Modern African Literatures and the Politics of Subjectivity
How African literary forms imagine ways of living and being within coloniality Writing the Noncolonial Self suggests a new way of thinking about the connections between politics, subjectivity, and literary practice. In this groundbreaking study, Alexander Fyfe reveals how African writers have used literary forms to reimagine subjectivity in new ......
The first biography of a neglected but crucial revolutionary figure and fascinating window into his world Study the American Revolution and you might miss the name Robert Carter Nicholas; study Robert Carter Nicholas and you will see the entire revolution. This is the first biography of the Virginia patriot who served in the House of Burgesses ......
The first biography of a neglected but crucial revolutionary figure and fascinating window into his world Study the American Revolution and you might miss the name Robert Carter Nicholas; study Robert Carter Nicholas and you will see the entire revolution. This is the first biography of the Virginia patriot who served in the House of Burgesses ......
An authoritative study of the free people of color in the largest state of the Old South Virginia was the state with the most enslaved people prior to the Civil War. It was also at one time the state with the most resident free people of color-free from the legal disabilities specifically associated with enslavement but still denied many basic ......
An authoritative study of the free people of color in the largest state of the Old South. Virginia was the state with the most enslaved people prior to the Civil War. It was also at one time the state with the most resident free people of color-free from the legal disabilities specifically associated with enslavement but still denied many basic ......
The fascinating and innovative horticultural world of the Sage of Monticello Contemplating the conclusion of his public life in 1809, Thomas Jefferson observed, "I retire to my family, my books and farms. . . . Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight." Drawing on a deep understanding of ......
Eugenics and Wayward Girls in Twentieth-Century Virginia
A shocking story of social engineering in the era of Jim Crow The eugenics movement, in which the state arrogated to itself the right to determine who could and who could not have children, was a dark, shameful chapter in American history. Virginia was infamous as an epicenter of eugenic thought; the case of Buck v. Bell, which resulted in one ......
Age-Based Laws and the Illusion of Protection in the Early United States
How definitions of childhood in early America codified social hierarchies and remain with us today As of 2025, in the United States an eleven-year-old child can be charged with a federal crime while in many states it's illegal to leave a twelve-year-old home alone. Twenty-six states allow children younger than sixteen to marry while the legal ......
How did young American women construct and express their emotions between 1780 and 1830? Before Oprah and therapy, how did they reconcile society's demanding and often contradictory expectations? In The Work of the Heart: Young Women and Emotion, 1780-1830, Martha Tomhave Blauvelt looks to the often spirited diaries written by young women in ......