In the middle of WWII, John Temple Graves, a syndicated columnist for the Birmingham Age-Herald, analyzed the South's eager support for England during the war's early days. He explored the South's military traditions, its poverty, and its allegiance to honor and duty.

The Fighting South reveals as much about Graves as his region, and he apprears as a thoughtful yet loyal Southerner in the mold of Jonathan Daniels, Clarence Cason, Ralph McGill, and Wilbur Cash.