Radical of Radicals
Austin Blair: Civil War Governor-In His Own Words
Published on 16. September 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-1-965278-55-0 (ISBN)
Description
A rich documentary story of premier Union leader, "War Governor" Austin Blair, told largely in his own words and contextualized with key annotations.
Statesman Austin Blair championed human rights in America, cherished the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and made major contributions to Union victory in the Civil War. Believing strongly that secession is treason, he supported emancipation and the use of the North's military power to defeat the slave owners' rebellion. Labeled a "radical" by political opponents, Blair's vision of a nation of equal opportunity and civil rights for all people marked him as a leader ahead of his time. A rich, well-researched documentary history of a prominent Union leader, this first of two volumes reveals a "War Governor" largely in his own words through the end of the Civil War. Key annotations help contextualize the speeches and public remarks of a charismatic statesman whose devotion to duty left him financially destitute upon leaving office.
Edited by a former assistant attorney general with firsthand experience in government workings, the book makes a major contribution to understanding federal-state relations during an epoch that forever changed the course of America's future.
More details
Series
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
533 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-965278-55-0 (9781965278550)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Editor Jack Dempsey is an award-winning author of works on the Civil War, cultural heritage, and Michigan history hailed as "the popular voice of history in Michigan." Born in Detroit, a graduate of James Madison College, Michigan State University, and George Washington University National Law Center, he was first fascinated by the Civil War in the third grade. A family photo portrays him at age three perched on Stonewall Jackson's statue at Manassas. Chairman of Michigan's Civil War Sesquicentennial Committee, vice-president and president of the Michigan Historical Commission from 2007 to 2018, and board member of several heritage-focused nonprofit organizations, Dempsey's leadership aided preservation of Michigan's heritage-and continues to do so as a writer with ten books and numerous articles under his byline. His presentations on C-SPAN, public radio, and podcasts, and to university classes, historical societies, scholarly conferences, and Civil War roundtables have been highly praised. A resident of Plymouth, Michigan, he is a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Society for Women and the Civil War, Society of Midland Authors, and Military Writers Society of America. The Michigan Civil War Association (MCWA) is a Michigan 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation engaged in pursuit of cultural, historical, and economic development opportunities to preserve and promote the history of Michigan's role in the American Civil War. Proceeds from this volume support the MCWA in raising funds to erect a monument honoring Michigan's contributions to victory and to emancipation at the Battle of Antietam, Sept. 17, 1862.