Georgia Odyssey / Edition 2

by James C. Cobb

Overview

Georgia Odyssey is a lively survey of the state’s history, from its beginnings as a European colony to its current standing as an international business mecca, from the self-imposed isolation of its Jim Crow era to its role as host of the centennial Olympic Games and beyond, from its long reign as the linchpin state of the Democratic Solid South to its current dominance by the Republican Party. This new edition incorporates current trends that have placed Georgia among the country’s most dynamic and attractive states, fueled the growth of its Hispanic and Asian American populations, and otherwise dramatically altered its demographic, economic, social, and cultural appearance and persona.

“The constantly shifting cultural landscape of contemporary Georgia,” writes James C. Cobb, “presents a jumbled panorama of anachronism, contradiction, contrast, and peculiarity.” A Georgia native, Cobb delights in debunking familiar myths about his state as he brings its past to life and makes it relevant to today. Not all of that past is pleasant to recall, Cobb notes. Moreover, not all of today’s Georgians are as unequivocal as the tobacco farmer who informed a visiting journalist in 1938 that “we Georgians are Georgian as hell.” That said, a great many Georgians, both natives and new arrivals, care deeply about the state’s identity and consider it integral to their own. Georgia Odyssey is the ideal introduction to our past and a unique and often provocative look at the interaction of that past with our present and future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820330501
Publisher:	University of Georgia Press
Publication date:	05/25/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	1,104,756
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

JAMES C. COBB is the B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His numerous publications include Redefining Southern Culture and The Brown Decision, Jim Crow, and Southern Identity (both Georgia), Away Down South, The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990 and The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity.

JAMES C. COBB is the B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His numerous publications include Redefining Southern Culture and The Brown Decision, Jim Crow, and Southern Identity (both Georgia), Away Down South, The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Development, 1936-1990 and The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity.

Editorial Reviews

Cobb’s book proves that state histories do not have to be the stuff of graduate student nightmares. Clear, fast-paced, and thoroughly engaging, it is the sort of work that reminds readers of the narrative power of well-written history.

Florida Historical Quarterly

If you want to know what makes the South tick, you might well look to James Cobb for insight.

John Egerton

Cobb is eminently qualified to lead the reader on an odyssey through the state’s history. This book is a delight to read. Throughout, Cobb is able to sustain a downhome, familiar style that seems to fit the subject perfectly.

Journal of Southwest Georgia History

The reader will put the book down with a deeper understanding of Georgia in all its contradictions. . . . Georgia Odyssey is no dry academic history . . . instead it's an engagingly written volume that sometimes reads more like an irreverent conversation than words on paper.

Athens Banner-Herald

One of the most refreshing works on the state to appear in years. . . . Cobb writes in a style that is lively and personal. Georgia Odyssey is one of those rare works that effectively bridge the unnecessarily wide and often artificial gap between professional scholars and an informed public.

Georgia Historical Quarterly

An excellent window through which to take honest measure of the state.

Times Literary Supplement

"An excellent window through which to take honest measure of the state."--Times Literary Supplement

"One of the most refreshing works on the state to appear in years. . . . Cobb writes in a style that is lively and personal. Georgia Odyssey is one of those rare works that effectively bridge the unnecessarily wide and often artificial gap between professional scholars and an informed public."--Georgia Historical Quarterly

"Cobb’s book proves that state histories do not have to be the stuff of graduate student nightmares. Clear, fast-paced, and thoroughly engaging, it is the sort of work that reminds readers of the narrative power of well-written history."--Florida Historical Quarterly

"Cobb is eminently qualified to lead the reader on an odyssey through the state’s history. This book is a delight to read. Throughout, Cobb is able to sustain a downhome, familiar style that seems to fit the subject perfectly.”--Journal of Southwest Georgia History

"If you want to know what makes the South tick, you might well look to James Cobb for insight.”--John Egerton

"The reader will put the book down with a deeper understanding of Georgia in all its contradictions. . . . Georgia Odyssey is no dry academic history . . . instead it's an engagingly written volume that sometimes reads more like an irreverent conversation than words on paper."--Athens Banner-Herald

From the Publisher

Away Down South and The Most Southern Place on Earth author James C. Cobb has written a succinct (168-page), readable popular history of the great state of Georgia. A former president of the Southern Historical Association, this University of Georgia professor describes major historical trends, significant cultural figures, and memorable individual incidents. A peach of a Peach State history.