Review of the non-fiction book  The Unexpected Exodus: How the Cold War Displaced One Southern Town,  by Louise Cassels

Fulkerson, Diane

English

DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University

Georgia Library QuarterlyVolume 44 | Issue 4 Article 35January 2008REVIEW: The Unexpected Exodus: How the ColdWar Displaced One Southern TownDiane FulkersonUniversity of West GeorgiaFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/glqPart of the History CommonsThis Review is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in GeorgiaLibrary Quarterly by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contactdigitalcommons@kennesaw.edu.Recommended CitationFulkerson, Diane (2008) "REVIEW: The Unexpected Exodus: How the Cold War Displaced One Southern Town," Georgia LibraryQuarterly: Vol. 44 : Iss. 4 , Article 35.Available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/glq/vol44/iss4/35Jamestown). Each entry is signed by its author andfollowed by source notes. Many readers will miss thedistinction between the two sections; there are noheadings to mark the division. The volume is well-indexed, but there are no cross-references to the othervolumes, a lack that limits the usefulness of an otherwiseexcellent resource. The encyclopedia is being published inpaperback as well as hardcover, which will make the 24-volume set more affordable. Recommended for allacademic libraries and most public libraries.  — Reviewed by Vanessa CowieForsyth County Public LibraryReturn to Good and Evil: FlanneryO’Connor’s Response to Nihilism byHenry T. Edmondson III; contributorMarion Montgomery (LexingtonBooks, 1st Paperback Edition 2005;ISBN 0739111051, $27.95).Professor Henry T. Edmondson III hasdone a great service for readers ofFlannery O’Connor in his book Returnto Good and Evil: Flannery O’Connor’s Response toNihilism. He has gone where so many O’Connor scholarswould love to go: deep into Georgia College and StateUniversity’s special collection of her personal library andpublished and unpublished manuscripts, and hasemerged with a wealth of knowledge about thephilosophical and theological foundations of her work.He shares this knowledge in a series of clear, thought-provoking, enlightening discussions of her short storiesand novels that provide readers with a greater sense ofO’Connor’s worldview and purpose than can be gainedfrom reading her fictional work in isolation. Edmondsoncenters his discussions on O’Connor’s implicit desire torefute the troubling influence of nihilism in modernculture; thus, the discussions of O’Connor’s art oftenaddress the greater issue of the moral decline of a societythat seeks to antiquate notions of good and evil.O’Connor’s goal was to create “large and startlingpictures” to shock her willfully sightless audience intosensing the necessity for redemption and the presence ofgrace at work in the world. O’Connor’s pictures are heldup to the light by Edmondson, who points out themesand nuances rooted in her Catholicism and makesreference to the influence of others such as St. ThomasAquinas, St. Augustine, Frederick Copleston, St. John ofthe Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, Jacques Maritain and Pascal.Edmondson’s ideas on O’Connor’s fiction and philosophyare firmly based on her own explications of her stories inletters and lectures and in the works of the theologiansshe most admired. Flannery O’Connor lived most of herlife in Milledgeville, Georgia, and is arguably the mostinfluential writer to come from this region of the country.This book of essays on her work would be a valuable partof the collection of any public or academic library inGeorgia. — Reviewed by Leslie R. G. BullingtonAugusta, GeorgiaThe Unexpected Exodus: How theCold War Displaced One SouthernTown by Louise Cassels (University ofSouth Carolina Press, 2007; ISBN 978-1-57003-709-2, ISBN 1-57003-709-4,$19.95).Historian Susan A. Crane wrote anarticle titled “Writing the IndividualBack into Collective Memory” thatappeared in the December 1997 American HistoricalReview. Louise Cassels’ book The Unexpected Exoduswrites into history the collective memory of all the formerresidents of Ellenton, S.C., as they were forced to relocateto make way for the construction of the Savannah RiverPlant. The Savannah River Plant was constructed at thebeginning of the Cold War to produce materials forweapons or fuel for power purposes. Louise Cassels wasa schoolteacher and a member of the most prominentfamily in Ellenton. She provides readers with a vividaccount of the hopes, fears and concerns of the citizensof Ellenton before and after the announcement of theirneed to relocate to make way for the plant. The emotionsof the citizens of this small South Carolina community ranfrom anger to feelings of patriotism. This book not onlyprovides insight into how the construction of the plantaffected this one community but also into how themilitary industrial complex changed the economy of theSouth. Louise Cassels demonstrates that the individualreally does matter in history. First published in 1971, thebook will be a welcome addition to the collections ofpublic and academic libraries. — Reviewed by Diane FulkersonUniversity of West GeorgiaThe Schoolhouse Door:Segregation’s Last Stand at theUniversity of Alabama by E.Culpepper Clark (University ofAlabama Fire Ant Books, 2007, ISBN9780817354336, $24.95).Some of us remember formerAlabama Governor George Wallace’sinfamous schoolhouse door stand atthe University of Alabama as he attempted to barfederal authorities from enforcing segregation in38   Winter 2008   Georgia Library Quarterly1Fulkerson: REVIEW: The Unexpected ExodusPublished by DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University, 2008

REVIEW: The Unexpected Exodus: How the Cold War Displaced One Southern Town

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REVIEW: The Unexpected Exodus: How the Cold War Displaced One Southern Town

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