This lavish record of the eventful decades surrounding the Civil War explores a divided nation through the personalities of its growing and ideologically diversifying populace. Lincoln emerges as the iconic celebrity of the era’s central conflict, but the real stars are the supporting characters. Politicians, poets, slaves, slave holders, transcendentalists, Mormons, women’s suffragists, and Native American chiefs are just some of the colorful characters who run the gamut from “prolific and daring and conventional” to “spare and iron-willed” and “excessive and homegrown.” Acclaimed biographer Wineapple (White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award) gracefully choreographs a staggering number of primary sources, weaving disparate voices together into one revelatory thread. In her depiction of the bloodshed of the Civil War, she eschews “statistics defy comprehension,” focusing instead on specific scenes and personal stories that capture the magnitude of a pivotal moment before fleshing them out with analyses of contemporaneous reactions. The result reads like a series of biographies-in-miniature, a marvelous survey of both familiar and unsung American stories, contextualized and framed within one sweeping canvas. This is sure to enrich any reader’s understanding of the complicated history of Civil War–era America. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit.
This is a marvelous book. With narrative grace and surehanded scholarship, Brenda Wineapple has written a compelling account of an epochal (and too little understood) age. From the death of John Quincy Adams through the Civil War to the tragedy of Reconstruction, Wineapple tells the American story brilliantly.” — Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion
“Ecstatic Nation is historical writing of the highest order. . . . With vivid portrayals of the principals of the period, Wineapple sets out the conflicts and causes that shaped the nation. . . . An indispensable guide to the forces that created our own time.” — The Boston Globe
“Wineapple is a beautiful writer, at once lyrical and measured. . . . In providing a sense of the possibilities and tragedies or the era, of its passions and disappointments, Wineapple has given us a memorable book.” — The Christian Science Monitor
“Brenda Wineapple portrays the years of sectional conflict, Civil War, and Reconstruction on a broad canvas that has room for Emily Dickinson and Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis and Walt Whitman. Blending cultural and political history, Ecstatic Nation offers new perspectives on this transformative era.” — James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
“Ecstatic Nation is a brilliant portrait of American society in the mid-nineteenth century. . . . Wineapple’s deep research, deft character studies, and rich and nuanced storytelling bring this transformative period alive. A must-read for all lovers of American history.” — Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello
“There are good storytellers and there are good historians. Brenda Wineapple is both. Beautifully written and grounded in a prodigious mastery of the material, there is no other book like it. Seasoned scholars will be impressed. Interested readers will be riveted.” — James Oakes, author of Freedom National
“A marvelous survey of both familiar and unsung American stories, contextualized and framed within one sweeping canvas. Sure to enrich any reader’s understanding of the complicated history of Civil War-era America.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review, "Review of the Week"
“A wonderful, unconventional narrative history, laced with finely-grained sketches of fascinating, conflicted people and harrowing events. Wineapple delivers for even the most avid readers about this era a series of surprises. This is the art of history informed by learning and written with style.” — David Blight, author of American Oracle
“A masterful, sweeping synthesis of a transformative time. . . . In Ecstatic Nation , Wineapple offers a beautifully written and skillfully woven narrative that anyone interested in American history should enjoy.” — BookPage
“A remarkable, mesmerizing book. . . . For many of us, the years before and after the Civil War have seemed hollow and empty, presided over by dreary, cowardly men. No longer, thanks to this book’s impeccable scholarship, vivid characterizations, and masterful storytelling.” — Robert K. Massie, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Catherine the Great
“A splendidly lyrical portrait of the decades that encompass both the Civil War and Reconstruction. . . . Beautifully written, artfully constructed, and passionately argued on every page, Ecstatic Nation stands forth as a model of narrative history.” — Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Washington: A Life
“Entertaining.” — Elle
“A rich, beautifully told chronicle of American politics and society between 1848 and 1877.” — Judith Thurman, newyorker.com
“Wineapple’s history creatively quavers with the tensions of the transformative times.” — Booklist
“A splendid new history of the Civil War period. . . . Wineapple brings alive the vibrant, imperfect people behind the issues. . . . A masterly, deeply moving record of a crucial period in American history.” — David S. Reynolds, The New York Times Book Review
“Ecstatic Nation powerfully portrays life in the decades surrounding the Civil War, connecting history with modern-day debate. . . . A fresh and riveting account of America at war with itself. . . . Wide in scope and deep in detail.” — The Los Angeles Times
“Wineapple takes up the narrative of 50 years of turbulent American history. . . . A compelling narrative that will enlighten readers new to the material and thoroughly entertain those familiar with it. History on the grand scale, orchestrated by a virtuoso.” — Kirkus (starred review)
“Extremely satisfying. . . . The narrative of Ecstatic Nation , so irresistible and perfectly-orchestrated, catches dozens of wonderful portraits in its net. . . . A triumph.” — Open Letters Monthly
“Ecstatic Nation is varied, original and engaging from cover to cover. All in all, this is a magnificent read for history lovers.” — Daniel Walker Howe, The Wall Street Journal
“The most ambitious and thrilling new book I read this year. . . . A complex, densely peopled and relentlessly gripping political, cultural, and military history of America from the build-up to the Civil War to the crumbling of Reconstruction in its aftermath. . . . Magnificent.” — Geoff Dyer, The Guardian 's Best Books of the Year
“For readers seeking a beautifully written, overall survey of mid-19th century America that leaves no major theme or character out, Wineapple’s account gets the highest recommendation.” — The Washington Times
There are good storytellers and there are good historians. Brenda Wineapple is both. Beautifully written and grounded in a prodigious mastery of the material, there is no other book like it. Seasoned scholars will be impressed. Interested readers will be riveted.
A masterful, sweeping synthesis of a transformative time. . . . In Ecstatic Nation , Wineapple offers a beautifully written and skillfully woven narrative that anyone interested in American history should enjoy.
Ecstatic Nation is a brilliant portrait of American society in the mid-nineteenth century. . . . Wineapple’s deep research, deft character studies, and rich and nuanced storytelling bring this transformative period alive. A must-read for all lovers of American history.
A remarkable, mesmerizing book. . . . For many of us, the years before and after the Civil War have seemed hollow and empty, presided over by dreary, cowardly men. No longer, thanks to this book’s impeccable scholarship, vivid characterizations, and masterful storytelling.
This is a marvelous book. With narrative grace and surehanded scholarship, Brenda Wineapple has written a compelling account of an epochal (and too little understood) age. From the death of John Quincy Adams through the Civil War to the tragedy of Reconstruction, Wineapple tells the American story brilliantly.
Ecstatic Nation is historical writing of the highest order. . . . With vivid portrayals of the principals of the period, Wineapple sets out the conflicts and causes that shaped the nation. . . . An indispensable guide to the forces that created our own time.
Wineapple is a beautiful writer, at once lyrical and measured. . . . In providing a sense of the possibilities and tragedies or the era, of its passions and disappointments, Wineapple has given us a memorable book.
The Christian Science Monitor
A wonderful, unconventional narrative history, laced with finely-grained sketches of fascinating, conflicted people and harrowing events. Wineapple delivers for even the most avid readers about this era a series of surprises. This is the art of history informed by learning and written with style.
Brenda Wineapple portrays the years of sectional conflict, Civil War, and Reconstruction on a broad canvas that has room for Emily Dickinson and Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis and Walt Whitman. Blending cultural and political history, Ecstatic Nation offers new perspectives on this transformative era.
For readers seeking a beautifully written, overall survey of mid-19th century America that leaves no major theme or character out, Wineapple’s account gets the highest recommendation.
A splendidly lyrical portrait of the decades that encompass both the Civil War and Reconstruction. . . . Beautifully written, artfully constructed, and passionately argued on every page, Ecstatic Nation stands forth as a model of narrative history.
Wineapple’s history creatively quavers with the tensions of the transformative times.
Entertaining.
A splendid new history of the Civil War period. . . . Wineapple brings alive the vibrant, imperfect people behind the issues. . . . A masterly, deeply moving record of a crucial period in American history.
Extremely satisfying. . . . The narrative of Ecstatic Nation , so irresistible and perfectly-orchestrated, catches dozens of wonderful portraits in its net. . . . A triumph.
Ecstatic Nation powerfully portrays life in the decades surrounding the Civil War, connecting history with modern-day debate. . . . A fresh and riveting account of America at war with itself. . . . Wide in scope and deep in detail.
The most ambitious and thrilling new book I read this year. . . . A complex, densely peopled and relentlessly gripping political, cultural, and military history of America from the build-up to the Civil War to the crumbling of Reconstruction in its aftermath. . . . Magnificent.
A rich, beautifully told chronicle of American politics and society between 1848 and 1877.
Ecstatic Nation is varied, original and engaging from cover to cover. All in all, this is a magnificent read for history lovers.
Ecstatic Nation powerfully portrays life in the decades surrounding the Civil War, connecting history with modern-day debate. . . . A fresh and riveting account of America at war with itself. . . . Wide in scope and deep in detail.
Wineapple’s history creatively quavers with the tensions of the transformative times.
Wineapple (Leon Levy Ctr. for Biography, CUNY Graduate Sch.; Hawthorne: A Life) paints a broad canvas of 19th-century American ideas, identities, and interests to show how compromise and common concerns fractured over slavery and other issues. Her book reveals more conceit than confidence and more confrontation than compromise by following the lives of a host of strong-minded and strong-willed men, and several women, contending for power in politics, letters, and society. Through them, Wineapple shows how private concerns became public controversies and the ways in which ideas about honor and duty informed—and then were shattered by—warmaking. She offers no new interpretive directions, but she does bring the age to life, especially through the eyes of writers. In extending her study westward, Wineapple shows an America on the make and on the move, shifting the national narrative from "the war" alone to one of the complications and contradictions of expanding freedom by conquest. Her powerful prose takes the pulse of a nation unmaking and remaking. VERDICT Readers looking for a reliable, readable, and riveting story of the people and process of Wineapple's chosen era will find this title well worth the ride.—Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
★ 2013-09-01White Heat: The Friendship of Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson , 2008) begins with a bang: the death of John Quincy Adams on the House floor, after decades of fighting to end slavery. From there, she takes up the narrative of some 50 years of turbulent American history, full of grand schemes, bitter conflicts, brilliant characters and unforgettable stories. Among the plotlines are the effort by Southern slaveholders to find new territories to expand into, so as to preserve the balance between slave and free states in the Senate; the abolitionists' appeal to higher laws; the rise of transcendentalism, spiritualism and other quasi-religious philosophies; and the settlement of the West. It would be hard for a master novelist to top the cast of characters, who run the gamut from politicians to writers, soldiers, ministers, nurses, journalists and outright frauds. Wineapple covers the grand sweep of history, from the run-up to secession and the war itself to the Reconstruction era and its ultimate betrayal. Secondary plots abound, from plans to annex Cuba to the Indian Wars. Throw in all the quips, slogans, insults and grand sentiments of an age when educated men and women prided themselves on their eloquence, and you've got the recipe for a wonderful saga. Wineapple gives all the major players a turn in the spotlight and, in the case of the true giants of the era, Abraham Lincoln especially, their full due. The author effectively draws in all the currents of the time, from popular culture and polemical journalism to the grand literary monuments. Best of all, she brings it together in a compelling narrative that will enlighten readers new to the material and thoroughly entertain those familiar with it. History on the grand scale, orchestrated by a virtuoso.
