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T H E A L A B A M A R E V I E W 72 ods, but they certainly do not embrace a universal way of reading and discerning meaning from documents and other sources. Nor would they agree with the ambition of creating “a single narrative.” This is especially clear in Braund’s fascinating essay on “competing narratives.” In it she explores how “surviving narratives are not passive summations of events but attempts to construct and convey meaning from the memories and perceptions and values of the writers” (p. 182). The Search for Mabila is a fascinating look at both the search for an important historical site in Alabama and the nature of interdisciplinary scholarship. Whether the “working hypothesis” of the conference will be fruitful is unclear, but an interdisciplinary method like the one explored in this volume has the best chance for success. ANDREW K. FRANK Florida State University The Great War in the Heart of Dixie: Alabama during World War I. Edited by Martin T. Olliff. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008. viii, 275 pp. $48.00 (cloth). ISBN 978-0-8173-1616-7. $29.95 (paper). ISBN 9780 -8173-5492-3. Historians have tended to find the genesis of modern America—its dramatically expanded federal government, a resurgence of economic growth and massive investment in industry and technology, intensification of struggles for gender and racial rights, and, in the case of Alabama and the Deep South, the emergence of strident racial and states’ rights politics—in the experiences of the Great Depression and World War II. The authors of this volume, however, make a convincing case that World War I proved to be a significant event tugging a reluctant rural Alabama into at least the predawn of a modern era. The scholarly but accessible essays, written by specialists in their respective fields, are consistently well researched, share common methodology, and reinforce several important themes while allowing each author’s voice to be clearly heard. Editor Martin T. Olliff’s introductory essay sets out some of the important themes and summarizes major points made in each of the subsequent ten chapters in this volume. These essays stress mobilization for war; the effect of the war on Alabama agriculture and food manufacture; social and economic consequences of new military encampments; military service abroad; increased capital investment in coal, iron, textile, and shipbuilding industries; racial and gender responses to the Great J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1 73 War; tensions between labor and capital; and the distinctiveness of southern Progressivism. Two chapters deal specifically with Alabama’s military contribution to the war against the Central Powers in Europe. Ruth Smith Truss’s chapter focusing largely on the 167th Infantry Regiment draws heavily on archival materials. As part of the Forty-second Rainbow Division, the 167th participated in key battles in France including the Château-Thierry offensive in July 1918. Other Alabama National Guard infantry regiments, incorporated into the Thirty-first Dixie Division, arrived in France a few scant weeks before the Armistice. Considering the singular importance of military service for political careers in American politics in the halfcentury following World War II, future research might examine the role of military service in Alabama politics between the wars. Did military service , for example, contribute to the political careers of governors Bibb Graves or Frank Dixon, who was, in fact, a genuine aviation hero of the Great War? Wesley P. Newton contributes a chapter on military encampments including two named for Union generals—Camp Sheridan in Montgomery and Camp McClellan in Anniston. The arrival of 30,000 troops, including black soldiers in the Thirty-seventh Buckeye Division, nearly doubled Montgomery’s population and boosted the area economy. Although neither Camp Sheridan nor Taylor Field, an aviation training center off Pike Road, survived as permanent bases, Montgomery nonetheless developed into a major center of military aviation. A repair depot located on the site of the Wright brothers’ aviation school on the Alabama River ultimately underwent several transformations before emerging as Maxwell Air Force Base. Similarly, Camp McClellan continued as an active base until the 1990s. United States entry into the Great...

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