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jayrbradley's review against another edition
5.0
An incredible deep dive into the man who brought about the civil war and the cultural forces that shaped him, his actions, the war, the development of capitalism, racism, religion as a lived experience, and the civil rights movements past the war. It is not merely a look at his life but a reexamination for those who have only heard of him in passing in grade school or on the cover of a Kansas album in his historical culture and context, as well as the ripples he caused all throughout. At times showing methods hard to accept but understandable given the violence of the time and at many other times hard to not admire with awe, the story builds until his hanging, then shows the immense impact of him leading to a rapturous conclusion of the need of Americans who can be so powered by good to make change in this world that we need more John Browns. Not everyone will take to the conclusion the same way, but it is an important look at a person who has shaped America without ever having been president, general, or other typical man on a horse role.
iashbaugh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
schwarmgiven's review against another edition
4.0
Epic survey of an American institution. The author is a bit enamored with his subject, but overall does a great job setting up the history and delivering strong interpretations. The introduction and afterword which express strong political opinion are a bit heavy handed but overall I am very glad I read this.
Excellent companion to Burn's Civil War. Good details. Excellent pacing and structure within the work. Does not get overly mired in background or "setting the stage". Does fawn a bit at the transcendentalists which it appears everyone who studies this period does--weird anti-Catholic tone a few times for no real reason.
Overall, I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in history or the civil war. it is a good book.
Excellent companion to Burn's Civil War. Good details. Excellent pacing and structure within the work. Does not get overly mired in background or "setting the stage". Does fawn a bit at the transcendentalists which it appears everyone who studies this period does--weird anti-Catholic tone a few times for no real reason.
Overall, I strongly recommend this to anyone interested in history or the civil war. it is a good book.
garzonr's review against another edition
5.0
I highly recommend this biography of Brown. It told the story of his life in rich and engaging detail. More importantly, it placed the most impactful parts of his life in their historical contexts. After reading this you'll have a much better sense of the man, his time, and his impact on the path American history took.
verbadanga66's review against another edition
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
bmcelmeel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
jdsatori's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fascinating, detailed look at a man that has been called everything from Savior to Madman to Terrorist. Inspired by slave rebellions in the Haiti and the American South, Brown's Quaker upbringing led him to a radical idea: all races, men and women, ought to be treated equally (this is what got him labelled a Madman). This led to an even more radical solution: only war will end slavery and bring freedom. And in the words of W. E. B. DuBois, "John Brown was right."
I especially got a kick out of understanding how the American Transcendentalists were the only white intellectuals to support Brown's actions at Harper's Ferry (and before, in Kansas). Critics at the time called Transcendentalists "modern Puritans...who absurdly put black people and white people on the same level." Not even the most outspoken Abolitionists would stand behind him. Certainly, Lincoln never did even though he ended up in exactly the spot Brown predicted: war.
His legacy has been complicated by later militants who claim John Brown as their own--everyone from Mother Jones and Malcom X to Timothy McVeigh. They miss the point though. Brown had plenty of issues with the government, but never resorted to violence to make a statement. Slavery alone was an affront to ALL of humanity, and most of all to God, and therefore worthy of war. Also, Brown was able to get women and people from all religions, all classes, and all races to join his fight, something later militants never would or could.
Black Americans overwhelmingly agreed that he was a Savior. Full stop.
I especially got a kick out of understanding how the American Transcendentalists were the only white intellectuals to support Brown's actions at Harper's Ferry (and before, in Kansas). Critics at the time called Transcendentalists "modern Puritans...who absurdly put black people and white people on the same level." Not even the most outspoken Abolitionists would stand behind him. Certainly, Lincoln never did even though he ended up in exactly the spot Brown predicted: war.
His legacy has been complicated by later militants who claim John Brown as their own--everyone from Mother Jones and Malcom X to Timothy McVeigh. They miss the point though. Brown had plenty of issues with the government, but never resorted to violence to make a statement. Slavery alone was an affront to ALL of humanity, and most of all to God, and therefore worthy of war. Also, Brown was able to get women and people from all religions, all classes, and all races to join his fight, something later militants never would or could.
Black Americans overwhelmingly agreed that he was a Savior. Full stop.
spinnerroweok's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting and thorough book on John Brown and his impact on sparking the Civil War. A great example of the good and evil that lies in people.
socraticgadfly's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Solid, fairly good, but not quite great.
Reynolds is very good on Brown the man in many ways, and not just Brown the abolitionist. He notes Brown as a totally inept businessman because of his general total rectitude on dealings and ineptitude on emerging modern capitalism.
On Brown as abolitionist, it's detailed about how it ran in the family, Brown's pre-Kansas work, his Kansas and post-Kansas work and of course Harper's Ferry.
It's possibly at its best on Brown the egalitarian. His including in his plan that a Black man should take the Frederick the Great sword of Lawrence Washington is one small gem here.
It's good on Brown's failures of imagination on Harper's Ferry, and also on him being totally sane. Behind that, it has a good look at Brown's "Secret Six" backers, and some of their ties to transcendentalism.
That said, Reynolds never speculates whether part of Brown's mind was hoping for a martyrdom failure just like he got. And, while some of the lies were to protect himself, he doesn't inquire about all of Brown's slips in rectitude over his Kansas actions. In other words, the bio is perhaps a bit too hagiographic at times.
Also, Puritans were in general NOT antinomian. Anne Hutchison et al lost the Antinomian Controversy, which is why many of them were booted out of Massachusetts Bay.
There's also minor errors scattered here and there. Pierce wasn't elected president in 1854. Kansas didn't become a state in 1858, though that was later corrected. And, not an error, but a few more pages here and there on what all else was happening in Kansas would have been nice.
And, on the national big picture? Reynolds eventually mentions Seward's "irrepresible conflict" near the end, as to why he didn't get the GOP nomination. Would have been better a couple hundred pages earlier, with first real discussion of Seward. Again, things like this tend to put one foot of the bio in hagiography.
Reynolds is very good on Brown the man in many ways, and not just Brown the abolitionist. He notes Brown as a totally inept businessman because of his general total rectitude on dealings and ineptitude on emerging modern capitalism.
On Brown as abolitionist, it's detailed about how it ran in the family, Brown's pre-Kansas work, his Kansas and post-Kansas work and of course Harper's Ferry.
It's possibly at its best on Brown the egalitarian. His including in his plan that a Black man should take the Frederick the Great sword of Lawrence Washington is one small gem here.
It's good on Brown's failures of imagination on Harper's Ferry, and also on him being totally sane. Behind that, it has a good look at Brown's "Secret Six" backers, and some of their ties to transcendentalism.
That said, Reynolds never speculates whether part of Brown's mind was hoping for a martyrdom failure just like he got. And, while some of the lies were to protect himself, he doesn't inquire about all of Brown's slips in rectitude over his Kansas actions. In other words, the bio is perhaps a bit too hagiographic at times.
Also, Puritans were in general NOT antinomian. Anne Hutchison et al lost the Antinomian Controversy, which is why many of them were booted out of Massachusetts Bay.
There's also minor errors scattered here and there. Pierce wasn't elected president in 1854. Kansas didn't become a state in 1858, though that was later corrected. And, not an error, but a few more pages here and there on what all else was happening in Kansas would have been nice.
And, on the national big picture? Reynolds eventually mentions Seward's "irrepresible conflict" near the end, as to why he didn't get the GOP nomination. Would have been better a couple hundred pages earlier, with first real discussion of Seward. Again, things like this tend to put one foot of the bio in hagiography.