerners themselves. Although the section dealing with popular culture issues such as NASCAR and pro-wrestling phenomena seems superfluous at times, in a broader perspective, the chapter melds well into the image and understanding of the South as a whole. The book may not be the best choice for the casual reader or those uninterested in American culture or Southern life; however, it provides a necessary tool and important insight into modern America.