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As the 1850s progress, the United States moves closer and closer to a fractionalizing conflict. Slavery continues unabated, primarily in the southern states of the union. The abolitionist movement has grown from a small grassroots campaign to a national effort. Various compromises have maintained a shaky truce between the anti- and pro-slavery forces. Tensions are further enflamed with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854, which renders the previous legislation moot and leaves both states’ slavery status to popular sovereignty. Monty Tolliver, a former politician and abolitionist, relocates from Ohio to Kansas to aid in the freedom movement. Robert Geddis is a journalist who heads to Kansas along with the New England Emigrant Aid Company. Both men are about to witness the apocalyptic events known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
This is an appealing book of historical fiction that portrays the upheaval in the Kansas territory that endured from 1854 through 1859. Author Haynes does a splendid job of portraying the tense circumstances that enveloped the Kansas territory during its journey to becoming a state. The characters he introduces, along with the historical figures, are immersed in a death struggle for the soul of the nation. Monty and Robert fear for the future of the country as they watch both sides utilize violence in order to justify their cause. The crimes committed by John Brown’s group are as equally shocking as the mob violence committed by the pro-slavery crowd. Haynes doesn’t glorify the violence as much as illustrate how both sides’ intractability would only ensure war. Historical fiction fans will likely find much to enjoy in this novel that explores events that will eventually lead to one of the most devastating chapters in the nation’s history.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review