{"product_id":"lethal-state-seth-kotch-9781469649863","title":"Lethal State: A History of the Death Penalty in North Carolina","description":"For years, American states have tinkered with the machinery of death, seeking to align capital punishment with evolving social standards and public will. Against this backdrop, North Carolina had long stood out as a prolific executioner with harsh mandatory sentencing statutes. But as the state sought to remake its image as modern and business-progressive in the early twentieth century, the question of execution preoccupied lawmakers, reformers, and state boosters alike.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this book, Seth Kotch recounts the history of the death penalty in North Carolina from its colonial origins to the present. He tracks the attempts to reform and sanitize the administration of death in a state as dedicated to its image as it was to rigid racial hierarchies. Through this lens, \u003ci\u003eLethal State\u003c\/i\u003e helps explain not only Americans' deep and growing uncertainty about the death penalty but also their commitment to it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKotch argues that Jim Crow justice continued to reign in the guise of a modernizing, orderly state and offers essential insight into the relationship between race, violence, and power in North Carolina. The history of capital punishment in North Carolina, as in other states wrestling with similar issues, emerges as one of state-building through lethal punishment. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Seth Kotch\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1469649861\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781469649863\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of North Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/25\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.88d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2019","brand":"Seth Kotch","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43935453872383,"sku":"9781469649863","price":99.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_802c2fa5-0bfc-415f-85a4-d2c338dd7e86.jpg?v=1681419890","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/lethal-state-seth-kotch-9781469649863","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}