An edition of John Brown, abolitionist (2005)

John Brown, Abolitionist

The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights

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Last edited by ImportBot
December 19, 2023 | History
An edition of John Brown, abolitionist (2005)

John Brown, Abolitionist

The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights

  • 5.00 ·
  • 1 Rating
  • 6 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Few historical figures are as intriguing as John Brown, the controversial Abolitionist who used armed tactics against slavery and single-handedly changed the course of American history. This brilliant biography of Brown (1800--1859) by the prize-winning critic and cultural biographer David S. Reynolds brings to life the Puritan warrior who gripped slavery by the throat and triggered the Civil War.When does principled resistance become anarchic brutality? How can a murderer be viewed as a heroic freedom fighter? The case of John Brown opens windows on these timely issues. Was Brown an insane criminal or a Christ-like martyr? A forerunner of Osama bin Laden or of Martin Luther King, Jr.? David Reynolds sorts through the tangled evidence and makes some surprising findings.Reynolds demonstrates that Brown's most violent acts--his slaughter of unarmed citizens in Kansas, his liberation of slaves in Missouri, and his dramatic raid, in October 1859, on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia--were inspired by the slave revolts, guerilla warfare, and revolutionary Christianity of the day. He shows us how Brown seized the nation's attention, creating sudden unity in the North, WHERE the Transcendentalists led the way in sanctifying Brown, and infuriating the South, where proslavery fire-eaters exploited the Harpers Ferry raid to whip up a secessionist frenzy. In fascinating detail, Reynolds recounts how Brown permeated politics and popular culture during the Civil War and beyond. He reveals the true depth of Brown's achievement: not only did Brown spark the war that ended slavery, but he planted the seeds of the civil rights movement by making a pioneering demand for complete social and political equality for America's ethnic minorities. A deeply researched and vividly written cultural biography--a revelation of John Brown and his meaning for America.From the Hardcover edition.

Publish Date
Publisher
Vintage
Language
English
Pages
592

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: John Brown, Abolitionist
John Brown, Abolitionist
2009, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
E-book in English
Cover of: John Brown, Abolitionist
Cover of: John Brown, abolitionist
John Brown, abolitionist: the man who killed slavery, sparked the Civil War, and seeded civil rights
2005, Alfred A. Knopf, Distributed by Random House, Knopf
Hardcover in English - 1st ed.

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Book Details


ID Numbers

Open Library
OL7426990M
ISBN 10
0375726152
ISBN 13
9780375726156
Library Thing
2772159
Goodreads
89272

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History

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December 19, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
December 4, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 15, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
August 28, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
April 29, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from amazon.com record.