Subduing Satan: Religion, Recreation, and Manhood in the Rural South, 1865-1920

The Praying South and the Fighting South are two of our most popular images of white southern culture. In Subduing Satan, Ted Ownby details the tensions between these complex — and often opposing — attitudes.

“Ownby’s re-creation of male recreation is rich and fascinating. He paints the saloon and the street, the cockfighting and dogfighting rings as realms of distinctly male vices, enjoyed lustily by men seeking to escape the sweet virtue of the Southern Christian home.” — Nation

“A bold new...