Prose written by a poet is just so lovely. And it was interesting to see how a story takes shape: the twists and turns, the reconstructions and the lies. The way that place holds such a deep meaning, and that place is imbued with history. The way that we are still molding history, that our current actions are both informed by history and become history. This book is part of that story that we tell about history. One particular section that I (a white southerner educated in the public school system) plan to revisit is Smith’s discussion of the South’s rallying cry of States Rights and how the story diverges from the history.