North Carolina Books

I have read quite a lot on the Civil War and the events leading up to it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the period. It is a a history of the Northern polical crisis from the time of the election in 1860 to the firing on Sumter. It is completely from the Northern perspective, the South perspective is completely ignored (it was about 4/5 through the book before the election of J. Davis is mentioned). With that in mind, the story that comes to life in this book is fascinating. This is a period that tends to be glossed over by most histories. The author does a phenominal job at putting the reader in the mindset of the times as the crisis evolved. I learned quite a few new things and enjoyed it.

The normal historical point of view for November 1860 to April 1861 is Southern. Lincoln and the efforts to find a comprise are noted but the main story is what the South is doing. This book changes that by concentrating on Northern politics and reactions. Secession and all the maneuvering for and against it, take place off stage. Except for South Carolina, leaving the Union was a wrenching process. Many Southern states resisted secession until the very end. Kentucky was not able to make a choice and Maryland may not have been able to choose. Their stories are the subject of most histories about this period.
What about the North? How did the political, personal and public opinion shape a response to the crisis? This book tells that story and what a story it is. The Democrats, badly damaged by the events 1860, try to blame everything on the Republicans. While they work to construct a comprise to save the Union one more time. The Republicans are not united nor are they sure how to proceed. A substantial part of the party sides with the Democrats in trying to find a comprise. Another large faction is ready to allow the South to leave the Union. Large numbers feel that secession is wrong but that the Federal government lacks the authority to force states back into the Union. Many question if it is desirable to use force to maintain the Union and if doing so would not destroy the Union. Added is the plea of Southern Unionists for something to stop secession.
Lincoln, Douglas, Seward stride across these pages. Each man with multiple agendas that create and destroy alliances. Each man trying to lead his political party, maintain the Union and do what he feels is best for the nation. Shifting priorities, new developments, regional pride and abrupt changes of position make this a rollercoaster ride even if we know the story.
Russell McClintock is an excellent author. He tells this story in a straightforward manner with minimum back tracking. This allows each event to be placed in the proper perspective of the time and almost makes the reader forget we know the story. While moving from Washington to Springfield to New York, we never lose the story line nor the reason for the trip.
The decisions made during this time were difficult ones. The issues were complex and the correct response unclear. This book captures that and explains it to the reader in an informative and enjoyable way.

McClintock's first historical non-fiction fully engages the reader in the politics and personalities that defined the most important four months in the history of the United States, the months between Lincoln's election and the firing on Fort Sumter. Although clear that the ultimate decision for the war lied with Lincoln, McClintock provides insight into the significance of other key players, from Democratic leader Stephen Douglas to Republican party leader William Seward. However, more than just a politcal history, letters and quotes from common townspeople provide a complete view of the perceptions of the time. As an avid reader of history, I can safely say that this work combines the detail of Shelby Foote with the adventure of David McCullough. Bravo McClintock!

Whether you are a dedicated medieval scholar or merely have a layman's interest in the area, there is much insight to be gleaned from this highly expository and very readable treatise.
Ever wonder what all that symbolism meant in thousand year old Christian art? Or how it related to those who created and heard the oral histories of the time? This fascinating book ties together explorations of language, medieval history, religious mythology and physical as well as spiritual pilgrimage, and their impact on modern understanding of this turbulent period.

Tom Spaccarelli was one of my professors at the University of the South (Sewanee TN). He was a major influence as a teacher -- fanning the flames of my passion for Medieval and Renaissance literature -- and has remained a major influence as a friend. I hear his voice on every page of this book. But for those who don't know him, I'll let him introduce the work himself (from Chapter I, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS). "The codex traditionally known as Ms. h.I.13 of El Escorial, which I have named the *Libro de los huespedes,* has generally been edited by medievalists as nine separate works ... "This now traditional fragmentation of the codex has resulted in our failure to perceive that the book was compiled and comprehended in its own time as a unified work. Modern editions of the separate chapters, produced in the tradition of scholarly concepts such as source texts, regularization of language, literary genres, the primacy of the relationship author/work, etc., have diminished our ability to comprehend the unique and unified nature of the LH, thereby distorting our knowledge and appreciation of the canon of medieval Spanish literature. I intend to show in this study that the LH is a text intimately related to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and to various religious, literary, and artistic traditions associated with it. To restore the integrity of this text, I believe, is also to provide a more historically accurate view of medieval Spanish culture and of the concerns and issues that fired the enthusiasm of medieval people."

Tom Spaccarelli was one of my professors at the University of the South (Sewanee TN). He was a major influence as a teacher -- fanning the flames of my passion for Medieval and Renaissance literature -- and has remained a major influence as a friend. I hear his voice on every page of this book. But for those who don't know him, I'll let him introduce the work himself (from Chapter I, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS). "The codex traditionally known as Ms. h.I.13 of El Escorial, which I have named the *Libro de los huespedes,* has generally been edited by medievalists as nine separate works ... "This now traditional fragmentation of the codex has resulted in our failure to perceive that the book was compiled and comprehended in its own time as a unified work. Modern editions of the separate chapters, produced in the tradition of scholarly concepts such as source texts, regularization of language, literary genres, the primacy of the relationship author/work, etc., have diminished our ability to comprehend the unique and unified nature of the LH, thereby distorting our knowledge and appreciation of the canon of medieval Spanish literature. I intend to show in this study that the LH is a text intimately related to the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and to various religious, literary, and artistic traditions associated with it. To restore the integrity of this text, I believe, is also to provide a more historically accurate view of medieval Spanish culture and of the concerns and issues that fired the enthusiasm of medieval people."

Historians and musicologists have contributed very little to the heritage of military music in America. Professor Raoul Camus in his work Military Music of the American Revolution has traced the development of early American military, which was patterned after the British drum calls and drill manuals. The book is a virtual encyclopaedia of interesting facts and examples.
Dr. Raoul Camus is professor emeritus of music at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York and director emeritus of the Queens Symphonic Band, a community organization. He earned his Ph.D. in music administration from New York University, and spent a number of years teaching instrumental music in secondary schools. Prior to teaching, he managed a major music-publishing firm, and performed professionally on the french horn. For many years he was director of New York's famed 42d (Rainbow) Division Band, and is a retired army reserve bandmaster.
A past president of the Sonneck Society for American Music, he is active in many band organizations, including the College Band Directors National Association, the Association of Concert Bands, the International Military Music Society, the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, and Windjammers Unlimited.
In his book Professor Camus describes how the Continental Army had bands from it's inception The bands in early America had drummers and fifers who played signals to keep garrison activities on time and signalled the troops in battle. Brisk marches and quicksteps kept soldiers moving together in cadence and specific drum beats or tunes were used to send messages to all the troops within earshot. These musicians were referred to as the "field music," never as a band or band of music. Most of the time, they played alone or in pairs for their own companies. For special reviews or ceremonies, all the drummers and fifers would practice the same music and play together. Drummers and fifers were paid by the army and performed other military duties as well as playing their instruments. They were soldiers first, then musicians.
Much later Bands of music, on the other hand, were professional musicians who agreed to become part of an army although they were not expected to carry guns or participate in battle. The officers of the regiment supplied their pay, uniforms, instruments, and music privately. They supplied music when and where the officers wanted them to play, usually for ceremonies in which the troops were massed for review and for private parties and dances at which the officers of the regiment associated with the local citizens.

Professor Camus has researched the historical progress of military music from the European and |British Traditions and the impact that the "Red Coats" had on American music. The book has numerous illustrations and re-introduced extant musical examples. Another highlight of the book is his closely aligning the major battles of the American Revolution with military music. In chapter 3 he lists the Preparations For War, the Siege of Boston and the Continental Army of 1776 and 1777.
The role of military music is shown in the Surrender of Charleston, the Arrival of Rochambeau and the world turned upside down at Yorktown. His scholarly treatment of the bands of music and the appendix are an excellent historical resource for further study in this art form. One of the musical examples is the famous Rogues march which is no longer employed but is historically priceless, The Grenadiers march which also is featured as an example is amazingly still in use today by military bands and may be heard every day during the summer months in Ottawa Canada for the Guard Changing on Parliament hill by the Ceremonial Guards band.
The book, which was originally published in 1975, is available from Amazon or .No school or historical society should be without this book it is a historical testament to America's past.

This relatively short book contains many fascinating details about military music in the 1700s. The author provides a background of martial music during the Revolutionary War period showing the development of bands and music in this period. The book probably should have spent more time on the British, German and French military bands of the day as these were far more advanced than anything in Washington's army.

Military music was certainly in its infancy during this time. The standard regimental band was little more than eight wind instruments usually composed of the following: 2 Bassoons, 2 Clarinettes, 2 French Horns and 2 Hautbois or Hautboys (oboes). This chamber music certainly could not have done much on the battlefield, nor was it intended to for that matter. Officers supported these bands as they were not supported by their respective governments. Regiments and their officers tended to regard these ensembles as their private musical resource. They were often employed for internal purposes, and for the growing amount of military ceremonial of the period.

American music of the Revolutionary is usually associated with Fife & drum. Indeed this was the standard Field Music that accompanied soldiers onto the battlefield. This classic combination remains with us today in various guises, but in its basic form was without base drums or cymbals.

The author spends a lot of time discussing the actaul army calls that Von Stueben put together or adapted at Vally Forge in 1777. Again, much of this is conjecture, and is aimed more at the music student because of its technical content. The author does include a lot of useful printed music which would be useful for re-enactors and those interested in re-creating this music.

There is a distinction to be made between the purposes of Harmoniemusik, or wind band of the period, and Field Music. Both served different purposes and rarely if ever played together. Field music musicians were virtually soldiers in that their duties could take them into the firing line during battle. This was not the case with Harmoniemusik. American bands were small in number compared to their European rivals, but they did exist. The author points to three ensembles in some detail, and mentions the creation of a central instructor of music, an important development for sure. Still, the predomiant influences were undoubtedly from the British and German bands which were much more fully developed and which left their mark where ever they went. Americans eagerly sought desertions from these bands to fill out their own scanty musical resources.

The advent of the French in the latter part of the war gives rise to the Turkish or Janiassry music which had become all the rage in Europe at that time. French bands probably incorporated this new perceussion influence more than the British bands in North America since their duties in the war cut them off from musical developments on the Continent. These French bands had probably close to a dozen players or more and were dazzling to all who heard them. Not surprising that French military music influences would leave their mark on later US bands. The USMA band at West Point when combined with the famous Hellcats drums & Bugle corps presents a distinctly French sound in their music. Although most Americans would not know this fact! British influences are also there today in many of the army's bugle calls.

Military music certainly developed during the American Revolution, which would set the tone for the larger bands of the Napoleanic period and the 19th century. Still, these early ensembles are compelling in their elegant simplicity, and show how the military band has evolved over the years. The author also provides a nice summation of the course of the Revolutionary conflict, as well as a complete appendix listing which British regiments in North America had bands. A fascinating look at an interesting topic. Well worth reading. Hopefully this work can be reprinted and expanded since its first edition some years ago.

This wonderful book contains tons of useful and interesting information if you are at all interested in 18th century military music. It can be a bit of a dry read, but if you are doing any kind of research for period fifing and drumming, you must read this...

Woodard writes about the relationship of black power, black cultural arts, and the black nationalist movement with LeRoi Jones, later Amiri Baraka, one of its main supporters. ... He concludes that Black America requires an ideological and political arsenal of both nationalism and Marxism. But at no time can the emphasis be purely Marxist or nationalist without doing damage to the black community. In other words, sectarianism is the enemy of black liberation and the fight for equality. This is a must read for all interested in politics and race in the U.S. Recommended for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. -- P. Barton-Kriese, Indiana University East, Choice July/August 1999

Professor Peniel Joseph writes that, "Historian Komozi Woodard's `A Nation Within A Nation' ... stands out as the most important book to be written about the Black Power Movement. `A Nation Within A Nation' is really several books rolled into one. First, it is a well-researched and painstakingly detailed case study of the dramatic consequences of Black Power politics on [the] racial and political dynamics of Newark, New Jersey during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Second, it is a political biography that underscores the significance of Amiri Baraka to the Black Power Movement's rise and eventual decline in American politics. Third, the book explores the transformation of black cultural nationalism during the Black Power era and Baraka's pivotal role in contemporizing black nationalism as an expressive political and cultural vehicle. Finally, it's a study of the divese and complex matrix that produced black political thought and practice during the period; a historical interrogation of the national and international implications of radical anti-colonial discourses that undergirded Black Power politics."

According to Publishers Weekly, "Woodard examines the role of poet Amiri Baraka's `cultural politics' on Black Power and black nationalism in the 1960s. After a brief overview of the evolution of black nationalism since slavery, he focuses on activities in Northeastern urban centers (Baraka's milieus were Newark, NJ, and, to a lesser extent, New York City). Taking issue with scholars who see cultural nationalism as self-destructive, Woodard finds it "fundamental to the endurance of the Black Revolt from the 1960s into the 1970s." California Senator Tom Hayden, says: "The fascinating story of a struggle that nearly succeeded in creating self-determination in the urban ghetto" And, in Professor Robin D.G. Kelley's assessment, the book "will be one of the most important studies of black urban politics and culture in the postwar period." As far as Professor Michael B. Katz is concerned, it "breaks new ground and revises standard interpretations of the era. I am particularly impressed with the way he has connected political mobilization to movements in the arts, literature, and intellectual life, on the one hand, and to the restructuring of American life, on the other. It's a hardheaded, unflinching analysis, and he tells it well and with great feeling." Finally, Professor John Dittmer found it "Balanced and moving." "It should be required reading ... for all citizens who care about the problems of race and class in urban America. ... quite simply, one of the most important books we have on the black urban experience in the twentieth century ... by one of the leading scholars of the African American experience in this country." The book concludes that there have been five distinct phases in the history of black nationality formation in the U.S. The first phase was the ethnogenesis of African Americans during slavery; that established the social and cultural foundations of Black America. The second was the black nationalism that flowered before the Civil War among free Blacks in the urban North. A third phase resulted from the failure of the Civil War and Reconstruction to guarantee full citizenship for African Americans; under racial oppression and Jim Crow segregation, a subject nation developed in the Black Belt areas of the South. The most vivid example of that phase of nationality formation was the great Kansas Exodus. The fourth phase of black nationality formation resulted from the Great Migration of perhaps 1.5 million African Americans and from the development of large, compact, black concentrations in the ghettos of America; the flowering of that nationalism is seen in the Garvey Movement of the 1920s. And finally, a fifth stage of nationality formation ensued from the migration of 4 million Black Americans form the South between 1940 and 1970 and the development of dozens of "second ghettos," that generated hundreds of urban uprisings during the 1960s; that sense of modern nationality was heralded by the Black Power movement and the politics of Black cultural nationalism.

I checked this book out of the Cashiers, North Carolina Library and spent a week browsing it. It has many fascinating color plates of North Carolina's historical quilts. There is an early embroidered farm scene quilt that is particularly spectacular and worthy of reproduction. There are also many black and white vintage photos of North Carolina's quilters in period dress. I spent almost as much time looking at the vintage clothing photographs and the names of the women as I did the photos of the quilts. This is not a "how to quilt" book, but I think the photos and historical information in this volume would be beneficial to anyone interested in primary source research in vintage clothing and quilts of southern origin.

north carolina quilts have a distinctive character. you will see quilts unlike any others, many of them beautiful, all of them interesting. there is a good sized section devoted to chintz applique quilts (also known as broderie perse in other states) with several examples i have not seen in other quilts books. there are pieced quilts unlike most i have seen, and some appliqued and pieced and appliqued quilts that are simply stunning. an added bonus is the number of quilts post-1920 that are included. some of these quilts are stunningly quilted, and this can be seen clearly in most of the photos.

the photo quality of the quilts is good, with occasional detailed photos. there are also photos of many of the quilters who made these wonderful textiles, their families and their homes. there are exerpts from letters and diaries.

the text is very well written and well researched, and stays on the subject. the section dealing with north carolina's history is short and deals mainly with the stages of the textile industry.

any quilter, and especially any applique-er, looking for traditional or historical inspiration will find many singular or little known designs.

defnintely recommened.

This book has wonderful photographs of North Carolina quilts, terrific documentation of quilts and their makers, and good historical context.

The photos are great, but the stories of the quilters are really compelling. One touching story describes Rutha Ann Stiles, a lovely young woman who was born without hands. There is a photo of a very serviceable crazy quilt she made with her feet, for a favorite niece. On the quilt, she embroidered a hand. Her quilt is a monument to determination and love.

This book is filled with beautiful quilts and amazing stories. If you love antique quilts, you need this on your bookshelf.

Daniel Richter, in this astonishing book, does an excellent job explaining social, political and economical aspects of the Iroquois people with strong evidence. This book is a resutl of a big reserach and Richter's dedication to the subject. I would recommend this book not only to students who need to take Native American History, but also to anyone who is interested in learning about the Iroquoi's life and their impacts on the French, the England, and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries. Even though i am not a native speaker, i really enjoyed reading this book because of Richter's plain English.

I've found this book to be both insightful and easy to understand. Though this is a well researched and referenced academic text it is accessible to the average reader, assuming an interest in the subject matter.

The Iroquois were a centerpiece of North American colonial life and I would highly suggest this book for those interested in History or Anthropology, as Dr. Richter takes broad approach to his analysis and documents cultural practices and history of interest to many disciplines.

The Ordeal of the Longhouse is an excellent start to gaining an understanding of how the Iroquois were affected by the onset of Europeans in their territory. This book does an excellent job of looking at Iroquoian culture and how it developed both before and after Europeans arrived. Europeans changed the cultures of all groups that they interacted with as each took on some of the characteristics of the other and the Iroquois were not exception. Richter takes great detail to play out the various council negotiations and treaty discussions that led to the formation of the five nations council in the view of the Europeans and how this affected diplomacy in the new world. The British, Dutch and French all were forced to deal with the five nations and having a book that so expertly captures their negotiations is wonderful. This is an essential study for anyone who wishes to understand colonial history. While newer books have been coming out on the subject this still remains the gold standard and one of the excellent studies on the Iroquois. A great addition to any colonial or native American historians library.

We love to cook and always look to add to our collection of cookbooks. Our local coffee shop (Duck Cottage) had this on display along with on authors signing scheduled. We have already made five recipes and love them all. Highly recommend this book for local tales and flavor.

For those of you who collect cookbooks from vacation places visited, to those of you who want to remember local folklore and history of the people of the Outer Banks area, this is the book for you. Combining recipes from "old" families whose names go on for generations and new arrivals to stories of Blackbeard and lighthouses, this book captures the aura of the Outer Banks. Not just for cooks, it's an historical volume as well.

this is a great book. It is like living and eating on the islands. I have longed to go back there, but this is as close as you can get without being there.

This is one in a series of 5 books written by the author. Each book is a great companion to a wonderful vacation and a great way to get to know the area and it's colorful history. This is a wonderful way to feel as if you are at the Outer Banks year round.

Charles H. Whedbee has an obvious love for the Outer Banks of North Carolina and a strong reverence for the many legends that have arisen there. His strong feelings for the area come through strongly in his work and make reading this book a delight.

This is, as the title suggests, a collection of folklore from the Outer Banks. This is not a book of ghost stories and it never pretends to be. There are ghost stories to be found in this book and they are well told and documented but for the most part they are well-worn stories like the Maco light and the gray man. If you are looking for a book of Outer Banks ghost stories this book will be a disappointment, but as I stated before, this book never purports to be a ghost story book. I have picked up many books that advertise themselves as ghost books only to find that they mostly contain folklore. That tactic really bugs me but when a book is sold as folklore, and it contains good stories like this book does I find that I really enjoy the read.

While reading this book you will be introduced to legends that run the gambit from Indian folklore, to witches and warlocks, to an old live oak filled with rum. You will also find out the story behind the little orange-yellow flowers that are so prevalent on the islands and the ceremonial Christmas drum that saw action at the battle of Culloden. You will even learn where to go to listen for the haunting song of the Queen of the Sounds.

The Outer Banks have always been isolated and have developed a culture that is unique. Before you make a trip to this beautiful area you will want to read this book. It will give you some ideas as to things you might want to see as well as some things you might want to avoid. Best of all though, it will give you a feel for and an understanding of the people of the Outer Banks and their traditions. I assure you that reading this book will add a great deal of body to your Outer Banks vacation.

What a wonderful book in the 5 book series on Outer Banks legends and lore by Charles H. Whedbee. To read this book is to go back in time to days of pirates, and of people made of iron. This is a book well worth reading!

In "The Paradox of Tarheel Politics", veteran reporter Rob Christensen, of the Raleigh News and Observer, provides a stellar addition to the pantheon of North Carolina political works.

This book is a must read for any politician, journalist, activist, observer or just plain interested party. Christensen deserves a medal for making the subject matter approachable to the layman. As an historical work, the book ranks among the most active and engaging stories in recent memory.

Perhaps a testament to the editors Christensen has had in his career, the prose is engaging and full of energy. There is hardly a weak spot in the entire book. Whether the reader is on vacation with hours on end or a casual nighttime bookworm reading a few pages a night, "The Paradox of Tarheel Politics" is sure to capture and hold their attention.

Read the full review at my personal website, or via this link:

[...]
Jeffrey Sykes
www.jeffreysykes.com

The most complete account of North Carolina political history I've ever found in one book. All the major players for the past century are here with lots of great stories. A great read.

The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics: The Personalities, Elections, and Events That Shaped Modern North CarolinaThis is a wonderful read by one of the best newspaper reporters in the State. I would highly recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in the history of modern day politics in North Carolina.

O. Max Gardner III

Following the 2004 elections, citizens of the U.S. learned that they were less United than they had previously thought. It turned out that there were two countries in the space formerly called America, one red and one blue. The strange thing was that the citizens of each color-coded country believed that the people in the other part of the map were actively working against their own interests. Blue-staters saw red-staters as voting for rich people who exploit them, and red-staters believed blue-staters to be recklessly building up a wasteful government.

I live in a blue state (Canada), and so I was naturally curious to find out what the red-staters were all about. I bought and read Thomas Frank's blockbuster What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, which turned out to be a kind of character study of the type of person who votes Republican. The analysis is interesting, but rather superficial -- the conclusion was that a lot of working class people vote based on what the media like to call "moral values", which is a felt need to be patriotic, god-fearing, independent, etc. They're drawn to candidates who have personalities that seem to exemplify such values, even when their actions don't. Reagan is the canonical example.

(Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a similar analysis of blue-staters. Every attempt I've seen is almost comically inflammatory and patently wrong. I realize it makes no sense to expect thoughtful insight from the likes of Coulter/D'Souza/O'Reilly, but I haven't seen much else. I also realize that the problem of summarizing the shared political outlook of 100 million people in 200 pages is formidable, but Frank actually makes it seem doable).

What's great about The Party of Fear is that David Bennett traces the origins of this brand of reactionary thinking to the beginnings of the U.S. It turns out that the kind of anxieties expressed by the folks in Frank's book have been part of the American political landscape for centuries. In all likelihood they typify a sort of personality trait that can be summarized most succinctly as pathological fear of uncertainty. Hence the recent rightward lurch in American politics can be attributed to renewed fears of terrorism, just as previous political movements were sparked by fear of immigrants, Catholics, Irish, etc. As Bennett points, in each case there really was a legitimate reason to be afraid (e.g. immigrants actually were more likely to carry certain diseases), but in each case the reaction of a certain segment of the population was exaggerated in its magnitude and irrational in its substance. The appeal of the current "War on Terrorism" is just the latest example. Yes, terrorism is a threat. No, it does not help to attack random countries or to set up secret prisons.

I'm not sure whether or not it's comforting to learn that paranoia has always been a driving force in American politics. On the one hand, as Party of Fear documents, its influence waxes and wanes from decade to decade. On the other hand, it is totally irrational, surprisingly pervasive, and neither of these aspects is likely to change.

For further information on the same subject I can recommend the more scholarly The Politics of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism America and the really outstanding Anti-Intellectualism in American Life.

According to historian David Bennett, the parties of fear took many forms, from the anti-Masonic parties of the 1790s to the Know-Nothings of the 1850s. The American Protective Associations of the 1890s subscribed to nativist formulas, as did the acolytes of the Red Scares after World War I. The Ku Klux Klan became an archetype of anti-alienism during the raucous 1920s. A different sort of nativist ideology emerged after the fall of the Klan, in the form of McCarthyism, the John Birch Society, and the New Right of the 1970s and 1980s. Bennett finds common threads in all of these movements and organizations. Subscribers to the ideologies of hate believed in an America resembling a Garden of Eden, a perfect paradise that promised "freedom, opportunity, individualism, equality for all true Americans." Aliens, outsiders who spoke strange languages, practiced inferior religions, and looked different represented a threat to this concept of an edenic America. Nativists abhorred the foreigners' presence, and they were willing to abandon the very principles they cherished in the fight to preserve their country. Moreover, rising to the endless challenges presented by waves of immigrants and foreign ideas allowed these super patriots to find shelter from status anxiety by banding together with like-minded people.

The history of nativism from the inception of the United States to the 1930s oscillated between anti-Masonic, anti-Catholic, and anti-communist sentiments. Concerns about Freemasonry welded with suspicions of Illuminism offered a hope for Federalists who wished to regain their waning influence in the 1790s. The early anti-communist attacks occurred shortly after the First World War with the Palmer Raids. By far the most important fuel for nativist fires during this period was the Catholics. Hatred of "Romanists" and "Papists" first surfaced during the colonial era when religious animosities between England and Spain traveled across the Atlantic to America. By the middle of the eighteenth century, anti-Catholic attacks by Protestants reached a fever pitch as Irish immigration into the country soared to undreamt of heights. The secret societies of the 1830s fought pitched battles with recently arrived men of Eire in the streets of eastern cities. These gangs eventually coalesced into the Know-Nothings of the 1850s, a third party that gained success in local and state elections on a platform filled with anti-Catholicism. The disintegration of this party due to divisions over slavery, and the subsequent Civil War, briefly quieted nativism. The American Protective Associations of the late eighteenth century and the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s marked the high water of anti-Catholic attacks.

When the United States failed to fall prey to the Vatican, anti-alienists moved on to other lucrative ventures. They also, according to Bennett, shifted their fears from foreigners to foreign ideas. The old nativism declined due to a number of factors. Immigration slowed thanks to the national quota acts of 1924, cosmopolitanism triumphed, and the economic policies of the Roosevelt administration greatly alleviated the old fears traditionally transferred to immigrants. Additionally playing a part were the rise of corporate ethics, which placed an emphasis on performance over ethnicity, and academics such as Franz Boas who eroded the old concepts of Social Darwinism and racial superiority. From the 1930s on, those movements that still insisted on blaming foreigners for the ills of the country moved further and further to the fringes of the right. The "mainstream" parties of fear attacked communism with a zeal reminiscent of the old anti-Romanist fanatics, but it was an "inverted" nativism led by Catholics like Father Coughlin and Joseph McCarthy who launched salvos against a Protestant elite perceived as soft on Moscow.

Bennett's book resembles in no small way Seymour Lipset's and Earl Raab's "The Politics of Unreason." Both studies recognized fear and anxiety over status as motivating factors of American nativism. Bennett does a better job in his book, however, because he examines the myriad factors that inspired anti-alienism. For example, chapters describing the rise of the secret societies and the Know-Nothings also describe the host of ills caused by a flood of Irish immigrants. Crime rates and public expenditures exploded in eastern cities unequipped to handle the huge influx of uneducated foreigners unfamiliar with the American system. Moreover, citizens worried about immigrants driving down wages, diseases, and the swelling size of the cities where the Irish stayed after arriving in the country. By showing the very real circumstances behind the rise of anti-Catholic, anti-Irish attitudes, the author allows nativist attitudes to assume context.

Factual errors are not as troubling as the author's occasional forays into psychohistorical speculation. For example, after a lengthy section detailing the popularity of anti-Catholic books describing the sexual debasement of women, Bennett begins using the words "might" and "could have" more times than is comfortable. To explain the lure of these degrading tracts, he cites "psychoanalytic literature" that "suggests an inextricable alliance between sadism and masochism. Both seem to represent means of defense against castration anxiety; by performing symbolic castration on others, the sadist gains assurance that he is the castrator and not the castrated." This claim seems to be far outside the realm of the historian, to say the least. Students of the past must recognize they do not possess the necessary tools to perform psychological analysis. Even if the historian holds a degree in psychology, the subjects did not leave behind the type of evidence required to make such sweeping judgments. The author should have avoided making these conclusions. "The Party of Fear" is a monumental achievement, a learned, exceptionally researched, highly readable tome of great significance for students of extremist politics. Investigating the far right is never an easy task due to the enormous amount of primary source material churned out in reams by hundreds of its adherents. David Bennett did an excellent job successfully navigating his way through three hundred years of the lunatic fringe.

Bennett provides an insightful and concise detailing of American history dealing with the rightist movements. From the nativist / anti-papacy movements of the 1840's to the Christian Militia movements with their stress on government conspiracies that are guided by a Jewish elite, this work provides the basis for understanding the reactionary movements which seem so vogue today.