A nice Jewish boy from the D.C. suburbs treks across the south meeting Civil War re-enactors, Daughters of the Confederate States of America, poor-whites with rebel flags flapping from their pick-up trucks and discovers not only hasn’t the Civil War ended in the south, but on the contrary, since the days of integration following the Civil Rights legislation of the 60s, positions on race and north vs. south issues have in fact hardened. This is NOT a dry textbook, but rather a largely humorous, respectful travelogue and visit with people I find repulsive. The author does, too, sometimes, in the same way, say, a Jonathan Raban (a Brit) did when he motored down the Mississippi like Huck Finn only to discover the middle of America was filled with overweight Americans sprawled on folding lawn chairs atop pontoon boats. The only reason the book doesn’t get four stars is it’s about 75 pages too long. Nevertheless, I unreservedly recommend reading the first 275-300 pages. June, 2005.