\nby Craig Miner<\/p>\n
Product Details<\/strong><\/p>\n This is not a history of \u201cthe troubles\u201d.\u00a0 This is not an agenda heavy tome where the howling orcs set upon the peaceful hobbits.\u00a0 The reader will find an excellent history with orcs and hobbits depicted complete to blood dripping from claws and fangs.\u00a0 Just which side is the orcs and which is the hobbits depends on the newspaper we are reading.<\/p>\n This book looks at \u201cBleeding Kansas\u201d in the words of the time.\u00a0 We look at what America \u201csaw\u201d in terms of coverage on Kansas.\u00a0 The story is not so much the event as the reporting of the event.\u00a0 The author couples this reporting with a solid narration of events and reference to our historical understanding of these events.\u00a0 What is in the papers, our understanding of the event and what history shows to be true make for fascinating reading.\u00a0 What is in the papers varies depending on location and politics.\u00a0 This is the age of partisan newspapers with no suggestion of balance.\u00a0 People bought your newspaper expecting to agree with your editorials and wanted the news to agree with their positions.\u00a0 Editors did not disappoint their readers.\u00a0 Strongly worded is an understatement.\u00a0 North or South, Wig, Democrat or Republican newspapers take the proper position and report events accordingly.\u00a0 The author skillfully moves from one position to another providing as balanced look at an event as possible.\u00a0 The book reflects the Northeast newspaper\u2019s domination of the news and reporting.\u00a0 However, the author avoids taking their positions and is careful to provide coverage from Southern papers.<\/p>\n In addition to the newspaper accounts, the author provides a historical perspective from his knowledge and the ideas of others.\u00a0 The result is a readable, thought provoking book.\u00a0 We watch the developing positions, the hardening of attitudes and the demonizing of the other side as it occurs.\u00a0 This is not a pretty picture but provides food for thought about what happens when all accommodation and restraint is lost.<\/p>\n This is an invaluable book for students of event leading to the Civil War, students of Bleeding Kansas and anyone interested in the role of the press in national events.\u00a0 The author writes well demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of the subject.\u00a0 While reporting of the events is the major focus, the book is an excellent history of events large and small during this time.\u00a0 Many of the author\u2019s observations will surprise and amuse readers.\u00a0 Who is important and who is obscure in the 1850s and today is not what you might expect.\u00a0 This is not an exciting read but it is a rewarding one.<\/p>\n Editor’s Note: Jim is a Top 500 Amazon.com reviewer<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Check out Beyond the Crater: The Petersburg Campaign Online<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n Check out Brett’s list of the Top 10 Civil War Blogs<\/a><\/strong>!<\/p>\n Read many Civil War Book Reviews<\/strong><\/a> here at TOCWOC – A Civil War Blog<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>\u201cBleeding Kansas\u201d stirs the blood and invokes images from our national memory over 150 years after the event.\u00a0 One of the first violent national confrontations on the road to war, Kansas occupies a special and unique place in the history of Nineteenth Century America.\u00a0 It was here that the theory of popular sovereignty received a field test.\u00a0 Kansas galvanized America, occupying its\u2019 attention for many years, creating heroes and villains a plenty.\u00a0 How an area remote from population centers came to be the center of attention is the subject of this book.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brettschulte.net\/CWBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/buy-now-button-amazon.png\" "\\"buy-now-button-amazon\\"")
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