Douglas R. Egerton has taught history at Le Moyne College since 1987; he has also held visiting appointments at Colgate University, Cornell University, and the University College of Dublin. He is the author of nine books, including the Lincoln Prize co-winner, Thunder At the Gates: The Black Civil War Regiments That Redeemed America, Heirs of an Honored Name: The Decline of the Adams Family and the Rise of Modern America, He Shall Go Out Free: The Lives of Denmark Vesey, The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America's Most Progressive Era, Year of Meteors: Stephen Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and the Election That Brought on the Civil War, Gabriel's Rebellion: The Virginia Slave Conspiracies of 1800 and 1802, and Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America. He lives near Syracuse, New York, with his wife, historian Leigh Fought.

"A welcome picture of a man who battled inequality on a wide range of fronts and maintained friendships with some of the most interesting people of the era." -- Randall Fuller, The Wall Street Journal

"Easily the best biography of Higginson in a century" -- Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review

"A nineteenth century Zelig, Thomas Wentworth Higginson was an abolitionist, a supporter of John Brown and his raid, a friend of Emily Dickinson, the colonel of a Black Regiment in the Civil War, an advocate for women's rights, a prolific author--and more. Douglas Egerton has given us an exhaustively researched and highly readable biography of this remarkable man."--Drew Faust, author of This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War, and Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury

"Higginson was one of the foremost men of letters, public intellectuals, and reformers of his time. A radical abolitionist, supporter of women's suffrage, commander of a Black regiment in the Civil War, advocate of Black civil rights, novelist, historian, the 'dear preceptor' of Emily Dickinson and promoter of her poetry, his crowded career almost defies the biographer's art. Douglas Egerton has mastered these difficulties to guide the reader clearly through the rich story of Higginson's life." --James M. McPherson

"Douglas Egerton skillfully and gracefully brings to life a remarkable 19th century reformer who embraced every just cause of his day with equal commitment and intensity. Egerton's finely drawn portrait of Thomas Wentworth Higginson gives us deeper insight into the impulse to improve society that defined this first Age of Reform." -- Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History, Emerita, CUNY

"In these trying times, it lifts the spirits to read of a strong-minded and dedicated reformer who challenged convention and fought for the promise of America. Egerton has provided us with a stirring, deeply researched and beautifully written biography of one of the giants of American history." --Richard Blackett, Emeritus Professor History, Vanderbilt University

"Douglas Egerton's perceptive biography portrays a true radical who embraced violence if necessary to achieve results and often stood apart even from most other reformers." --Gary W. Gallagher, author of The Enduring Civil War: Reflections on the Great American Crisis

"Deeply researched, splendidly crafted, and riveting, Douglas Egerton's magnificent biography does justice, at last, to Higginson's long and fascinating life and extraordinary career." --Gary J. Kornblith, Professor of History Emeritus, Oberlin College

"Beautifully written and engaging, Egerton's biography depicts a complex, captivating man whose incendiary passion for racial and gender emancipation blazed across the nineteenth century. Egerton expertly guides the reader through key moments in American politics and culture, illuminating the world in which Higginson thrived-and the issues we still face today." --Carol Lasser, Director, Wilson Bruce Evans Home Historical Society, Emerita Professor of History, Oberlin College

"Abolitionist feminist Thomas Wentworth Higginson has long needed a modern biography and in Douglas Egerton he has a worthy biographer. Egerton's adept book finally does justice to one of New England's foremost radical minds, who could wield a sword as well as a pen."--Manisha Sinha, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920

"Brings Higginson vividly to life as a reflective intellectual and man of action." -- Booklist

"Magnificent, exhaustively-researched, and beautifully-written." -- Bookpage

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Pub date: 2025-01-07

Length: 352 pages