"Hendrik Hartog's lively investigation of the legal histories of Progressive reform, childhood, criminality, repression, and free speech revolves around the mysterious Jack Robbins, an iconoclastic social reformer dedicated to the ideals of virtuous boyhood. In early twentieth-century Chicago, Robbins's Boys' Brotherhood Republic sought to keep boys out of the clutches of both vice and the nascent carceral state. The curiosity of Robbins's story is compounded by the racially and politically charged legal case that arose ...
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"Hendrik Hartog's lively investigation of the legal histories of Progressive reform, childhood, criminality, repression, and free speech revolves around the mysterious Jack Robbins, an iconoclastic social reformer dedicated to the ideals of virtuous boyhood. In early twentieth-century Chicago, Robbins's Boys' Brotherhood Republic sought to keep boys out of the clutches of both vice and the nascent carceral state. The curiosity of Robbins's story is compounded by the racially and politically charged legal case that arose from his will, which established the extent to which last wishes must conform with dominant social values. Hartog crafts a twisty and engaging book full of surprising connections and persistent mysteries"--
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