“An important book offering the first systematic reinterpretation of the Missouri Compromise and its aftermath in more than a generation. . . . A brilliant and an essential reconsideration of an important episode in American history. It is a work of thorough scholarship and penetrating insights.” — American Historical Review
“Forbes’s account of the sectional conflict from the time of the Missouri crisis is well written and thoroughly researched and will repay a reader’s careful and thoughtful consideration.” — Journal of American History
“A compelling case study of the centrality of slavery to early national America.” — Journal of Southern History
“This is an important book that only begins to untangle the shifting political alliances, issues, and ideologies that sustained debates over slavery during the 1820s.” — Journal of the Early Republic
“[An] exemplary study. . . . A resolutely intelligent book, provocative in its thesis, broad in its reach, patient in its execution, and sober in its judgments.” — Political Science Quarterly
“Certain to become essential reading on the era of good feelings and the origins of the second-party system. . . . Extremely rich and complex. . . . Important and intriguing.” — Journal of Interdisciplinary History
“Lively and engaging . . . [Forbes] succeeds in rendering the debates the narrates vivid and dramatic.” — Register of the Kentucky Historical Review
“Forbes’s analysis of the Missouri Compromise . . . is the best history of that landmark political decision for several decades.” — International History Review
“Part of a welcome rise in scholarly attention . . . that historians of the early Republic have until now been more inclined to acknowledge than to study. . . . Forbes has helped to call our attention squarely onto the Missouri crisis, and has offered a bracing interpretation of its course and significance.” — H-Net
“[An] impressively researched book. . . . Sure to inform future discussions of the politics of slavery, and its timely message speaks to Americans today.” — Missouri Historical Review
