Reviews
" Brothers of a Vow makes a solid contribution to the expanding literature on the developing middle class in the antebellum South. It also helps to enlarge our understanding of the culture and place of non-elite white men in the South." --Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, "[ Brothers of a Vow ] helps us to see the rich complexity of the cultural debate about manhood in antebellum Virginia, and how it helped to mitigate conflict among white men, even as it also bolstered their power over southern society."--Brian P. Luskey, West Virginia History, " Brothers of a Vow effectively adds to the growing literature regarding southern voluntary associations and a nascent middle class. It also offers new insights on masculinity and the complex issues of class and gender in the antebellum South." --John G. Deal, Journal of Southern History, "Well researched and written, Brothers of a Vow advances the current historiography in important ways. It is a timely addition to the scholarship on masculinity in the American South."--Timothy James Lockley, author of Welfare and Charity in the Antebellum South, Pflugrad-Jackisch offers a nuanced and powerful reconsideration of how class and masculinity were constructed in the Old South. Her imaginative exploration of a rich array of sources brings to light the secret world of Virginia's fraternal societies., " Brothers of a Vow makes a solid contribution to the expanding literature on the developing middle class in the antebellum South. It also helps to enlarge our understanding of the culture and place of non-elite white men in the South." --Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, "Pflugrad-Jackisch offers a nuanced and powerful reconsideration of how class and masculinity were constructed in the Old South. Her imaginative exploration of a rich array of sources brings to light the secret world of Virginia's fraternal societies."--Lorri Glover, author of Southern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation, "[ Brothers of a Vow ] helps us to see the rich complexity of the cultural debate about manhood in antebellum Virginia, and how it helped to mitigate conflict among white men, even as it also bolstered their power over southern society."-Brian P. Luskey, West Virginia History, " Brothers of a Vow is a fine work. It adds life to the wooden figure of the southern white male, and, like all good books. The questions it asks open into broader considerations."--John Mayfield, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, "Succeeds admirably in demonstrating that the study of fraternal orders need not confine itself to arcane lore; instead, it can show us how groups of men rallied around their similarities to their own benefit, and to the detriment of those they considered their inferiors. Pflugrad-Jackisch makes fraternal orders socially and politically meaningful beyond the lodge."--Nicholas L. Syrett, American Historical Review, "Well researched and written, Brothers of a Vow advances the current historiography in important ways. It is a timely addition to the scholarship on masculinity in the American South."-Timothy James Lockley, author of Welfare and Charity in the Antebellum South, "Pflugrad-Jackisch offers a nuanced and powerful reconsideration of how class and masculinity were constructed in the Old South. Her imaginative exploration of a rich array of sources brings to light the secret world of Virginia's fraternal societies."-Lorri Glover, author ofSouthern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation, "Well researched and written,Brothers of a Vowadvances the current historiography in important ways. It is a timely addition to the scholarship on masculinity in the American South."-Timothy James Lockley, author ofWelfare and Charity in the Antebellum South, "Succeeds admirably in demonstrating that the study of fraternal orders need not confine itself to arcane lore; instead, it can show us how groups of men rallied around their similarities to their own benefit, and to the detriment of those they considered their inferiors. Pflugrad-Jackisch makes fraternal orders socially and politically meaningful beyond the lodge."-Nicholas L. Syrett, American Historical Review, " Brothers of a Vow is a fine work. It adds life to the wooden figure of the southern white male, and, like all good books. The questions it asks open into broader considerations."-John Mayfield, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, " Brothers of a Vow effectively adds to the growing literature regarding southern voluntary associations and a nascent middle class. It also offers new insights on masculinity and the complex issues of class and gender in the antebellum South." -John G. Deal, Journal of Southern History, "Pflugrad-Jackisch offers a nuanced and powerful reconsideration of how class and masculinity were constructed in the Old South. Her imaginative exploration of a rich array of sources brings to light the secret world of Virginia's fraternal societies."-Lorri Glover, author of Southern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation
