In this classic portrait of Jews in the South, Eli N. Evans takes readers inside the nexus of southern and Jewish histories, from the earliest immigrants to the present day. Evoking the rhythms and heartbeat of Jewish life in the Bible belt, Evans weaves together chapters of recollections from his youth and early years in North Carolina with chapters that explore the experiences of Jews in many cities and small towns across the South. He presents the stories of communities, individuals, and events in this quintessential American landscape that reveal the deeply intertwined strands of what he...

In 33 entertaining essays, Evans explores southern politics, history, and culture; the state of Israel; and the Civil war--delineating them through the prism of his Jewish-Southern identity and reflecting upon the paradox of the Southern Jewish experience: to be a part of things yet set apart from them. Photos.

"(In) a multi-layered book of great warmth and feeling, (Evans) reminds us anew of the Jewish southern inheritance, its ancient intensities and rhythms and heartbeats. This is a very southern book, and also an immensely American one" (Willie Morris). "The Jews of the South have found their poet laureate".--Abba Eban.

In the year 1800, South Carolina was home to more Jews than any other place in North America. As old as the province of Carolina itself, the Jewish presence has been a vital but little-examined element in the growth of cities and towns, in the economy of slavery and post-slavery society, and in the creation of American Jewish religious identity.

The record of a landmark exhibition that will change the way people think about Jewish history and American history, A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life presents a remarkable group of art and cultural objects and a...