The Civil War Political Tradition - (Nation Divided) by Paul D Escott

About the Book

"Offers biographical sketches of ten prominent Americans who confronted the central issues of the Civil War era-slavery, racism, and equality-evaluating their careers and shedding light on leadership, core American values, and problems plaguing US democracy. Those profiled include John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Jefferson Davis, Stephen A. Douglas, Frederick Douglass, Horace Greeley, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Albion Tourgâee"--

Book Synopsis

Modeling his latest book on Richard Hofstadter's 1948 classic The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It, the renowned historian Paul Escott has composed ten concise but deeply learned and incisive biographies of key Americans in the years leading up to the Civil War. Escott profiles Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, Stephen A. Douglas, Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, Horace Greeley, Albion Tourgée, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, illustrating how these men and women established, embodied, and advanced the opposing political and cultural trends that culminated in the great crisis of the nineteenth century.

Covering figures from across a wide political spectrum, Escott reveals numerous streams and facets of nineteenth-century American political thought to illuminate the forces, from slavery to suffrage, underlying this greatest of conflicts. Written accessibly and with a magisterial command of the subject, The Civil War Political Tradition is both a perfect introduction to this history and a penetrating new meditation on its players.

Review Quotes

Inspired by the classic Richard Hofstadter study, The Civil War Political Tradition offers cogent analysis and the clear, concise pen of a practiced master of the American historical profession. Especially appropriate for undergraduate students who might be approaching serious study of these pivotal political figures for the first time.

--Barton A. Myers, Washington and Lee University, author of Rebels Against the Confederacy: North Carolina's Unionists

These essays, written by a prolific and distinguished historian, deliver an astute analysis of ten leaders during the Civil War era. Escott's timely assessments of both famous and lesser known men and women will inspire readers to marvel at the seemingly inexhaustible potential for revisiting important topics and personalities associated with America's great conflict.

--Joan Waugh, UCLA, author of U. S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth

A well-written, engaging, and insightful look into a key period of American history. Escott deserves praise for his perspective on the country's leaders and for emphasizing Albion Tourgée's role in the nation's political development. In the Tourgée and Douglass chapters in particular, Escott shows the blending of old and new approaches that make his newest book an excellent example of modern political biography.--North Carolina Historical Review

About the Author

Paul D. Escott is Reynolds Professor of History Emeritus at Wake Forest University and author of Slavery Remembered: A Record of Twentieth-Century Slave Narratives, winner of the Mayflower Cup, and Black Suffrage: Lincoln's Last Goal (Virginia).