The Pursuit of public power Book

Good history. The author is very thorough with his analysis. The first couple of parts debunk the idea of a monolithic slave power as well as puncture slaveholder pretensions and beliefs. Shows how attitudes towards slavery waxed and waned in the various slaveholder areas up through the early 1850s. It’s well written and engaging. It’s a bit long, but really, there’s not much repetition or wasted verbiage here. While the author doesn’t editorialize or moralize, he has little patience with the comforting lies slaveholders told themselves and others about slavery. He also doesn’t waste time refuting all those schools of history which state slavery was not a cause of secession and civil war. To him, it’s res ipsa loquitor…the thing speaks for itself. I enjoyed this reread. To be honest, since I last read this in 2010 it felt like a new enjoyable read. Well worth your reading time!