A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930 [Paperback]

Stewart E Tolnay (Author), E M Beck (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0252064135 | ISBN-13: 978-0252064135 | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

This finely detailed statistical study of lynching in ten southern states shows that economic and status concerns were at the heart of that violent practice. Stewart Tolnay and E. M. Beck empirically test competing explanations of the causes of lynching, using U.S. Census and historical voting data and a newly constructed inventory of southern lynch victims. Among their surprising findings: lynching responded to fluctuations in the price of cotton, decreasing in frequency when prices rose and increasing when they fell.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A Festival of Violence is a first-rate piece of research and analysis on a topic of considerable historical importance. It represents a model exercise of using the historical and sociological literature to develop hypotheses and then analyzing them with social science tools to present the results in a broad historical, social scientific context. This is an important work of scholarship, of interest to historians and social scientists, as well as to those concerned with the study of African-Americans and the U.S. South."--Stanley L. Engerman, professor of economics and history, University of Rochester

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252064135
• ISBN-13: 978-0252064135
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work for Any Student of Lynch-Era America, January 31, 2001

By 

"dg14" (San Marcos, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930 (Paperback)

An excellent source work for any serious students of lynching. This book was very helpful in my work as a graduate student and comes highly recommended by numerous professors of history in academic institutions. It helps to give insight into a part of American history at times ignored by the general public. Readers of this work may also look into writings of those as Leon Litwack for similar accounts of lynching, anti-black riots and general violence in post-Civil War to mid 20th century America. It is good academic as well as popular history.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm probably gonna get some negative comments for this, but. . ., April 27, 2010

By 

M. Sosnicki - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930 (Paperback)

I was required to read this book as part of my history of punishment class (frankly, the class was punishing to take). The professor was a border-line anarchist, and really pushed his ultra-liberal views on us students. This book, therefore, suited him and his class nicely. I totally appreciate the scope and repulsiveness of lynching in the South after reading this. However, I could have done without the rather Marxist tone of their arguments. It's not that their isn't some truth to their arguments, but the whole "rich white man holding EVERYBODY down" line gets old quick and takes away from their research on lynchings. The authors make their points crystal clear (rather redundantly I might add), so it's easy to understand what their driving at. They also make extensive use of graphs, charts, and LOTS of statistics to try and explain the phenomenon of lynching (personally I think trying to understand complex social phenomena through analysis of numbers is dangerous, but that's just my opinion.) All in all, I would only recommend this book for researchers specializing in this subject/era, but I would not use it as my only source if it were me.

5 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done., May 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882-1930 (Paperback)

All I can say is thank God (literally) for books like this one. They are sorely needed for people with the thoughts and opinions of people like the reviewer below. I am grateful to AMAZON.COM for publishing both positive and negative reviews.