The Southern States of America are here seen through the eyes of a typical Brit. Nick Middleton's speciality within travel writing is his passion for the peculiar. A social geographer by profession, his interest lies in not just foreign places, but in the people that inhabit them - their lives, their loves, their work, rest and play. This book seeks to prove that even our nearest neighbours and those who supposedly speak the same language couldn't have been a richer hunting ground for the bizarre and the kitsch. From the imported sands of Miami Beach - so hot they threaten the native wildlife - to the antebellum mansions of Savannah, the Southern States of the USA are a breeding ground of miscegenation, racial hatred, great movies and political giants.