Battleground for the Union Book

The best measure of my opinion about this book is that I own two copies: one that I've marked up with my comments in the margins and one that I use for lending purposes. It is what all history books should be. It covers a little known aspect of U.S. history -- the self-imposed gag order that Congress put on itself in the 1840s and the heroic efforts of John Quincy Adams in bringing the gag order down. The author, William Lee Miller, is a history professor at the University of Virginia, who is a phenomenal writer. His writing makes this book a joy to read. Somehow, he takes the Congressional Globe and creates a revelatory history of the time period. I appreciate most his moral sense. He captures the moral dilemma of the time period and makes it alive to modern-day readers. William Lee Miller has made John Quincy Adams a hero to me. I cannot recommend this book more highly.