Description: The post-Revolutionary era comes to life in this vivid, incisive portrait of the early American republic--and its master political architect.
Brief description: A professor of history at the University of California-Riverside, Catherine Allgor has received the George Washington Egleston Prize, the Lerner-Scott Prize, and the James H. Broussard First Book Prize for Parlor Politics. She was awarded a Bunting Fellowship for her work on Dolley Madison.
Review Quotes:
"Where is Dolley Madison when we need her? Catherine Allgor makes clear that Mrs. Madison's skills as a hostess and politician held the country together when rabid partisanship threatened to tear it apart. This is a well-told biography of a true nineteenth-century celebrity, but a celebrity with substance, savvy and courage." --Cokie Roberts, author of Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
"For some time Dolley Madison has been a beguiling ornament, flashing her femininity in the parlors of the early American republic. Here, at last, Catherine Allgor, with great style and wit, recovers a different Dolley, a full-fledged political partner with James Madison. Now, in addition to John and Abigail, we have James and Dolley." --Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington "A lively, clear-eyed account of a master politician. As first 'Presidentess, ' Dolley Madison established herself among our earliest female celebrities and left an enduring mark on American culture. Hers is a rousing tale of ambition, gossip, and policy, told with empathy and understanding by Catherine Allgor. " --Stacy Schiff, author of A Great Improvisation "Before Jackie Kennedy there was Dolley Madison - elegant, sophisticated and charismatic. Thanks to her inimitable style and determination, the nation's capital became more than just a swampy outpost where pigs and politicians freely roamed. In A Perfect Union Catherine Allgor reveals the warm and fascinating woman who dazzled Americans for more than three decades." --Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire