"Through an adroit interweaving of oral history accounts from each of the counties...Couto shows the impact of New Deal measures in the 1930s and '40s; the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and '60s; and the creation of federally funded cooperative health clinics in the 1970 and '80s." --Choice "Couto introduces us to unknown and unsung heroes who register voters, establish health care centers, improve education, and locate jobs, hacking away at the vines to get closer to the roots of discrimination, poverty, ignorance, and sickness... Couto has been one of the heroes himself." --Southern Seen "A fascinating study which masterfully weaves together the ways in which communities helped shape and responded to federal policy initiatives to secure racial justice and equality... It promotes a more comprehensive analysis of the origins of the civil rights movement, its process, and outcome." --Patricia Sullivan, Carter G. Woodson Institute, University of Virginia "[The themes of this book] are a rich part of the history of the region and the country that we just don't have. You won't find them written in any history book you'll ever come across. Again and again, I was struck by historical references...many, many of them very meaningful and touching." --John Seigenthaler, The [Nashville] Tennessean
