Robert S. McElvaine is the Elizabeth Chisholm Distinguished Professor of Arts & Letters and Professor of History at Millsaps College. He is the author of seven books, including The Great Depression: America, 19291941 and Eve's Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History, and is the editor of three. Among his many honors are the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence and the B. L. C. Wailes Award for national distinction in the field of history. He has served as historical consultant for several television programs, including the PBS series The Great Depression, and has written more than one hundred articles and opinion piecesin such national publications as theNew York Times,Washington Post,Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal,Nation, andNewsweek. He hasbeen a guest on about the same number of television and radio programs. He lives in Clinton, Mississippi.
A richly researched, fast-paced historical reminder of the pivotal year of 1964. -James T. Patterson, Ford Foundation Professor of History, Brown University, Bancroft Prize-winning author of Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974