A Short History of Reconstruction | Eric Foner | One of the most influential books in American...

A Short History of Reconstruction | Eric Foner | Solid Historical Work

books:

A Short History of...

	A Short History of Reconstruction Eric Foner, 1990 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 12 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

An abridged version of Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, the definitive study of the aftermath of the Civil War, winner of the Bancroft Prize, Avery O. Craven Prize, Los Angeles Times Book Award, Francis Parkman Prize, and Lionel Trilling Prize.

One of the most influential books in American History!

Eric Foner's "Short History" of Reconstruction has radically changed how the period is taught at the high school and university levels. Before Foner, the majority of texts treated the Reconstruction as a period of corruption and revenge against the south. (See for instance, the early editions of Thomas Bailey's "The American Pageant" for such a treatment.)

Foner successfully showed how Reconstruction was America's great revolution, and opened up debate on whether it was successful. Some reviewers here have mentioned lapses in Foner's version, including a lack of in-depth discussion of Black legislators. Foner's analysis is so important that very few (including DuBois) even made such questions before this book.

Today's historians of Reconstruction stand on Foner's shoulders to see farther than he did.

(The current editions of "The American Pageant" have been rewritten to consider Foner's contributions.)

for more information click here

Solid Historical Work

If you want to know about the country and politics after the Civil War, read Foner's book. This book opened my eyes to the ins and outs of the South after the Civil War, and all the good and bad that happened. It was another example of how government has trouble living up to its promises. JVD

Dense and slightly rushed, but satisfying, account of Reconstruction, 1865-1877

A truly fascinating time in American history, the Reconstruction era (1865-1877) is not something that enough of us are familiar enough with. Foner presents a clean account of the period leading from the closing years of the war through 1877 and the Compromise that settled the Election of 1876 that many historians regard as the end of Reconstruction, and a mark of its failure. Foner seems to make this argument, although other historians contend that Reconstruction ended in 1873 with the Colfax Massacre or with the US v. Cruikshank case.

Regardless, Foner's book is quite dense (although not nearly as bad as some other history books!) and it seems a little rushed, but the latter characteristic makes it a quick read. If you want a general idea about the era, it's a good one, but for the more serious scholar I would recommend his longer work on Reconstruction to avoid missing any key concepts that may be overlooked in this piece.

I especially commend Foner for his accurate portrayal of Johnson and the Radical Republicans. He makes neither out as saintly and rounds them out fully as historical figures with many dimensions--good and bad. He presents a clear and seemingly objective characterization of the two, as well as of other major players of the time. Although it may be criticized for its pace, one thing it cannot be criticized about is its objectivism, yet reading it slowly, one can make out Foner's clear and cogent arguments which gives the work a great amount of depth.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

products you might be interested in