Georgia Odyssey [Paperback]

James C. Cobb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

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

One of those rare works . . . Cobb writes in a style that is lively and personal. --Georgia Historical Quarterly

[T]he reader will put the book down with a deeper understanding of Georgia in all its contradictions.... "Odyssey" is no dry academic history...[i]nstead, it's an engagingly written volume that sometimes reads more like an irreverent conversation than words on paper. --Lee Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald

If you want to know what makes the South tick, you might well look to James C. Cobb for insight. --John Egerton --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

James C. Cobb is the B. Phinizy Spalding Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Georgia. His numerous publications include Georgia Odyssey, Redefining Southern Culture, The Brown Decision, Jim Crow, and Southern Identity (all 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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820319457
• ISBN-13: 978-0820319452
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,414,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Textbook in Disguise, October 11, 2009

By 

Christine Lutz "beedeen" (Fort Valley, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Georgia Odyssey (Paperback)

Jim Cobb has produced an engaging story of Georgia, half-memoir, that turns out to be a terrific textbook. Try it with high-schoolers, and just read it yourself. Nobody's intelligence is insulted, but even teens can enjoy this.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A down to earth view of Georgia and its people, November 7, 2002

By 

Henry E. Shelnutt "Ed Shelnutt" (Watkinsville, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Georgia Odyssey (Paperback)

Dr. Jim Cobb has written a marvelous volume on the state of Georgia and the changes that have molded it since precolonial days. He delves into the different socioeconomic, cultural and political arenas of Gerogia's history and shows us the State, warts and all, as it has been transformed over the last 200+ years. Prof. Cobb writes as only one who has lived and truly understands and loves the South can. A very satisfying read.

P.S.- It didn't hurt any to have had this fine gentleman as my old high school history teacher in his pre-University/academic days!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Introduction but no insight, December 28, 2003

By 

"joewillie_01" (Eastman, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Georgia Odyssey (Paperback)

Go ahead and spend a couple more dollars and pick up a copy of the "New Georgia Guide." You'll get Dr. Cobb's "Georgia Odyssey" and the abbreviated history of almost every little town, community, nook, and cranny of Georgia. Historically speaking, Cobb achieved the task the the State asked him, write a consise history of Georgia. The book is a valuable asset to an intro to local history class, but the "New Georgia Guide" is full of those tasty tidbits Cobb, was probably forced, to leave out.