Donald G. Mathews has taught at Duke and Princeton Universities, as well as at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has studied and written about religion and the South for over fifty years, publishing three books and over thirty articles. He is the author of Religion in the Old South (1979) and co-author of Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA (1993).

• 1. Before the burning: Southern mastery; 2. Sex, danger, and religion: facing a 'savage fury'; 3. Kindling the fire; 4. Burning Sam Hose; 5. Ashes: rape and history; 6. Ashes: the blind and sighted; 7. At the altar: crucifixion.

'With stunning research and uncompromising ethical vision, Donald G. Mathews shows why he is without peer in the history of religions. Every American should read this book, and learn how societies organize their racial superiority by religious means. Lynching is not a minor act conducted by marginal people. Lynching is an American institution used to reiterate the moral order of white supremacy.' Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, Connecticut

Donald G. Mathews has taught at Duke and Princeton Universities, as well as at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has studied and written about religion and the South for over fifty years, publishing three books and over thirty articles. He is the author of Religion in the Old South (1979) and co-author of Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA (1993).

• 1. Before the burning: Southern mastery; 2. Sex, danger, and religion: facing a 'savage fury'; 3. Kindling the fire; 4. Burning Sam Hose; 5. Ashes: rape and history; 6. Ashes: the blind and sighted; 7. At the altar: crucifixion.

'With stunning research and uncompromising ethical vision, Donald G. Mathews shows why he is without peer in the history of religions. Every American should read this book, and learn how societies organize their racial superiority by religious means. Lynching is not a minor act conducted by marginal people. Lynching is an American institution used to reiterate the moral order of white supremacy.' Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, Connecticut

Donald G. Mathews has taught at Duke and Princeton Universities, as well as at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has studied and written about religion and the South for over fifty years, publishing three books and over thirty articles. He is the author of Religion in the Old South (1979) and co-author of Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA (1993).

• 1. Before the burning: Southern mastery; 2. Sex, danger, and religion: facing a 'savage fury'; 3. Kindling the fire; 4. Burning Sam Hose; 5. Ashes: rape and history; 6. Ashes: the blind and sighted; 7. At the altar: crucifixion.

'With stunning research and uncompromising ethical vision, Donald G. Mathews shows why he is without peer in the history of religions. Every American should read this book, and learn how societies organize their racial superiority by religious means. Lynching is not a minor act conducted by marginal people. Lynching is an American institution used to reiterate the moral order of white supremacy.' Kathryn Lofton, Yale University, Connecticut