Customer Reviews

Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American City during the Nineteenth Century

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I recently read another of Ryan's books for a paper I was writing on woman's suffrage. I was so impressed, I looked up all her books. In one sense, "Civic Wars" continues on the theme of Ryan's: "Banners and Ballots" in examining the challenges that have historically stymied feminist historians in that so much of women's influence has consisted in the private (as opposed to public) sphere--making it not only harder to trace, but harder to document as well. But there is a broader analysis here, too--well beyond the scope of women-- examining all the 'have-nots' of society and the means by which they used the levers of public dissent and protest to have a say in their democracy. Ryan is a lucid and compelling writer and in this book she provides ample evidence that in Frederick Douglas' words: "Power cedes nothing without demand." Great book.
P. Abeles

While this book has terrific content, I did not care for the fact that I had to stop every page and look up words. When I took the GRE I scored in the 96 percentile. I have a strong vocabulary, however, half the time I did not know what Ryan was saying.

This is an interesting book comparing the development of San Francisco, New York, and New Orleans. I would recommend it to anyone studying the 19 Century. You will need a dictionary to read the book, but you will learn a lot.