Description
Book SynopsisThe 'honorable men' who ruled the Old South had a language that comprised apparently outlandish features, yet revealed much about the lives of masters and the nature of slavery. This book demonstrates the language of honor that embraced a system of phrases, gestures, and behaviors centered on values, asserting authority and maintaining respect.
Trade Review"A surprisingly sprightly little volume that serves as a window into a world long gone... Greenberg ... is our tour guide in this forbidding, forgotten territory. He's knowledgeable and good-natured. He has an eye for detail, and just as important, an ear for nuance."--David M. Shribman, The Boston Globe "[Greenberg] writes with agreeable clarity, and in five short chapters, his easy, freewheeling style carries us a remarkably long way."--Ian McIntyre, The [London] Times "Many of Greenberg's observations offer revealing contextualizations. Particularly interesting are chapters on death and on the duel."--Publishers Weekly "A piercing--and decidedly offbeat--look into the mind of the Old South... Charged with ideas, this is a cheerfully speculative and valuable addition to the library of the Civil War."--Kirkus Reviews "This is a valuable book... Vivid and persuasive... Given the engaging quality of Greenberg's writing, coupled with his notable ability to tell a story, the book should receive a wide audience among historians and an appreciative one among students of the nineteenth-century American South."--Dickson D. Bruce, Jr., American Historical Review "This collection of intriguing essays is a worthy addition to the literature... [Greenberg] offers telling reflections on these subjects that sharpen the reader's appreciation for how different the world of slavery and honor was from our own... We should acknowledge the vitality and versatility of the author's exemplary handling of a topic too long dwelling in the historical shadows."--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, American Journal of Sociology "Greenberg's thesis and accompanying analysis are tightly interwoven. His discussion is both entertaining and thought provoking, and his conclusions fit well with other discussions of the role of honor in Southern history... Highly readable and interesting."--Robert P. Steed, The Review of Politics "This volume works with great imagination and complexity to show how elite men understood themselves as slave owners and as men."--Ted Ownby, Journal of Southern History "Greenberg's study is easy to praise. It is readable and insightful... More important, it is a fine introduction to the new linguistic approaches to history, wherein dull and seemingly trivial customs can be made fun and important."--John Mayfield, Georgia Historical Quarterly "This is a valuable book... [V]ivid and persuasive... [G]iven the engaging quality of Greenberg's writing, coupled with his notable ability to tell a story, the book should receive a wide audience among historians and an appreciative one among students of the nineteenth-century American South."--Dickson D. Bruce, Jr., American Historical Review "A piercing--and decidedly offbeat--look into the mind of the Old South... Greenberg handles his arguments deftly, full as they are of odd digressions, to show [a culture] with a unique code of custom and communication... Charged with ideas, this is a cheerfully speculative and valuable addition to the library of the Civil War."--Kirkus Reviews "Many of Greenberg's observations offer revealing contextualizations. Particularly interesting are chapters on death and on the duel and its rather less drastic variation, the tweaking of the nose, a symbol of masculine honor."--Publishers Weekly "This is an unusual book, and one that isn't easily categorized. For a historical work it's short and uncharacteristically wry, but Greenberg writes with a lexicographic and historical earnestness of purpose that doesn't allow him to slip into irony at the expense of his subject matter...there's an awful lot of significance to be gleaned from the marginal and the superficial."--Toby Lester, The Boston Book Review "... should be required reading for anyone interested in its [Southern] life and culture before the Civil War."--Library Journal "Greenberg provides an in-depth study of the language of honor in the Old South. He skillfully demonstrates how this language embraced a complex system of phrases, gestures, and behaviors that asserted authority or maintained respect... His work gives a clear view of what it meant to live as a courageous free man in the Old South and should be required reading for anyone interested in its life and culture before the Civil War."--Library Journal
Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsPrefaceAcknowledgments1The Nose, the Lie, and the Duel32Masks and Slavery243Gifts, Strangers, Duels, and Humanitarianism514Death875Baseball, Hunting, and Gambling115Notes147Index171
