The Great Abolitionist

"""Puleo's vast knowledge of 19th-century Boston and its diffident attitude toward slavery and integration--due in no small part to textile merchants and financiers who relied on Southern cotton for their prosperity--adds tremendous value to his account of Sumner's transformation from depressed and sullen Harvard-educated lawyer to uncompromising and unrelenting civil rights champion, orator, and senator...Required reading for anyone with even a slight interest in Civil War-era U.S. history. A wonderfully written book about a true American freedom fighter."" --Kirkus (starred) ""Charles Sumner was a principled man of unshakable conviction, who fought the good, noble, and heroic fight against slavery, and he deserves to be remembered as a great statesman and one of the foremost champions of civil rights. He also deserves a compelling and wonderfully-written biography, which is what Stephen Puleo has provided."" --Eric Jay Dolin, author of Left for Dead and Black Flags, Blue Waters ""Stephen Puleo's masterful account of Charles Sumner, a prickly, conflicted paradox of an American giant, is told with verve and gusto. It's a vibrant, important story whose echoes still reverberate in our current day. A wonderful read."" --Dennis Lehane, author of Small Mercies ""A superb new biography. In prose that is perceptive and propulsive, in scenes that are powerful and dramatic, Puleo brings Sumner vividly to life. Once more, he delivers a book that will captivate the general reader and reward the serious historian, too."" --William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of The Lincoln Letter and December '41 ""Charles Sumner, a lifelong crusader for human rights, has not been the subject of a comprehensive biography for more than fifty years. Stephen Puleo fills that gap with this deeply researched and dramatic retelling of Sumner's courageous life and work."" --James M. O'Toole, University Historian and Clough Professor of History Emeritus, Boston College ""Nearly two centuries on, Charles Sumner's name still drops loudly in Boston, yet few appreciate the enormity of his impact. Stephen Puleo's The Great Abolitionist is at once a revelation and an appeal to our better angels to heed the lessons Sumner's example can teach us."" --William J. Kole, veteran journalist and author of The Big 100: The New World of Super-Aging ""Puleo's rich biographical history is a perfectly timed reminder that to survive, our union needs figures with the courage to stand for core ideals which cannot be compromised."" --Christopher C. Gorham, author of The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America"