Customer Reviews

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South (and Why It Will Rise Again)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

To start, let me say that I'm not a full-blooded Southern boy though I was born and raised in Georgia. My mother was from Michigan and my father from New York. I've never developed an interest in hunting, NASCAR, or country music. Nevertheless, I'm proud of the South, our way of life, and what I perceive to be a slower and friendlier pace than other parts of the USA.

My mom loved to say that it takes two to make a fight. Once this book gets into actual history review, it does a nice job of providing another perspective about why and how the Civil War transpired. As other reviewers have noted, the book isn't intended to provide an exhaustive or balanced viewpoint about the Southern Confederacy but it raises enough concern to inspire serious history buffs to dig deeper elsewhere.

For me, the first four chapters were fluff and I found it hard to stay engaged through discussions of race cars, sweet tea, and Southern hospitality. The fun reading started in Chapter 5 with the history of the States and things got deeper in Chapter 9 with a review of slavery (in both the North and South) and the Civil War. It was here that I was confronted with a historical perspective quite different from what I'd been taught in school.

Was the Civil War really about slavery or did the North have a hidden agenda that it continues to carry out even today? Were Union troops truly interested in a united, free country? Was the North hypocritical when it came to states rights? And was Abraham Lincoln the hero of emancipation that we celebrate today?

These questions and more are addressed in plain English and supported by enough shocking quotes from Sherman, Grant, and Lincoln themselves to send anyone serious about American history back to the bookshelf for more research.

If you are particularly interested in light reading about the Civil War period from a Southern perspective, this book is worth the time and money if you only read Chapters 9 - 13.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South is one of many books sold under the "Politically Incorrect" series. Much like the "For Dummies" series of books before it, the Politically Incorrect guides base themselves on a common theme that is then applied to different areas, usually of controversy. In this guide, author Clint Johnson explains what the South is all about and he points out many of the misunderstandings commonly associated with this region and its people.

Part I of this guide talks about Southern culture and tradition and it helps to dispel some of the common myths about southerners while reinforcing others. However, the bulk of this guide is dedicated to setting the record straight about the South and its role in American history, especially the American Civil War. This begins with Part II and there are many tidbits about the South during this era that many will find surprising. Some of what is discussed here isn't new. For example, most people know that Abraham Lincoln didn't view blacks as equals to whites and most people know that states' rights was the primary motive for Southern secession. But other facts are less known, including those about the attitudes in the North and why, in the author's opinion, the people in the North were actually harsher in their treatment of blacks then the people down south.

Some of the author's statements and conclusions are certain to stir up controversy and because the book takes an exclusively pro- Southern stand, there is little to find in this book as far as open debate goes. For example, the book talks about the decision to count blacks as three- fifths of a person and how this confirms that the North was racist. However, the South also had its own selfish motives for wanting to count all blacks as full persons (it would give them greater representation). The author, in his effort to remain completely politically incorrect and root for the Land of Cotton, fails to mention this or other important facts.

More than anything else, this book is a literary cheerleader for Southern traditions and its author is especially frustrated by the actions of some people to rid the South of its political, social, and cultural heritage. The book talks about the actions of activist groups to ban the Confederate battle flag; the movement to discourage reverence toward Southern Civil War heroes; and other actions taken by politically correct organizations who want to remove the unique identity of the South and make it more homogeneous with the rest of the nation. I can sympathize with anyone who wants to maintain his/her cultural heritage and I respect the fact that the author chooses his words carefully in these discussions, taking care not to be offensive. But I can also understand the position of those who have been oppressed. I think this is a good example of when you need to put yourself in the position of the other side and ask how you would feel if things were in reverse. Would you be offended by the Confederate Battle Flag and other Civil War reminders if your ancestors had been sold into slavery? This is a good question, and it is one in which I am undecided.

Overall, the "Politically Incorrect Guide to the South" is an interesting book about Southern life and the contribution of Southerners to American history. It's a book that presents some obvious facts about the South and its way of life but it also offers opinions that many will find unusual and debatable. Are Southern women really prettier? Are universities in the South better than those in the northern states? Were northerners during the 1800's really more racist than their Southern counterparts? These questions are open to debate, but author Clint Johnson makes no qualms about the position he supports. He feels that political correctness has resulted in much misinformation about the South and its people. He wants to set the record straight about the Southern states and what he offers in this book, while sometimes controversial, is certainly entertaining and eye- opening.

Yankee intelligentsia and the PC Crowd won't give this book rave reviews, either will revisionist historians. In fact, I will surmise they will write ten poor reviews for my one just to keep you from reading it, which should tell you right away that if it make them this mad, it's probably true.

This is a great book, it's not going to win Nobel prizes, makes no apologies for being a whole lot biased, but for the casual reader interested in learning the Southern side of things, it's a welcome addition.

It's important to note that the book is not just about the "War Between The States". It's so much more revealing than just the Civil War.
This is the book I would recommend to parents interested in countering the left leaning indoctrination Southern and for that matter, Northern children are getting in public schools and Academia. While it's important to note, there are other more "intellectual" works done on Southern history such as Charles Adam's "In the Course of Human Events" or any of James Ronald Kennedy's works, this is the perfect book for the casual reader.

This is in no way saying that the author hasn't done their homework, or there is anything un-intelligent about the book. On the contrary, the author has done a superb job of keeping this insightful book simple and easy to digest and doesn't delve so far deep into little known archives and microfiche that otherwise might lose the casual reader.

The book takes a progressive step into a new form of history writing that will attract new readers, casual readers who might otherwise not be interested in history. This is tremendously important in an age where most young people get very little exposure to history at all, let alone the Southern side of it, which in most history books is non-existent.

I recommend this book for just about anyone, I think it could be most useful for parents who are home schooling a child, for high school and college students, and would be especially good for the culture shocked-transplanted Yankee, trying to make sense their new Southern neighbors.

This is the definitive tribute to Southernness. It is a must read for all Southerners who are proud to be so, and all lovers of the American distinctiveness. Those who don't like America, specially within America, specifically mean they don't like the South. New Englanders, millionaires and those who dominate the media and can afford to tell the lower classes who's cool and who's not, those who foster the bassest vices and invent the latest ism of the day, they want to Europeanize America, they always did. The South is the real America.

The book covers the history of the South, but it specially lingers with the War for Southern Independence; it talks about aspects of Southern society, politics and culture. There are many stories here that will no doubt astonish you, for they are not taught in public shools and are kept silent by the political correctness police. It's amazing how the masses can be kept ignorant and manipulated by just a few. We say "We, the People" but we mean "they, the government".

This is the fourth PIG book I've read, and as usual it lays out tons of information without the fluff in an easy, fun to read platform. As always, this book is just a primer that gets the reader interested in reading up further on the subject, as with other PIG's.

If you are a resident of the southern United States, this book may be boring to you since every good southerner is familiar enough with the history of this great region and won't likely find anything they didn't know in here. For the rest of the US, it comes highly recommended especially if you've never visited the south. I'm just a southern wannabe, I love the place and moved to Oregon last year since it reminds me of northern Georgia.

This is an excellent presentation of facts about the South, which have either been overlooked or ignored in the past. At the heart of the book is the War Between the States, otherwise known as the Civil War. The author refutes the accepted cause as being slavery in the South. He agreed that slavery was wrong, but pointed out how it was supported in the North in such ways as building ships to support the slave trade business. President Lincoln had a number of opportunities to free some slaves and did not do so. The secession of the South was not primarily over the issue of slavery. Economic policy was a primary cause for the secession. The South did not want war. President Lincoln did not want the country divided. The author pointed out a number of atrocities committed by the North against Southern civilians including the unnecessary burning of a number of towns and cities.

The so-called Reconstruction period following the war was a shameful travesty in our history. It is highly unlikely that the United States has ever treated a defeated foreign enemy as badly as it did the South following the war. This would almost certainly not have been the case if President Lincoln had not been assassinated at the war's end. Lincoln had shown no contempt and only wanted to "bind up the nation's wounds."

The author also maintains that the South has been shortchanged in credit for its place in American history including establishment of the early settlements and the fight for independence.

Let me make no mistake in this report of mine, I love and adore President Abraham Lincoln and hate the history of slavery just as any rational and fair minded person in America does today.

But there are allot of amazing, wonderful facts about the South that have been forcefully buried over the years by left wing degenerate PC morons with a radical secular progressive agenda to shove down our throats. These stupid people, or useful idiots as Lenin called them, have made the South out to be evil when it is NOT. (A large portion of our military consists of the descendants of the Confederate Army, very brave Christian American warriors that the left has contempt for. - because many leftists are true cowards hiding behind the ACLU and other clown like mediums)

For example, the south legally did have a right to succeed from the union, because in reality with the exception of issues like the War on Terrorism, federal crime violations- or national- international commerce and relations, the states have allot of power (but oligarchic thugs in the Supreme Court have decided over the years to place the power in their elitist hands- not the hands of the people of the states where it belongs.)

The only thing the south did wrong in my opinion was continue the brutal practice of slavery- violating the very essence of the Declaration of Independence from Britain. Thus the Civil War was one of the most horrible in human history- an unjust brutal war where tons of American heroes on both sides were slaughtered, the survivors lived with the memories of hellish battles and many were on drugs just like our Nam vets are today.

The only reason that I personally would fight for my state if I lived during the Civil War was to end slavery (that wasn't the North's real reason), but I would hate it with in every fiber of my being to have to be forced to kill a fellow honorable real American.

Let's look at the reality here; the North has been corrupt for years. As we can see today it's the North where the stupidity of leftism, and also places like California, breed like wild fire.

The racial bigotry was wrong and evil, as was slavery but the south was NOT evil. It is just as American as the north.

The south is truly an awesome part of American culture, and history.

God rest the soul of the honorable General Robert E Lee, and all the soldiers of both north and south.-"And I don't care what some modern PC idiot thinks either!"

What an unthinkable tragic war to have American verse American- I am glad I was not alive then to see that horror.

This book had me whistling Dixie, "Look away, look away Dixieland!"

Death to Al-Qaeda, and may God bless America

Climb out of the clutches of ignorance and learn your heritage. The South has played a dominant role in the shaping of this country. The South is the fastest growing area of the United States. The first time a court ever legalized owning another person was Jamestown 1655 when a Black slave holder sued for the return of his slave. I bet that you were ignorant of this one little fact in the South. Read it.

I ordered this for my BF as a gift. He really liked it. Some of the facts were maybe a little off, but the basic gist of the book is good. It makes you proud to be a Southerner and shows the importance of preserving our culture when outside sources are moving in and changing it.

This book is entertaining and a useful addition to the discussion of how the South became the South. The author's South stretches from Maryland to Missouri to Texas. However, he has a very east-coast view which is maintained long past the early phases of U.S. history. He also gets a few facts wrong; for example, more Pennsylvanians died at the Alamo than Carolinians. Nevertheless, I heartily recommend the book for its entertainment and "politically incorrect" viewpoints.