The American Civil War was 150-years ago and a lot of books are coming out about that moment in history. One author caught my eye: Tony Horwitz. He has written some fun books such as Baghdad Without a Map, Blue Latitudes, and Confederates in the Attic. There is a touch of humor in these historical books, and a great deal of personal experience as Horwitz throws himself into the story.

So I had high expectations for his latest book Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. John Brown is a historical character that I never fully understood — was he a good guy or a bad guy? Did he fight for the North or the South? It seemed that in the hands of Horwitz it would be a well told story that would clear up some blank spaces in my historical knowledge.

Well, it did the later for sure. This is a well researched book about the oddness of a man who may have lit the spark for the Civil War. To the question “is he a good guy or a bad guy”, I’d have to say “yes” to both. He had good intentions, but he resorted to violence at every opportunity. His hatred and disgust at the institution of slavery was remarkably progressive in his age. Yet his stone cold killer instincts made him a wildly dangerous and unbalanced man.

So my historical curiosity was fully satisfied, though this book still didn’t fully satisfy. I expect touches of humor, moments of personal insight, even a bit of self-analysis from Horwitz. None of that is here in the book, though. Which doesn’t mean that it’s a bad book — it just means it didn’t have that Horwitz lightheartedness that distinguishes his books from other authors.

On balance, this is a really good book to read if you are curious about the topic. It certainly will help you understand the climate of the USA prior to the Civil War. Best of all, it’s a brilliant piece of insight into John Brown, one of the oddest characters in history.

If you use the above link to buy the book from Amazon, I’ll donate my proceeds to PathLight.