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Feb 14, 2012

Owen rated it:

I had seen snippets of Brown's life in random places during my life, I have seen signs while driving for Harper's Ferry, but in West Virginia, not Virginia, there is a farm where he purportedly lived near my family's vacation in northwestern PA, I have been to his 'homestead' in wayyyy upstate New York, and I had always heard that he fought the Kansas-Missouri free/slave state battles in Kansas. It turns out all of those things are true (West Virginia did not exist until the Civil War, Brown was More...

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Jan 23, 2012

Jack rated it:

This is well done, and it's interesting to see Horwitz write a straight-up historical narrative. People expecting a lot of material on historical memory ala Confederates in the Attic will be disappointed. The structure and pacing are good and for the most part Horwitz provides the right amount of context on issues and places for a popular history. I don't know, however, that I really understand John Brown's personality better for having read it. Except for near the end, when Horwitz makes a More...

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Nov 13, 2011

Steve rated it:

The author provides a thorough review of the events surrounding the Harpers Ferry raid. But more interesting, he reviews correspondence and testimony to learn who John Brown was, what he was trying to accomplish, and what events led up to his fateful night raid.
We learn about John Brown's early years and how he came to view slavery as the ultimate evil he was destined to fight. We learn about his family, and their devotion to their father. We learn about the fellows who fought at his side. More...

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Oct 05, 2011

Grace rated it:

I found Tony Horowitz's book 'Midnight Rising' to be a very informative and interesting account of John Brown and his raid on Harper's Ferry as well as his attacks on pro-slavers in Kansas. The author was able to dig up some important primary sources and put them together in such a fashion that we are better able to understand what Brown was thinking and why he decided to follow the path that he did.

Mr. Horowitz points out that Brown's actions 'sparked the Civil War.' He explaine More...

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Jan 27, 2012

Ryan rated it:

So what do you think of John Brown? Was he a martyr or a demon? Was he wise and battle-hardened or delusional and suicidal?

Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horowitz seeks to give a warts-and-all portrayal of the militant abolitionist. But in the end, his selection of quotes and choice of details places Brown firmly on the side of the angels. So modern Lost Cause readers are likely to be outraged - much as Southerners of Brown's era were b More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Helen rated it:

I learned a lot about the period just preceding the Civil War from this excellent book. While it is quite detailed, the author keeps it moving along well. He paints a clear picture of John Brown and what fires his acts as an abolitionist. The intense conflicts in the time buried deep in the issue of slavery are carefully drawn, and my understanding of this time period was greatly enhanced by this book. I did not realize what an important role Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry played in crystalisi More...

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Dec 14, 2011

Mark rated it:

“"I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood."
- John Brown 1859

On a misty Sunday night, in mid-October, 1859, a rag-tag group of men, made up of whites and blacks, seized the armory at Harper’s Ferry, with the intention of causing a major slave revolt. This band was led by a fiery abolitionist named John Brown. His mission failed but it helped spark the bloodiest war in American history.
This story More...

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Nov 07, 2011

Larry rated it:

We all know (don't we) that John Brown led eighteen men to seize the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia,on October 16, 1859. Most schoolkids see the Norman Rockwell painting of Brown en route to his execution in their US history textbook. Given the age in which we live—a time dominated by terrorists unafraid of death—Brown is kind of a prototype of what the world would become. Brown's aim was to use the federal weapons to arm runaway slaves and to create a provisional republic. Wit More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Evan rated it:

The first straight popular history written by Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, and a very good one for me as I was coming in cold to John Brown's story. A book in 3 parts: an exceedingly short biography of John Brown leading up to his ill-fated but ultimately, years after his death, successful raid on Harpers Ferry (almost 60 years, and about 100 pages); a military history of his ragtag band's seizure, and the subsequent siege by local fighters and the U.S. army, of the armory More...

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Jan 03, 2012

Ash rated it:

Oh Tony Horwitz!!! As an aspiring academic I always want to get up on a high horse about how this book isn't serious enough etc but... ultimately, I can't. You're too good!

Midnight Rising provides an excellent introduction to John Brown and the era immediately prior to the Civil War. Tony Horwitz tells Brown's story in ways that are half-history and half-adventure. I was impressed that Horwitz made the 300+ page account of abolitionists, failed military campaigns, and strange (to s More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Dale rated it:

A compelling look into one of America's (misunderstood?) icons

Published in October 2011 by Macmillan Audio
Read by Daniel Oreskes
Duration: 11 hours, 9 minutes

John Brown is one of those well-known yet elusive figures in history. He is literally in all of the American history books, but most people know almost nothing about him except for a few headline snippets like "Bleeding Kansas" and "Harper's Ferry" and "Slave Revolt." More knowledge More...

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Jan 15, 2012

Linda rated it:

Yes, most of us know that John Brown's body is a-mouldering the grave, and that he besieged the arsenal at Harper's Ferry and died for his abolitionist activism. But I, for one, knew little else about him until reading Midnight Rising. Tony Horwitz takes his readers through Brown's life, passing quickly through his early phases before concentrating on his life as a freedom fighter. John Brown was a truly extraordinary man. He told people that he didn't ever experience fear, and I believe that, b More...

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Feb 20, 2012

Ray rated it:

"Midnight Rising" makes the point that the John Brown raid on Harper's Ferry was much more significant in terms of national history than I'd ever considered. Before reading this book, I had thought of John Brown as being a religious extremist, half-mad with abolitionist fervor, famous more for the folly of his raid than for his importance in the anti-slavery movement. While Horwitz doesn't do much to change my mind about John Brown himself, he does add depth and breadth about the ma More...

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Dec 11, 2011

Tony rated it:

MIDNIGHT RISING: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War. (2011). Tony Horwitz. ****.
This is an excellent in-depth study of Brown and his activities from Kansas to Harpers Ferry. The rationale for the raid and its aftermath are well known, but this study allows the reader to follow the event step-by-step from the initial planning stages to its final tragic consequences. It is difficult to put oneself into the mind of Brown and what appears to be his monomania about abolit More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Margaret added it

Horowitz has done a meticulous reconstruction of John Brown's life and raid on Harper's Ferry, but I really expected his particular talent for exploring history bleeding into the present, especially since he undertook the 150th anniversary pilgrimage to get a sense of the John Brown landscape. How do people in Harper's Ferry feel now? About the tourism or the War? The answer is probably disheartening, but I'd like to know, and from Confederates in the Attic, I know he has no shame about askin More...

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Nov 11, 2011

Kristin rated it:

Impossible not to like a Tony Horwitz book, but this is definitely my least favorite of all of them. I was really excited he wrote this because I know so little about Harpers Ferry (in fact, I think that is true about a lot of people who just saw one or two sentences about it in a grade school textbook), and living 40 miles from Harpers Ferry makes it kind of a big deal around here.

So, it was an interesting subject. I learned a lot about John Brown and his raid. But. It just couldn't t More...

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Nov 15, 2011

Doug rated it:

This book is just more proof that most of the history that I was taught in school (in the 40's and 50's) was mostly a lot of politically correct pap. I found this account of John Brown and his ill-fated occupation of the armory at Harper's Ferry interesting on several levels. First, I am more conflicted regarding Brown than I was before reading the book. As portrayed by Horwitz ( I believe accurately and objectively) he was obviously a man of sincere and strongly felt conviction about the abolit More...

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Nov 20, 2011

James (JD) rated it:

One of the finest books of history I've read in a long time. Horwitz captures the era of Brown so well, tracing his journey from failed wool merchant to abolitionist radical to martyr for racial justice.

Horwitz provides unique insights into the family of Brown, his long-suffering wife, who endured a hardscrabble life near the New York-Canadian border while her husband adventured in Kansas and Harper's Ferry, Virginia; his son, John, scarred by the violence of Kansas; and the three son More...

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Feb 15, 2012

Danny rated it:

Didn't know much about John Brown before listening to this.

Now I know that the Battle Hymn of the Republic is sort-of related to a song about John Brown. So that's something.

Also, because it's guerilla warfare, I realized why it's better to have trained soldiers taking part in battles. Part of that training is how to act like a person and not commit war crimes, which bloodthirsty civilians are all to ready to do. Yikes.

It's also a thorny problem because it's basi More...

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Jan 28, 2012

Kathleen rated it:

I remembered John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry as perhaps a few paragraphs in my American History textbook. I am so glad "Midnight Rising" taught me Brown's story merits far more than a few paragraphs. I am already a fan of Tony Horwitz - his book "Confederates in the Attic" is one of my favorites. This book, however, doesn't go back and forth from past to present in his more typical style. This is a straight retelling of the life, death, and aftermath of John Brown's li More...

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Dec 08, 2011

Alan rated it:

Excelent book by the author of Confederates in the Attic on the 1859 raid on the Harper's Ferry armory by John Brown. Riveting account of the preparations, the raid and aftermath. John Brown's raid is one of the most controversial events in American history. Brown was condemned by the South and lionized in the North. Many of these divisions are still played out in historical recounts today. Horwitz, I believe, maintains an even handed approach. John Brown may have been a terrorist, but he had More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Judy rated it:

John Brown was an abolitionist who not only believed that owning slaves was a sin, but who was willing to take up arms against the institution. In October, 1859, he and his followers attacked Harpers Ferry, Virginia in a move that stunned the entire country, further divided North and South, helped to elected Abraham Lincoln, and hastened the onset of the Civil War. This well-written book covers Brown's philosphy, his family life, his time spent in the war-torn environment of "Bleeding Kan More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Mike rated it:

John Brown led a raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859. HIstory recrods the start of the Civil War when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Horwitz makes a convincing argument that Harpers Ferry was the catalyst that ushered in full-blown warfare. He provides a detailed description and analysis of the major players an events that led up to Harpers Ferry. Using John Brown's own words, newspapers, letters from his wife, sons, allies, and friends, Horwitz gives added ins More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Noah rated it:

John Brown's raid of the Harper's Ferry armory in 1859 typically gets a paragraph or two in U.S. history textbooks. The story of a devout abolitionist who led a group of men, including his own sons and freed slaves, into a suicide mission intended to provoke the U.S. into ending slavery? It deserves this 300-page account.

Anyone who is trying to change the world will find much to relate to in this richly researched and compelling tale. Brown is a fascinating character, sensitive enough More...

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Jan 08, 2012

Teresa rated it:

I had heard of Harpers Ferry before, but I did not know what transpired there. This book details the events leading up the to siege of Harpers Ferry by John Brown, a man bent on the abolition of slavery. Unfortunately, John Brown was an extremist and went about trying to make this happen, without regard for the consequences.

Basically John Brown and his small group of people recruited to seize the Harpers Ferry armory, so the guns could be used for a slave uprising. John Brown believ More...

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Jan 23, 2012

Scott rated it:

excellent book. Am eagerly awaiting the answers for my interview questions and will post a link to the interview when it goes live.

I'm interviewing this author again. I read and liked all of his books esp. confederates in the attic. Bonus: I consider John Brown one of the most fascinating people in U.S. history
Past interviews include this one http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06...

I also did this interview on this novelist, John Cummings, who talks about John Bro More...

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Nov 10, 2011

Deshay rated it:

I enjoyed "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz so was glad to see another book with a Civil War era subject matter. He takes the basic John Brown story and expands it into a biography of the man. He was a complex, compelling individual that fascinates yet frightens me. I ended up admiring him for taking the endless talking of the abolitionists and converting that to action. That it ended in death and bloodshed was not unexpected as this event became an opening chapter in the More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Steven rated it:

I never did read Confederates in the Attic, although I have friends that did. Now I'm thinking I'll need to pick it up -- and maybe some of his others. I really enjoyed Horwitz's writing style -- simple and to the point, without being heavy-handed. I love good history writing, and this is a fine example.

I'd never fully realized what a central character John Brown was to the Civil War era, nor how many of its players were involved in the Harpers Ferry raid and its aftermath. Robert E. L More...

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Feb 15, 2012

Dominic rated it:

I have previously read the acclaimed book by Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, and found the book to be entertaining and fun, rather than academic. I was wondering how Horwitz would come across on the second book of his that I read, Midnight Rising, particularly when so much personality came out in Confederates which is not necessarily a positive when writing an academic history book. Horwitz rises up to the challenge, leaving the reader to decide on the person that John Brown was. The re More...

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Jan 20, 2012

Mike rated it:

I've enjoyed everything Tony Horwitz has written. While his previous books have combined travelog with history, mixing past and present, here he delivers a straight ahead history of John Brown and the raid on Harpers Ferry. The story is anything but dry. He is a wonderful story teller who doesnt let the narritive get bogged down or sidetracked with lifeless details. The characters here are presented as passionate players in the preamble to the story that would become the Civil War.

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