“Bardaglio has succeeded in writing a book that asks important questions, poses thoughtful answers, and raises a host of issues for future researchers to explore. This book will join a handful of others as indispensable to the study of southern regionalism and the legal history of the American family.” — Journal of Interdisciplinary History
“Should establish a model for future studies of the southern household.” — Southern Quarterly
“[A] readable and rewarding book.” — Journal of American History
“An ambitious and provocative book. . . one that offers fresh ways of thinking about the South’s legal system and culture, the decision for secession, the larger implications of Reconstruction, the roots of southern Progressivism, and the enduring differences between the South and the North.” — CHOICE
“[Bardaglio] has given coherence and heft to previously scattered facts and interpretations and produced a work that should be required reading among historians of the family, sexuality, and the South.” — Journal of the History of Sexuality
“With its exceptional command of the primary sources and extraordinary facility with the relevant secondary literature, Peter W. Bardaglio’s Reconstructing the Household is a signal contribution to legal history, the history of the family, and the study of southern race relations.” — Journal of Social History
“Wonderfully nuanced. . . . The future tasks of southern historians and legal historians, as well as historians of the family, women, and gender, will all be enriched by the work Peter Bardaglio has undertaken.” — Journal of Southern History
“Should be read by scholars of legal history, the South, the family, black history, and women’s history.” — History
“This is a masterful study that sheds new light on the transition from Old to New South.” — Georgia Historical Quarterly
“Reconstructing the Household is a compelling study of regionalism in American law and society. It enriches our understanding of the distinctiveness of southern legal experiences and the centrality of the household in those experiences. Bardaglio’s legal history of southern families ought to command wide interest.” — Michael Grossberg, Case Western Reserve University
