An astute and stimulating account of the people and forces that shaped the development of Georgia and, by implication, other areas of the South, is a provocative reinterpretation of the transition from the Old South to the New. Rejecting previous analyses, Bartley describes the persistence and ultimate collapse of a plantation-oriented colonial society and the emergence of a modern Georgia. In the second edition, Bartley has enlarged and updated the book with two new chapters to place greater emphasis on the expanded urbanization, industrialization, and diversification of Georgia.