Lexington Books
Pages: 194
•
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-0-7391-6985-8 • Hardback • January 2012 • $120.00 • (£92.00)
978-0-7391-6986-5 • eBook • January 2012 • $114.00 • (£88.00)
Will Sarvis is instructor of history at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon.
Preface
Introduction
Chapter One: Embedded Traditions of Election Fraud and Bloc Voting
Chapter Two: Launching a Political Career amidst the Great Depression
Chapter Three: Elusive Apex
Chapter Four: Other Stars Rising
Chapter Five: Changing Times
Chapter Six: Power and its Limitations
Legacy and Epilogue
Appendix: Merits and Demerits of Oral History
Source Materials
Index
Will Sarvis’s J. V. Conran and Rural Political Power is a welcome scholarly introduction to one of the bootheel’s chief political figures, known to most only in folklore. . . . This is an important book that illuminates the texture and nuance of 'swampeast Missouri.' On the post-Pendergast landscape of Missouri politics, Conran’s was but one of many provincial fiefdoms where powerful men trafficked in political influence. Even if J. V. was not the boss, he was still a fascinating regional kingpin whose story had never been told until now.
— Missouri Historical Review
J.V. Conran and Rural Political Power: Boss Mythology in the Missouri Bootheel is...a study of Conran's professional career as a politician (prosecuting attorney of New Madrid County) and power broker within Missouri's Democratic Party. . . . This book is a case study of a common misunderstanding of how power is used. Sarvis integrates political theory throughout to place politicians like Conran in historical perspective. The author succeeds in providing context and insight into political methods that dominated Conran's era.
— Journal of Southern History
Will Sarvis has accumulated a wealth of information about politics in Missouri’s Bootheel. He paints a vivid picture of power and paternalism in this corner of the rural South.
— Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Iowa State University
Will Sarvis has written a detailed narrative that demonstrates the great possibilities of using oral history in documenting political change. This study of the life and political activities of J. V. Conran shows the ease of misunderstanding political machines, especially in rural areas. J.V. Conran and Rural Political Power also shows the contradictions that exist in politicians who are scrupulously honest in their handling of public affairs, but who condone electoral fraud as a means to an end. The book also explores the idea that rural southeastern Missouri was a crossroads between the South and the Midwest, making it an ideal place to study the practice of local and state politics. Political historians and public historians alike will find much to enjoy in this book.
— Phillip Stone, Wofford College