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    Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America
    Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America
    Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America
    Audiobook15 hours

    Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America

    Written by Evan Carton

    Narrated by Michael Prichard

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    About this audiobook

    John Brown is a lightning rod of history. Yet he is poorly understood and most commonly described in stereotypes - as a madman, martyr, or enigma. Not until Patriotic Treason has a biography or history brought him so fully to life, in scintillating prose and moving detail, making his life and legacy-and the staggering sacrifices he made for his ideals-fascinatingly relevant to today's issues of social justice and to defining the line between activism and terrorism.

    Vividly re-creating the world in which Brown and his compatriots lived with a combination of scrupulous original research, new perspectives, and a sensitive historical imagination, Patriotic Treason narrates the dramatic life of the first U.S. citizen committed to absolute racial equality. Here are his friendships (Brown lived, worked, ate, and fought alongside African Americans, in defiance of the culture around him), his family (he turned his twenty children by two wives into a dedicated militia), and his ideals (inspired by the Declaration of Independence and the Golden Rule, he collaborated with black leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, and Harriet Tubman to overthrow slavery).

    Evan Carton captures the complex, tragic, and provocative story of Brown the committed abolitionist, Brown the tender yet demanding and often absent father and husband, and Brown the radical American patriot who attacked the American state in the name of American principles. Through new research into archives, attention to overlooked family letters, and reinterpretation of documents and events, Carton essentially reveals a missing link in American history.

    A wrenching family saga, Patriotic Treason positions John Brown at the heart of our most profound and enduring national debates. As definitions of patriotism and treason are fiercely contested, as some criticize religious extremism while others mourn religion's decline, and as race relations in America remain unresolved, John Brown's story speaks to us as never before, reminding us that one courageous individual can change the course of history.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 1, 2006
    ISBN9781400173167
    Author

    Evan Carton

    Evan Carton is a professor of English and the director of the Humanities Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has taught for the last twenty-seven years. The author of several books and numerous journal and magazine articles on American literature, culture, and politics, he lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and two daughters.

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    Reviews for Patriotic Treason

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    • 5/5
      "For Thoreau, the most spiritual corrosive life is lived by relatively privileged members of democratic societies who know in their hearts that their elected government is doing great wrong in their names, who derive personal and national benefit from that wrong, and who--out of convenience, conformity, cynicism, or dispair-- do nothing to stop or correct it." (pg 344)

      This book is an excellent launching ground for anyone wanting to start understanding John Brown, and the consequence of his actions. Written in a narrative-style, it is engaging throughout. I would rate it the the best book I read all year. I am thankful I stumbled on it.

      I have mixed emotions on John Brown, his means to achieve his goals, and his mindset. He was a very complex man, and it's difficult to render an unequivocal moral verdict on his actions. Was he simply a religious zealot? Insane? A cold blooded murderer? A saint? A patriot?

      I think in some ways he embodies all of those things. The raid at Harper Ferry may of been the tipping point for our nation, forcing the North and South to truly and completely reckon with the crime of slavery. In that sense, I think he was a success. How one judges the rightousness of his actions that brought the country there, will forever be debated.

      Mr. Carton seems to favor Brown and his actions, and he offers defense to some of his actions in Kanas. He also appears one who elevates Brown's ultimate importance in the abolitionist movement of the time.

      In the final chapter, Mr. Carton discusses how until recently, historians have basically dismissed Brown as a religious zealot. For me, Carton's book definitely takes the alternate view. I doubt the debate will ever be settled, but in the end, I am glad a brave, bold man named John Brown existed, and I think it was something that was a ticking time bomb - Mr. Brown was simply swept up in the troubled times, and was one of a few brave souls who through their relentless efforts forced America to finally confront it's greatest sin.