Dewey's (Vanderbilt U.) study of the modern South and its interaction with the rest of the US is concerned with four major themes: sectional conflict, in Congress, in national elections, in the struggle for economic advantage, and in the media; the part played by compromise and accommodation in the relationship between North and South; regional convergence; and the persistence despite convergence of a distinctive regional culture in the South, evident in its religious life, its "subculture of violence," its emphasis on family and place, and in the explosion of literary talent the region has seen since the 1920s. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)