The Historian behind the History brings together for the first time a collection of valuable interviews with prominent southern historians conducted over the course of a decade by graduate students in the University of Alabama’s history program. In the interviews, ten notable southern historians and mentors illuminate the state of historiography, their experiences in the profession, and their thoughts about graduate education and southern history.

The student-edited journal Southern Historian includes one interview each year; interviews from the journal’s first ten years are gathered here for the first time. The interviews are with some of the most respected southern historians and cover a range of southern history. The historians and their main topics include:

Richard J. M. Blackett on antebellum and African American history Dan T. Carter on Reconstruction, Civil Rights, and George Wallace Pete Daniel on the New Deal and the Cold War South Laura F. Edwards on the Early Republic, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and women’s history William W. Freehling on the antebellum South Gary W. Gallagher on the Civil War Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore on Jim Crow James M. McPherson on the Civil War Theodore Rosengarten on the Depression J. Mills Thornton III on the antebellum South

In his introduction, award-winning author and historian George C. Rable draws together the multifaceted themes of these interviews, offering a compelling overview of the nature of the field. Edited by Megan L. Bever and Scott A. Suarez, The Historian behind the History offers critical insights about the craft and professional life of the historian.