Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I was forced to read this book for my freshman university seminar on social change. I regret every page. My fellow classmates and I waded through the dense redundancy of this book for two weeks. All that I learned in the 297 pages of this book could be summed up in one paragraph. I understand this book may be excellent for sociology scholars, but undergrad music majors will not be so apreciative of all this book is attempting to say. Professors, I beg you, please do not require this book for freshman reading. Thank you.

This work by Tolnay & Beck has recieved many awards, but from reading this work I am not as impressed as others. The work begins with a strong review of the history of lynching. The reader is provided with numerous facts and images of lynching and is provided with numerous case examples of the poor soles who where victims of lynching. The book quickly changes from an adequate historical perspective to a neo-marxist critique of American society. It holds merely one "insight", that economic hard times led to higher rates of lynching. The book adheres to all the necessary ingredients for being sucessful in the age of political correctness. These include: a repressed people whose crimes were all "alleged;" the Capitalist system as the oppressor; and an appeal to Afrocentrism. With these influences, One is hard pressed to consider this work as the "science" as it has been exaulted. The book is what the neo-marxist and the political correct community wishes to hear which currently are the dominant force in social science as the 60s free love scholars reach the apex of their power in American society.