Uses imaginings of the South to illuminate the recent American past. Zachary Lechner bridges the fields of southern studies, southern history, and post- World War II American cultural and popular culture history in an effort to discern how conceptions of a tradition-bound, timeless South shaped Americans' views of themselves and their society.
Set against the backdrop of the 1960s and 1970s, the narrative explores how various figures, including writers, musicians, and politicians, romanticized the white South as a bastion of tradition and community amidst societal turmoil. This idealization served as both a refuge from modern challenges like consumerism and racial unrest and a means to confront those very issues. The book delves into the cultural imagination of the South, revealing its complex role in shaping American identity during a time of significant change.