Josiah Quincy’s life encompassed both the American Revolution and the Civil War. He was, as James Russel Lowell called him, “a great public character.” The first modern biography of Josiah Quincy casts light on the changing fortunes of New England’s colonial elite, the character of early nineteenth-century urban life, the history of Harvard, and the conservative contribution to the anti-slavery movement. Finally it indicates the role Federalist ideology continued to play in American life long after it had become politically discredited.