A Tumultuous Social Era The Victorian Era is usually thought of as a time of elegant formality, of stately mansions in the "upstairs/downstairs" tradition. But the era was rife with social issues. In January 1918, the Baroness von Zollner was released from custody and further investigation on charges of spying. She was never seen again in Tennessee. A Nashville newspaper story exposed the "trashy" literature that "boys read." While the protest was real, nothing was done to curtail the accessibility of such dime novels due to the First Amendment right to free speech. A.K. Ward found his way to Central America "in a hilarious mood" before being returned to Tennessee to face charges of embezzlement and fraud. Historian James B. Jones details these stories and more.