In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Acknowledgments This book was begun while I was at the Joint Center for Political Studies as a MacArthur Foundation Distinguished Scholar. I am indebted to President Eddie N. Williams, Research Director Milton D. Morris, and the staff at the Joint Center for their hospitality and support and to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for supporting my work during my year at the Joint Center. I am also indebted to many individuals for their criticisms, encouragement , and helpful comments. The comments and suggestions of Morgan Kousser, Allan Lichtman, and David Colby have been particularly beneficial. Neil McMillen, Alex Willingham, Linda Williams, Katherine McFate, Anthony Scott, James Loewen, Peyton McCrary, and Robert Smith also offered ideas, comments, and encouragement along the way. I was very fortunate that the Joint Center provided me with the assistance of an excellent editor, Susan Kalish, who with Katherine McFate, also of the Joint Center, contributed substantially to making sense out of what I had to say. I am also appreciative of the excellent editorial support and assistance provided by Lewis Bateman , Ron Maner, and Stephanie Wenzel of the University of North Carolina Press. Debts of gratitude also are due to Carolyn Parker, for her enormous support and encouragement of my work in Mississippi ; Henry Kirksey for showing me the importance of these issues and for drawing many of the original maps on which the maps herein are based; Jan Hillegas for her diligent research assistance over long periods of time, for coming up with newspaper articles I otherwise would have missed, and for collecting, keeping, and making available the files of the Mississippi Freedom Information Service; Sarah Smith for sending me boxes of files from Jackson; and Emily Epstein and Lucia Gill for additional research and graphics assistance. My colleagues at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also provided helpful support, including former executive director William Robinson, who gave me the time off to start writing; Samuel Issacharoff, who made suggestions on how the story should be told; and Robert McDuff and Brenda Wright. Special thanks go to "Cuppy" Wilson for her always reliable and efficient secretarial support . Finally, this work would not have been completed but for the steadfast encouragement and support of my friend Anne Burlock Lawver. ...

Share