Bright Radical Star

“This is an important book… Political historians have examined the nature of antislavery politics and the emergence of the Republican party, as well as followed the course of the Reconstruction racial settlement. Few have combined these into a full examination of the interaction between racial attitudes, political circumstances, party development, and the emergence of demands for—and battles over—black political rights in the mid-nineteenth century.”—Joel H. Silbey, Cornell University

“A superb job… Exhaustive, convincing, and developed in a highly skilled manner… [It] demonstrates that progress in race relations is possible.”—James M. McPherson, Princeton University