"A rich, detailed account of an illustrative set of crimes and of the fine grain of the emergence of the penny press out of sentimental culture. Branson is to be commended for her scholarly rigor and sophisticated narrative technique."-Journal of American History"Branson brings us an account of sex and violence in an era marked by political unrest, social instability, and economic uncertainty . . . [and] urges us to rethink simplistic ideas about gender dynamics and the relative power (and powerlessness) of women at the time."-Journal of the Early Republic"A fascinating story that sheds light on gender roles in post-Revolutionary America. Most studies of women in this period almost necessarily focus on the elite. Dangerous to Know goes a few steps lower on the social ladder, allowing us to glimpse the lives of women who, while their values were 'middle class,' had suffered significant downward mobility. As Branson so engagingly shows, these were women who deliberately violated gender conventions even as they strove to retain a veneer of respectability."-Sheila Skemp, University of Mississippi
