USC Upstate faculty member Dr. Peter Caster has published his second book, Fathers, Preachers, Rebels, Men: Black Masculinity in U.S. History and Literature, 1820-1945 with The Ohio State University Press. The collection of essays, co-edited with historian Timothy R. Buckner of Troy University, brings together scholars of history and literature focused on the lives and writing of black men during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States. The interdisciplinary study demonstrates the masculine character of cultural practices developed from slavery through segregation. The book shows how black masculinity embodies a set of contradictions, including an often mistaken threat of violence, the belief in its legitimacy, and the rhetorical union of truth and fiction surrounding slavery, segregation, resistance, and self-determination. Reviewers describe the collection as “a fresh perspective,” and “an intellectually stimulating work that is an exemplar of thorough research and profound analysis.” Caster is Associate Professor of English and Chair of the Department of Languages, Literature, and Composition.