Rethinking Southern Violence: Homicides in Post-Civil War Louisiana, 1866-1884. (Book Reviews).

Rethinking Southern Violence: Homicides in Post-Civil War Louisiana, 1866-1884. By Gilles Vandal. The History of Crime and Criminal Justice Series. (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, c. 2000. Pp. x, 321. Paper, $19.95, ISBN 0-8142-5041-6; cloth, $60.00, ISBN 0-8142-0838-X.)

Studies highlighting the many contrasts between North and South inevitably include the southern proclivity toward violence as a critical determinant shaping regional identity. Researchers have identified numerous sources as the ultimate culprit in their vision of the sustained southern tendency across time to engage in consistently higher rates of violence than most other regions of the nation. The legacy of slavery, cultural traditions, and racial oppression typically rank high on most lists as primary sources of brutality. In this new volume from the Ohio State University Press, Gilles Vandal applies a comprehensive approach in his interpretation of the sources motivating the violence that consumed Louisiana in the two decades following the close of the Civil War.

Vandal's research concentrates on some of the bloodiest years in one of our nation's consistently most violent states. If ambition is a measure of success, this book definitely deserves high marks. Vandal embraces the daunting challenge of identifying as many violent acts as possible statewide during the course of a chaotic period of Reconstruction and the painful restoration of white home rule. In doing so he reminds us that immediate post-Civil War Louisiana resembled nothing less than an American Lebanon or Kosovo during each of those regions' recent temporary descent into virtual anarchy.

If Vandal's statewide approach serves as a strength, at least in that regard, it may also contribute nonetheless to the book's weaknesses. Curiously, Vandal divides the state into north and south, northern Louisiana apparently including everything outside Acadiana. His approach, designed to simplify analysis of the contrasts between the French and Anglo-Celtic regions of the state, implies near-monolithic patterns of development in each area. Historians of the state have long identified numerous areas--such as the piney woods of the eastern Florida parishes and the territory neighboring the Sabine River-that have maintained peculiar regional identities, and these remain essential to understanding the ethnic and cultural values that helped sustain patterns of violence.

The book conforms to a sociological format that may prove difficult to read for some. Serious students of Louisiana history may also take issue with some of Vandal's conclusions. Among the sweeping generalizations evident throughout the volume, Vandal implies that historians, relying on conservative newspapers as evidence, previously believed that African Americans were responsible for most violence during Reconstruction. He counters that they actually committed only 25 percent of the homicides identified during his survey period. Whether most historians actually believed blacks were responsible for most Reconstruction-era violence is in itself debatable. Yet certain to be of greater concern to some scholars is Vandal's application of his evidence. With the exception of some general comments on sources in the introduction, few of the supporting tables specifically identify the source of the numbers.

Like most books, this one presents a few points for concern. Nonetheless, it definitely has something to contribute. Vandal expands the discussion of violence in Louisiana to include considerations of gender. Moreover, his analysis of black violence and criminality moves beyond the standard depiction of African Americans as exclusively victims to include discussion of their assertiveness and even organized lawlessness amid a hopeless situation. In short, many aspects of Vandal's study serve to complexify our understanding of violence in the Bayou State. His book therefore deserves consideration from serious scholars of Louisiana and those interested in the sources of southern violence.

SAMUEL C. HYDE JR.
Southeastern Louisiana University