What is the Southern tradition and why should anyone study it? If the South is simply the land of racist, backwoods bigots, of people who worship traitors and who cling to their God and guns, what does the region offer the modern United States? Plenty. Southern heroes were considered American heroes for decades, and Southern culture formed the backbone of the American experience for much of its history. In these sixty essays, Brion McClanahan defends the founding generation along with men like Robert E. Lee and John C. Calhoun, takes apart the modern PC attack on the South and its history, and clearly explains why Southern culture and the Southern tradition are still vital to modern American society.