Fifty-eight lonely men;: Southern Federal judges and school desegregation

The 58 men who sat as judges in the South when Brown v. Board of Education was decided in 1954 had the least enviable job in America. Almost without exception, they had been raised in a climate of racism, and were respected members of their communities. Once the strategy of massive resistance took hold in the South, they were caught between having to follow the Supreme Court's directive in Brown, or continuing to be respected leaders of their own communities.How they resolved this dichotomy makes for great reading, and is one of the most intense tests of character imaginable.