Title: Massive and magisterial
Product review: This massive study of democracy's advance in the US from 1800 to 1861 is brimming with careful and original research. There are 796 pages of text, 156 pages of notes, and a detailed 96 page index. I liked that the study of each election for President and each Administration was carefully explicated in lucid prose. It is hard to see how the subject could be better explained. I thought sometimes explanations were more detailed than necessary, but I found the book masterful and very convincing in showing the pretty steady advance of democratic ideas, even though when it ends in 1861 there are still huge advances to be made in Americah democracy. .After reading this book no one with an open mind can doubt that the Confederacy came into being because the South wanted to keep slavery and the myth of the South wanting 'freedom' is thoroughly shown to be untenable.
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