Product Description
Few men in American history have been at once as glorified and maligned as John Brown. From his attack of the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in October 1859, as part of a scheme to free the slaves, Brown has been called a saint and sinner, rogue and redeemer, martyr and madman. Brown rebelled against the American government, and he murdered men in Kansas in order to end the murderous institution of slavery. He denounced war, but made war on his government in order to end an existing war for slavery.

This anthology, which presents Brown's writing and diverse responses to his life and raid, offers a lens through which to analyze these tensions and contradictions. Extensive introductions to every source offer a close reading of language and provide full historical and biographical background.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)

Finally something decent on John Brown!

I agree with the reviewer above - John Brown is one of those figures that noone really understands so a full length work with sources and analysis of Brown's writings like this has been a long time coming. I teach a class on the coming of the Civil War and my students have already been taught, like most Americans, that John Brown was at best a well-meaning madman. But this book shows the various John Browns of history and myth, so that, whether you agree with the actions of Brown, you will at least understand them better and see him as a complex and human individual. The Harvard authors have a sense for biography and history, and do convincing close readings of John Brown's own writings. Fascinating sources and great prose by the authors, good analysis of art a bonus. It's a good story and told well. I have some criticisms of the politics behind the book but this doesn't detract too much from the overall quality.

September 27, 2004

TOPICAL AND SENSITIVELY WRITTEN

This book reads very well and covers all of John Brown's life and death, then also the huge range of responses to him and his career. The connections that Zoe Trodd and John Stauffer make between John Brown and Timothy Mcveigh is provocative. No one who buys this book will be disappointed.
September 26, 2004

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