Description: In the first volume of his long awaited, monumental study of the South's road to disunion, eminent historian William Freehling offers a sweeping political and social history of the antebellum South from 1776 to 1854. All the dramatic events leading to secession are here, and Freehling vividly recounts each crisis, illuminating the many complex issues and sketching colorful portraits of the major figures involved. But for all Freehling's brilliant insight into American antebellum politics, Secessionists at Bay is at bottom the saga of the rich social tapestry of the prewar South. Freehling brings the Old South back to life in all its color, cruelty, and diversity. It is a memorable portrait, certain to be a key analysis of this crucial era in American history.
Review Quotes:
"This is an excellent book; the best that we have for the early period of the sectional conflict. I will put it on my reading list for my Civil War and Reconstruction course. Students in U.S. introductory courses could benefit from this book."--William C. Harris, North Carolina State Univ.
"Many of the details, to be sure, are fresh, and so are some of the shifts in emphases."--Carl N. Degler, The Journal of American History
"Freehling has struck as powerful blow for history as narrative art in this remarkable recounting of the southern secession movement up to 1854."--George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University.
"The major work of scholarship by the author of Prelude to the Civil War....Will interest readers with its brilliant evocation of the antebellum South."--Publisher's Weekly