How the South Won the Civil War

As a fan of Richardson's daily posts on the Trump presidency and the 2020 election, I started this book with great anticipation, but I was somewhat disappointed. Although she has a strong thesis about the ongoing struggle between oligarchy and fully participatory democracy that has plagued our country since its founding, Richardson's writing is dry and repetitive. Despite the catchy title, the book actually covers all of American history, from the arrival of the first Europeans on North American shore to the election of Donald Trump, and at times it feels like Richardson picks and chooses the events that support her ideas without providing sufficient historical context. The link between the post-Civil War South and the emerging West is one I hadn't considered before, and I appreciated learning about the discrepancies between the idealized, independent cowboy of American legend and the reality of a region controlled by a few rich men who benefited from governmental policies. I just wish Richardson had limited her scope, providing more in-depth profiles of some of the major players in the Western expansion for example, instead of flooding the reader with dozens of names and dates.

As always with history books, I find that points are made that support the thesis but quite match everyday reality. For example at one point Richardson is talking about blue jeans, and claims that their increasing popularity was related to the the rise of the “conservative narrative - a vision of heroic individuals standing against collectivism....Seventy five million pairs of Levis were sold in 1975, and they were worn to symbolize dislike of the government both by those who opposed civil rights legislation and b those who opposed the Vietnam War.” I was 13 years old in 1975, and I can tell you that I wore blue jeans because they were comfortable and trendy, and because I wanted to fit in with all of my friends who wore them. They were not a political statement for me, and I suspect most of the 75 million people who bought them would agree.

I will continue to enjoy Richardson's daily updates but I can't recommend this book to non-academic readers.