“Varon fulfills her goal of distinguishing disunion from secession and exploring the multifaceted meanings of the term. . . . She eminently succeeds in showing how disunion evolved from a 'prophecy' that no one wanted fulfilled to the fire-eaters' 'program.'”—American Historical Review
“A compelling argument about the political significance of language. . . Speaks to specialists and remains approachable for undergraduates, scholars in other fields, and general readers.”—Common-Place
“A cogently reasoned intellectual history of a frequently misunderstood historical term. . . . Varon successfully weaves together political debates, contemporary journalism, literary fiction and nonfiction, sermons from pulpits of the nation’s leading churches and other sources of popular culture.”—Civil War Times
“Varon’s success in setting her analysis of disunion rhetoric against a comprehensive historiographical backdrop is exceptional. Meticulously researched and beautifully assembled, Disunion will become a standard text for students and scholars interested in this tumultuous chapter in American history.”—North & South
“[A] very important book. . . . Well-written and carefully documented and will be imminently useful to undergraduate and graduate classrooms alike.”—Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography
“Installs [the premise of disunion] by weaving the country’s beginnings with the immediate, and profound, philosophical differences that existed between the agrarian, slaveholding South and the industrialized North.”—Anniston Star
“Highly readable political, social, and intellectual history at its best. . . . Highly recommended.”—CHOICE
“In scope, authority, and lucidity, this book . . . deserves to be ranked alongside some of the landmark studies of Civil War causation. . . . As good an account of the worldview of antebellum Americans as one can read.”—H-Civil War
“A broad study. . . . Strong both in illuminating operative gender and racial perspectives and in presenting in some detail the views and methods of presentation and activism of many figures who will be unfamiliar even to most American historians, but who, as this book demonstrates, should not be ignored.”—Reviews in American History
“Highly engaging. . . . Makes good use of recent historical literature to produce a synthetic and balanced account of the politics of disunion in the American republic.”—Civil War Book Review
