John Brown is hard to figure out. He was inept at everything he tried in life, and he often behaved like a maniac. Yet he was able to influence many noteworthy men in the east to support him. He seemed to understand that his pathetic attempt to start a slave uprising at Harpers Ferry would fail in the short term but would create an atmosphere of hatred between North and South that would lead to civil war and end slavery — exactly what happened.

The book was informative, if somewhat plodding in places. Still, it gave a good picture of the mood in the country during the years leading up to the Civil War.