Maverick Republican in the Old North State: A Political Biography of Daniel L. Russell Book

This biography appears to be well researched and is definitely extensively footnoted. I don't know if it is just this edition but its readability is harmed by lackadaisical editing. Some of the author's sentences seem to wonder off and eventually get lost. That aside, it is a well crafted examination of a complex and sometimes unpleasant man. Jack London rose from poverty and a dysfunctional family to become, for a time, the most popular author in the United States. Sinclair does not minimize his faults or shortcomings. He especially does not hide or excuse London's ugly racism, harsh even for the racist era from which he sprang.
Sinclair believes London to be an important and significant American author, however, sometimes, for me, it destroys the joy I can take from a book when I know too much about the author.