"Carry A. Nation was fifty-four when she "smashed" her first saloon, but her life before she started her infamous hatchet crusade has been little known until now. In this first-ever scholarly biography of Nation. Fran Grace unfolds a story that often contrasts with the image of Nation as "Crazy Carry," a bellicose, blue-nosed, man-hating killjoy.

Using newly available archival materials and placing Nation in her various historical and cultural contexts, Grace "retells" the crusader's tumultuous life."--BOOK JACKET.