The Southern Nation: The New Rise of the Old South

Rating:
Summary: The Best Southern Book I Ever Read!
Review: Incredible! A book that's thoroughly researched AND readable/enjoyable? What's publishing coming to? Mr. Thornton is right. It is plain that we are only wanted as a milk cow for the American Empire. If we didn't have so much to offer they would ask us to leave instead of keeping us around to abuse further. Unlike other Southern writers Thornton tells what to do about it. Lots of books raise serious questions about the future of our Southland. This one gives the answers. It deals openly and honestly with Southern problems. No, we are not perfect, but we are a lot better than the Clintons and thier kind want us to become.

Rating:
Summary: Taking on Empire
Review: Mr Thornton asks the proper question for our new century dawning: what price empire? The South was the first to say "Yankee go home" in 1861, and now the world (including the South) seems to be catching on and asking that same question again. When war was made on Southern civilians in 1861-1865, a bad precedent began--and one which national policy has never repudiated. Empires are like that. They lead to brutality and a might makes right mentality. Thornton has written a book that should have an international audience. It is certainly pertinent to our foreign policy today. Its issues are far-reaching. Congratulations Mr Thornton! The book is clearly and forcefully written. It's going to be around for a long time. Congratulations also to Pelican Press for having the good sense and courage to publish such a volume.

Rating:
Summary: Taking on Empire
Review: Mr Thornton asks the proper question for our new century dawning: what price empire? The South was the first to say "Yankee go home" in 1861, and now the world (including the South) seems to be catching on and asking that same question again. When war was made on Southern civilians in 1861-1865, a bad precedent began--and one which national policy has never repudiated. Empires are like that. They lead to brutality and a might makes right mentality. Thornton has written a book that should have an international audience. It is certainly pertinent to our foreign policy today. Its issues are far-reaching. Congratulations Mr Thornton! The book is clearly and forcefully written. It's going to be around for a long time. Congratulations also to Pelican Press for having the good sense and courage to publish such a volume.

Rating:
Summary: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back...
Review: Some time ago, I flirted with the idea of Southern nationalism. The homogenized banality, arid pretentiousness, and outright stupidity of modern American culture, along with that culture's implacable hostility to the Christian religion, seemed to make such a move necessary, even mandatory. Given the concerns of many so-called neo-Confederates, I can see that I was wasting my time.

If you read The South Was Right! then you pretty much know what's here because much the same ground is covered. The Civil War was a war of aggression(debatable) because the South had every right to secede(At Milledgeville, Georgia in 1860, Alexander Stephens disagreed; see Secession Debated). Lincoln was a tyrant and a despot, Satan personified(Lincoln was a realist; the Confederate leadership was self-destructedly romantic). Grant and Sherman would be tried as war criminals if they lived today(probably; but Grant and Sherman figured out long before Lee that the nature of war and the way to fight it had irrevocably changed). Southerners are routinely portrayed by the media as stupid and uneducated(regrettably true, but that long preceded the war; see Grady McWhiney's Cracker Culture). And on and on and on.

Southern nationalists like Thornton spend so much time refighting the war that they have little or no time for the South as it is today. One wonders why an African-American Southron would be anything other than hostile to a new CSA, given that Thornton approvingly includes the New Albany Declaration in an appendix, a statement of Southern nationalist principles that includes articles like these:

That the hallowed battledfields and cemeteries of 1861-1865 bear silent witness to the destruction wrought by the United States government in league with Northern financial interests and social radicals for the purpose of subjugating and obliterating the Southern people, to wit: abolition, aggression, conquest, disenfranchisement, reconstruction and amalgamation.

That we, as well as all Americans of European descent, are suffering a second, more terrible reconstruction, one that began in the late 1940s with the schism in the Democratic Party over the "Civil Rights" plank, that escalated with the Brown school desegregation decision of 1954, and that achieved dominance with the "Civil Rights" Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

That the assertion of equality among races, sexes and moral belief systems is contradicted by every shred of natural evidence; as a people, we condemn inter-racial unions which are destroying our society and our people's very existence.

That we have a long and distinguished martial tradition that precludes soldierly participation by women or other races.

I would still be enthusiastic about a Southern nationalism that looked forward not back, that had genuine ideas for the preservation of Southern culture rather than paranoid bumper stickers, and that included ALL Southrons, whatever their race. R. Gordon Thornton's version is worse than useless.

Rating:
Summary: No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back...
Review: Some time ago, I flirted with the idea of Southern nationalism. The homogenized banality, arid pretentiousness, and outright stupidity of modern American culture, along with that culture's implacable hostility to the Christian religion, seemed to make such a move necessary, even mandatory. Given the concerns of many so-called neo-Confederates, I can see that I was wasting my time.

If you read The South Was Right! then you pretty much know what's here because much the same ground is covered. The Civil War was a war of aggression(debatable) because the South had every right to secede(At Milledgeville, Georgia in 1860, Alexander Stephens disagreed; see Secession Debated). Lincoln was a tyrant and a despot, Satan personified(Lincoln was a realist; the Confederate leadership was self-destructedly romantic). Grant and Sherman would be tried as war criminals if they lived today(probably; but Grant and Sherman figured out long before Lee that the nature of war and the way to fight it had irrevocably changed). Southerners are routinely portrayed by the media as stupid and uneducated(regrettably true, but that long preceded the war; see Grady McWhiney's Cracker Culture). And on and on and on.

Southern nationalists like Thornton spend so much time refighting the war that they have little or no time for the South as it is today. One wonders why an African-American Southron would be anything other than hostile to a new CSA, given that Thornton approvingly includes the New Albany Declaration in an appendix, a statement of Southern nationalist principles that includes articles like these:

That the hallowed battledfields and cemeteries of 1861-1865 bear silent witness to the destruction wrought by the United States government in league with Northern financial interests and social radicals for the purpose of subjugating and obliterating the Southern people, to wit: abolition, aggression, conquest, disenfranchisement, reconstruction and amalgamation.

That we, as well as all Americans of European descent, are suffering a second, more terrible reconstruction, one that began in the late 1940s with the schism in the Democratic Party over the "Civil Rights" plank, that escalated with the Brown school desegregation decision of 1954, and that achieved dominance with the "Civil Rights" Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

That the assertion of equality among races, sexes and moral belief systems is contradicted by every shred of natural evidence; as a people, we condemn inter-racial unions which are destroying our society and our people's very existence.

That we have a long and distinguished martial tradition that precludes soldierly participation by women or other races.

I would still be enthusiastic about a Southern nationalism that looked forward not back, that had genuine ideas for the preservation of Southern culture rather than paranoid bumper stickers, and that included ALL Southrons, whatever their race. R. Gordon Thornton's version is worse than useless.

Rating:
Summary: An Awesome WakeUp Call
Review: Southerners don't have to be second class citizens any longer. We can be free. This book tells how. It gives the answers, refutes the critics, and is unashamedly Southern right down to its dangling prepositions. I loved it. Other books tell you the past. This one shows you the future!

Rating:
Summary: Emotional Distortion of our Confederate Leadership
Review: There is no question that the South fought an honorable war. And there is no question that her Southron leaders also reached out for healing after four years of honor and courage to establish Southron Independence. Was secession legal? Yes. Was it a good idea? No.
Thornton argues that the re-birth of the old-South ideals is a result that ideas never die. He takes out of context the language of Southern leaders. Let me explain. There was a tone prior to the War of Independence and secession. No question. However, after the war, Southern leaders stretched out their hands in hoping for a peaceful unification. Reconstruction was harsh, I agree. But this in no way gives us Southron's the right to mis-quote our Southern leaders words prior/or during the War to continue the fight for Independence. Rather, this energy could be used elsewhere to further the Southern ideals of limited government. Thornton's premise is a set up for failure because the South is much different now than it was one hundred and fifty years ago. He uses arguments which will not work in todays modern climate. One year before President Jefferson Davis' death, he spoke to some young Mississipians saying, "...my ambition lies in the grave of the Confederacy...Men in whose hands the destinies of our Southland lie, for love of her I break my silence, to speak to you a few words of respectful admonition...the past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations; before you lies the future-a future full of golden promise; a future of expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to make your places in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished-a reunited country." I do not see this honor or tone in Thornton's book.
Tommy Allen- SCV Chaplain.

Rating:
Summary: Emotional Distortion of our Confederate Leadership
Review: There is no question that the South fought an honorable war. And there is no question that her Southron leaders also reached out for healing after four years of honor and courage to establish Southron Independence. Was secession legal? Yes. Was it a good idea? No.
Thornton argues that the re-birth of the old-South ideals is a result that ideas never die. He takes out of context the language of Southern leaders. Let me explain. There was a tone prior to the War of Independence and secession. No question. However, after the war, Southern leaders stretched out their hands in hoping for a peaceful unification. Reconstruction was harsh, I agree. But this in no way gives us Southron's the right to mis-quote our Southern leaders words prior/or during the War to continue the fight for Independence. Rather, this energy could be used elsewhere to further the Southern ideals of limited government. Thornton's premise is a set up for failure because the South is much different now than it was one hundred and fifty years ago. He uses arguments which will not work in todays modern climate. One year before President Jefferson Davis' death, he spoke to some young Mississipians saying, "...my ambition lies in the grave of the Confederacy...Men in whose hands the destinies of our Southland lie, for love of her I break my silence, to speak to you a few words of respectful admonition...the past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations; before you lies the future-a future full of golden promise; a future of expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to make your places in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished-a reunited country." I do not see this honor or tone in Thornton's book.
Tommy Allen- SCV Chaplain.

Rating:
Summary: A True Southern Manifesto
Review: This bok is an excellent antidote to those self-loathing, South-hating bigots who run the show in Southern government and media. Over the years I have been priviliged to meet Mr. Thornton on several ocassions. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever known. A true rarity today, his word is his bond and his life is his words. I was impressed with his new book, but I was not surprized. On these pages he bares his heart, his soul, his philosophy, and his homeland for all to see. He answers questions that at have nagged at many Southerners thier whole lives. This book is a truly moving experience. It will leave you challenged, emotional, and hungry for more. All Southerners should read it.

Rating:
Summary: A True Southern Manifesto
Review: This book is an excellent antidote to those self-loathing, self-hating bigots who run the show in Southern media and government. Over the years I have been priviledged to meet Mr. Thornton on a few occassioins. He is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. A true rarity today, his word is his bond and his life is his words. I was impressed with this, his first book, but I was not surprized. On these pages he bares his heart, his soul, his philosophy, and his homeland for all to see. He answers the questions that have nagged many Southerners all their lives. This book will leave you challenged, emotional, and hungry for more. This book is a truly moving experience. All Southerners should read it.