Virginia has a long and complicated political history, some of it good, and some of it not so good. Virginia's political evolution, from a solidly blue state that was dominated by political machines like the old Byrd Machine; to a state that was viewed as a reliable Republican stronghold; to a state that is much more competitive than it once was, has been fascinating and instructive to watch. This evolution has been marked at different times by defining statewide political campaigns that reflected where Virginia voters were in terms of their political thought and the issues that were important to them. In their new book,
The New Dominion: The Twentieth Century Elections That Shaped Modern Virginia, John Milliken and Mark Rozell, along with their carefully selected guest authors, do a wonderful job discussing the most important political campaigns that helped paint Virginia's political landscape from the rise and fall of the Byrd Organization in the early to mid-1900s to the rise of a competitive Republican Party in the 1990s. If you love Virginia politics, this is a book you will not be able to put down, and who knows, you might just learn something new along the way. I know I did! - Bill Bolling, former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
A timely and important book on Virginia's evolutionary politics. It takes us through the long evolution from machine-controlled, patronage plutocratic government and segregation, through the distinct sorting of Virginia politics into dynamic, organized parties to the subsequent 'modernization' of Virginia politics, including the disruptions caused by the evangelicals on the right and the emergence of both Doug Wilder and also the transformation of Northern Virginia into part of the national Democratic coalition. - Keith Gaddie, University of Oklahoma, author, with Charles Bullock, of Georgia Politics in a State of Change
