Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson

by David S. Reynolds

Waking Giant is a brilliant, definitive history of America’s vibrant and tumultuous rise during the Jacksonian era from David S. Reynolds, the Bancroft Prize-winning author of Walt Whitman’s America . Casting fresh light on Andrew Jackson, who redefined the presidency, along with John Quincy Adams and James K. Polk, who expanded the nation’s territory and strengthened its position internationally, Reynolds captures the turbulence of a democracy caught in the throes of the controversy over slavery, the rise of capitalism, and the birth of urbanization.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Biography, American, Politics, Presidents

466 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

David S. Reynolds is a Distinguished Professor of English and American Studies at the City University of New York. His works include the award-winning Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson, Walt Whitman's America, and John Brown, Abolitionist. He lives on Long Island in New York.

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

David S. Reynolds' Waking Giant covers the Jacksonian Era but in a more objective and "balanced" fashion than other recent history. In places Reynolds' book seems like a deliberate riposte to What Hath God Wrought?, Daniel Walker Howe's massive, Whig-centric chronicle of the era (in the end notes he even calls out Howe), both in its length (it's about half the number of pages) and its subject matter. Reynolds seems determined to be scrupulously fair, for better or worse, towards all of his subjects; he's the rare historian who finds positive things to say about Jackson, John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. Thus he claims that Adams' presidency, with its focus on internal improvements and central planning, was more successful than generally considered; or that Jackson, despite his grotesque racism and authoritarian personality, played a key role in making politics more accessible to the Common Man. The book's perhaps less interesting in its strictly political segments than in Reynolds' lively exploration of cultural topics: the Second Great Awakening and the rise of Millenarian religious sects, cults and utopian societies; the increasing diversification of American culture, from the literary highs of Hawthorne, Melville and Thoreau to the vulgar showmanship of P.T. Barnum; increasing turmoil over slavery, territorial expansion and America's place in the world. Not the defining chronicle of its era, perhaps, but a good, solid read that strives to make 19th Century America accessible to 21st Century readers.

[Michael Trapani · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way I can describe this book is a truncated version of What Hath God Wrought from a more pro-Jackson perspective. In fact, Waking Giant is the most pro-Jackson 21st century book I’ve read.

Reynolds says of Jackson that “he showed a consistency of purpose related to his goal of serving the American people” and “it is hard to ignore his fundamental motive of fighting for the rights of average Americans…” Reynolds even explains away Jackson’s Indian Removal policies, conceding their harshness, but describing them as merely “a firm implementation of the weakly pursued policies of previous presidents.” One would be hard pressed to find a more apologetic modern take on the 7th president.

This book though is not just a political history. Reynolds covers the time period through political, but also social, cultural, and economic lenses. He devotes particular attention to the growth of American cultural through literature, music, and art in addition to various social movements that characterize the era. This all comes together in the book’s final pages where Reynolds hints that it was people working outside of politics (the reformers, the writers, the artists, the philosophers) who truly shaped the nation during this crucial era in American history. Reynolds concludes by lamenting that although the nation took steps toward democratization during the era, these steps left many still struggling for equality and were not nearly enough to eradicate slavery.

Overall, the book is a fantastic snapshot of the era, touching upon all the major developments but not stopping very long on any one topic. Waking Giant paints a general picture of America during the so-called Age of Jackson and provides a bibliographic essay for curious readers looking for more on any one topic.

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be the first book since the civil rights era to vilify Conscience Whigs while glorifying hard money Democrats and Cotton Whigs. It is still possible to write a good history that sides with Jacksonian Democracy (see “The Rise of American Democracy”) but it is almost unconscionable to write a history of the antebellum era that chooses to gloss over Federal Indian Removal and slavery, while linger on how John Tyler reformed the Postal Service (good rule of thumb, if Polk or Tyler are heroes, you have drifted far a field). Part of the book’s problem is that it has no real story to tell; it is a report, not a history. This may stem from the author’s over-reliance on secondary sources or from the difficult consequences of the policies recounted with little comment.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books that try to tell a sweeping history of an entire era can be hit or miss. The good ones are well-researched, well-thought out and well-written, are able to tie disparate threads together into a cohesive story, they identify common themes that define the time period, and have something to say about the era, and why it's deserving of detailed study. The not-so-good ones have as their thesis the lazy "this is the most important/most underrated/most overlooked period in history and I'm going to change that," their individual anecdotes don't come together to form a broader story, and you're left with no greater feel for the era or its importance at the end.

Brenda Wineapple's Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877 is the former - an enjoyable, illuminating look at the era encompassing the years just before, during and immediately after the Civil War. David S. Reynolds' Waking Giant, which covers the Age of Jackson immediately preceding the era that Wineapple explores, is unfortunately more like the latter.

"The years from 1815 through 1848 were arguably the richest in American life," the book begins - and off we go. The defining characteristics of the era, Reynolds writes, were the people's "individualistic spirit" fostered by "democratic enthusiasm." And he tells stories of politics, religion, the arts and everyday life to illustrate these themes.

But to be blunt, the whole thing reads like a term paper. Almost exclusively based on secondary sources, the book is made up of individual anecdotes that come one after the other after the other. They're separated into chapters around a common theme - there are three chapters on politics and Presidents Monroe through Jackson, followed by a chapter on religion, one on culture and society, one on the arts, and a couple of concluding chapters on Presidents Van Buren through Taylor. But siloing these anecdotes into themed chapters makes them appear unconnected and disjointed. And the anecdotes all read like individual Wikipedia entries loosely stitched together into a narrative that doesn't seem to have much to say.

And for a book with Andrew Jackson at its center, the analysis of the man, his presidency and his impact is disappointingly superficial. Reynolds makes weak "both sides" arguments about whether Jackson's policies were good or bad: "Whatever one might think of his hostility to the Bank of the United States, it is hard to ignore his fundamental motive of fighting for the rights of average Americans against entrenched institutions," reads one section, while another posits that "his Indian policy, though severe, was actually a firm implementation of the weakly pursued policies of previous presidents." Reynolds takes Jackson at his word that his Indian Removal policy was based on his concern for the Indians' well-being, and he makes a straw man argument that "it's misleading to call Jackson an early Hitler guilty of genocide, as some have done." The "some" he cites in his end notes are a book written in the 1960s, and a random blog post published on a now-defunct website.

Another curious omission in his chapter on religion is any non-Christian religion. We're told about every Christian denomination, sect and cult, but while Islam may not have had much of a presence in the United States at that time, I'm pretty sure Judaism had a presence worth noting in his laundry list of religious groups representative of the era.

There are some interesting individual stories in here. But together, they don't add up to give you a good feel for the era, why it was important, or what the stories have anything to do with each other. The era was indeed fascinating, but regrettably, to me, this book wasn't.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Reynolds. The man’s command of literature is as impressive as his command of culture, politics, and international politics. The book does try to do a lot, so sometimes covers specific topics, including Native American and women’s history, somewhat perfunctorily.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great example of history for non-specialists. Coming from a literature background, Reynolds is particularly attuned to the cultural/social side of history though he doesn't neglect politics or economics. You learn about everything from the political fights over a national bank to the country's momentary fascination with mesmerism. Well written and engaging.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

In aptly titled, Waking Giant, David Reynolds takes on the very difficult task of writing a biography of an era. It is reminiscent of the now classic, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s that brings that era to life.

This chronicle of the "era of the common man", helps to fill a gap for general readers. A check of Pulitzer Prize winners for history suggests that there is a trend for revisiting the Jackson Age. There is a winner in 2008What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848, and a runner up in 2006 The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln which are the first to appear since Schlesinger's The Age of Jackson in 1946.

Jackson is our first president to come from humble means and from the frontier. While his accomplishments are few and dubious (for instance the war on the bank and his Native American policies) he solidified the power of the President by force of personality and held the nation together in his fight against nullification.

As those who have been born free of monarchy and legally entrenched aristocracy came of age, the country was awash in new ideas in art, religion, entertainment and commerce that were not influenced by the established ways of Europe. As the common man gained confidence the country did too and envisioned a sea to sea destiny. Reynolds shows how the seeds of the territorial and military infrastructure and a national identity were sown and fostered in this period.

Reynolds' forte is literature (he has written on Melville and Whitman) but he does an outstanding job with religion, politics, business and synthesizing what they all have to do with Jackson. Reynolds provided the links for me to understand what I had been looking for regarding Jackson. It is not the accomplishments of Jackson for which he is honored, but for his spirit and for the common man whom he represents.

[Michael T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more what I was looking for when I read American Lion, a biography of Andrew Jackson. (Although, in truth, they both inform one another). The bio focused a little too exclusively on Jackson's presidential years, without providing the larger backdrop on which his presidency played out. Waking Giant provides that backdrop, including the years leading up to Jackson's presidency and the years immediately following it. My interest was filling in the blank spot (for me, at least) of the transitional years between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Waking Giant provides not just the events, but the context, a sense of the zeitgeist of the era, with Americans as diverse as PT Barnum and Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Joseph Smith, an aging John Quincy Adams and a young Abraham Lincoln, all sharing the same stage. For those interested in this era -- never quite understood what a "Whig" was, for instance?; or the significance of the opening of the Erie Canal?; what the phenomenon of the minstrel show was all about?; the origins of "snake oil" patent medicines or seances and "Spiritualism? -- for a greater understanding of this and more, and how it influences us even today, this is a very worthwhile read.

[David Lucander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the author's John Brown biography, this is an excellent cultural history. Like many other readers, I did Waking Giant pretty much alongside Meacham's "American Lion." Taken together, these two books give an excellent overview of antebellum American life. Reynolds does very well with the popular and religious culture stuff - he really has a handle on how culturally & politically dynamic America was at the time. I like how this guy writes, it's dense with facts but still very readable and doesn't feel like work.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not read a lot of nonfiction, but one of my New Years' resolutions is to do so - there is so much to learn about out there! I approached this book with a bit of caution. It was on the bottom of my stack, looming beneath the fiction works that I, of course, picked up first. I did not back down and I am super proud of myself for finishing this.

I did find it interesting in some parts! I especially enjoyed the religion and arts chapters that described some of the prevailing beliefs of the time period. I also REALLY liked the descriptions of many of the main political actors. Reynolds boiled down some of these figures to their personalities and quirks, which offered a perspective of many famous people that I did not know or think about otherwise. I am now interested in reading a biography of each president because of these descriptions and will definitely be doing more research into that.

I gave this a three star rating though because it did drag in some parts. I also think it is really difficult to review such a LONG time frame. I understand this is an overarching snapshot of the time period but I believe Reynolds sacrificed detail and rushed his chapters. For example, this is a book about America in the age of President Andrew Jackson, but only one chapter was devoted to Jackson's presidency. Apparently Jackson really stretched the boundaries of the executive branch in a way that was of first impression for the time-not much is devoted to this.

Overall, I now have a taste for nonfiction and I will be spending more time with same in 2023. On to the next!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having never been a big Jackson fan I had to wonder why I started this one. But once I did I was ever so glad, as it seems to me that Reynolds has captured the culture behind the politics to tell this pre-Civil War story and include the religious story that seems to so often fall below the radar.

As the Colonies became the States, and as the founding fathers started to lose their hold on guiding the vagaries of the body politic, it seems to me there arose an effort, even if inadvertent, to place various stamps on all things governmental. Most of those pushes and pulls sprang from people who usually grew up in homes where worship of the Almighty was, if not central, very influential in how they carried out affairs - even the more distasteful elements such as slavery. Reynolds paints a picture that captures how many different sects sprang up, grew, and died off over the course of these years, shaping events as they progressed. Today's believers would probably find odd many of the sects' orthodoxy were they able to place themselves there. It may inform a bit of how the "Progressives" thought they would rule the world when they took off to change the world as the 19th century drew to a close.

[Charles Catalano · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful history covering many of the prominent and familiar events and people of the early 1800’s through 1848. Distinguished by deeper dive into interesting cultural forces and details. Concludes with a thought-provoking description of the cultural divisions between the north and south that surrounded each’s attitudes to the slavery question—underscoring the seeming inevitability of violence as the only imaginable solution.

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reynolds history resuscitates Jackson's reputation and places his presidency in the political, cultural, and religious context of the "Age of Jackson" (roughly 1820 to 1850). As with all histories that cover a specific time scope, the selection is somewhat artificial, but Reynolds' account does a good job of setting the stage for Jackson's entrance (the Revolutionary generation growing old, the country growing west, the culture growing up, and religion growing wild), and pointing the spotlight of the Age's impact on the decades of war over slavery just off stage.

Slavery and Manifest Destiny were the central issues of the Age of Jackson, as abolition began to make literary and political headway and the country continued to expand westward with an attitude of providential grant. This growth symbiotically fed on and into the religious ferment that was a key characteristic of this period. Reynolds does a good job of providing the broad outline, then focusing on a few key participants in the history so we can see both forest and trees.

Jackson is the broad-shouldered centerpiece of the Age, of course, with his country upbringing, cursory education, and coarse manners standing tall as the accepted portrait of the man, the President, and the Age. Reynolds, while acknowledging these givens, focuses on Jackson's political skills (surprisingly adept) and his attitude toward race (the native American removal policy, while horribly flawed, was based on paternalistic notions of fairness that reflected the mainstream of his time), while showing that this bluff and gruff duelist and frontiersman was actually capable of holding and expressing deep love for his wife and for God.

For more on Jackson, the most recent full-length biography is Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by H. W. Brands, which I also rated four stars.

Regardless of your take on his political leadership, you will acknowledge Jackson as an honorable man after reading this book, and you will have a better understanding of the Age he characterized so well it bears his name. You will see, in the Waking Giant, the outlines of the literary, religious, and political America we live in today.

[Andrew Canfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson provides a fantastic look at the years immediately after the War of 1812 through the conclusion of the Mexican-American War.

Historian David S. Reynolds created a rich balance between the cultural, social, and political aspects of U.S. life during this timeframe.

The unflagging effort by New York Governor DeWitt Clinton to push the Erie Canal's construction and development was featured early on, serving as a reminder of how the young nation was forging ahead in simultaneously developing infrastructure and confidence. The Era of Good Feelings that coincided with James Monroe's administration also was one of the early stages covered.

Monroe's Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, would be the main brain behind the Monroe Doctrine's development, and this son of the second president was a leader whose ambitions failed to match his accomplishments while in office.

Reynolds portrays him as a president whose lofty rhetoric was not matched by political skill and made him an easy mark for his foes. The accusation that he struck a Corrupt Bargain with Henry Clay, the man who would become his own Secretary of State, during the 1824 election against Andrew Jackson would stick with him throughout this administration.

Jackson's comeback and eight years as president (1829-1837) were covered more extensively than any other topic in the book. His clash with Nicholas Biddle over the Bank of the United States' recharter, his Specie Circular Act, establishment of pet banks, introduction of the spoils system, and populist warfare against privilege had such an impact that it resulted in the Age of Jackson moniker being applied to the era of the Democratic party's first president.

Kentuckian Henry Clay-who was the Speaker of the House and had run himself and then ultimately supported Adams over Jackson when the election came down to the House's votes-featured prominently throughout the entire book. A westerner in every way including temperament, he would loom large over issues like the Compromise of 1820 and was presented in Waking Giant as a slaveholder who nevertheless was not comfortable with the institution.

But Reynolds take so much time to extend the scope of the book beyond presidents and elected officials.

There is a great section on the religious and reform movements which flowered during this age. Presbyterian pastor Lyman Beecher's role in forming organizations like the American Tract Society, the American Bible Society, the American Education Society, and the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance underscored the involvement of evangelicals in civil society movements in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Abolitionist leaders like William Lloyd Garrison, the Tappan brothers, Sojourner Truth, John Brown, and Harriet Tubman provided contrasting methods when it came to dealing with the intractable issue of slavery. Despite a series of debates and compromises, the Mexican-American War and Wilmot Proviso would ultimately add fuel to the fire of arguments over the western expansion of slaveholding.

Beecher's fellow Presbyterian Charles Grandison Finney also popped up as a supporter of big revivals which turned upstate New York into the "Burned-over district" between 1826 and 1831. Even lesser known sectarians from this era, like Barton Stone (and his Bartonite followers), Benjamin and Henry Onderdonk, the Quakers, and the Cumberland Presbyterians do not escape the author's notice.

Sects seemed to crop up everywhere in the 1820s an 1830s.

The rise of Jacob Cochran's the Society of Free Brethren and Joseph Smith's Mormon Church were two societies whose practices rubbed the mainstream Christian church the wrong way. The rise of Unitarian, Transcendentalist, and Universalist belief systems also were shown to have generated some friction with more doctrinaire denominations.

Topping the book's strong sections (and there are many of them) is an extended look at the era's moral reformers who sought to help the mentally ill, deaf, and blind. Thomas Gallaudet would found the American Asylum in 1817 to help the deaf, while Samuel Gridley Howe would spend forty years heading the Perkins Institute for the Blind.

Dorothea Dix's tireless advocacy for those with mental illness was admirable as well, and Reynolds does justice to the stories of the era's dedicated reformers. Reading about advocates who forwarded the spirit of Christianity by their unquenchable desire to create a better society and aid those who were hurting contrasted with much of the materialism and culture warrior mentality of many in today's American Christian churches.

There were, however, plenty of cultural warriors in this era too; many of the temperance advocates whose movement came under scrutiny would have certainly qualified as self-righteous.

Groups dabbling alternative lifestyles were surprisingly prevalent. Phrenology and Joseph Mesmer’s methods add some more variety to the narrative, and P.T. Barnum’s ability to bring in suckers’ money will sound even up to the modern day.

George Ripley's Brook Farm was a utopian experiment discussed alongside other Massachusetts-based ones like Hopedale and Fruitlands. These sections made for particularly compelling reading, as Reynolds delved into some of the communitarian themes of their founding which will surely seem quaint to the modern reader.

The likes of Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond and Ralph Waldo Emerson's association with the American Peace Society only further the extent to which many in this era wanted to trailblaze a new way of viewing things and approaching the world's strife.

The creative minds of this era were brimming with writers who left their mark on American prose and literature. From James Fenimore Cooper to Edgar Allan Poe to Washington Irving, a series of American literary icons are present in Waking Giant, with a miniature portrait provided of each one which will leave many readers seeking out their writings and further biographies on these men.

Few stones in this era's cultural history are left unturned in Waking Giant. For those who are interested in American art history despite its somewhat lackluster track record, Thomas Cole and Asher B. Durand of the Hudson River School will provide a connection in this department to the book's broader examination of this intriguing age.

David S. Reynolds really put together a well-rounded portrait of the Age of Jackson.

He managed to bring together so many disparate personalities and so many movements in its readable (both in prose style and book length) pages. It certainly functions as a launching pad from which many can further their studies of the age's movers and shakers. Even reading about oft-forgotten men of the era like anti-Masonic leader William Wirt makes for intriguing asides that keep the book from rehashing the same ground.

Anyone who enjoys American history, especially in the era from the 1810s through the lead up to the Civil War, is likely to thoroughly appreciate this strong nonfiction offering.

It is deserving of five stars and even exceeds Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s timeless The Age of Jackson (1945) in breaking down this era for the lay reader of U.S. history.

-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Reynolds is known for his literary history and his biographical writing, especially about antebellum America. In writing social and cultural history and capturing that history in wonderful personal vignettes, this history excels. But when he takes on Daniel Walker Howe's marvelous book (which is pro-Whig and anti-Jackson overall), as Reynold's prologue blatantly does, he ventures on to ground that is a lot less sure. Especially since in taking that ground he has to offer a defense of Andrew Jackson (and Van Buren, Tyler, and Polk) that excuses his racial feelings as common for the day (ignoring the political results of such common feelings in a man who became president) and interprets his actions as both democratic/anti-corruption and pro-capitalist and expansion minded at the same time. It is almost reasonable, but in the end an entirely unconvincing defense and in making it he does no justice to those who stood against Jackson. So do not read this book for the political history - instead read it for the history it provides of America's "bumptious, nonconformist, roistering elements, its oddities and cultural innovations - its Barnum freaks, crime-filled scandal sheets, erotic pulp novels, frontier screamers, mesmeric healers, half-mile-long paintings; its street-fighting newspaper editors, earth-rattling actors, incarcerated anarchists; its free-love communes, time-traveling clairvoyants, polygamous prophets, and table-lifting spirit-rappers - all of which created social ferment and provided fodder for energetic American literary and artistic masterpieces." His literary history of elevated and degraded culture, his wandering through American religion and spiritual practices, his discussion of reform movements and reformers, these are the highlights of the book.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

David is an old friend from New York who has made a big name for himself in the world of American literature, with a series of books on American culture in the 19th Century; this one is a very accessible, readable and un-stuffy narrative of America between the war of 1812 and the immediate prelude to the Civil War. The contributions and character of the key political figures of the time drives the story, but the focus is on their relationship to the American populace, and how they reflected and interacted with Americans as an emerging people with a unique identity. Indian removal, with sympathy for both sides, Erie Canal opening, the return of Lafayette on the occasion of the country's 50th anniversary (1826), the fight over the Bank of the United States (lots of interesting echoes in today's news) are examples of topics gone into in depth. Easy, informative, entertaining, especially for the category, which can be pretty ponderous.

[Kater Cheek · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want a general overview of life in the early 19th century in America, this is a good book for you. Comprehensive and informative, it covers a broad swath of subjects, from politics to religion to health and medicine. Reynolds also includes quite a bit of biographical detail from Andrew Jackson, Van Buren, and Polk.

I was warned by the person who lent me this book that because Reynolds covers the period of time by subject rather than chronologically, there'd be a bit of overlap and repetition. I didn't mind the repetition, as it makes it easier to comprehend.

This is a dense book, full of information. I can't say it's fun to read; I had to take a break and read some novels in the interim. It does contain a lot of interesting facts, and if you're interested in 19th century America, you should check this out.

[Sean Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Waking Giant gives a solid look at the Jackson years, but falls short of my expectations for Reynolds. His books on John Brown and Walt Whitman were much more solid than this. Part of the issue seems to be that Reynolds tries to pull too much together in one book. The books on Whitman and Brown situated each of them in their mileu but "Waking Giant" tries to cover not just Jackson, but Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk and Taylor. There are common themes running through the era and the refusal of all of these men to deal with slavery planted the seeds for the civil war, but ultimately it feels like too much ground to cover in one book.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. Interesting overview of the politics of the Jackson era. Surprisingly intriguing discussion of religion and utopian societies. The art stuff was not very interesting to me, but I guess it was necessary.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This proved to be quite surprising, because it revealed that a lot of what I regard as characteristic of the late 19th century — immigration, the penny press, etc — had already begun expanding dramatically in the 1830s and 1840s. Irish immigration was especially significant: the number of Catholics roared in this period, moving from Catholicism being insignificant to becoming the Union’s third-largest religion. (By the end of the 19th century, it would move into the number one slot.) Suffrage was expanding to include most white males, at least those who could pay a $1 poll tax, and with that less selective voter base came more varied candidates. Jackson was not a respectable lawyer voted in by other landed lawyers; he was a hero of the people, and they loved him. The author begins by following politics from Madison on to Jackson, allowing us to see the formation of the Whig and Democratic parties and caps the book off by looking at Tyler and Polk. In the middle there’s the expected history of Jackson himself, but also sections on how American culture was changing in this period — diving into religious expression, the popularity of individualist writers like Thoreau and Emerson, and so on. It made for fun reading, but I’m wary of some of its claims and want to read more into the era.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, covering the politics, culture, and economy of the mid-19th century. This was more than just a political history of the 1820s to 1840s, though it does present that in detail. Rather, the book dove deep into the cultural underpinnings of America, looking at the expanding nation, and why it expanded, the religious nation, and the diversity this entailed, and the turbulent nation, and the forces which were at work. This book won't win points for readability, the author does not flinch from painting the background and importance of every major, and many minor, persons in this period, but he does present a detailed picture of an America that was emerging from its foundational years. Recommended for those wishing to have a better foundation on the beginnings of the sectional conflicts as well as an understanding of the America which many Civil War and Gilded Age figures were shaped by.

[James Bechtel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, David Reynolds's book "Waking Giant: America in the Age of Jackson" proved to be very good as a historical survey of the years 1815-1848. The "waking giant" of the title is the political, economic, cultural, etc., etc. mix emerging in the early nineteenth century. The materialism, instability, and inequality of the emerging capitalist market economy get a very good explanation. Jacksonian politics, and Jackson in particular, get fair treatment as well. He might be best on the religious, cultural, imaginative elements that are struggling to form an American identity. Certainly, that is the case in the American Renaissance - usually associated with the 1850s. Awakenings of many kinds make their appearance - crass, repulsive to some, attractive to others, critics, rebels, and reformers - all create a kind of culture clash. As a survey, it is better than expected...maybe 4.5 stars.

[Jon Box · Rating 4 out of 5]

With so many recent comparisons of our current President Donald Trump and our early President Andrew Jackson, I chose to read this history of Jacksonian America. Author David Reynolds examines the phenomena of Old Hickory who redefines the presidency and the era's political story alongside the religious, cultural, and social movements that impacted it. Like today, it was a turbulent time for democracy as people wrestled with the issues of slavery, the growth of capitalism, and the rapid rise of urbanization.

We are introduced to the prominent abolitionists, reformers, prohibitionists as well as authors, philosophers, artists, mesmerists, polygamists, spiritualists, and feminists of the period. Even P.T. Barnum's influence is addressed! A truly enlightening look at the period of America's great rise as it headed into the bloody Civil War ...

[Sam Strickland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reynolds pens an enjoyable account of American political and cultural developments from the period 1815-1848. There's a great deal about the country that we can often overlook that took place during this time including the forced removal of many Native Americans from their ancestral land, the building of the Erie Canal amongst other internal improvements, the gaining of most of the continental U.S. territory outside of the Louisiana Purchase, and, of course, the debates about slavery and what to do with the wicked institution. Though his political chapters at the book's beginning and end form a necessary framing, the part of this book that really shines has to do with cultural developments such as the emergence of American literature and artistic styles along with an explosion of religious cults and groups over several decades.

[Gary L Rau · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author takes a modern politically-correct viewpoint to interpret the history of a previous century. By selecting the facts to present (and to withhold) and the emotional adjectives to wrap them in, the unsuspecting reader is lead down a path designed to judge history rather than learn from it.

For example, all non-catholic religions are presented as primitive superstitions. Methodists in particular are singled out by equating revivals and circuit riding clergy with snake-oil salesmen.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” (George Santayana)

“History Doesn't Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes” (Mark Twain)

By judging history according to modern liberal standards, the author sets up a barrier to studying it and learning from it. He thereby does damage to our future by condemning his readers to repeat the unlearned lessons

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook- very detailed and comprehensive about the Jackson Age before during and after his presidency. Good, good read. Finished Steve Inskeep’s book the day before so nice Jackson education in a week’s time. I STILL don’t understand why Jon Meacham’s book on Jackson is so lauded. This book is far more interesting!

[Jay Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good if you know what it is, and has some valuable prepping for greater dives into the subject or building context for the Civil War (and Reynolds' far superior book on John Brown).

A decent survey of a time that surprisingly echoes 2016 to now in a lot of ways. Appreciated the looks at the specific religious movements in particular.

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not perfect history of America from the end of the War of 1812 to the end of the Mexican-American War. Not as good as the Daniel Walker Howe entry in the OUP history of the US, particularly on political history, but very good on religious and secular enthusiasms, literary history, etc.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and informative. Learned lots- but.... stylistically, it kind of bothered me at times. Jackson rather lionized at the expense of his enemies. Enjoyed the Great Awakening religious chapters and the Polk successes.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time frame has been told by several historians, and perhaps Daniel Walker Howe's is the best. However, I also enjoyed this account for both the information it contains and Reynolds's writing style.