John Brown’s Pikes

For some reason John Brown is back in the news of late with a specific focus on his continuing legacy as well as the pikes or spears that were to be used during the raid.  For an excellent discussion of Brown’s life as well as the significance of the Harpers Ferry Raid I highly recommend viewing a webcast from the Virginia Sesquicentennial’s recent “Signature Conference” held at the University of Richmond.  You can view all the sessions, including the session on Brown (you need to download Real Player), which featured historians David Blight, Manisha Sinha, Clarence Walker, and David Reynolds whose recent biography of Brown is well worth reading.  One of the most interesting aspects of the discussion is their emphasis on placing Brown’s life and motivation (Calvinism) as well as his actions in the context of black rebellion in the United States and especially in the Caribbean.  The emphasis on the latter led me to read Edward B. Rugemer’s recent book, The Problem of Emancipation: The Caribbean Roots of the American Civil War (Louisiana State University Press, 2008), which I highly recommend.

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7 comments… add one
  • Naim Peress Jun 24, 2009 @ 2:48

    Larry, unfortunately editors do not have much chance to edit anymore. There are too many books for them to edit just one in any effective way. Most editing is now done by literary agents. This is especially true for fiction.

  • Larry Cebula Jun 23, 2009 @ 18:33

    I was about to ask the Cloudsplitter question!

    I thought it was a tremendous, moving work–a great 400 page novel (that was unfortunately 600 pages long–are there no editors anymore?).

  • Naim Peress Jun 15, 2009 @ 8:00

    What did you think of Cloudsplitter, the novel about John Brown, by Russell Banks? I think it illuminated Brown’s character very well, though it was from the point of view of his son.

    • Kevin Levin Jun 15, 2009 @ 8:01

      Naim,

      Unfortunately, I am not familiar with it.

  • Mike Jun 15, 2009 @ 5:20

    Thanks Kevin

  • Mark Jun 14, 2009 @ 19:52

    Thanks for the post. This year marks 150 years since the raid on Harper’s Ferry and Brown’s execution.

    • Kevin Levin Jun 15, 2009 @ 0:56

      Indeed. I guess I just thought that the spike in stories would take place closer to the actual anniversary.

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