Why read Kentucky Justice, Southern Honor, and American Manhood?

Book cover of Kentucky Justice, Southern Honor, and American Manhood: Understanding the Life and Death of Richard Reid

Book description

When attorney John Jay Cornelison severely beat Kentucky Superior Court judge Richard Reid in public on April 16, 1884, for allegedly injuring his< honor, the event became front-page news. Would Reid react as a Christian gentleman, a man of the law, and let the legal system take its course, or…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Kentucky Justice, Southern Honor, and American Manhood as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Melanie Beals Goan

Author

Jim Klotter, Kentucky’s preeminent historian, takes an obscure nineteenth-century Kentucky Superior Court Judge, Richard Reid, and uses his life and death to understand the tragic ways southern honor forced men to prove themselves. John Jay Cornelison attacked Reid at his law Mount Sterling law office in 1884, setting off an unexpected series of events. Reid’s story reveals the conflicts between old, traditional southern ways, and the new urban, industrial order, and Klotter tells it masterfully. The book is filled with suspense and sharp analysis, but it is also a quick read.

From Melanie's list on The best books about Kentucky history.