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Du Bois on Brown -- a crucial, unique perspective
I recently read Russell Banks's brilliant, powerful historical novel "Cloudsplitter," which tells the story of John Brown from the first-person perspective of his son Owen. I became curious about which details in Banks's fictional account were changed from the actual history. This led me to the current volume. I did not realize that W.E.B. Du Bois had written a book about Brown, so for me it was doubly rewarding as a biography of John Brown, and as an important book by the great African-American sociologist, historian, and activist.It is not nearly as gripping a read as the novel. Du Bois utilizes lots of long quotes from letters by Brown and from other sources. The introduction, by historian David Roediger, is an excellent addition to the 2001 Modern Library Edition. The book was originally published in 1909, and Roediger provides the context, which includes Du Bois's rivalry with Oswald Garrison Villard, who also wrote a biography of Brown. Villard waged an unscrupulous campaign against Du Bois, writing a damaging review of the book.To the point of the novel and its modifications of the historical record, the main substantive difference seems to be the extensive section on Brown's participation in the Underground Railroad while based in North Elba, New York, in the Adirondacks near the Canadian border. It makes sense that there would be little documentation of this activity, and that Banks would have to interpolate and create fictional details to flesh out the story. The two portions of the Du Bois biography that stood out as different from the novel were 1) a longer and more extensive chronology of events in Kansas, where Brown and his sons played an important role in the guerilla war against the pro-slavery forces, and 2) the documented network of Browns' associates and supporters in the Abolitionist movement, including in Canada, which are mentioned, but not emphasized as much in the novel.Du Bois defends the basic soundness of the military plan for the raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry, arguing that it might well have succeeded if certain mistakes had been avoided. He also argues powerfully and eloquently for the importance of Brown's legacy for the struggle for racial justice.I recommend the book, but it is not the definitive biography or history. Next, I plan to read To Purge This Land with Blood by Oates (1971), which seems to be the leading contender for that honor.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2023
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Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018
It is not nearly as gripping a read as the novel. Du Bois utilizes lots of long quotes from letters by Brown and from other sources. The introduction, by historian David Roediger, is an excellent addition to the 2001 Modern Library Edition. The book was originally published in 1909, and Roediger provides the context, which includes Du Bois's rivalry with Oswald Garrison Villard, who also wrote a biography of Brown. Villard waged an unscrupulous campaign against Du Bois, writing a damaging review of the book.
To the point of the novel and its modifications of the historical record, the main substantive difference seems to be the extensive section on Brown's participation in the Underground Railroad while based in North Elba, New York, in the Adirondacks near the Canadian border. It makes sense that there would be little documentation of this activity, and that Banks would have to interpolate and create fictional details to flesh out the story. The two portions of the Du Bois biography that stood out as different from the novel were 1) a longer and more extensive chronology of events in Kansas, where Brown and his sons played an important role in the guerilla war against the pro-slavery forces, and 2) the documented network of Browns' associates and supporters in the Abolitionist movement, including in Canada, which are mentioned, but not emphasized as much in the novel.
Du Bois defends the basic soundness of the military plan for the raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry, arguing that it might well have succeeded if certain mistakes had been avoided. He also argues powerfully and eloquently for the importance of Brown's legacy for the struggle for racial justice.
I recommend the book, but it is not the definitive biography or history. Next, I plan to read [[ASIN:0870234587 To Purge This Land with Blood]] by Oates (1971), which seems to be the leading contender for that honor.
Du Bois on Brown -- a crucial, unique perspective
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018
I recently read Russell Banks's brilliant, powerful historical novel "Cloudsplitter," which tells the story of John Brown from the first-person perspective of his son Owen. I became curious about which details in Banks's fictional account were changed from the actual history. This led me to the current volume. I did not realize that W.E.B. Du Bois had written a book about Brown, so for me it was doubly rewarding as a biography of John Brown, and as an important book by the great African-American sociologist, historian, and activist.Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018
It is not nearly as gripping a read as the novel. Du Bois utilizes lots of long quotes from letters by Brown and from other sources. The introduction, by historian David Roediger, is an excellent addition to the 2001 Modern Library Edition. The book was originally published in 1909, and Roediger provides the context, which includes Du Bois's rivalry with Oswald Garrison Villard, who also wrote a biography of Brown. Villard waged an unscrupulous campaign against Du Bois, writing a damaging review of the book.
To the point of the novel and its modifications of the historical record, the main substantive difference seems to be the extensive section on Brown's participation in the Underground Railroad while based in North Elba, New York, in the Adirondacks near the Canadian border. It makes sense that there would be little documentation of this activity, and that Banks would have to interpolate and create fictional details to flesh out the story. The two portions of the Du Bois biography that stood out as different from the novel were 1) a longer and more extensive chronology of events in Kansas, where Brown and his sons played an important role in the guerilla war against the pro-slavery forces, and 2) the documented network of Browns' associates and supporters in the Abolitionist movement, including in Canada, which are mentioned, but not emphasized as much in the novel.
Du Bois defends the basic soundness of the military plan for the raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry, arguing that it might well have succeeded if certain mistakes had been avoided. He also argues powerfully and eloquently for the importance of Brown's legacy for the struggle for racial justice.
I recommend the book, but it is not the definitive biography or history. Next, I plan to read [[ASIN:0870234587 To Purge This Land with Blood]] by Oates (1971), which seems to be the leading contender for that honor.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2020
