Flitch of bacon custom sites and the Dunmow flitch is referred to in Chaucer. The awarding of a flitch at both sites seems to have been an exceedingly rare event. The Dunmow tradition was revived in Victorian times, largely inspired by a book ("The Flitch of Bacon") by William Harrison Ainsworth. Flitch trials are still held in modern times at Great Dunmow. A counsel is employed to cross-examine the nominated couples and attempt to show they are undeserving of the award. There is evidence that the flitch of bacon tradition existed outside Britain in mainland Europe and some would push its origins back as
Slavery by Another Name reconstructing Cottenham's life gives the book "a shaky start". Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the "Miami Herald," wrote that ""Slavery by Another Name" is an astonishing book. It will challenge and change your understanding of what we were as Americans - and of what we are. I cannot recommend it to you highly enough." W. Fitzhugh Brundage wrote in "The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education" that Blackmon deserves high praise for this deeply moving and troubling history. He especially deserves praise for teasing out the largest implications of his research. He aptly, and carefully, draws parallels between the corporate