Many historians—such as Bruce Schulman, James C. Cobb, and Gavin Wright—have focused on the modernization of the American South in the twentieth century. They have noted that conflicting ideas of how to bring economic prosperity to the South have resulted in different levels of success throughout the region. And they, particularly Schulman and Cobb, have emphasized the impact of state government efforts to promote industrialization and the role of federal funds in kick-starting local economies. One explanation for the erratic and spotty economic growth of the region has been the numerous visions of what a New South should look like—and, more specifically, who would decide how those changes would be made—resulting in a competition among local boosters, private enterprises, political figures, local and state government, and the federal government. An influx of federal dollars into the South—during World War I, New Deal initiatives (to address what President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered the nation's “number one economic problem”), World War II, and the Cold War era and Space Age—made the federal government an important force in the modern South's development. Like historian Christopher MacGregor Scribner, who compared the growth of Atlanta over Birmingham, Matthew Downs emphasizes the importance of attracting federal spending as a way to fuel economic growth.

Downs's examination of the economic and social transformation of the section of the Tennessee Valley located in Alabama, from World War I up to the 1960s, clearly lays out the complexity of determining the direction of economic development in the modern South. Downs argues that he gives readers a “near-perfect microcosm” study of the impact of modernization and economic development of the entire South and a clearer understanding of who was involved in the process (p. 2). He does this by tracing the sometimes complex interplay among all the players and the changing concepts of how to best grow the economy—and to preserve it—when factors like a post–World War II decrease in demand meant the possibility of closing important federal projects that brought large amounts of money, and jobs, to the region.

Downs arranges his study chronologically as well as thematically, using events like World War I, the efforts of the New Deal (specifically the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority [TVA]), World War II, and the Cold War to demonstrate that opportunities to modernize and industrialize usually depended on outside forces and events. Within that context, he places local and regional business leaders; national figures like Henry Ford; politicians like Senator George Norris of Nebraska, Lister Hill and John Sparkman of Alabama, and Arthur E. Morgan and David E. Lilienthal of the TVA; and even Dr. Wernher von Braun, the leading scientist at the Redstone Arsenal and later at the NASA operations center at Huntsville.

Early attempts in the valley by local boosters and politicians to bring industry in the form of government nitrate plants exemplify the competing forces affecting the outcome of regional economic growth throughout the period of this study. Ford's interest in taking over nitrate plants in the valley—which he promised would result both in cheap fertilizer for local farmers and in prosperity for the region—received much support from boosters and from political figures who favored the idea of private investment, especially from such an important business figure. However, Ford's efforts met with strong resistance from congressional opponents who believed that the federal government should take control in order to protect the public interest. There was also a level of distrust of large corporations and their intentions, which frustrated the efforts of Ford and others. Some believed that Alabama Power, for example, did not have the interest of the farmers in mind when it tried to acquire the rights to hydroelectric power from Wilson Dam, and later from dams created by the TVA.

Downs spends over one hundred pages on what at first seems out of place: an examination of the TVA's impact on the region and, in turn, of the region's changing perceptions of the TVA's agenda. But Downs clearly shows that this federal agency had a tremendous influence over southern development, especially in the area of social change. He effectively outlines the changing policies of the TVA from the administration of Arthur E. Morgan to that of David E. Lilienthal and how those changes affected the region.

Having outlined the efforts of governmental agencies like the TVA, of Alabama Power and other private industries, and of boosters and politicians to make significant changes throughout the Tennessee Valley area, Downs moves from a regional perspective to an urban one. He reveals the work done in towns like Decatur and Huntsville by local boosters, political figures, and governmental officials to attract and keep new businesses. He also offers an explanation as to why one town was more successful than others in securing new factories and federal funding. Finally, the book examines how towns like Huntsville worked in conjunction with political and governmental agencies to keep federal projects while also attracting other industries to the region, so as not to become too reliant on continued federal funding.

While this book may be of value to business historians interested in understanding the process of economic development and the interplay between local boosters, politicians, and government, it is also a valuable source of information for a wider audience. Downs does not provide any new revelations about the twentieth-century modernization of the South; however, he does provide an excellent account of the factors, and players, involved in the emergence of a modern economy in Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. And, as he argues, he has provided the reader with a model much like a business school case study that can be helpful in understanding the economic development of other areas of the South.