Violent Land – Single Men & Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City: Single Men and Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City - Hardcover

Courtwright, David T

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674278704 ISBN 13: 9780674278707

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1996

Synopsis

This book offers a look at violence in America - why it is so prevalent, and what and who are responsible. David Cartwright takes the long view of his subject, developing the historical patterns of violence and disorder in this country. Where there is violent and disorderly behaviour, he shows, there are plenty of men, largely young and single. What began in the mining camp and bunkhouse has simply continued in the urban world of today, where many young, armed, intoxicated, honour-conscious bachelors have reverted to frontier conditions. "Violent Land" combines social science with a narrative that spans and reinterprets the history of violence and social disorder in America. Courtwright focuses on the origins, consequences and eventual decline of frontier brutality. Though these rough days have passed, he points out that the frontier experience still looms large in our national self-image - and continues to influence the extent and type of violence in America as well as our collective response to it. Broadly interdisciplinary, looking at the interplay of biological, social and historical forces behind the dark side of American life, this book offers a diagnosis of violence in our society.

About this title

Review

Professor David T. Courtwright has produced a fascinating, important, and impressive study of violence in the American past. His approach is innovative and his methods creative. The book examines the recurring problem of violence in American history and argues, compellingly, that violence has most often been associated with young unmarried males who find themselves thrust into pockets of society in which males significantly outnumber females. Unrestrained by marriage or family life, these males succumb to the violent propensities inherent in both their age and their gender...This book will be a lasting and valuable contribution to the study of violence in America...[It] is a significant and praiseworthy achievement.--Glenn Feldman "Southern Humanities Review "

About the Author

David T. Courtwright is Professor of History at the University of North Florida.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0674278704
• ISBN 13: 9780674278707
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 370