Scan barcode
A review by mpop
Bringing Down the Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the Powerless Woman Who Took on Washington by Patricia Miller
5.0
This is a fascinating and engaging read that I would especially recommend to anyone with even a vague interest in U.S. history, women's history, the history of sexuality, political history, or law (I'd recommend it to anyone, but that vague interest might inspire them to pick up the book).
Miller provides a lot of context for social norms at the time, which is an incredibly important piece of the story-without those details, it's hard to understand why people might have acted the way they did. It's difficult to write about events that happened long ago without either leaving a lot of blanks or wildly speculating to fill in those blanks. Miller does a great job of being clear about what is based on direct evidence and what's hidden between the lines.
I previously read [b:Anne Orthwood's Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia|1095880|Anne Orthwood's Bastard Sex and Law in Early Virginia|John Ruston Pagan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348249403l/1095880._SY75_.jpg|1082715], which is very dry, but discusses a lot of the legal and social issues that come up in this book at an earlier time in U.S. history. It was informative to have read both-although I'm much more likely to recommend this book.
Miller provides a lot of context for social norms at the time, which is an incredibly important piece of the story-without those details, it's hard to understand why people might have acted the way they did. It's difficult to write about events that happened long ago without either leaving a lot of blanks or wildly speculating to fill in those blanks. Miller does a great job of being clear about what is based on direct evidence and what's hidden between the lines.
I previously read [b:Anne Orthwood's Bastard: Sex and Law in Early Virginia|1095880|Anne Orthwood's Bastard Sex and Law in Early Virginia|John Ruston Pagan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348249403l/1095880._SY75_.jpg|1082715], which is very dry, but discusses a lot of the legal and social issues that come up in this book at an earlier time in U.S. history. It was informative to have read both-although I'm much more likely to recommend this book.