Book Recomendation

As you might have guessed, my breakdown of the "war over culture" as opposed to the "culture war" will be a gradual affair.

In the mean time, I'll plug an excellent book I read recently.

But for Birmingham: The Local and National Movements in the Civil Rights Struggle
Is one of those books you hope everyone gets to read because it will save hours of frustration when discussing the nature and legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.

It is an entirely unflinching look and the personalities, plans, and divisions on both sides of the struggle told from the vantage point of the "Johannesburg of America". As a local is was an bonus to here about the history neighborhoods and buildings that I've walked and lived in.

The specific scope also brings the occasionally esoteric dialog on Civil Rights into a more earthy and ultimately more interesting paradigm.

It's really a book about the people whose names we all know and we get to her everyone's story as it pertains to the issue.

Fred Shuttlesworth
Bull Connor
Art Hanes
Albert Boutwell
Martin Luther King Jr.
Ralph Abernathy

We've heard their names (except maybe Art and Albert, they were the mayors... both of them... at the same time...that's discussed too) , but if you want to know a little better what they actually did and who they were, find this book in your local library or even better buy it. it is extensively researched and impeccably sourced and it could take time to root around in the background if you so choose.