Ignatius Donnelly: The Portrait of a Politician

by Martin Ridge

The only full-length biography of one of the Midwest's most important, 19th-century political and intellectual leaders.

Genres: History, Biography, American History

435 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[David]

Politician, populist and author Donnelly is a colorful figure ripe for a great popular biography, but this isn't quite it. Ridge gets too bogged down in the minutiae of century-old politics to sustain this reader's interest throughout; he does best when he lets Donnelly speak for himself through excerpts from his letters and speeches, and when discussing Donnelly's novels and "scientific" writings. This seems to be written primarily for serious scholars of Minnesotan politics or the dynamics of late-19th century third party movements.