By James Brewer Stewart
Fiery, opinionated, and controversial, William Lloyd Garrison has always been identified with abolitionism in early nineteenth-century America. In his incisive biography of the famous publisher of The Liberator, James Brewer Stewart brings the insights of recent scholarship to bear on Garrison’s enigmatic personality. The result is an even-handed study that demonstrates Garrison’s talents and triumphs while at the same time exposing the character flaws that often alienated the abolitionist from his contemporaries.