Authoritative, colorful, and based on thirty years of research, An American Marriage tells the story of why Abraham Lincoln had good reason to regret his marriage to Mary Todd-and seeks to describe her conduct impartially, rather than to defend or deplore it. Most importantly, this insightful historical narrative attempts to deepen readers' appreciation for Lincoln's character.

"In this definitive history of a unique tradition, Tyler D. Parry untangles the convoluted history of the 'broomstick wedding.' Popularly associated with African American culture, Parry traces the ritual's origins to marginalized groups in the British Isles and explores how it influenced the marriage traditions of different communities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. His surprising findings shed new light on the complexities of cultural exchange...

When Huda meets Hadi, the boy she will ultimately marry, she is six years old. Both are the American-born children of Iraqi immigrants, who grew up on opposite ends of California. Hadi considers Huda his childhood sweetheart, the first and only girl he's ever loved, but Huda needs proof that she is more than just the girl Hadi's mother has chosen for her son. She wants what many other American girls have--the entertainment culture's almost singular...

"From a historian and senior writer and editor at Atlas Obscura, a fascinating account of the daring nineteenth-century women who moved to South Dakota to divorce their husbands and start living on their own terms"--

In Veil and Vow, Aneeka Ayanna Henderson places familiar, often politicized questions about the crisis of African American marriage in conversation with a rich cultural archive that includes fiction by Terry McMillan and Sister Souljah, music by Anita Baker, and films such as The Best Man. Seeking to move beyond simple assessments of marriage as "good" or "bad" for African Americans, Henderson critically examines popular and influential late twentieth-...

This book is dedicated to the many men who are now or who have been abused by women who treat them in a cruel, humiliating, disrepectful, condescending manner. These men often become victims living with a secret shame until it is too late to escape a painful situation without serious consequences. I am writing this book to show how they can rid themselves of an otherwise hopeless or perceived hopless circumstance. It is especially for those who do...

The debate over the meaning of marriage in the United States and specifically in Minnesota is not a recent development. From 1820 to 1845, when the first significant numbers of Americans arrived in the region now called Minnesota, they carried the belief that good government and an orderly household went hand in hand. The territorial, state, and federal governments of the United States were built upon a particular vision of civic responsibility:...