{"product_id":"cracker-messiah-governor-sidney-j-catts-of-florida-paperback-softback-9780817362812","title":"Cracker Messiah; Governor Sidney J. Catts of Florida (Paperback \/ softback) 9780817362812","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eCracker Messiah\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eGovernor Sidney J. Catts of Florida\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eWayne Flynt (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780817362812\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 30 June 2026\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e379 pages, 7 Figures - 6 Maps\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.626 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\"The indefatigable author has turned over archives, sought out family memorabilia, conducted numerous interviews, and reconstructed with surprising detail the life of the obscure Catts. . . . Catts's career offers a unique insight into the world of the Southern demagogue.\" —\u003ci\u003eJournal of American History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Flynt has made effective use of primary sources, including interviews with family members and political participants. The end result is a fine narrative of Sidney J. Catts.\" —\u003ci\u003eNorth Carolina Historical Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wayne Flynt . . . demonstrates that Catts's entire life—almost exclusively devoted to a search for the main chance, whether in business, politics, or personal affairs—essentially repeated the 1916 strategy. . . . \u003ci\u003eCracker Messiah\u003c\/i\u003e . . . conforms faultlessly to the standards of historical scholarship.\" —\u003ci\u003eJournal of Southern History\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe definitive biography of Sidney J. Catts—Florida's fiery governor who fused pulpit rhetoric with populist politics in the early twentieth century. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCracker Messiah\u003c\/i\u003e by Wayne Flynt is a riveting portrait of Sidney J. Catts, one of the most controversial figures in Southern political history. Catts rose from Baptist pulpits and Chautauqua stages to Florida's governor's mansion in 1916, riding a wave of rural populism, prohibition fervor, and anti-Catholic rhetoric. His fiery oratory and outsider persona electrified \"Florida crackers\" at a time when industrial and urban forces were reshaping the South. Yet Catts was more than a demagogue. His administration championed progressive reforms—good roads, penal improvements, vocational education, and even women's political participation—while his career oscillated between idealism and opportunism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWayne Flynt's meticulously documented biography illuminates this complicated politician, tracing Catts's battles with the Democratic establishment, his failed Senate bid, and his later flirtations with gambling and real estate during Florida's boom years. Drawing on interviews, archival sources, and legislative records, \u003ci\u003eCracker Messiah \u003c\/i\u003eilluminates the tensions between nativism and reform, faith and hypocrisy, populism and progressivism in the early twentieth-century South. This new edition will appeal to readers of Southern history, political biography, and Progressive Era studies, as well as anyone interested in the roots of American populism and the enduring complexities of cultural and political identity in the Deep South.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 1. Sitting Like Frogs Waiting for the Rain\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 2. Peddling God, Insurance, and Sidney J.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 3. Protestant Rednecks and Catholic Fishermen\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 4. The Crackers' Three Friends\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 5. Taking Care of Friends\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 6. Stirring up Dry Bones\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 7. Waging War and Peace in Florida\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 8. Failures of the Mind, Successes of the Heart\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 9. The Politics of Disquietude\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 10. The Eulogies of a Tomcat\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 11. Let Old Acquaintance Be Forgot\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 12. From Messiah to Pariah\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 13. The Failure and the Hope\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCritical Essay on Authorities\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIllustrations\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGovernor Sidney Catts in inaugural parade\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGovernor Catts reads inaugural address\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlorida state Chautauqua headquarters\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Catts home in DeFuniak Springs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGovernor Sidney Johnston Catts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoe L. Earman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJ.B. Hodges\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaps\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1916 General Election\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1916 Democratic Primary\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1920 Senatorial Primary\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1924 Gubernatorial Primary\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1928 Gubernatorial Primary\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1928 Presidential Primary\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52574471553304,"sku":"9780817362812","price":24.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/cracker-messiah-governor-sidney-j-catts-of-florida-paperback-softback-9780817362812","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}