Publisher's Synopsis
A "New York Times" Notable Book for 2011
A "Library Journal "Top Ten Best Books of 2011
A "Boston Globe" Best Nonfiction Book of 2011Late on the night of October 16, 1859, John Brown launched a surprise attack on the slaveholding South. Leading a biracial band of militant idealists, he seized the massive armory at Harpers Ferry, freed and armed slaves, and vowed to liberate every bondsman in America.Brown's daring strike sparked a savage street fight and a counterattack by U.S. Marines under Robert E. Lee. The bloodshed and court drama that followed also shocked a divided nation and propelled it toward civil war. "Midnight Rising" brings Brown and his uprising vividly to life and charts America's descent into explosive conflict. The result is a taut and indispensable history of a man and a time that still resonate in our own.
