Allen Guelzo reviews Sean Wilentz’s The Rise of American Democracy in the current issue of the
Claremont Review of Books. It is not avalialable yet on line. Buy a copy asap, and frame it. It explains in a few thousand words what Wilentz is up to, what he doesn’t understand, what he hides, and thereby explains the soul-flaw of the Democratic Party. Thank you Professor Guelzo!
UPDATE: The Guelzo review, "Good Democrats and Bad Democrats," is now online here. Do read it.
The review is now on line. Follow the links.
Am I happy I did not waste my money [and more importantly time] on this book.
A well writen and interesting article, as I have come to expect from Guelzo. It would be interesting to read a full counter from Guelzo (i.e. a book over the same or enlarged scope) instead of just a review.
Wilentz’ bad history explains the "soul-flaw in the Democratic Party"????? What in hell does that mean, Peter? That Wilentz is the soul of the party? That would be news! That many Democrats are ignorant of American history? Even bigger news!
Worth reading, but I wasn’t totally convinced. I missed a discussion of Martin Van Buren and George Bancroft in the formation of the Democratic Party, along with Jackson. And no discussion of Jackson can be complete without bringing in the late Marvin Meyer’s great book, The Jacksonian Persuasion.
Asked for and received my subscription to the Claremont Review of Books for Father’s Day. Skipped ahead to Guelzo’s article at your suggestion. Was amazed at the man’s high tolerance threshold for tripe. He reads bad books so we don’t have to.
So when are you going to bring Isabella to Claremont?