Five recent books about Southern universities that shed light on the problem of writing official histories and on the evolution of higher education in this region are reviewed. A collective profile of the "Southern university" is sketched. (Author/MLW)

A study using historical statistics as a strategy for joining the study of the past and present condition of colleges and universities has as subjects Amherst College, Harvard University, Transylvania University, the University of Kentucky, and the College of William and Mary. (MSE)