White Women, Rape, and the Power of Race in Virginia, 1900-1960

“[This] intricate and provocative work deserves a wide readership among legal historians and others interested in issues of sexual violence, race, and justice.” — Law and History Review

“By challenging orthodoxy on a number of levels, [Dorr] opens up an exciting avenue for examination of the ways in which race and gender ideologies work together in U.S. history.” — Journal of the History of Sexuality

“Does an excellent job of revealing the complexities of southern life. It is a major contribution to a field that until now has focused exclusively on a few cases . . . and rarely gets beyond the obvious racial tensions.” — South Carolina Historical Magazine

“[A] well-written and thoughtfully researched volume, which will prove useful for readers interested in social history of the twentieth-century South.” — Virginia Libraries

“Dorr’s study points the way toward a comprehensive study of rape in the South in the twentieth century. . . . Historians engaged in any aspect of that project as well as anyone interested in race, gender, and law more generally must certainly reckon with Dorr’s analysis.” — Journal of Southern History

“This thoughtful, thorough analysis is an informative addition to the history of race relations.” — CHOICE

“Dorr does not question the power of the rape myth in southern history, but she does show that the myth was far more complex than previously thought.” — H-SAWH

“Dorr deserves high praise for her thorough study. It not only provides original insights but also stirs thought about possible new investigations. In this way, it opens doors for all scholars interested in law and society as they pertain to race, class, and gender.” — H-Law

“This gracefully written book represents the next generation of scholarship in gender, race, and class. It will change the way historians understand not only rape and lynching, but also segregation, economic change, and the operation of law and politics in the twentieth century South.” — Laura F. Edwards, Duke University