Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War

Includes bibliographical references (pages 324-379) and index;Originally published: New York : Knopf, 1960;A natural coldness -- You were meant for Boston -- The life of life -- The Iron Curtain -- An outrageous philanthropist -- Let the lines be drawn -- Glacial solitude -- A one-idead abolitionist agitator -- The slave of principles -- Outside of any healthy political organization -- The crime against Kansas -- The vacant chair -- If Mr. Lincoln stands firm;Harvard Professor David Herbert Donald traces Sumner's life in this Pulitzer-Prize winning classic about a nation careening toward Civil War

Originally published: New York : Knopf, 1960

A natural coldness -- You were meant for Boston -- The life of life -- The Iron Curtain -- An outrageous philanthropist -- Let the lines be drawn -- Glacial solitude -- A one-idead abolitionist agitator -- The slave of principles -- Outside of any healthy political organization -- The crime against Kansas -- The vacant chair -- If Mr. Lincoln stands firm

*The Pulitzer-Prize winning classic and national bestseller returns!*

In this brilliant biography—a Pulitzer Prize—winning national bestseller—David Herbert Donald, Harvard professor emeritus, traces Sumner's life as the nation careens toward civil war. In a period when senators often exercised more influence than presidents, Senator Charles Sumner was one of the most powerful forces in the American government and remains one of the most controversial figures in American history. His uncompromising moral standards made him a lightning rod in an era fraught with conflict.

Sumner's fight to end slavery made him a hero in the North and stirred outrage in the South. In what has been called the first blow of the Civil War, he was physically attacked by a colleague on the Senate floor. Unwavering and arrogant, Sumner refused to abandon the moral high ground, even if doing so meant the onslaught of the nation's most destructive war. He used his office and influence to transform the United States during the most contentious and violent period in the nation's history.

Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War presents a remarkably different view of our bloodiest war through an insightful reevaluation of the man who stood at its center.