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xxv acknowledgments i am grateful to the people of Somerset County for showing me that american democracy, although deeply flawed, can work against seemingly insurmountable odds. The people of Crisfield and Princess anne have taught me more than i could ever write in a book, and they have my deepest respect. i also want to thank Michael rinella, acquisitions editor at State University of New york Press, for encouraging me to write an update for a second edition. Without his faith in me, at times sorely tried, it would not have happened. ryan Morris, the production manager, and members of her team have been extremely helpful and easy to work with. i am likewise grateful to Clay Morgan, acquisitions editor, and Elizabeth Moore, production editor for the first edition, and David J. Vogler, the editor in whose series the first edition appeared. Many people read parts of the manuscript for this book at different stages of its evolution and offered important suggestions. among them are alexander Bourgeois, John a. Bourgeois, George Callcott, Kurt Finsterbusch, Denis Goulet, Deborah Jeon, Norton Long, tyson KingMeadows , Morris Lounds, harvey Molotch, Daniel Monti, Edward Smith ramsay, Clarence Stone, todd Swanstrom, John Wennersten, and Warren Van Wycklin. i owe special thanks to David Bremer of the Crisfield Times and richard Crumbacker of the Somerset Herald, because these two editors cooperated generously and extensively with the documentary research for the first edition at a time before newspapers could be accessed online. i would like to acknowledge others who offered important assistance, but they prefer to remain anonymous. Special thanks go to harvey Greisman for insisting that i continue to write long past retirement. above all, i am grateful to Kurt Finsterbusch, my husband, for his unflagging encouragement and his many sacrifices, willingly offered, through the whole process from beginning to end. ...

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