Copies of "Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction" show up in the mail.

I got a package with the author copies of the books in the mail yesterday. You know intellectually that the book is going to be published, but there is something about holding it in your hands and opening it up and reading it that makes it real.

I have spent my life reading books. Now I am the editor and an author for a book and I have joined the world of ideas. Books once in circulation circulate a long time. I purchase books from the 19th century. With this book, the contributors, and the other editors and I initiate a dialogue that goes into the future long after we are gone.

Finally, after all these years there is a book on the neo-Confederates and by a major academic press. People are going to find out what this movement is all about and once understanding what it is they will recognize it when they see it. One of neo-Confederacy's advantages has been is that it isn't recognized for what it is, so it is able to do things unopposed. That advantage will be soon gone. Also, Confederate symbols and monuments will be perceived differently once people realize that there is a neo-Confederate movement.

You can pre-order a copy at this URL. The book is released on Dec. 1, 2008 which is next Monday. http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exhagneo.html