Author: Thomas Reed Turner
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807117224
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
The first killing of a president in American history, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln shook the nation to its foundations with grief and rage. With one bullet the brief period of good feeling at the end of the Civil War was over. By 1867 the initial belief that the Confederate leadership had engineered the assassination had given way to speculation that Andrew Johnson had been behind the conspiracy. This was followed by bitter attacks on the military trial and on the defense of its two most prominent “victims,” Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Mudd. Most recently, there have been attempts to show that it was the radical faction of Lincoln’s own party that arranged his death. In Beware the People Weeping, Thomas Reed Turner pushes away the elaborate conspiracy theories that have always surrounded Lincoln’s death and uncovers exactly what can be known about the murder and its aftermath. Finding that many historians have worked in ignorance of the context of the events, or distorted the evidence to suit their own ideas about political assassination, Turner looks instead to public opinion of the time—as reflected in newspapers, diaries, letters, sermons, and transcripts of the pretrial investigation and the trial itself—to understand how and why the public and the military reacted as they did. Probing the aftermath of the assassination, Turner tells of the spontaneous outpouring of rage and despair, the reaction in the defeated South, the almost universal conviction that the South was behind the plot, the actions of the authorities in tracking the conspirators, and the trials of the suspects, including that of John Surratt in 1867. A close look at these confused events and an untangling of the controversies that arose in their wake, Beware the People Weeping strips away more than a century of speculation to retell with hard facts the history of Abraham Lincoln’s death.
Beware the People Weeping
Author: Thomas Reed Turner
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807117224
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
The first killing of a president in American history, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln shook the nation to its foundations with grief and rage. With one bullet the brief period of good feeling at the end of the Civil War was over. By 1867 the initial belief that the Confederate leadership had engineered the assassination had given way to speculation that Andrew Johnson had been behind the conspiracy. This was followed by bitter attacks on the military trial and on the defense of its two most prominent “victims,” Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Mudd. Most recently, there have been attempts to show that it was the radical faction of Lincoln’s own party that arranged his death. In Beware the People Weeping, Thomas Reed Turner pushes away the elaborate conspiracy theories that have always surrounded Lincoln’s death and uncovers exactly what can be known about the murder and its aftermath. Finding that many historians have worked in ignorance of the context of the events, or distorted the evidence to suit their own ideas about political assassination, Turner looks instead to public opinion of the time—as reflected in newspapers, diaries, letters, sermons, and transcripts of the pretrial investigation and the trial itself—to understand how and why the public and the military reacted as they did. Probing the aftermath of the assassination, Turner tells of the spontaneous outpouring of rage and despair, the reaction in the defeated South, the almost universal conviction that the South was behind the plot, the actions of the authorities in tracking the conspirators, and the trials of the suspects, including that of John Surratt in 1867. A close look at these confused events and an untangling of the controversies that arose in their wake, Beware the People Weeping strips away more than a century of speculation to retell with hard facts the history of Abraham Lincoln’s death.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 9780807117224
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 292
Book Description
The first killing of a president in American history, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln shook the nation to its foundations with grief and rage. With one bullet the brief period of good feeling at the end of the Civil War was over. By 1867 the initial belief that the Confederate leadership had engineered the assassination had given way to speculation that Andrew Johnson had been behind the conspiracy. This was followed by bitter attacks on the military trial and on the defense of its two most prominent “victims,” Mrs. Surratt and Dr. Mudd. Most recently, there have been attempts to show that it was the radical faction of Lincoln’s own party that arranged his death. In Beware the People Weeping, Thomas Reed Turner pushes away the elaborate conspiracy theories that have always surrounded Lincoln’s death and uncovers exactly what can be known about the murder and its aftermath. Finding that many historians have worked in ignorance of the context of the events, or distorted the evidence to suit their own ideas about political assassination, Turner looks instead to public opinion of the time—as reflected in newspapers, diaries, letters, sermons, and transcripts of the pretrial investigation and the trial itself—to understand how and why the public and the military reacted as they did. Probing the aftermath of the assassination, Turner tells of the spontaneous outpouring of rage and despair, the reaction in the defeated South, the almost universal conviction that the South was behind the plot, the actions of the authorities in tracking the conspirators, and the trials of the suspects, including that of John Surratt in 1867. A close look at these confused events and an untangling of the controversies that arose in their wake, Beware the People Weeping strips away more than a century of speculation to retell with hard facts the history of Abraham Lincoln’s death.
A Dangerous Stir
Author: Mark Wahlgren Summers
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 146961040X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
Reconstruction policy after the Civil War, observes Mark Wahlgren Summers, was shaped not simply by politics, principles, and prejudices. Also at work were fears--often unreasonable fears of renewed civil war and a widespread sense that four years of war had thrown the normal constitutional process so dangerously out of kilter that the republic itself remained in peril. To understand Reconstruction, Summers contends, one must understand that the purpose of the North's war was--first and foremost--to save the Union with its republican institutions intact. During Reconstruction there were always fears in the mix--that the Civil War had settled nothing, that the Union was still in peril, and that its enemies and the enemies of republican government were more resilient and cunning than normal mortals. Many factors shaped the reintegration of the former Confederate states and the North's commitment to Reconstruction, Summers agrees, but the fears of war reigniting, plots against liberty, and a president prepared to father a coup d'etat ranked higher among them than historians have recognized. Both a dramatic narrative of the events of Reconstruction and a groundbreaking new look at what drove these events, A Dangerous Stir is also a valuable look at the role of fear in the politics of the time--and in politics in general.
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 146961040X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
Reconstruction policy after the Civil War, observes Mark Wahlgren Summers, was shaped not simply by politics, principles, and prejudices. Also at work were fears--often unreasonable fears of renewed civil war and a widespread sense that four years of war had thrown the normal constitutional process so dangerously out of kilter that the republic itself remained in peril. To understand Reconstruction, Summers contends, one must understand that the purpose of the North's war was--first and foremost--to save the Union with its republican institutions intact. During Reconstruction there were always fears in the mix--that the Civil War had settled nothing, that the Union was still in peril, and that its enemies and the enemies of republican government were more resilient and cunning than normal mortals. Many factors shaped the reintegration of the former Confederate states and the North's commitment to Reconstruction, Summers agrees, but the fears of war reigniting, plots against liberty, and a president prepared to father a coup d'etat ranked higher among them than historians have recognized. Both a dramatic narrative of the events of Reconstruction and a groundbreaking new look at what drove these events, A Dangerous Stir is also a valuable look at the role of fear in the politics of the time--and in politics in general.
Loathing Lincoln
Author: John McKee Barr
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807153842
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
While most Americans count Abraham Lincoln among the most beloved and admired former presidents, a dedicated minority has long viewed him not only as the worst president in the country's history, but also as a criminal who defied the Constitution and advanced federal power and the idea of racial equality. In Loathing Lincoln, historian John McKee Barr surveys the broad array of criticisms about Abraham Lincoln that emerged when he stepped onto the national stage, expanded during the Civil War, and continued to evolve after his death and into the present. The first panoramic study of Lincoln's critics, Barr's work offers an analysis of Lincoln in historical memory and an examination of how his critics -- on both the right and left -- have frequently reflected the anxiety and discontent Americans felt about their lives. From northern abolitionists troubled by the slow pace of emancipation, to Confederates who condemned him as a "black Republican" and despot, to Americans who blamed him for the civil rights movement, to, more recently, libertarians who accuse him of trampling the Constitution and creating the modern welfare state, Lincoln's detractors have always been a vocal minority, but not one without influence. By meticulously exploring the most significant arguments against Lincoln, Barr traces the rise of the president's most strident critics and links most of them to a distinct right-wing or neo-Confederate political agenda. According to Barr, their hostility to a more egalitarian America and opposition to any use of federal power to bring about such goals led them to portray Lincoln as an imperialistic president who grossly overstepped the bounds of his office. In contrast, liberals criticized him for not doing enough to bring about emancipation or ensure lasting racial equality. Lincoln's conservative and libertarian foes, however, constituted the vast majority of his detractors. More recently, Lincoln's most vociferous critics have adamantly opposed Barack Obama and his policies, many of them referencing Lincoln in their attacks on the current president. In examining these individuals and groups, Barr's study provides a deeper understanding of American political life and the nation itself.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807153842
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
While most Americans count Abraham Lincoln among the most beloved and admired former presidents, a dedicated minority has long viewed him not only as the worst president in the country's history, but also as a criminal who defied the Constitution and advanced federal power and the idea of racial equality. In Loathing Lincoln, historian John McKee Barr surveys the broad array of criticisms about Abraham Lincoln that emerged when he stepped onto the national stage, expanded during the Civil War, and continued to evolve after his death and into the present. The first panoramic study of Lincoln's critics, Barr's work offers an analysis of Lincoln in historical memory and an examination of how his critics -- on both the right and left -- have frequently reflected the anxiety and discontent Americans felt about their lives. From northern abolitionists troubled by the slow pace of emancipation, to Confederates who condemned him as a "black Republican" and despot, to Americans who blamed him for the civil rights movement, to, more recently, libertarians who accuse him of trampling the Constitution and creating the modern welfare state, Lincoln's detractors have always been a vocal minority, but not one without influence. By meticulously exploring the most significant arguments against Lincoln, Barr traces the rise of the president's most strident critics and links most of them to a distinct right-wing or neo-Confederate political agenda. According to Barr, their hostility to a more egalitarian America and opposition to any use of federal power to bring about such goals led them to portray Lincoln as an imperialistic president who grossly overstepped the bounds of his office. In contrast, liberals criticized him for not doing enough to bring about emancipation or ensure lasting racial equality. Lincoln's conservative and libertarian foes, however, constituted the vast majority of his detractors. More recently, Lincoln's most vociferous critics have adamantly opposed Barack Obama and his policies, many of them referencing Lincoln in their attacks on the current president. In examining these individuals and groups, Barr's study provides a deeper understanding of American political life and the nation itself.
The Trial
Author: Edward SteersJr.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813127246
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 546
Book Description
On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in what he envisioned part of a scheme to plunge the federal government into chaos and gain a reprieve for the struggling Confederacy. The plan failed. By April 26, Booth was killed resisting capture and eight of the nine conspirators eventually charged in Lincoln's murder were in custody. Their trial would become one of the most famous and most controversial in U.S. history. New president Andrew Johnson's executive order on May 1 directed that persons charged with Lincoln's murder stand trial before a military tribunal. The trial lasted more than fifty days, and 366 witnesses gave testimony. Benn Pitman, a recognized expert in phonography, an early form of shorthand, was awarded the government contract to produce a transcription of each day's testimony. Pitman made these transcripts available to the prosecution and the defense, as well as to select members of the press. Although three versions of the trial testimony were published, Pitman's edited collection was the most accessible. He skillfully winnowed the 4,300 pages of transcription into one volume, collated the testimony by defendant, indexed the testimony by name and date, and added summaries of the testimony. In The Trial, assassination scholars guide readers through all 421 pages of testimony, illuminating Pitman's record. By drawing together the evidence that resulted in the conspirators' convictions, The Trial leaves no doubt as to the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, making this book a fascinating account of the trial as well as an essential resource.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 0813127246
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 546
Book Description
On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in what he envisioned part of a scheme to plunge the federal government into chaos and gain a reprieve for the struggling Confederacy. The plan failed. By April 26, Booth was killed resisting capture and eight of the nine conspirators eventually charged in Lincoln's murder were in custody. Their trial would become one of the most famous and most controversial in U.S. history. New president Andrew Johnson's executive order on May 1 directed that persons charged with Lincoln's murder stand trial before a military tribunal. The trial lasted more than fifty days, and 366 witnesses gave testimony. Benn Pitman, a recognized expert in phonography, an early form of shorthand, was awarded the government contract to produce a transcription of each day's testimony. Pitman made these transcripts available to the prosecution and the defense, as well as to select members of the press. Although three versions of the trial testimony were published, Pitman's edited collection was the most accessible. He skillfully winnowed the 4,300 pages of transcription into one volume, collated the testimony by defendant, indexed the testimony by name and date, and added summaries of the testimony. In The Trial, assassination scholars guide readers through all 421 pages of testimony, illuminating Pitman's record. By drawing together the evidence that resulted in the conspirators' convictions, The Trial leaves no doubt as to the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, making this book a fascinating account of the trial as well as an essential resource.
Blood on the Moon
Author: Edward Steers
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813191515
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Blood on the Moon examines the evidence, myths, and lies surrounding the political assassination that dramatically altered the course of American history. Was John Wilkes Booth a crazed loner acting out of revenge, or was he the key player in a wide conspiracy aimed at removing the one man who had crushed the Confederacy's dream of independence? Edward Steers Jr. crafts an intimate, engaging narrative of the events leading to Lincoln's death and the political, judicial, and cultural aftermaths of his assassination.
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813191515
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 404
Book Description
Blood on the Moon examines the evidence, myths, and lies surrounding the political assassination that dramatically altered the course of American history. Was John Wilkes Booth a crazed loner acting out of revenge, or was he the key player in a wide conspiracy aimed at removing the one man who had crushed the Confederacy's dream of independence? Edward Steers Jr. crafts an intimate, engaging narrative of the events leading to Lincoln's death and the political, judicial, and cultural aftermaths of his assassination.
Honoring the Civil War Dead
Author: John R. Neff
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700622594
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
By the end of the Civil War, fatalities from that conflict had far exceeded previous American experience, devastating families and communities alike. As John Neff shows, commemorating the 620,000 lives lost proved to be a persistent obstacle to the hard work of reuniting the nation, as every memorial observation compelled painful recollections of the war. Neff contends that the significance of the Civil War dead has been largely overlooked and that the literature on the war has so far failed to note how commemorations of the dead provide a means for both expressing lingering animosities and discouraging reconciliation. Commemoration--from private mourning to the often extravagant public remembrances exemplified in cemeteries, monuments, and Memorial Day observances--provided Americans the quintessential forum for engaging the war’s meaning. Additionally, Neff suggests a special significance for the ways in which the commemoration of the dead shaped Northern memory. In his estimation, Northerners were just as active in myth-making after the war. Crafting a “Cause Victorious” myth that was every bit as resonant and powerful as the much better-known “Lost Cause” myth cherished by Southerners, the North asserted through commemorations the existence of a loyal and reunified nation long before it was actually a fact. Neff reveals that as Northerners and Southerners honored their separate dead, they did so in ways that underscore the limits of reconciliation between Union and Confederate veterans, whose mutual animosities lingered for many decades after the end of the war. Ultimately, Neff argues that the process of reunion and reconciliation that has been so much the focus of recent literature either neglects or dismisses the persistent reluctance of both Northerners and Southerners to “forgive and forget,” especially where their war dead were concerned. Despite reunification, the continuing imperative of commemoration reflects a more complex resolution to the war than is even now apparent. His book provides a compelling account of this conflict that marks a major contribution to our understanding of the war and its many meanings.
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700622594
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
By the end of the Civil War, fatalities from that conflict had far exceeded previous American experience, devastating families and communities alike. As John Neff shows, commemorating the 620,000 lives lost proved to be a persistent obstacle to the hard work of reuniting the nation, as every memorial observation compelled painful recollections of the war. Neff contends that the significance of the Civil War dead has been largely overlooked and that the literature on the war has so far failed to note how commemorations of the dead provide a means for both expressing lingering animosities and discouraging reconciliation. Commemoration--from private mourning to the often extravagant public remembrances exemplified in cemeteries, monuments, and Memorial Day observances--provided Americans the quintessential forum for engaging the war’s meaning. Additionally, Neff suggests a special significance for the ways in which the commemoration of the dead shaped Northern memory. In his estimation, Northerners were just as active in myth-making after the war. Crafting a “Cause Victorious” myth that was every bit as resonant and powerful as the much better-known “Lost Cause” myth cherished by Southerners, the North asserted through commemorations the existence of a loyal and reunified nation long before it was actually a fact. Neff reveals that as Northerners and Southerners honored their separate dead, they did so in ways that underscore the limits of reconciliation between Union and Confederate veterans, whose mutual animosities lingered for many decades after the end of the war. Ultimately, Neff argues that the process of reunion and reconciliation that has been so much the focus of recent literature either neglects or dismisses the persistent reluctance of both Northerners and Southerners to “forgive and forget,” especially where their war dead were concerned. Despite reunification, the continuing imperative of commemoration reflects a more complex resolution to the war than is even now apparent. His book provides a compelling account of this conflict that marks a major contribution to our understanding of the war and its many meanings.
Early American Poets
Author:
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595179231
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 366
Book Description
America did not declare independence in its poetry as quickly or as dramatically as in politics. It took time for the new nation to free itself from the many and widely contrasting traditions, customs, codes, and cultures it had inherited, and expressed itself through scores of imitators before it found its own characteristic way of thinking, reacting, and writing. Here is the poetry of early America, revealing the spirit, the scenes, and the turbulence of the period, and setting forth the works of over forty accomplished poets, many of whom are forgotten to all but the literary historian. This collection in devoted to the expanding spirit as well as the formative genius of America.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595179231
Category : American poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 366
Book Description
America did not declare independence in its poetry as quickly or as dramatically as in politics. It took time for the new nation to free itself from the many and widely contrasting traditions, customs, codes, and cultures it had inherited, and expressed itself through scores of imitators before it found its own characteristic way of thinking, reacting, and writing. Here is the poetry of early America, revealing the spirit, the scenes, and the turbulence of the period, and setting forth the works of over forty accomplished poets, many of whom are forgotten to all but the literary historian. This collection in devoted to the expanding spirit as well as the formative genius of America.
HERMAN MELVILLE – Premium Collection: 24 Novels & Novellas; With 140+ Poems & Essays
Author: Herman Melville
Publisher: e-artnow
ISBN: 8026874366
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 5188
Book Description
This carefully crafted ebook: “HERMAN MELVILLE – Premium Collection: 24 Novels & Novellas; With 140+ Poems & Essays” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Herman Melville is one of the greatest American novelists, short story writer and a poet. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. Content: Introduction Herman Melville by Virginia Woolf Novels Typee Omoo Mardi Redburn White-Jacket Moby-Dick Pierre Israel Potter The Confidence-Man Short Stories The Piazza Tales: The Piazza Bartleby, the Scrivener Benito Cereno The Lightning-Rod Man The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles The Bell-Tower The Apple-Tree Table and Other Sketches: The Apple-Tree Table Jimmy Rose I and My Chimney The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! The Fiddler Poor Man’s Pudding and Rich Man’s Crumbs The Happy Failure The 'Gees Poetry Collections: Clarel – A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War Timoleon and Other Ventures in Minor Verse John Marr and Other Sailors: Bridgeroom Dick Tom Deadlight Jack Roy The Haglets The Aeolian Harp To the Master of the "Meteor" Far off Shore The Man-of-War Hawk The Figure-Head The Good Craft "Snow Bird" Old Counsel The Tuft of Kelp The Maldive Shark To Ned Crossing the Tropics The Berg The Enviable Isles Pebbles Poems from Mardi: We Fish Invocation Dirge Marlena Pipe Song Song of Yoomy Gold The Land of Love Essays Fragments from a Writing Desk Etchings of a Whaling Cruise Authentic Anecdotes of “Old Zack” Mr. Parkman’s Tour Cooper’s New Novel A Thought on Book-Binding Hawthorne and His Mosses
Publisher: e-artnow
ISBN: 8026874366
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 5188
Book Description
This carefully crafted ebook: “HERMAN MELVILLE – Premium Collection: 24 Novels & Novellas; With 140+ Poems & Essays” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: Herman Melville is one of the greatest American novelists, short story writer and a poet. His writing draws on his experience at sea as a common sailor, exploration of literature and philosophy, and engagement in the contradictions of American society in a period of rapid change. Content: Introduction Herman Melville by Virginia Woolf Novels Typee Omoo Mardi Redburn White-Jacket Moby-Dick Pierre Israel Potter The Confidence-Man Short Stories The Piazza Tales: The Piazza Bartleby, the Scrivener Benito Cereno The Lightning-Rod Man The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles The Bell-Tower The Apple-Tree Table and Other Sketches: The Apple-Tree Table Jimmy Rose I and My Chimney The Paradise of Bachelors and The Tartarus of Maids Cock-a-Doodle-Doo! The Fiddler Poor Man’s Pudding and Rich Man’s Crumbs The Happy Failure The 'Gees Poetry Collections: Clarel – A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War Timoleon and Other Ventures in Minor Verse John Marr and Other Sailors: Bridgeroom Dick Tom Deadlight Jack Roy The Haglets The Aeolian Harp To the Master of the "Meteor" Far off Shore The Man-of-War Hawk The Figure-Head The Good Craft "Snow Bird" Old Counsel The Tuft of Kelp The Maldive Shark To Ned Crossing the Tropics The Berg The Enviable Isles Pebbles Poems from Mardi: We Fish Invocation Dirge Marlena Pipe Song Song of Yoomy Gold The Land of Love Essays Fragments from a Writing Desk Etchings of a Whaling Cruise Authentic Anecdotes of “Old Zack” Mr. Parkman’s Tour Cooper’s New Novel A Thought on Book-Binding Hawthorne and His Mosses
Exiled Royalties
Author: Robert Milder
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019971326X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Book Description
Exiled Royalties is a literary/biographical study of the course of Melville's career from his experience in Polynesia through his retirement from the New York Custom House and his composition of three late volumes of poetry and Billy Budd, Sailor. Conceived separately but narratively and thematically intertwined, the ten essays in the book are rooted in a belief that "Melville's work," as Charles Olson said, "must be left in his own 'life,'" which for Milder means primarily his spiritual, psychological, and vocational life. Four of the ten essays deal with Melville's life and work after his novelistic career ended with the The Confidence-Man in 1857. The range of issues addressed in the essays includes Melville's attitudes toward society, history, and politics, from broad ideas about democracy and the course of Western civilization to responses to particular events like the Astor Place Riots and the Civil War; his feeling about sexuality and, throughout the book, about religion; his relationship to past and present writers, especially to the phases of Euro-American Romanticism, post-Romanticism, and nascent Modernism; his relationship to his wife, Lizzie, to Hawthorne, and to his father, all of whom figured in the crisis that made for Pierre. The title essay, "Exiled Royalties," takes its origin from Ishmael's account of "the larger, darker, deeper part of Ahab"--Melville's mythic projection of a "larger, darker, deeper part" of himself. How to live nobly in spiritual exile--to be godlike in the perceptible absence of God--was a lifelong preoccupation for Melville, who, in lieu of positive belief, transposed the drama of his spiritual life to literature. The ways in which this impulse expressed itself through Melville's forty-five year career, interweaving itself with his personal life and the life of the nation and shaping both the matter and manner of his work, is the unifying subject of Exiled Royalties.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019971326X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Book Description
Exiled Royalties is a literary/biographical study of the course of Melville's career from his experience in Polynesia through his retirement from the New York Custom House and his composition of three late volumes of poetry and Billy Budd, Sailor. Conceived separately but narratively and thematically intertwined, the ten essays in the book are rooted in a belief that "Melville's work," as Charles Olson said, "must be left in his own 'life,'" which for Milder means primarily his spiritual, psychological, and vocational life. Four of the ten essays deal with Melville's life and work after his novelistic career ended with the The Confidence-Man in 1857. The range of issues addressed in the essays includes Melville's attitudes toward society, history, and politics, from broad ideas about democracy and the course of Western civilization to responses to particular events like the Astor Place Riots and the Civil War; his feeling about sexuality and, throughout the book, about religion; his relationship to past and present writers, especially to the phases of Euro-American Romanticism, post-Romanticism, and nascent Modernism; his relationship to his wife, Lizzie, to Hawthorne, and to his father, all of whom figured in the crisis that made for Pierre. The title essay, "Exiled Royalties," takes its origin from Ishmael's account of "the larger, darker, deeper part of Ahab"--Melville's mythic projection of a "larger, darker, deeper part" of himself. How to live nobly in spiritual exile--to be godlike in the perceptible absence of God--was a lifelong preoccupation for Melville, who, in lieu of positive belief, transposed the drama of his spiritual life to literature. The ways in which this impulse expressed itself through Melville's forty-five year career, interweaving itself with his personal life and the life of the nation and shaping both the matter and manner of his work, is the unifying subject of Exiled Royalties.
The Complete Works of Herman Melville
Author: Herman Melville
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 5539
Book Description
The Complete Works of Herman Melville is a comprehensive collection of the renowned author's literary masterpieces. Melville's writing style is characterized by intricate prose, rich symbolism, and a deep exploration of philosophical themes. The collection includes iconic works such as Moby-Dick, considered one of the greatest novels in American literature, as well as lesser-known gems like Billy Budd. Melville's works often delve into the complexities of human nature, morality, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world, making them timeless classics that continue to resonate with readers today. The Complete Works of Herman Melville is a must-read for literature enthusiasts seeking to immerse themselves in the brilliance of a literary giant. Melville's unique perspective and enduring relevance make this collection a valuable addition to any library.
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 5539
Book Description
The Complete Works of Herman Melville is a comprehensive collection of the renowned author's literary masterpieces. Melville's writing style is characterized by intricate prose, rich symbolism, and a deep exploration of philosophical themes. The collection includes iconic works such as Moby-Dick, considered one of the greatest novels in American literature, as well as lesser-known gems like Billy Budd. Melville's works often delve into the complexities of human nature, morality, and the search for meaning in a chaotic world, making them timeless classics that continue to resonate with readers today. The Complete Works of Herman Melville is a must-read for literature enthusiasts seeking to immerse themselves in the brilliance of a literary giant. Melville's unique perspective and enduring relevance make this collection a valuable addition to any library.