New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2014]
244 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm.
Like many of the history non-fiction books published with the high school audience in mind, this book has an appealing layout with lots of great photos, reproductions, etc. It makes for a readable history. I also like that the length of these non-fiction books is long enough for a substantive treatment of the topic, but not so exhaustive as to be daunting.
I read this book because I really wanted to learn more about John Brown and his passionate fight against slavery in the US and his willingness to die for the cause.
Marrin does a good job describing the life of Brown and the back drop of slavery - especially the way in which slavers decided that they had to expand slavery in the US to keep their power. He also illuminates the way in which Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry pushed the coming Civil War even closer. But I think the biggest weakness is that Marrin tries to highlight the radical and "terrorist" nature of John Brown's actions (for example his execution of unarmed prisoners in Kansas) without fully illuminating the absolute horrors and terrorism of the slave labor system. Having read The Half Has Never Been Told, I am aware that the cotton-slavery system that evolved after 1820 was an even more vicious, brutal and horrid system of torture/slavery that what already existed before 1820. I think it is a good thing that Marrin wants students to really wrestle with the complexities of when or if illegal, violent action is acceptable. But to do that you have to really be honest about the system that that action was targeting - and I don't think Marrin succeeded in that.
I would still recommend the book since it is a thorough treatment of Brown's life and conveys a lot of the dynamics of the time.
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