John Brown

This concise but formidable study further reveals the John Brown hidden for generations under dense layers of scholarly rhetoric and prejudice. Hackneyed characterizations are debunked, from Brown's failed businesses to his activities in Kansas and Virginia. There is also much that is new here: the real Nelson Hawkins; the decline of the Douglass- Brown friendship; evidence that the slaves were quite ready and willing to support Brown at Harper's Ferry. Rare illustrations add to the revelations in this book. Here is cutting edge research that overturns many conventional assumptions about John Brown-- abolitionist.