Customer Reviews

Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980 (Maryland History)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great survey book for anyone interested in learning about Maryland's history. It touches on all the major themes in the great state's history and how they related to the national landscape.

Granted the book stops at the dawn of the internet and biotech age and housing boom that has transformed MD's economic and social fabric, it is still the best single volume history of the state availible. Brugger carefully examines the main themes of Maryland's history and ties them all together with the state's penchant for tolerance and moderation. An excellent book for reference or research on the Old Line State/Free State.

I have one minor complaint with the book, which I'm halfway through, but this history's so thorough for a 3 1/2 century treatise that I still have to give it five stars! As I slowly make my way through this large page/small print, thick history, I'm seeing the names of people and places that are now on Maryland's, streets, islands, and buildings, etc. and am learning who they were: Paca, Chase, Carroll, Joppa, Tilghman, Hammond, etc.

This is not a rah-rah book: it objectively points out the strong and weak points of Maryland as it developed. And the relationships between the other colonies/states are NOT ignored. For the first time in my life, I truly understand why the populations of Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, New York, etc. were so ripe for revolution in the 1770's and how the loyalist and revolutionary tendencies evolved.

My only complaint is that it often deviates -within a chapter- a little too much (half a century) from chronological order. Sometimes such jumping back and forth may be necessary because a section may describe tobacco markets, convict imports, etc. over a period of time, but when going on to the next topic the author sometimes forgets to mention when it occurred so you're not sure if it's still in the last time mentioned or much earlier or later.

Still, that's a minor problem in a great work. If you read this work you'll know more than 99% of Marylanders about Maryland and not only know about important events, but you'll get a feeling for the cultural development of the state.

This book is to Maryland what Virginius Dabney's book is to Virginia; a comprehensive state history from founding to "modern times." It's a fine narrative history, but it DEFINITELY falls more into the textbook category than most other comprehensive state histories. For that reason, I prefer Earl Arnett's book, "Maryland: a new guide to the Old Line State." In fact, the author of this book serves as a co-author of that one as well.

Maryland is a truly fascinating little state, and Brugger's thesis surrounding the concept he calls the "Middle Temperament" is right on the money. He explains throughout the book how Maryland's founding as a haven for Catholics, its position as a comfortable seat for wealthy, arch-conservative loyalists, and its physical location between the "temperate" North and "intemperate" South, led to Maryland's quiet, reserved development over the centuries. Maryland can't claim a Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson or a John Adams, and there are reasons for that. Brugger explores those reasons here. Maryland has long been a crossroads, but rarely a destination. The resulting juxtaposition of diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds cultivated a sense of tolerance and moderation that defines Maryland even today.

A word of caution to potential readers: This book is one giant hunk of text. There are illustrations, maps, tables and sidebars that complement the text, but there is also a conspicuous analytical, demographic tone that is impossible to avoid. This book is more of a reference than a page turner. You're not going to sit and read it from cover to cover. It's simply too dense and dry for that, but it's the best comprehensive history of Maryland out there. It's a relatively balanced blend of political, economic and cultural history.