Why read Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams?

Book cover of Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida

Book description

Florida is a story of astonishing growth, a state swelling from 500,000 residents at the outset of the 20th century to some 16 million at the end. As recently as mid-century, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Florida was the smallest state in the South. At the dawn of the…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jason Vuic

Author

Gary Mormino ranges far and wide across the landscape and boundaries of a place that is at once America's southernmost state and the northernmost outpost of the Caribbean. From the capital, Tallahassee--a day's walk from the Georgia border--to Miami--a city distant but tantalizingly close to Cuba and Haiti--Mormino traces the themes of Florida's transformation: the echoes of old Dixie and a vanishing Florida; land booms and tourist empires; revolutions in agriculture, technology, and demographics; the seductions of the beach and the dynamics of a graying population; and the enduring but changing meanings of a dream state.

From Jason's list on The best books on modern Florida.