Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.


or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
or
Amazon Prime Free Trial required. Sign up when you check out. Learn More
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism [Paperback]

Kevin M. Kruse

List Price: CDN$ 26.43
Price: CDN$ 16.85 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details
You Save: CDN$ 9.58 (36%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 6 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.
Want it delivered Tuesday, May 28? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout.

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover CDN $32.05  
Paperback CDN $16.85  

Book Description

July 9 2007 Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America

During the civil rights era, Atlanta thought of itself as "The City Too Busy to Hate," a rare place in the South where the races lived and thrived together. Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s, however, so many whites fled the city for the suburbs that Atlanta earned a new nickname: "The City Too Busy Moving to Hate."

In this reappraisal of racial politics in modern America, Kevin Kruse explains the causes and consequences of "white flight" in Atlanta and elsewhere. Seeking to understand segregationists on their own terms, White Flight moves past simple stereotypes to explore the meaning of white resistance. In the end, Kruse finds that segregationist resistance, which failed to stop the civil rights movement, nevertheless managed to preserve the world of segregation and even perfect it in subtler and stronger forms.

Challenging the conventional wisdom that white flight meant nothing more than a literal movement of whites to the suburbs, this book argues that it represented a more important transformation in the political ideology of those involved. In a provocative revision of postwar American history, Kruse demonstrates that traditional elements of modern conservatism, such as hostility to the federal government and faith in free enterprise, underwent important transformations during the postwar struggle over segregation. Likewise, white resistance gave birth to several new conservative causes, like the tax revolt, tuition vouchers, and privatization of public services. Tracing the journey of southern conservatives from white supremacy to white suburbia, Kruse locates the origins of modern American politics.


Frequently Bought Together

White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism + New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness + Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History
Price For All Three: CDN$ 53.57

Show availability and shipping details

  • In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details

  • New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness CDN$ 16.57

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details

  • Roe v. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History CDN$ 20.15

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product Details


Product Description

Review

In White Flight, a study of white resistance to desegregation in Atlanta, Kruse produces a panoramic and engaging portrayal of the struggle over desegregation. -- Ronald Brownstein American Prospect An ambitious, well-researched, and interesting study, White Flight offers a provocative examination of the connections between race and conservative politics. -- Jeff Roche Journal of American History Kruse presents a nuanced portrayal of the trends that fostered the growth of the suburbs and the casting aside of racist demagoguery. -- Jonathan Tilove Times-Picayune White Flight provides a detailed yet fascinating history of right-wing backlash against the civil rights movement that has relevance not only for historians but also for political scientists. Kevin Kruse's study deserves a wide reading. -- R. Claire Snyder New Political Science In his book, Kevin Kruse analyzes the ideology accompanying white flight and its ongoing impact on American politics... In a beautifully written, clearly structured, and deeply researched narrative, Kruse lays out the historical processes that led to the development of modern conservatism. -- Kristen O'Hare Urban History Review Kruse's ultimate success lies in using history to answer contemporary political questions, and without compromising his professional standards. -- Clay Risen Nashville Scene In Kruse's skillful hands, Atlanta's struggle over integration takes on many of the characteristics of low-level urban warfare... Kruse illuminates a key phase in American political development. -- Kimberley S. Johnson Perspectives on Politics Kruse provides a useful resource in the debate over the significance of race in politics. His book is thoroughly researched and well written. Students interested in modern politics and Civil Rights histories alike would greatly benefit from this work. -- Jensen E. Branscombe Southern Historian

Ronald Brownstein, "American Prospect" American Prospect : In White Flight, a study of white resistance to desegregation in Atlanta, Kruse produces a panoramic and engaging portrayal of the struggle over desegregation.


Jeff Roche, "Journal of American History" Journal of American History : An ambitious, well-researched, and interesting study, White Flight offers a provocative examination of the connections between race and conservative politics.


Jonathan Tilove, "Times-Picayune" Times-Picayune : Kruse presents a nuanced portrayal of the trends that fostered the growth of the suburbs and the casting aside of racist demagoguery.


R. Claire Snyder, "New Political Science" New Political Science : White Flight provides a detailed yet fascinating history of right-wing backlash against the civil rights movement that has relevance not only for historians but also for political scientists. Kevin Kruse's study deserves a wide reading.


Kristen O'Hare, "Urban History Review" Urban History Review : In his book, Kevin Kruse analyzes the ideology accompanying white flight and its ongoing impact on American politics. . . . In a beautifully written, clearly structured, and deeply researched narrative, Kruse lays out the historical processes that led to the development of modern conservatism.


Clay Risen, "Nashville Scene" Nashville Scene : Kruse's ultimate success lies in using history to answer contemporary political questions, and without compromising his professional standards.

From the Inside Flap

"In his study of Atlanta over the last 60 years, Kevin Kruse convincingly describes the critical connections between race, Sun Belt suburbanization, the rise of the new Republican majority. White Flight is a powerful and compelling book that should be read by anyone interested in modern American politics and post-World War II urban history."--Dan Carter, University of South Carolina

"White Flight is a myth-shattering book. Focusing on the city that prided itself as 'too busy to hate,' Kevin Kruse reveals the everyday ways that middle-class whites in Atlanta resisted civil rights, withdrew from the public sphere, and in the process fashioned a new, grassroots, suburban-based conservatism. This important book has national implications for our thinking about the links between race, suburbanization, and the rise of the New Right."--Thomas J. Sugrue, Kahn Professor of History and Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, author of The Origins of the Urban Crisis

"This is an imaginative work that ably treats an important subject. Kruse gets beyond and beneath Atlanta's image as a place of racial moderation, the national center of the civil rights movement, and a seedbed of black political power to reveal other simultaneous, important currents at work."--Clifford Kuhn, Georgia State University

"Kevin Kruse recasts our understanding of the conservative resistance to the civil rights movement. Shifting the spotlight from racial extremists to ordinary white urban dwellers, he shows that "white flight" to the suburbs was among the most powerful social movements of our time. That movement not only reconfigured the urban landscape, it also transformed political ideology, laying the groundwork for the rise of the New Right and undermining the commitment of white Americans to the common good. No one can read this book and come away believing that the politics of suburbia are colorblind."--Jacquelyn Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
THE STORY OF Atlanta's struggles with segregation was centered, oddly enough, on neither the crusade of civil rights activists nor the reactionary resistance of segregationists. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Customer Reviews

There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.ca
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.4 out of 5 stars  14 reviews
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Read Dec 9 2005
By Sandro Vitaglione - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I'm not from Georgia and I'm not a history guy, but I found this book fascinating. The "editorial review" provided by Amazon does a fine job describing the book, so I'll just give a few of my impressions. The book is well written and easy to read (which don't always go hand in hand - see James, Henry). I found myself not only learning about Atlanta but also better understanding the phenomenon of white flight in general. This book has really opened my eyes to the issues of the city versus the suburbs; I can see now that many of the struggles of the '50s and '60s are still continuing today, if in slightly different forms.

Don't let the title of this book mislead you; this is not a 350-page rant about how evil conservatives are. In fact, I was surprised at how often the "good guys" in the integration struggle, such as Mayor Hartsfield and his coalition of business elites, were motivated not by a sense of social justice but by capitalism: many of the so-called city fathers were just as loathe to integrate as the segregationists, but the image of Atlanta as a fully integrated city was just too lucrative for their businesses and the city's economy. The book is blessedly free of sermonizing, as the author simply recounts what took place and shows how those events have influenced the world we live in, both political and physical. Value judgments are largely left to the reader.

One last thing. When I think of all the material covered in this book, from violent flashpoints to school board meetings to segregationist poetry to newspaper advertisements, I can't believe I wasn't bored out of my mind - this stuff usually isn't my cup of tea. But instead of bogging it down, the author used the excruciating level of detail to breath life into the story, animating the people and events in a way that made me feel connected to them. Regardless of your ideology, I think you will find yourself entertained and enlightened by this book.
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched, insightful, and an incredibly engaging read Oct 27 2005
By John Pijanowski - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book is incredibly well researched, insightful, and an incredibly engaging read. I don't often read historical books but I did enjoy David McCullough's "Truman" and "John Adams" and found this book equally well written and often times more interesting. The author, Kevin Kruse doesn't just tell you about the politics of the time but draws you in to the people who made history. Like characters in a novel I found myself invested in them and looking forward to the next page. I have no connection to Atlanta, but that doesn't matter because this is an American story more than just an Atlanta story and is strikingly relevant today for anyone interested in how modern conservatism came to be. Particularly compelling was Kruse's telling of how rural and urban voters were manipulated, and the politics of racism were balanced with uneasy alliances between black and white community leaders. From the start the author reframes the discussion away from the traditional perspective of what people were "against" to think about what people were "for", and in doing so paints a picture of the values that fueled white flight, the civil rights movement, and continues to drive much of our modern political ideology. Whether you are interested in the history, modern politics, or just a great story I recommend this book
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Important History of United States Mar 25 2007
By Michael E. Johnson - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book is first, well written and then well researched. As someone who grew up in Atlanta during a good part of the time period covered by the book I'm impressed by the amount of detail and the level of accuracy that the writer provides. His analysis of not only what happen in and around the south but how it ties into the rise of the new conservatism is spot on. This should be required reading for all high school seniors as well as most politicians. To learn from the past we need more writers and researchers like Kevin M. Kruse to help illuminate the way. Please, please, please buy this book and read it.

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Amazon.ca Privacy Statement Amazon.ca Shipping Information Amazon.ca Returns & Exchanges