Land of the South (review)

Southeastern Geographer Vol. XXIX, No. 2, November 1989, pp. 150-153 REVIEWS Land of the South. James W. Clay, Paul D. Escott, Douglas M. Orr, Jr., and Alfred W. Stuart. Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House, Inc., 1989. ix and 214 pp., maps, photographs, bibliography, and index. $29.95 cloth (ISBN 0-8487-0547-5) The geographers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have established a reputation for producing quality atlases, and Land of the South elevates that distinction to an even higher status. In this work, they cooperate with a historian to design a book aimed at illustrating the complex interrelationships between the physical geography of the South and its past, present, and future inhabitants. Another of their goals was to produce a volume that bridges the gap between the coffee table and the reference collection. The book's 13 x 11-inch format, colorful graphics and photographs, nontechnical language, and attractive jacket more than satisfy the criteria for a coffee-table book. But there is far more here than the fluff that usually adorns living rooms across America. This book, especially the maps, offers a great deal to the serious students of the South, and it belongs on their library shelves. The book is divided into four parts. The initial section entitled "Overview" consists of three chapters, the first of which defines the region . Various regional boundaries are described before the authors commit themselves to a far-flung region including the former Confederate states plus Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. In the second, they provide a general description of the region's physical geography including geologic evolution, landform regions, climate, drainage, soils, and flora and fauna. The third chapter focuses on various aspects of Native American, African, and European settlement. Each of these themes is more thoroughly treated in subsequent chapters. Parts II and III provide the core of the book and are organized on the basis of landform regions. Part II centers on the Lowland South and is divided into five regions: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Florida Peninsula , the East Gulf Coastal Plain, the Mississippi Valley and Delta, and the West Gulf Coastal Plain. Part III, the Upland South, consists of six regions: the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge, the Appalachian Plateau and Interior Low Plateaus, the Ozark and Ouachita Vol. XXIX, No. 2 151 Uplands, and the Dry Margin. Part IV, "The Land and The Future," focuses on recent changes in the South and offers a perspective on the changing relationship between humans and their regional environment. As the title and organization suggest, there is strong emphasis on physical geography. But past and present human activities that contribute to the cultural identity of each subregion and overall character of the South also are addressed. A common theme is that the physical environment influenced the early stages of occupance, but as ways of life were established and technologies matured, humans began to have greater impact on the environment. For example, the fertile soils of the Black Belt of the East Gulf Coastal Plain, the topography in the Blue Ridge and Valley and Ridge, and the prairies of the West Gulf Coastal Plain are related to the settlement process. On the other hand, the loss of wetlands in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, land reclamation in the Everglades , and flood control in the Mississippi Valley and Delta are used to illustrate present-day human impact on the environment. Contemporary Southerners not only are reminded of their close bond to the land but are urged to use it with caution and to be responsible custodians oftheir physical heritage. The text and the graphics rely principally on the work of other scholars, and the authors have done a fine job of synthesis in preparing this volume. It clearly communicates the special and close affinity Southerners have with the land. Despite the nicely written and wellconceived text, the strength of this volume rests with the maps. There are 188 high-quality color maps and tables, and many will be familiar to geographers who will be pleased to see the work of Fenneman, Friis, Lobeck, Raisz, and many others showcased here in such a splendid fashion. The judicious...