The biography of Carl Schurz is a story of an amazing life. At the age of 19, Schurz, a student at the University of Bonn, became involved in the Revolution of 1848. Participating in the revolutionary army, he managed to escape through a sewer during the siege of Rastatt, flee across the Rhine to France, and come back to rescue his professor, Gottfried Kinkel, from a jail near Berlin. This deed made him famous, and when he came to American in 1852, Schurz was nominated for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin on the Republican ticket. He quickly rose in the party and was the head of the Wisconsin delegation at the 1860 National Convention. He worked hard for the cause, and Lincoln rewarded him with the post of Minister to Spain. At the outbreak of war he returned to join the Union Army, became a Major General, and took part in several important battles. After the war, he moved to Missouri, was elected Senator from that State, and became a role model for his fellow German Americans. In 1871 he became one of the main figures in the Liberal Republican movement, and in 1877 President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him Secretary of the Interior. After his retirement from the cabinet, Schurz became active in the politics of New York, as an advocate of municipal and civil service reform. He was a leading Mugwump who supported Grover Cleveland in 1884 and at the end of his life became a violent opponent of imperialism. He died in 1906. Carl Schurz, the man, his story, his ideals and his example, are particularly appropriate today because of the light his life sheds on the never-ending problems of immigration, assimilation, and the retention of ethnic identity. Carl Schurz's career furnishes a model example for all of these.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Editorial Reviews
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"Trefousse ably and engagingly discusses Schurz’s life and career and his important legacy in Germany and the United States." -- AB Bookman’s Weekly
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
About the Author
Hans Trefousse (1921-2010) was Distinguished Professor of History at Brooklyn College and at the Graduate Center, of the City University of New York.
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Who is Carl Schurz,
By
This review is from: Carl Schurz: A Biography (North's Civil War) (Paperback)
Carl Schurz is a very important and very interesting personage from the 19th Century. It is unfortunate that he has become a rather obscure figure in this century. Hans Trefousse wants to make him a little less obscure. He has written an excellent biography which should satisfy anyone interested in learning more about Carl Schurz. The book provides a comprehensive picture of Schurz's entire life. In fact only a quarter of the book covers the Civil War years. The revolutionary upheaval in Germany in the 1840's is given extensive coverage and may be the most intriguing portion of the book. There is also a complete anyalysis of the postwar years when Schurz was a leading political figure in the United States. Trefousse's 386 page work is exhaustively researched. He waded through dozens of manuscript collections and newspapers. The bibliography alone takes up 22 pages! Nineteen illustratons augment the narrative. If you are interested in Schurz, this is the book to buy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Schurz bio thorough, easy read,
This review is from: Carl Schurz: A Biography (North's Civil War) (Paperback)
The biographer has obviously pored over all the relevant documents to produce a bio that is thorough as it is comprehensible. The author does not gloss over Schurz' flaws and does a good job of taking the reader step by step through the world of American politics during the latter half of the 19th century.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything you always wanted to know about Carl,
By Gowiththeflow "JB" (Memphis) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Carl Schurz: A Biography (North's Civil War) (Paperback)
Schurz is an unsung member of our country's historical pantheon. I had no idea he contributed so much to our history. This biography is as honest as it is thorough.
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