Staking Claims to a Continent
John A. Macdonald, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and the Making of North America
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1.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Staking Claims to a Continent is a highly readable examination of how Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, and Sir John A. Macdonald took part in a daring game of nation building that has impacted the global order to the present day.
Three political leaders presided over the reshaping of the North American continent during the fiery 1860s. Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln were both born in Kentucky, Davis in June 1808 and Lincoln the following February. John A. Macdonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in January 1815. All were Protestants; none came from a wealthy family. In an earlier era, such men would not have risen to political heights. They personified an age of social and economic transformation, thrust to the top by the very forces that tore the continent apart.
Davis tried to create a country by ripping the South out of the United States and establishing the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Lincoln’s crusade to save the Union honed the industrial-military power that would one day dominate the world. Macdonald led the drive to shepherd the diverse British North American provinces into a federal state that would secure the northern half of the continent and keep Canada out of American hands.
In a high stakes game, these three national projects competed to create viable nation states. And the success or failure of the projects would have consequences — not only for the long-term future of the continent but also for the entire global order.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This second book in Laxer's North American history trilogy (following Tecumseh and Brock), depicts a pivotal clash among a powerful triumvirate of men striving to shape the destiny of the United States and Canada. John A. Macdonald, Abraham Lincoln, and Jefferson Davis leaders of Canada, the United States, and the Confederate States of America respectively are shown here as individuals and also as players in the greater scope of their society and time. The book is fast-paced, full of people and governments that are frantic to position themselves to greatest advantage. Laxer gives a play-by-play of the events leading up to the American Civil War and Canadian Confederation, as well as aftershocks, such as the Red River Rebellion in Canada. This is a vast, formidable work by a writer with an imposing collection of historical and political writings to his name. Despite the abundant detail, the writing is lively and spiced up with quotes from primary sources, helping to make the book satisfying and intriguing while leaving readers with a fresh perspective on the men who set out to claim the continent.
