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John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights Hardcover – April 19, 2005

by David S. Reynolds (Author)

65 customer reviews

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A cultural biography of John Brown, the controversial abolitionist who used violent tactics against slavery and single-handedly changed the course of American history. Reynolds brings to life the Puritan warrior who gripped slavery by the throat and triggered the Civil War. Reynolds demonstrates that Brown’s most violent acts—including his killing of proslavery settlers in Kansas and his historic raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia--were inspired by the slave revolts, guerilla warfare, and revolutionary Christianity of the day. He shows how Brown seized public attention, polarizing the nation and fueling the tensions that led to the Civil War. Reynolds recounts how Brown permeated American culture during the Civil War and beyond, and how 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.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the very first paragraphs of this biography, Bancroft Prize-winner Reynolds (Walt Whitman's America) steps back a bit from the grandiose claims of his subtitle. Nevertheless, his book as a whole paints a positive portrait of the Calvinist terrorist Brown (1800-1859)--contrary to virtually all recent scholarship (by Stephen B. Oates and Robert Boyer, among others), which tends to depict Brown as a bloodthirsty zealot and madman who briefly stepped into history but did little to influence it. Reynolds's approach harks back to the hero-worship apparent in earlier books by W.E.B. Du Bois and Brown's surviving associates. John Brown waged a campaign so bloody during the Kansas Civil War--in 1856 he chased men and elder sons from their beds in cabins along the Pottawatomie Creek, and then lopped off their heads with broadswords as sobbing wives and younger children looked on--that fellow Kansas antislavery settlers rebuked him. Even the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison condemned Brown and his methods. After taking the federal armory and arsenal at Harpers Ferry in October 1859, Brown intended (had he not been swatted like a fly within hours) to raise and arm a large force of blacks capable of wreaking a terrible vengeance across Virginia. Yet Reynolds insists that "it is misleading to identify Brown with modern terrorists." Really? 25 b&w illus. (Apr. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine

The claims of Reynoldss subtitle strike many as inflated; while John Brown certainly grew into a towering folkloric figure after his death, the historians who review the book note that his actions were less a direct cause than an important symbolic precursor to the Civil War. Some critics believe Reynolds, winner of the Bancroft Prize for Walt Whitmans America, is overly sympathetic to Browns use of violence. Though other reviewers counter that the author never turns full-scale apologist, the question of whether violence is an acceptable response to injusticeeven one as grave as slaveryhangs over the text, especially as Reynolds examines the parallels between Browns actions and our current understanding of terrorism. One thing is certain: John Browns legacy is as unstable a part of our national history as ever.

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Product details

Hardcover: 592 pages
Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (April 19, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0375411887
ISBN-13: 978-0375411885
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.8 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 65 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,043,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #289 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Women
- #491 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Abolition
- #1124 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States > American Revolution

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William P. Stodden

Fascinating read

January 3, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

A quick review of this book:

This book is a fascinating read for those who have a vague sense that a person named John Brown played a major role in American history. Well written, this book would be appropriate for most adults in this country who are curious about Antebellum America and slavery.

The negatives: I felt the author focused too much on Brown's religious background, primarily. I think the US is pretty far removed from Puritanism: when most think of puritans they incorrectly envision either Pilgrims or associate the term with denial of any sort of worldly pleasure. As such, Brown's religion wouldn't resonate in 21st c. America. That theme was overplayed, as was the connection with Cromwell, esp. for Americans, who have no connection to Cromwell.

The positives: the author made the connection to Transcendental philosophy and philosophers well. Having the connection to the US' great intellectuals as a main theme in the book was effective. The contrast between Brown and the deified politicians of the era was also good. The chapter on Black support for Brown was excellent: it felt like a vindication of Brown's efforts. Finally, the most eye opening aspect of this book was the discussion of Brown mania, both North and South which led to the Civil War. Many were taught for years that Lincoln's election precipitated the Civil War. This book makes it clear that after Harpers Ferry, the election of Lincoln was actually less consequential over all as a cause for secession, and actually was dwarfed by the paranoia around Brown after death.

Overall, a good book and very informative. I would recommend it.

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George Skinner

john brown, aolitionist

April 1, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

"instead of hunting for a solution, the politicians had worked for a crisis. this they would presently get, and when they got it they would find it a catastrophe." thus bruce catton wrote in his 1961 book "the coming fury" though not in the amazon library yet it should be. it has always ben fascinating to me to discover why things happen as much as what happened. there are big lessons in both of these books about where we may be headed. some politicians suggested that the blood spilled in that war would not fill a thimble. we seem to be engaged in the same sort of disconnect every day now with pundits and politicians urging us from one war to the next and i am afraid that it will eventually lead to the crisis and catastrophe we refuse to see looming in america and the world. john brown was a bell weather. the home grown spark that grew to a blaze we could not be put out but with much blood and suffering. there are big lessons in this book that we must learn very fast. our own catastrophe is lurking in the shadows.

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November 26, 2012

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The book certainly broadened my understanding of the abolitionist movement and Brown's pivotal role as a role model for the Union's prosecution of the war, and the Transcendentalist’s role in establishing Brown’s heroic image during that period. I do find it interesting that even today the author seemed to not be comfortable with rationalizing Brown’s use of violence to bring down slavery. This in spite of the extreme acts of violence perpetrated by the proponents of slavery, especially in respect to the atrocities they committed during the sorry years of “bleeding Kansas.” All in all a very good book.

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abyndon

The Greatest White Hero in Black Studies.

November 30, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This is one of the most underrated white guys in history. Any Black studies that teaches about slavery must have this kind of material in it. I will take John Brown's efforts as a real commitment toward the end of old school slavery. Now talk about someone who is willing to give their life for a cause. It was John Brown. He set the white standard for the commitment for civil and human rights, and the rest of the Tim Wise types have to stand behind him.

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j a haverstick

Terrorism and morality

June 5, 2005

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

That is the background theme of this book. I think David Reynolds was mistaken in making it so prominent. You can pick dozens of quotes from the book either condemning or commending Old John. The issue is really pretty subtle. Slavery wasn't exactly like not having national health insurance, after all, and most historians agree with Reynolds it wasn't about to disappear soon. Anyhow, what's "soon" if you're tied to tree being whipped in the hot sun? Or your child is? Does a slave have a "natural right" to kill his master, as many argued at the time. Interesting question from a natural rights perspective (a perspective I take seriously) and one that could get its own book.

But, anyway, in returning over and over and over to these considerations and continually offering judgements on his main character, Reynolds distracts (or distracted me) from the story line. I think he also does himself a disservice in that this theme will serve in the future to make the book seem very dated. Yes, this, too, will pass. But the story line is very good and historically significant, so it wasn't hard to get back. I learned a lot about the times and the players from this book. Which is why I bought and read it.

There are several minor points I'd mention. Two that come to mind are the interpretation late on in the book of a Dickinson poem as about John Brown (seemed like a stretch) and the remark that Thaddeus Stevens (Speaker of the House and Reconstructionist par excellance) pushed universal sufferage in order to "punish" the South. In regard to the latter I must remark that though Stevens was, indeed, a vindictive man (and in this case, why not?) his committment to the equality of each and every human being, race, class and gender, was lifelong and deeply held. In that he was rare for his time, as Reynolds is constantly mentioning in favor of Old John. (I'm from Steven's hometown or I'd let it pass. Check out Trefousse's biography)

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