Lynching and Spectacle

“This insightful exploration of lynching’s cultural power is a groundbreaking addition to a growing body of scholarship focused on racial violence. . . . Essential.”—CHOICE

“Wood succeeds admirably. . . . One of the most enlightening studies of lynching produced in recent years.” —Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies

“Serves as a potent reminder that racial violence was not only condoned but enthusiastically supported by huge numbers of white Americans.”—The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education

“[An] insightful study. . . . Her research is impressive, Wood’s conclusions are measured and well-documented, and . . . her prose is crisp and clear.” —Journal of Illinois History

“Should be required reading for all studying racial violence in the South. . . . Wood is admirably balanced in assessing her evidence and placing it in perspective. . . . In evidence, argument, context, and writing, this is an impressive study that will inspire future scholarship and will offer teachers a rich set of contexts to enliven their discussions of race in the era of lynching.” —American Historical Review

“Wood deserves praise for synthesizing the expansive body of scholarship on lynching while offering an insightful cultural analysis of southern white sadism.” —North Carolina Historical Review

“Wood’s effective contribution refines our understanding of the relationship between lynching and culture. . . . Compelling and insightful. . . . A well-executed book that should be read by all who are interested in the cultural relations of lynching.” —Journal of American History

“This thoughtful and amply illustrated monograph shows how photography served first to cast atrocity as civility and subsequently undermined the practice of lynching by reconstructing what had become folk custom as, instead, an outrage.”—Arkansas Historical Quarterly

“The public nature of lynching receives heavily researched and imaginative treatment in Wood’s readable analysis.”—Journal of Interdisciplinary History

“An engaging treatment of the 'spectacle of lynching.'”—The Alabama Review