The scarcity of statistical data for earlier historical periods and the relative inaccessibility of widely scattered source materials have created difficulties for scholars attempting to focus on the patterns of American crime. This new bibliography will make their task easier. The first work of its kind to deal with crime in the deep South, it lists and describes published and unpublished materials on eight southern states from 1700 to 1930, the year the U.S. government began to collect and compile crime statistics.

Within each geographical section, resources are organized according to type. Monographs, journal articles, dissertations, theses and manuscript collections are included. Listings are given for newspaper articles covering specific crimes, criminals, and types of criminal activity not treated in the monographic and journal literature. Entries for crime-related fiction, film, and drama are presented in separate sections. Complete author, name, and subject indexes are supplied. Systematically consolidating and organizing the available information on southern crime, this bibliography will provide valuable assistance to scholars in the field and help to identify promising avenues for future research.