Rating: 
Summary: Lynching is as American as Apple Pie
Review: "Without Sanctuary brings to life one of the darkest and sickest periods in American history. . . . The photographs in this book make real the hideous crimes that were committed against humanity. . . .such atrocities happened in America not so long ago. These photographs bear witness to the hangings, burnings, castrations, and torture of an American holocaust." From the Foreward by Congressman and 1960's Civil Rights Leader, John Lewis. These lynchings are portrayed on picture postcards that were sent to friends and relatives of the lynch mobs. "At a number of country schools the day's routine was delayed until boy and girl pupils could get back from [viewing] the lynched man. . . .The degree to which whites came to accept lynching as justifiable homicide was best revealed in how they learned to differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' lynchings. . . .'The best people of the county, as good as there are anywhere, simply met there and hanged Curl without a sign of rowdyism. There was no drinking, no shooting, no yellings, and not even loud talking.' " The victims were Black and White, Male and Female, Young and Old. Some were burned after hanging, others were burned before hanging. California and Duluth, as well as Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina lynchings are all represented. Even the Jew, Leo Frank, is photographed. Only 4000 copies of this first edition have been printed. "We must prevent anything like this from ever happening again."
Rating: 
Summary: A revelation for some, a reminder for others
Review: "History is a tissue of agreed-upon lies", Napoleon is supposed to have once said. Well, this particular bit of history is not yet past enough for anyone to convincingly lie about. When some Russians urged Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to let the bad old days of Stalinism lie undisturbed, the queasiness they were feeling was the same as what any American with a living soul would feel looking at these pictures. Just as any given Russian could have had an NKVD informer or torturer in his family, so too any American might have a relative in these mob scenes--killer, victim, or onlooker. Yet Solzhenitsyn answered them, saying that if a person suffered from a terrible sickness and then was cured, he would rejoice that he had recovered. But if the sickness was still in him, he would be silent about it, and regard any probings into the matter with trepidation. Which state of mind is our nation in regarding this disgraceful aspect of our national character?The facts of lynching should not be news to an educated American of any age. Pictures such as these may be found in most any history of civil rights book. Yet this is the only book known to me to collect these images in such a large, apparently well-researched collection. The images, many of which were actually made into souvenir postcards, are well-reproduced and annotated. The accompanying captions are sometimes garnished with quotations on lynching by famous black Americans like Richard Wright and James Weldon Johnson. Wherever possible, the date, location, circumstances, and identity of the victims are given. The text says that there were a little less than 5,000 known lynchings, though the number is probably higher. The text of the book may be skipped without loss. It is mostly either psycho-political jargon, delivered in the hideous academic prose typical of higher education nowadays, or leftist agitprop, which does not shrink from implying that all modern conservatives are lynchers at heart. The pictures are the story here, not the commentary. Photography delivers impact, not context. Yet there is no mitigation possible here. White American citizens, filled with righteous wrath, without fear of and sometimes with the complicity of law enforcement, regularly committed extra-legal executions within living memory. They stormed prisons, seized inmates, and killed them, sometimes in horribly baroque fashion. If this fact is too dark to bear, then you might also read something like _Speak Now Against The Day_, which tells how black and white citizens tried to co-operate for civil rights during the same time period. But see (not necessarily read) this book by all means. As a spiritual emetic, it will purge a lot of sugar-coating off of a lot of people's memories.
Rating:
Summary: Can you now understand Malcom X's furor?
Review: "Homo homini lupus" - "Man is a wolf for man", this statement by Thomas Hobbes seems to be undoubtedly confirmed by these pictures. As atrocious they may be, at least they could serve a good purpose by helping not to let this happen again and to move towards a society in which Martin Luther King's dream is realized - it is up to us.
If you are looking for a good description of how and why such lynchings took place, I recommend to read the excellent short story "Going to meet the man" by James Baldwin.
Rating:
Summary: Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America
Review: "Newspapers on a number of occasions announced in advance the time and place of a lynching, special 'excursion' trains transported spectators to the scene, employers sometimes released their workers to attend, parents sent notes to school asking teachers to excuse children for the event and entire families attended; the children hoisted on their parents' shoulders to miss none of the action and accompanying festivities. Returning from one such occasion, a nine-year-old white youth remained unsatisfied. "I have seen a man hanged," he told his mother, "now I wish I could see one burned." " Page 13-14 If it weren't for the stark, grotesque and vivid photos, you couldn't believe the stories. The butchery and inhumanity is incomprehensible; even more so when it becomes obvious the events were accepted and condoned by otherwise law-abiding citizens, "good, decent churchgoing folk." It's a poignant reminder of how easy it is for perceptions and societal points of view to overcome reason and civility.
Rating:
Summary: Lynching is as American as Apple Pie
Review: "Without Sanctuary brings to life one of the darkest and sickest periods in American history. . . . The photographs in this book make real the hideous crimes that were committed against humanity. . . .such atrocities happened in America not so long ago. These photographs bear witness to the hangings, burnings, castrations, and torture of an American holocaust." From the Foreward by Congressman and 1960's Civil Rights Leader, John Lewis. These lynchings are portrayed on picture postcards that were sent to friends and relatives of the lynch mobs. "At a number of country schools the day's routine was delayed until boy and girl pupils could get back from [viewing] the lynched man. . . .The degree to which whites came to accept lynching as justifiable homicide was best revealed in how they learned to differentiate between 'good' and 'bad' lynchings. . . .'The best people of the county, as good as there are anywhere, simply met there and hanged Curl without a sign of rowdyism. There was no drinking, no shooting, no yellings, and not even loud talking.' " The victims were Black and White, Male and Female, Young and Old. Some were burned after hanging, others were burned before hanging. California and Duluth, as well as Mississippi, Alabama and North Carolina lynchings are all represented. Even the Jew, Leo Frank, is photographed. Only 4000 copies of this first edition have been printed. "We must prevent anything like this from ever happening again."
Rating:
Summary: Page Layout Disaster
Review: After reading this book cover-to-cover, I can only agree with the other reviewers with respect to content. However, with respect to page layout and organization -- this book is a disaster area. The pictures are accompanied by minimal text explanations. There is a large section of the book (pages 165-201) called "Notes On The Plates" which does provide detailed text background information for each picture. Problem is that this way of organizing the book is EXTREMELY user-unfriendly, especially considering that there is so much wasted "white space" on the paper containing the pictures (the plates). I was forced (and so will you!) to constantly bounce back and forth between the page number containing the plate and the page number containing the "note on the plate." Some of those "notes" took up nearly a whole page of text by itself! There is absolutely NO REASON why all revelant notes for each picture could not have been placed on the same page (or an adjacent page) for each photo. At the end of the book, it states "Without Sanctuary is limited to 10,000 fourth edition casebound copies." I would suggest a complete desktop publishing layout overhaul be performed prior to the release of any fifth edition. The content is excellent, but the presentation is reader unfriendly! Thus, I only gave it 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Should be brought to everyone's attention.
Review: As one of the reviewers said "This book should be in every African-American home". True, but more importantly I think it should be in every WASP household and everyone elses. My father was a racist and born in 1911 and I am sure he was aware of these atrocities. (He later changed his attitude.) Well I wasn't! Sure the knowledge was somewhere in my mind, but this book has brought the horrible truth to the front of my conciousness. To have to acknowledge that people took such delight in such atrocities. That they celebrated such horror, leaves me sick at my stomach. But not speechless. Let history start reflecting our sins of the past so we may not repeat them. And thank "Touched By An Angel" for bringing this exhibit to my attention. As soon as I watched the broadcast I ran to the bookstore and purchased. (Sorry Amazon, couldn't wait.) And then went to the website. No other subject has moved me to action so quickly.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing, graphic, historically important photography.
Review: Duotones, photos, and postcards provide a disturbing and violent testimony to the art and practice of lynching both black and white men in America. Without Sanctuary packs in lynching photos with some introduction providing background and one-line descriptions providing the exploration of lynching events. Disturbing and graphic, Without Sanctuary makes for an important historical piece.
Rating:
Summary: There are no words ...
Review: I accidentally ran across this book in a bookseller superstore here in southern CA. Once I saw the cover, I VERY slowly opened it as I sat on the floor in the aisle. I can only guess that I sat there on the floor at least 30 minutes. There are no words ... A couple of weeks later, I took a friend to the same bookstore. On the way there, I told him nothing about the book. When we arrived, I simply handed him the book, still telling him nothing. He, too, could have sat on the floor 30 minutes. The only reason he didn't was because a white female customer kept trying to distract him by recommending an "excellent" book on Black history (other than Without Sanctuary). He said little to her. As she kept babbling, other people in this huge bookstore began to look curiously at him and her. I became very nervous. There are no words ... What I can say is that I wondered why someone would publish a book like this. How did the authors obtained SO MANY horrible photographs? And the authors found NAMES for the victims. I wonder about the survivors -- NOT of the happy, White onlookers and participants, for we Black Americans know and see such people everyday. Instead, I wonder about the survivors of the VICTIMS, especially of Laura Nelson and her young son hanging by their necks from a bridge while scores of murderous Whites looked on indifferently or with glee. Perhaps someone, anyone, might find the murderers and bring them to justice. Many of them are still alive, I am sure. There are no words ... I am profoundly saddened, angered and motivated by this book. The only reason I gave the book 4 stars was because I feel so awful for the victims and their families. There are no words ... This books should be in every African American household. Parents, grand parents and other elders need to sit down with their children and discuss their firsthand experience. The hip-hop generation should especially be taught by their elders. This book underscores the debt we young Black Americans owe people such as Dr. Martin Luther King. Yeah, I know, I keep saying, there are no words .. yet I am still writing. Sorry for this long review. You need not publish this.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth looking at, but poor organization
Review: I agree with a previous reader about the layout of the book. The pictures are basically on the first half of the book and then you have to do a hunt and search to the back half to find the accompanying story. This takes away so much of the books value and I hardly every have anything bad to say about a book. It's a shame this wasn't organized better.
The content is extraordinary,however and I had no idea what a lynch-happy society had existed in U.S. history. So much of our history we don't learn in school!
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