His thesis is that Southern society, attitudes and institutions are inextricably rooted in and conditioned by the all-permeating presence of Christianity. He demonstrates this influence by examining first the institutions which have given the South its enduring form: the family, slavery, and especially plantation-culture; then, through an examination of Southern spiritual values he analyzes their application at the cultural level, and the mutual impact of church and society. Dabbs, however, does not see much to praise in this symbiotic exchange:What has the church done with this haunted land? It has kept it haunted."" Without the church, he concludes, men would have forgotten Christianity -- but with it, they have remembered only a distortion of Christianity. Fascinating and sometimes irritating reading for students of American history, culture, politics and religion.