Subduing Satan: Religion, Recreation, and Manhood in the Rural South, 1865-1920

As the nineteenth century ended in Hunt County, Texas, a way of life was dying. The tightly knit, fiercely independent society of the yeomen farmers--"plain folk," as historians have often dubbed them--was being swallowed up by the rising tide of a rapidly changing, cotton-based economy. A social network based on family, religion, and community was falling prey to crippling debt and resulting loss of land ownership. For many of the rural people of Hunt County and similar places, it seemed like the end of the world. In Yeomen, Sharecroppers, and Socialists historian Kyle G. Wilkison analyzes the patterns of plain-folk life and the changes that occurred during the critical four decades spanning the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Political protest evolved in the wake of the devastating losses experienced by the poor rural majority, and Wilkison carefully explores the interplay of religion and politics as Greenbackers, Populists, and Socialists vied for the support of the dispossessed tenant farmers and sharecroppers. With its richly drawn contextualization and analysis of the causes and effects of the epochal shifts in plain-folk society, Kyle G. Wilkison's Yeomen, Sharecroppers, and Socialists will reward students and scholars in economic, regional, and agricultural history.

Sexual Reckonings is the fascinating tale of adolescent girls coming of age in the South during the most explosive decades for the region. Focusing on the period from 1920 to 1960, Susan Cahn reveals how both the life of the South and the meaning of adolescence underwent enormous political, economic, and social shifts. Those years witnessed the birth of a modern awareness of adolescence and female sexuality that clashed mightily with the white supremacist and patriarchal legacies of the old South. As youth staked its claim, the bodies and beliefs of southern girls became the battlefield for a transformed South, which was, like them, experiencing growing pains. Cahn reveals how young women, both white and black, were seen as the South's greatest hope and its greatest threat. Viewed as critical actors in every regional crisis, from the economic recession and urban migrations of the 1920s to the racial conflicts precipitated by school desegregation in the 1950s, female teenagers became the conspicuous subjects of social policy and regional imagination. All the while, these adolescents pursued their own desires and discovered their own meanings, creating cracks in the twin pillars of the Jim Crow South--"racial purity" and white male dominance--that would soon be toppled by the student-led civil rights movement. Sexual Reckonings is an amazingly intimate look at a time of deep personal exploration and profound cultural change for southern girls and for the society they inhabited, a powerful account of the clash between a society's fears and the daily lives and aspirations of its most prized, and unpredictable, population.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1867.

Stephen Charnock's 'The Existence and Attributes of God' is a profound theological work that delves into the nature of the divine being. Written in the 17th century, this two-volume magnum opus explores the various attributes of God such as His eternity, immutability, wisdom, and holiness. Charnock's writing style is characterized by its depth of analysis and meticulous attention to detail, making it a staple in the realm of Christian theology. The book is a product of its time, reflecting the religious and philosophical debates of the period, providing valuable insights into the theological discourse of the era. Stephen Charnock, a Puritan theologian and preacher, was known for his intellectual rigor and devotion to biblical scholarship. His extensive knowledge of scripture and theological tradition informed his writing, positioning him as a prominent figure in Reformed theology. Charnock's deep reverence for God and dedication to unraveling the mysteries of faith are evident in every page of his work. For readers interested in exploring the depths of Christian theology and grappling with the profound mysteries of the divine, Stephen Charnock's 'The Existence and Attributes of God' is a must-read. This seminal work offers a comprehensive examination of God's nature and character, shedding light on fundamental aspects of Christian belief and doctrine.