Radical of Radicals

A rich documentary story of premier Union leader, "War Governor" Austin Blair, told largely in his own words and contextualized with key annotations. Statesman Austin Blair championed human rights in America, cherished the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and made major contributions to Union victory in the Civil War. Believing strongly that secession is treason, he supported emancipation and the use of the North's military power to defeat the slave owners' rebellion. Labeled a "radical" by political opponents, Blair's vision of a nation of equal opportunity and civil rights for all people marked him as a leader ahead of his time. A rich, well-researched documentary history of a prominent Union leader, this first of two volumes reveals a "War Governor" largely in his own words through the end of the Civil War. Key annotations help contextualize the speeches and public remarks of a charismatic statesman whose devotion to duty left him financially destitute upon leaving office.

Edited by a former assistant attorney general with firsthand experience in government workings, the book makes a major contribution to understanding federal-state relations during an epoch that forever changed the course of America's future.