Splendid Failure: Postwar Reconstruction in the American South

by Michael W. Fitzgerald

Book Overview

Since the civil rights era of the 1960s, revisionist historians have been sympathetic to the racial justice motivations of the Radical Republican Reconstruction policies that followed the Civil War. But this emphasis on positive goals and accomplishments has obscured the role of the Republicans in the overthrow of their own program. Rich with insight, Michael W. Fitzgerald's new interpretation of Reconstruction shows how the internal dynamics of...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566637341
• ISBN13: 9781566637343
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An excellent survey evolves

SPLENDID FAILURE: POSTWAR RECONSTRUCTION IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH is a pick recommended for any college-level collection strong in American Civil War history in general and Southern history in particular. It analyzes and surveys the role of the Radical Republication Reconstruction policies which followed the war with particular attention to the role they played in the overthrow of their own program, offering a different interpretation of Reconstruction and the struggle for civil liberties in the South. An excellent survey evolves which offers depth and detail especially suitable for classroom debate and discussion.

An excellent book

Splendid Failure by Fitzgerald is an excellent book which can give anyone a good background in the history of Reconstruction. The book is easy to read and is accessible to anyone without much knowledge in American history. Most of all, however, the book places the Reconstruction in the larger context of American history, also examining the forces of industrialization in America and the impacts that the Civil War had on the South. Through this multi-faceted approach, the reader can gain a thoughtful and clear perspective on the Reconstruction. -Highly Recommended