Patchwork Nation: Sectionalism and Political Change in American Politics. By James G. Gimpel and Jason E. Schuknecht. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. 488p. $58.00 cloth, $27.95 paper.

James Gimpel and Jason Schuknecht are on a mission to revive the study of U.S. political geography. In their book, the duo make a compelling case for what party strategists, candidates, and pundits already know: Place matters generally and, sometimes, significantly. The authors, however, take readers far beyond a simplistic “Maryland-is-different-from-Arkansas” viewpoint or a red- versus blue-state dichotomy to a sophisticated and nuanced investigation of sectionalism.